This & That

One last "This & That" post for the year!  It gets so hard to keep up with everything that these posts are becoming my way up not getting behind.  December felt a little insane this year with house projects and juggling the rest of our lives but we still managed to fit in some fun!

We got a new California king bed.  We have loved snuggling with the whole fam in the mornings.

 I made some gear to support Vance's volleyball team.  They have a team shop but everything is so expensive that I decided to do it myself.  I think everything turned out so cute!

 Somehow I ended up in charge of Keller's class party.  He was excited to have me there so it was all worth it.

 We got the boys new beds and apparently the boys thought they looked comfortable because one afternoon we walked in the game room and found them in the dogs' crates.

 December isn't complete without driving around to look at Christmas lights.  Unfortunately our favorite house didn't have lights up this year but we had fun driving through a few neighborhoods.

 Christmas break means Mama has to think of a few activities.  One afternoon we headed to the bounce house place and let the boys burn some energy.

The day after Christmas called for eating out for lunch and Jumanji: Next Level!

The next day the boys were a little restless so we headed to the skate park.  The weather was beautiful and they scootered for hours!

 We convinced Keller and Sutton to try Thai food for dinner and they loved their pad thai!

 Keller's one request over winter break was to make pizookies so that's exactly what we did one night.  That boy LOVES cookies and ice cream.

 Sutton has been obsessed with building things.  He had the cutest admiration for Grandpa being a "builder" so of course he wanted his help with some of his projects.  I think he may hit the nail one out of every 10 times he swings the hammer and definitely mind your fingers!

 The older boys enjoyed building their Kiwico projects while Sutton worked on another wood project.

 Chad and I love to play giant Jenga at bars so his gift from my parents was perfect.  Vance's strategy is to either lose or make the person after him lose so the games don't last long but it is still fun.

 Chad smoked his best meat yet.  He made the juiciest BBQ pork.  The seasoning was spot on, the cook was perfect, and everyone went back for seconds.

 The boys like to watch the Golden Knight hockey games but with the time difference it usually ends up with them all falling asleep.  Chad blew up the air mattress and got them all snuggled in under his blanket to watch the game.  They promptly fell asleep and hardly saw any of the game...haha!

 I have been getting plenty of use out of my new Catan board.  I love more each time and still can't believe how much effort Chad put into it.

 Every time Chad takes the boys to Lowes they get the racecar carts.  Then in the parking lot he does donuts with the shopping cart.  I adore their little ritual and the giggles are music to my ears!

Grandma took the boys to the park and they practiced their posing skills on the holiday décor.

 Thank goodness for friends over winter break! The boys have spent hours in the backyard.

Keller was dying to use his giftcard to BJ's to get a pizookie trio.  I can't believe he didn't make himself sick with how much he ate.

 Vance got together with his volleyball team to play some grass volleyball and eat pizza.  They are such a great group of boys!

 We have enjoyed some beautiful weather which means lots of trips to the park.  We found a really fun one that Keller and Sutton both loved.

Catan

Chad and the boys worked so hard to make me the most amazing version of Settlers of Catan.  I mentioned in my post about Christmas but we added a base to the game and I really just think this deserves its own post.

Here is the game all set-up.  Every time I look at it I'm in awe of the craftsmanship. The amount of tiny, detailed work is insane!  

The picture below is what Chad and I worked on together to better store the game.  Chad built the base layer and cut and stained the outer border.  I created the graphic and then did the darker stain.  It blurred a little in certain areas but I think it looks awesome. 

I love just love it so much and look forward to hours and hours of game play.

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas day this year.  It was us and my parents so it was pretty mellow and relaxed!

We started Christmas Eve day off with our favorite breakfast tacos.  

Then I headed home to make cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning breakfast per Vance's request.  They were delish!

Then we just kinda hung out and eventually got ready for candlelight service at our church.

The music was wonderful and I love that it starts our evening off with a reminder of why we truly celebrate Christmas.

We wrapped our presents without tags this year.  Each family member had a different wrapping paper and they have been guessing for weeks which paper belonged to with person.  When we got home from church they got to crack the code with our Christmas Eve present.  It only took them two guesses to get everyone's right!

On Christmas Eve we opened up blankets Chad and I (and my mom) worked hard on.  I agonized over fabric choices, yarn color, thread, etc.  Then for nights we stayed up after the boys went to bed to tie the blankets.  We eventually lost steam and I paid a lady to bind them for me and she did a fantastic job.  The blankets may not seem like much but they were a labor of love and kind of expensive but it was all worth it.  They absolutely love them and immediately put on their coordinating pajamas.

We are a blanket family so I have no doubt these will be well used.

Keller's blanket was grey fur on the back and NY Yankees on the front.  He got blue joggers and a shirt that says "Baseball all day."

Sutton's blanket was red minky on the back and Avengers on the front.  He got a super hero shirt and black joggers to match.

Vance loves America so we got him an Army fabric on the front and green minky on the back.  He loved his camo tanktop and grey joggers.

Chad and I also opted for our favorite: Golden Knights and pink floral.  I just love them!

For Christmas Eve we made gourmet grilled cheese with a copy cat of Panera's tomato soup.  They turned out great and the best part was everyone ate without one complaint and no leftovers.

Vance requested oysters for Christmas Eve.  He had never tried them but knows Chad and I like them.  It was absolutely hilarious to watch him eat them.  The first one he swallowed in one gulp and didn't think it was too bad.  The second one he chewed it once, gagged three times, and eventually threw it up.  It was hysterical!

Grandma had a cute story to read about Jesus' birth where you passed presents to the left and right.  Everyone was stoked to open up their gift cards.

For dessert Grandpa made chocolate shakes.  He loves chocolate shakes and apparently the boys do too.

Finally it was time to leave out the cookies and milk and go to bed.

The boys insisted we all needed to sleep in the same room.  We don't co-sleep but we offered up our floor and they took us up on it.  They made themselves beds, cuddled up in their new blankets, and promptly passed out.  Vance cracks me up in the corner and I love Keller touching Sutton's hand.

Then Santa got to work! He brought Sutton just what he requested: soccer stuff, a Nerf gun, and monster toys.

For our baseball obsessed child he brought a new baseball bag, helmet, batting gloves, and the NLS and ALS all star baseball cards.

Vance was surprised with a jean jacket, cologne, and trip to go to Vegas all by himself.  He can hardly wait to go visit the family!

Mom, Dad, and the puppies weren't quite so spoiled but we are okay with that :)

The family room looked magical and I could hardly wait to see the boys' reactions Christmas morning.

Chad and I gave the boys some new fun stuff for the game room: a basketball game and ping pong table.  They were a huge hit!

Finally Christmas morning came.  The boys lined up youngest to oldest to go see what Santa brought.

They were so excited and I loved just watching the magic unfold.  Life is good!

My mom got a new tennis racquet she has been drooling over and Grandpa got some new tools.

Chad and I nailed it on my dad's gift this year.  We got him a meat lover's basket!  We went to the butcher and got two of all of his favorite cuts of beef.

Keller was cracking me up in his hoodie, joggers, and slippers.  It looked so much like Chad that I had to snap a picture.

The boys and Chad gave me the most thoughtful present ever.  They made a 3D version of my favorite board game.  The amount of detail that went into the project was out of this world.  They made intricute wood cuts, built tiny pallets of brick, and wrapped miniscule bundles of wheat.  It is so awesome and I absolutely love it.

Sutton was pretty thrilled with his toolkit he got from Grandma and Grandpa.

Of course the puppies got some new toys too!

Once we finally finished unwrapping (which took an embarrassingly long amount of time) everyone took their stuff to their rooms.  Here is all of our stuff -

We spent the rest of Christmas day playing with our new things and spending time together as a family.

 It was every bit of magical as I had hoped! A merry Christmas indeed!