Merry Christmas Everyone! We know winter is here when we see the Massey's snowman.
This year the tree, eyes and smile light up at night. I think the boys are getting tired of me taking pictures of them as they did not want to pose in front of it this year. Christmas eve we opened presents from each other as well as our friends and family from around the country and over seas.
All four Santas from Germany arrived in one piece! and are surveying wether or not the boys have been good or bad. The day of Christmas Eve they were definitly on the "bad"list. Thanks Heike for all the gifts! we cant wait to play the game!
From Japan the boys received a box full of Keiko treats! And a fun book on how to write Japanese words. Jamison started right away! and Peter loved the Pokeman magazine! Thanks Keiko!
The boys found an investment with the greatest return.....for only $2.99 you can buy a 1 million dollar bill! Each boy gave Pat one.....he is rich!!
Peter gave Jamison a nerf shot gun. Not my favorite idea but he came up with it all on his own and Jamison is very excited. Now we need to talk about some basic hunting saftey rules....#1 no shooting your brother mother father or pets. Jamison gave Peter a Koby Bryant statue that went up to Peter's book shelf of treasures.
Pat and I gave the boys sa DS. (excellent finds on craigslist and Pats old one but they dont know that. How else can anyone afford that stuff!?) And this his how the boys look most of the time. According to the boys "This is the best Christmas EVER"...and Santa has not even come yet.
The boys were fascinated with watching NORAD's santa tracker. He was getting closer and closer so you better get to bed little boys!
And boy did Santa come! We have a tree in the up-up stairs and the boys did not know which tree he was going to drop the load so they devised a plan. Who ever wakes up first goes and wakes up the other. Then one boys runs up-up stairs and the other runs downstairs and they will call to each other about what they found. It was super cute to listen to. Santa did make it to the up-up stairs because the lights were mysteriously on....I know I did not leave them on. But all the presents were downstairs. Jamison declared that they must have been better than what he was thinking because Santa brought all of these presents!
Jamison was besides himself when he opened "World of Zoo" a DS game that he has been wanting for almost 2 years. I told him that I contacted Santa to let him know that we were giving him a DS so hopefully he would bring a game. And he did!
I dont know whose kid this is....I thought we lived in Packer country!
Peter was decked out in all basketball clothes...a Lakers hat and a Portland Jersey! I dont think Santa thought it was a good idea to bring Viking clothes to WI.....and he is a smart man!
The boys have been wearing the hats every day! I keep my house cool, but a hat is not required. I guess it is cool to wear them ALL of the time.
After all of the gift opening the boys wanted to get started on the Lego building....and they got a lot of Legos! So we had a lego building party!
Pat has been miserably sick for weeks....so we headed up to Green Bay with out him. (he ended going the the doctor...something that NEVER happens and was given some meds for a serious sinus infection. He is now on an upward trend). We picked names and opened presents from grandma/pa and aunts and uncles. Instead of going the normal "by age" order, we played a game of picking out names from a hat. The boys were real sports as they were the second and third to last to open. poor guys!
They were real good helpers for their younger cousins!
The siblings did a $5 limit game. Pat bought $5 worth of scratch off lotter tickets that seemed to be sought out by many. One card even won $2!
Video games are loved by all ages!
We are having a fantastic holiday. Thank you everyone from your warm holiday wished and gifts. We hope everyone has a safe, healthy 2011!
Oyster Crackers! And now America, in an open heart and empty stomach, I say onto you in the words of my Uncle (or of the chairman in tv's Iron chef)......ALE CUISINE! The boys have 60 minutes to prepare a main course and a dessert. I have been asked to act as a sous chef for both teams....Team Jamison and Team Peter. The battle got off to a good start.....slicing and dicing. 
Jamison prepared a coconut chicken soup with peas, carrots and oyster crackers. He is also assisted but the dark side....a Darth Vadar apron and flipper. 
Peter sped through the main course and was ready for dessert. 
A side-by-side comparison of main courses.
For the main course Peter chose hamburgers with provalone, lettuce pepperoni and oyster crackers. For dessert he went family style with icecream sprinkles, hersey kisses, M&M, skittles and oyster crackers. Pat commented that the ooyster crackers did actually taste good with the icecream, the good mixture of salty and sweet. The skittles however would crack a tooth if you were not careful.
Jamison seemed to share the same inspiration and went family style for dessert also. The judging categories are-Taste, Originality, Plating and a new 4th category of cleanliness. It was a super close battle. 
And the winner is...... Jamison, with 90pts. Peter had 86 pts.
The boys were tied for cleanliness, plating and taste, but Jamison edged Peter out with originality. What a close battle! Maybe it was the dark side that helped Jamison in the long run?
One more package arrived in the mail, from Lily and Lucy! Robots. We are all very excited! Jamison's was made out of a beer can which Pat was happy to help out in the raw materials department. 
Peters has some serious gears that needed a little extra sodering but we got up and running! Thanks Lily and Lucy. 
Wini has been having a hard time following the rules of the house.....no dogs on couches. She feels that if there is a blanket on the couch that that is an invitation to bury herself in them. So, no blankets on the couch. That means this is where she goes. I would like to think that a nice dog bed would remedy this but sadly I know that it wont. Darn old dog!
He has earned his white/yellow belt and I have never seen him more proud and excited. 
Mr Tracey tested for all of the needed skills and then had the kids demonstrate their skills. (video of the mountianeers sweep and muay thai punch combinations below). 
"Jamison has demonstrated a black belt attitude, a real can do attitude." says Mr Tracey. 
and now he cant wait to put the belt on! He was glowing from ear to ear! Great work Jamison!
I like manipulating food into fun things. I have to say they dont look as good as the picture on the website, so I can say my career in food styling will be a short one. They were still a hit with the first graders and their teachers. 
Even cats love christmas. This is Indy's favorite hang out. I think he is on the look out for the man in red.
Pat was so kind to let me and MA head out to NYC for a big weekend. Only goal for the weekend......
see Matt Lauer. And we did. We also got on TV, i was so proud. 
Can you see us? We are the two people to the right of the screen. I am so proud. We didnt get to chat with any of the hosts, but we didnt have a silly sign. We tried to get on the Jimmy Fallon show but they did not take as many standby as we had hoped. I hear the show was not that funny and Maroon 5 played off key. (ok i dont know that but that is what we are telling ourselves to make us feel better)
The rest of the time we checked out all the super cool stores, markets and christmas displays. This is the big piano from the Tom Hanks Movie "Big" at FAO Shwartz. 
I had to hit the NBA store for Peter....look how tall these guys are! I am ready to take them on! We also ate at fantastic restaurants and none of them had a kids menu! 
I love how NewYorkers park! 
I made Katie pick out a christmas tree. I wanted to see someone carry a tree down the road with light snow falling from the sky. Unfortunately (or fortunatley for us) all the snow was falling in the midwest so I had to settle for just the tree. Katie was so excited to have a real tree!
The trip was great! Time away, good food and drinks and I finished my holiday shopping! Thanks KT for letting us stay and for showing us around town! And thanks MA for coming with me!
Pat spotted a Wookie, i guess they are packer fans! 
We told Peter this in hopes that he would change his mind and start cheering on the pack...instead of that other team. Peter loves StarWars, and if wookies are packer fans then he should too. I am all for peer pressure. Have to prepare him for middle school.
Jamison has been getting some great excersize at his martial arts class. We told him if he is doing all of his crunches he is going to have six-pack-abs like his teacher Mr Tracey. So after dinner he says......"mom, can you see my 'six something?" 
I am still trying to get our cute holiday photo, but have had no luck. (not sure why blogger flipped this photo, it was suppose to be horizontal) This is the best one so far. Peter was really mad....but if you use your imagination he could be squinting in the sun.....i am not convinced.
Pat's received a birthday present from Heike. It is always fun to try new things. This year was some tasty sweets and these little bottles of interesting booze. Pat described is as a cross between goldslagger and Jagermister. He had a cold, so he thought it would help him sleep and get better, and it did.
Jamison's friend Austin is already questioning whether or not santa exists, I knew there would be bad influences at school. "Mom, have you even seen the sleigh and "reindeer" (he uses the quotation marks like reindeer antlers). I responded that I have seen some questionable lights in the sky, I have seen reindeer (caribou) and they make a fantastic coffee and how else could you explain the presents under the tree? After a long discussion he is now convinced that Santa lives in outer space on a snowy rock and comes down in a rocket. His beard provides the oxygen that he needs. How else could he make it to everyones house in one night. 
Only time will tell. They look innocent.....dont let that fool you. 
I tried to get the holiday photo...a creative shot with the freshly fallen snow and snow angels...and there were tears and protests. Man, if Santa saw them now there is no way they would even get the underware!