Its beginning to look a lot like christmas....

Well, the snow came and it came and it came! There was somewhere between 15-17inches. The snow blower started and worked! Always something I wonder about each and every time it snows.Schools were cancelled, business closed except for LandsEnd!. There was not enough cashmere in the world to get me to drive the 25 miles. Sorry if your orders are delayed. The boys NEEDED to get outside and play. They proceeded to dig tunnels all through the front yard like small rodents. We did spend plenty of time out side and slidding down the neighbors sledding hill. They even went off the jump. I wonder who is going to get the first broken limb of the year. On another note, i had to email St. Nick and ask if he could come to the house the next weekend...he said "no prob" by the way. I over heard Peter telling Jamison "If the stocking is chubby then St. Nick came, if it is flat then he didnt. Well to his surprise they were chubby. Jamison then declared that St. Nick is crazy because they were not at all good to get what they got in their stocking. I assured him that even though they have been little snitzels lately they look at your performance all year round. He was not convinced. Maybe he should fill a stocking with coal or even worse....underware. I tried to get the "in front of the tree" picture but Jamison was a crabcake. Daddy set up the video camera on the new computer so the boys can talk to grandparents. Jamison thought it was cool...Peter was grumpy.

Weekend with the ladies

We headed up to River Falls for the weekend to visit the ladies. The morning started with pancakes and bacon...hey Jamison...it is polite to chew with the your mouth closed.
the boys dont go very far from dad now-a-days. You might miss some Mario time.

Shelby set up her own tatoo parlor, it is a hot-happening place for the 4-5yo scene
The grownups spent some time looking at various blogs...some of them were a little alarming! Just remember to take a look at what you are wearing before you head out to Walmart.

We made some christmas cookies!
Lucy pondered the meaning of life
And then we opened presents. The girls picked out the most awesome transformer remote control cars. The boys have been playing with them non-stop!
We gave the girls some outfits from India. I could not pass them up. I am so glad we are good friends with some little girls, otherwise I might be dressing the boys up in these.
Then the cookies were ready to decorate!
Lucy wanted to make sure that all the sprinkles were cleaned up. She even used the most dangerous weapon...her tongue!
Then we took in a holiday classic, The Grinch who stole christmas...the real one not the one with Jim Carrey
This is a good sign we had an awesom weekend-and we got to engage the hyperdrive!
Thanks Lily and Lucy for a GREAT weekend!

Tday and holiday preparations

I know, I have been a bad blogger. We were out of town for the holiday and I have been working everyday (whine, wimper) and by the time we get the boys to bed I pass out on the couch. Excuses, i know, but I have some pictures to make it up. Pat and Jamison in a tree stand...not hunting, just taking in the sites and talking about how they would like to convert this to a tree house next spring.

I was responsible for the Thanksgiving day stuffing and Peter was was my souxchef. Just like Jamison, he had to sample the ingredients as we added them. (see the full cheeks) The stuffing turned out great and will be added to my repertoire of recipes. It even had cranberries and Pat still liked it. (he picked the cranberries out but it did not taint his view of it!) On a side note...dont take pictures of your kids when they have a reflective shirt on, you wont get a good photo.

Nothing cuter than a boy and a dog! (although it is hard to see). Peter wishes that Wini would be that loving...she is only if you have food on your face that needs some cleaning.We went to the Eagle River Childrens Museum...he is Jamison trying to get away from me and the camera.It was Pat's birthday over the weekend also. We made him a lemon bundt cake and I insisted that we put all 37 candles on it. Jamison can count that high! We thought we needed the fire extinguisher....it sure did give off some heat. He blew them all out! good thing he does not have any girlfriendsPat and the boys have been playing video games together (the "E" is for everyone-ones, NOT the shooter ones) so the boys wanted to give Pat a couple new ones to play together. We also got out the game cube and revived Super Monkey Ball, the boys totally got into it. It was fun to watch them lean in the direction that they wanted their monkey to go.

The weekend did not go by with out some excitement. I tested how sharp Don's knives were by slicing it through my finger, requiring 3 stitches (I will save you'all from the picture) and Jill to top me with a small explosion in the oven. No major medical treatment necessary, just some ice water, burn cream and some open windows. Lets just say Jill will not need a haircut for a while.

We are on the hunt for our new favorite christmas tree farm. After doing a little research, we did not want to spend the $50+ that they want in this area for a tree. A while ago we were joking that we could use the trees in the front as christmas trees...as I would like to put some flowering trees in that corner of the yard. So, no time better than now....we picked one of the trees on the side of the yard and cut it down! I feel a little redneck but if we plan on planting something different they need to go. We decided that we are going to groom a couple of the other ones for the next couple years. It is amazing how big things are when you actually get them in the house!. We ended up giving the tree a "haircut" in the back so we can push it close to the wall. The thing is HUGE. We even found 2 birds nests in the tree while we were decorating it. (Jamison is bringing them to his show and tell)

Once the boys get haircuts we will be working on getting that holiday picture in front of the tree. (I tried to get a good one here, got one pretty cute one. These are the outtakes) I gave Pat one...and now I am inspired to do two more heads! I think we are going to go with "mop-tops" or as Jamison called it...."brush-brooms". Peter does not want to cut the top of his hair...as he is working on a killer mohawk for next summer.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone(belated)!

Weekend with the Moore Family

We invited the Moore family down for a weekend. The boys loved hanging out with each other over the summer when we went camping we had to get them together again! We took the gang out to Blue Mounds for a nature hike...the boys loved climbing on the rocks! But we needed to take frequent rests on the benches...we hoped that they would take good naps....and it worked! they did! Here is Jamison pretending to be a three-toed sloth and Issac is a possum. Cutest possum I have ever seen!

The naps were also a condition of the very anticipated "sleepover". 4 boys in one room for bed time, you think anyone will get any sleep? A super cool fort was built by me and Megan followed by some shadow puppets. The boys did pretty good, we even have proof!

The morning after! everyone is happy! The grown ups had a great time, the boys could play and we could catchup and drink beer!Thanks Moore's for a wonderful weekend! Cant wait to see you again. random picts-The boys just learned how to eat oranges wedge -style....and we had to get the orange smile photo!Peter would not do it, of course..he wont do anything you ask but this photo will be equally embarrassing when he is a teenager.

Like father like sons

Pat surprised the boys with a free version of a painting software that the boys have at school and now they are hooked. Pat even modified the Mac so the boys have their own log in and everything. They are hooked. I should have known, they do have the Cullen Y chromosome.
Now Pat is talking about getting the game cube and the xbox out to get the boys hooked on games...(as Peter would say) "oh shesh!"Pat also treated the family to an early christmas present...a new laptop. He says it is mine...but i am not totally comvinced. He is already saying that he is jealous of it....and I am already frustrated with Windows 7. I think I should never go back to work if I have to relearn opperating systems. I had to break the boys fingers away from the computer for a nice walk in the woods....I keep telling myself that we dont have many more nice days!

Done mourning

So I am done mourning the packer loss to the vikings, not only once but twice this season.Lambeau was crazy, I have never heard so many "boos" in one place. I felt a little bad for Favre, but just a little. What can he expect. In a town that adored him like a saint...and then he comes into town in purple. The second best part of the game was the 4 F-16 fly by. They are pretty cool! The best thing was #41 making a touchdown in our endzone and doing the Lambeau leap a couple arms length reach away. You can even see me and my baby brother on tv, minute 2:27 if you still have it Tivo'ed. (and we werent wiping our nose like our older brother was when he was on tv!).Photo documentation of the sad loss.....i cant say anymore. Ok, one more thing....check out the insane press mob after the game. Can you quess who is in the middle?
On a different note....Peter has made a real friend with Bosco...he was even keeping Peter's stinky feet warm. That is a real friend.! Bosco gets to go home tomorrow. The boys thought if they would paint Wini and bring her to Grace's house we could trick them into thinking that Wini was Bosco and we could keep Bosco for ever. I dont think we could convince her that Wini was Bosco....the boys were stumped how they could make Wini taller and younger. Dont we all want to be taller and younger!

Today's Boy-ism lesson

tater-toteling (verb), to rat on your brother.
Mom interpretation= tattle-tailing

gerbil warning (n), a warning Miss Casper frequently gives Jamison when he talks out of turn
Mom interpretation- verbal warning