Ho! Ho! Ho! It's Santa Claus!

Today we visited Santa Claus at Bass Pro Shop.  The boys weren't shy!

And thus the love affair with all things Disney begins...

Last night, we took the boys to see Disney on Ice.  This was their first time going to any type of show like this.  They didn't really have any idea of what to expect or what we were talking about when we told them they were going to Disney on Ice.  We told them about how lots of the Disney characters would be ice skating.  They could understand the ice skating part since we had just taken them ice skating for the first time a few weeks ago.  I was bummed that I didn't take my camera.  But the website said only small cameras would be allowed.  So I had to rely on my iPhone camera instead.  Oh well, at least it is documented.

Fenn stood up a good bit of the time.  He smiled a lot.  He danced a good bit.  And he told us the names of lots of the characters and even told us some of the storylines.  He is more familiar with Disney stuff because we have been reading a set of the Classic Disney books given to us by Grandma for a while now.

Boone sat in my lap the whole time and stared in amazement at the activity on the ice.  He didn't really smile.  He didn't really talk.  He just watched and occasionally looked back at me.  If the skaters moved to an area of the rink that he couldn't see, he would quickly lean in whatever direction necessary to be able to see.

So our first time to a big show or concert was a success.  The boys had fun.  Mommy and daddy had fun.  And now we'll look forward to that first trip to Disney World... perhaps in Summer of 2013 when Fenn will be 5 1/2 and Boone will be 4.

The Serta Sheep Have Arrived!

Wow!  It's been a really long time since I've done a blog post.  My last post was in early January.  {But, I will be going back and filling in the last 5 1/2 months.  One way or another, I will get it done!}  Anyway, life has been extra busy for us since January.  My job got eliminated at the beginning of January, so I have been out of work since then.  You'd think that would give me MORE time to work on my blog.  But instead, I've been busier with stuff around the house.  Plus, to cut back on childcare expenses, the boys now only go to school 3 days a week.  And they only go from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  So needless to say, I've been kind of busy with them.  And on the days they're at school, the time I have to get things done during the day is limited.

Last week was an even crazier week than normal.  A big storm (apparently not a tornado) came through and knocked out our power around 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday night.  When we saw the strong winds and how all the trees were bent over sideways, we grabbed the kids (still awake) out of their rooms and headed to the basement.  The storm passed quickly and we were able to go back upstairs.  We made it through the night, but awoke to a house that still didn't have power.  I spent most of the day tracking down dry ice and buying regular ice to pack into coolers and our 2 refrigerators.

Fast forward to Friday morning, we were still without power.  Another storm had come through the area on Thursday night, and this time the power was out at Dan's office.  So he left work and headed to the nearest home improvement store to purchase a generator.  Well worth the money... even though we really didn't want to spend it on a generator.  But we'll be prepared for future power outages.  It made Friday night so much more bearable because we could watch tv, run a fan, plug in some lamps, and also plug in the gas cooktop to cook.

That afternoon, we received a package in the mail from a childhood friend of mine.  He recently purchased a mattress store and sells Serta mattresses.  He's one of those people I look forward to seeing what he posts on Facebook because he is so darned funny.  So we had been communicating some on Facebook and he said he would send the boys a Serta sheep.  The boys were excited to get them!  It was perfect timing.  They had just had a nice warm bath thanks to our generator.  {The first one since Tuesday night before the power outage.}  And they were ready to go to bed.  Thanks, John!

The power was restored late afternoon on Saturday and things are starting to get back to normal around here.  Well, except for the fact that I'm way behind on laundry.  I'm going to work really hard to fit in some time to catch up this blog.  It may take me a couple of months, but somehow I'll get it done.  Keep checking back for January through June blog posts!

Boone Pee Pees on the Big Boy Potty for the 1st Time

Yesterday evening, Boone actually peed while sitting on the big boy potty.  Of course, he doesn't have a whole lot he can point down (if you know what I mean).  So instead, it shot straight out, with a slight arc, and hit the wall in front of him.  I actually tried to stop it with my hands without much success.  Anyway, he's been showing some interest in the potty, such as wanting to sit on it.  But we know he's not really ready to officially start potty training.  This was more of a fluke.  Hopefully, this summer he'll be ready.

I've Been Working on the Railroad...

Yesterday, we went to the Holiday Express at UT Gardens.  It is an amazing display of hobby trains.  And the boys loved it.  I didn't get very many good pictures because it was really crowded and the boys kept running around from place to place and wouldn't stay still.

Love this photo of Fenn.  Such a cutie pie face.  I took it on our way to UT Gardens.

And then here's our other cutie pie, Boone.

Fenn watching the trains go by.

Boone was mesmerized by all the trains going in different directions on different tracks.

This is about the best shot they would let me get of the two of them together with part of the display in the background.  It was twice the size of what you see behind them.

They even got to experience what it's like to work one of those old manual push cars.

That Bandit Church

Tonight when we mentioned going to church tomorrow, Fenn said he wanted to go to that 'bandit' church again.

Let me explain.  We are members of a very large church here in Knoxville with both traditional and contemporary services on Sunday mornings.  We normally go to the traditional service and the boys go to children's church.  The contemporary services are held across the street in another building.  On Christmas Eve, our church was offering candlelight services at 3:00, 5:00, 7:00, and 9:00.  The only time that works for us is 3:00 p.m. so we can go to the service, then go to an early dinner for mexican, and still get the boys to bed at their normal times.  But that service was a contemporary service in the other building.  As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, Fenn said, "This is the wrong place.  We need to go to that other building across the street."  So we explained to him why we were going to a different place, but that it was still the same church.  And then we proceeded to go inside for the service.

Well, needless to say, it made quite an impression on Fenn.  He loved the singers.  He loved the band.  Hence... that "bandit church".  And we told him we would try the contemporary service very soon.

Happy New Year!

Snow Angels

I tried to get a cute photo of both boys side-by-side making snow angels.  As usual, they wouldn't cooperate.  This is the best I could do.  Boone wouldn't look at me.  He kept looking to the side and closing his eyes.  And Fenn kept moving from one spot to another all over the yard making more snow angels.  Anyway, here's a couple more photos from the day after Christmas.

Christmas Fun in the Snow

On Christmas morning, we woke up to a light dusting of snow on the ground.  And then it snowed pretty much all day on Christmas, but with very little accumulation.  But on the day after Christmas, we woke up to a couple of inches of snow!  Yay!  Time to get out and play!  To keep in simple, we just pulled the boys' snow suits on over their pajamans, put on an extra pair of socks, added their snow boots and big coats, and then their new hats and snow mittens.  This time their hands were going to stay warm and dry.  And now that we've used the snow suits twice in December, I'm so happy I went ahead and purchased them last summer.  I found them for $8 each at a consignment sale and debated about whether it was worth spending $16 on something they may only get to wear once this year.  I think we've already gotten our money's worth in fun!

I just like the first picture up there because they were coming toward me with snow and then bumped into each other.

It's even fun to swing in the snow.  For some reason, Fenn likes the 'baby' swing.  I think it is because it is higher off the ground and he thinks it is really a big boy swing.

Fenn decided to pull Boone around on the sled.  And he did a great job.  He's strong, like bull!

And Fenn thinks it is hilarious to tackle Boone in the snow.  But Boone doesn't seem to mind... most of the time.

Having fun tackling daddy in the snow.

Just a Little More Christmas Magic

We finished out the day with a nice Christmas dinner and some family time.  And here are a few more pictures from the afternoon.

A great photo with Grami and Poppy.  Why won't they do this with us?

Not sure if they were actually hanging an ornament on the tree or plotting to pull ornaments off of the tree and throw them across the room.  It's a sweet photo, though.

I realized I didn't really have many photos of me with Petey.  I have lots of photos of him by himself or with Cole and Asha, though.

At least Boone would let me get a photo of him by the Christmas tree.  No chance of getting Fenn to do this.

Brotherly love.  Actually, they were wrestling... one of their favorite things to do now that Boone can hold his own against Fenn.

Good night and Merry Christmas! 

Time to Paint a Masterpiece!

Grandma and Grandad gave the boys an art easel and some art supplies, including the fun striped smocks they're wearing.  After opening all the other presents and eating breakfast, we let the boys do a little painting before nap time.  We limited it to 2 colors, chosen by Fenn.  He chose blue and green.  Fenn's technique involves really broad strokes across the whole page.  While Boone's technique is a little more concentrated on a small area.  Boone also enjoyed sucking the paint off the paint brush... as evidenced by the green paint on his lips, under his nose, and as we later found out, UP his nose.  As you could probably guess, mommy and daddy stood close by in the event of flying paint, considering the fact we were letting them paint in the family room. 

Crack of Dawn on Christmas Morning

Since we didn't get to bed until around 2:30 a.m., we were really hoping for one of those rare mornings when the boys sleep late.  Late for them would be 6:30... and really late would be 7:00.  But that didn't happen.  Boone was up first between 5:30 and 6:00.  After putting him in the bed with us and then figuring out he was not going back to sleep, I decided to get up and get prepared for the onslaught of chaos in the dining room.  (That's where we have to put our tree because there's no room in the family room without removing a major piece of furniture).  About the time I got up around 6:00, I heard Fenn calling for us.  So I got Fenn, took him to go potty, and then took him back to our room so Dan could keep both boys locked up while I got things ready.  The 'things' would be the video camera and camera.

Around 6:30 a.m., the boys had lost patience and I was finally ready.  {Note for future reference... I just noticed the time stamp on all my pictures is an hour later than it actually was.  I have now corrected that on my camera.}

Fenn tearing out of our room at about 100 mph.

Boone following close behind... with his beloved paci.  Time to start working on getting rid of it.  He only has it during naps and at bedtime; however, we forgot to take it away from him when he got up, so he has it in all of the Christmas morning photos.

One of Fenn's favorite toys was his Star Wars Light Saber.

And one of Boone's favorite toys was the plasma car.  That's Grami showing him how it works.

This one is just to prove that I do indeed exist and occasionally relinquish control of the camera.

And about the best photo I could manage of the boys in their Christmas pajamas.  They're not looking at me, but I like that they're in the rocking chairs their Aunt Angie and Uncle Todd gave them.  Definitely an heirloom they'll keep forever and hopefully their kids will sit in them someday.  And I hope I am still around to see it.

I'll do another post with photos from the rest of the day later.  Time for breakfast!

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve.  The boys are finally asleep.  And Dan and I are up late getting ready for Santa Claus to arrive.  This is the first year that Fenn really seems to know what's going on, and he has been so excited.  The main thing he's been talking about for weeks is the light saber he wants.  Both boys have had a great time looking for Jet Pilot (our Elf on the Shelf) each morning.

Grami and Poppy arrived yesterday afternoon.  And this afternoon, we went to the 3:00 p.m. Christmas Eve service at our church.  Afterward, we were off to continue the Piper family tradition of eating mexican on Christmas Eve.  We've been going to the same place since we moved to Knoxville, partly because we really do like it and partly because it's the only mexican restaurant we've been able to find that stays open on Christmas Eve.

Boone was flirting with some ladies at a table behind him.  Part of his flirting involved dancing to the fun music.

Fenn decided to get up and entertain the whole restaurant.  As you can tell, there weren't very many people there.  But the ones who were there thoroughly enjoyed watching Fenn and Boone.

And here are the cookies for Santa.  Fenn and Boone made the cookies with their daddy last night.  We made the plate last year.  The antlers of the reindeer are Fenn's hands.  And the face of the reindeer is one of Boone's tiny little feet.

Hopefully we'll be going to bed soon.

Here Comes Santa Claus...

Santa Claus visited the boys at school yesterday.  He read them a story, and then they got some one-on-one time with him to tell him what they wanted for Christmas.  The picture tells the whole story.  Fenn was completely happy about getting to talk with Santa.  Boone wasn't really sure about him.  But at least he didn't cry.

When I got to school to pick up the boys that afternoon, Fenn walked up to me with tears in his eyes and the saddest look on his face.  He said, "Santa didn't give me the light saber."  Apparently, he was under the impression that it was Christmas and Santa would be bringing all the toys with him that day.  I had to do some explaining at that point.

The teachers also told me a cute story about Boone and his girlfriend, Kinsley.  Apparently, she was upset when meeting Santa, so they went to get Boone thinking he might help.  Instead, Boone got upset when he saw how upset Kinsley was.  And he had already met Santa earlier and was fine.  Ahh.... it must be true love.  He gets upset when she's upset.  They really are so cute together.

When we were walking out the front doors of the school, Fenn asked, "Where is Santa's sleigh and reindeers?"  I told him he must have parked them up on the roof of the school somewhere that we couldn't see.

We are so happy that Santa came to visit Fenn and Boone's school.  He saved us from having to stand in line at the mall for most likely an hour or more.  Thank you, Santa!  Oh, and don't forget the light sabers!

Soccer at Cool Sports

We did another session of soccer at Cool Sports.  They have this great 5-week class for 2 - 5 year olds.  It is a great introduction to organized sports and the basics of soccer, like "no hands in soccer".  Fenn has a good time with his daddy, and it is even better because his friend, Ella Kate, is there, too.  Last night was the last class of the session.

Can't leave Boone out.  He's not quite old enough yet, but he will be next summer.  He loves running around on the field and watching his big brother.

Goooooo Soccer!

Ella Kate and Fenn with their completion certificates.