The Trans Siberian Orchestra

Vince loves the Trans Siberian Orchestra, so we knew early on this year that we had to go again.  We talked about taking Dominic this year, but then remembered that he is 2 and a 2 1/2 hour show would be too much for him.  We asked Uncle Chris to watch him and he was happy to do it.  They had a great time together.  The three of us really enjoyed the show this year too.  They are a very talented group of people and put on a great show.  I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Decorating the tree and another project :)

We decorated the tree right after Thanksgiving this year, just like we have the last couple of years.  We have a fake tree so it is easy for us get the tree.  We have talked about getting a real tree, but for now with little kids and sometimes leaving for at least 5 nights during the holidays, the fake tree just makes the most sense.  Vince had an EEG in December too and with that he is at the age where he has to stay up until midnight the night before and wake up at 5 in the morning the next day.  They do this to be sure he will fall asleep during the test because they want to see the brain waves while both asleep and awake.  With that being said, we knew we had to do some fun things so all of us would be able to stay awake.  We decided to make cookies and do a project - a little Christmas tree with beads hot glued on it.  We put Dominic to sleep like normal and then made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies.  They turned out really good.  The project we decided to save until the next day because it was getting a little late to start it and we wanted Dominic to help.  Everything went fine with the EEG and Vince did great.  Vince has also had a few more appointments this month and everything is going well.  In the last 6 months he has grown almost 2 inches and he gained 4 pounds.  He is still under the 5% mark for height, but improved, and he was at the 8th percentile for weight.  His urologist was also pleased with everything.  We also went to the Spina Bifida Christmas party this year and it was great!  The boys both saw Santa, but had no interest in sitting on his lap, so maybe next year we will get one with them on his lap.

 Daddy's little helpers

 The Christmas party was at a country club in Grand Rapids and it was beautiful!

 Both boys wanted to wear ties

 Vince and Santa

 Dominic and Santa

 They got candy canes and

 cool trucks

 Making the little Christmas trees

 Vince and his finished project

 At work I had an ugly shirt/sweater day

Thanksgiving

This year our plan was to go to Rogers City for Thanksgiving and we were all packed up and ready to go on Wednesday morning after pre-school.  The boys both slept all night, which seems to be rare now days, so we figured it would be good.  When Vince woke up however he was very hot and did not feel good.  We had to break the news to the boys that we could not go to pre-school or up north. They were pretty sad, but we made the right call.  Vince's fever ended up hitting 105.  He was taking a nap and his tylenol ran out during the nap, so it spiked up that high.  Once we figured it out, we were able to give him more tylenol, put cold cloths on him, and put minimal clothing on him.  It came down to a little more comfortable temperature pretty fast.  It took him a few days to feel back to normal, so we just rested a lot that whole weekend.  Because we were going to go up north we did not have any food for Thanksgiving, so Nick went out Thursday morning and got some stuff.  We had green beans, mashed potatoes, box stuffing (one of my favorites), apple and coconut pie, and a little turkey breast.  It ended up being very nice.  We have not had 5 days off at home in a row in a very long time with no plans.  It would have been nice to see everyone, but it all worked out just fine.

 We decided to do a Thanksgiving project - turkey hand prints

 They boys did great with paint and were very good!

 Nick was cooking while we did our project

 Our Turkey

 Stuffing and gravy

 Good dinner!

 Our finished turkey hand prints

 Pie!

 This is the way your eat whipped cream

 

Birthday's

Nick and I celebrated 35 and 31 this year.  Between all of the Halloween candy, cake, and brownies the boys had a very sugary week!  They were getting a little too used to the sweets, so it was good when all of the celebration came to an end, but we did have a nice time for our birthday's.  Nick and I opted out of presents this year so we could buy a generator.  We are getting pretty boring, but it will be the gift that keeps giving if the power goes out!  We have lost power every year since we have been in this house for at least one day and last year it was for three days, so it is something we think we will get some good use out of.  If the power never goes out again, I would be ok with that too.

 Party Party

 31

 They were good helpers

 35

 Playing with their hats, silly boys

 We found these shirts at Meijer and the boys love them.  

The week before Thanksgiving we had some snow and we did get to play out in it.  Luckily we had school all of the days that week!  I do not want 15 snow days again!

Wee Ones, Halloween, and Bones

This year we had a great Halloween.  The boys, especially Dominic, was very excited to get candy this year.  The weather was pretty cold and it was snowing a little, so we were glad they are still little and did not have to go to every house!  When we got home we allowed them to sit in the living room and eat some candy.  That was also a pretty big treat because we do not eat food on the carpet.  We also went to pre-school for a day with Vince.  Dominic was really excited to go!  Another exciting thing happened at Amy and Eric's house this fall, they found the bones of a Woolly Mammoth.  They were digging a new pond and found it.  They had a professor from U of M come and look at the bones and he was pretty excited.  He said that in Michigan they have found 300 of them.  The boys have enjoyed watching the digging process and have even helped some.

 Circle time at Wee Ones

 Super Man and a Construction worker

 It was chilly

 We have gone with our neighbors the last three years and always have a good time.

 Eating Candy in the living room 

 The bones!  The ones that are as big as Vince are the hip bones.  It is hard to even imagine how big these animals were when they roamed the earth.