Santa Claus is Coming to Town

It is that time of year ...

We made our annual trek to the Christmas Tree Farm to chop down our tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving and we splurged on new outside lights and decorations, which the boys helped assemble and install. They were both very excited to decorate the house and the Christmas tree and it put everyone in the Christmas spirit.

The school Christmas Program was a hit and both boys did great in the performances. The performances were followed by their classroom Christmas parties and the last day of school for the year on December 17. There is nothing quite like being at an elementary school that is closing for the Christmas break -- the excitement in the air was palpable!

Yes, Andrew is wearing a PJ top - it was part of his performance!

That same excitement is building at our house and the boys are literally counting down the days until Christmas. Fiddle Sticks, our Elf on the Shelf, has been visiting us daily since Thanksgiving, keeping an eye on the boys and reporting back to Santa every night. The boys race downstairs every morning to see where Fiddle Sticks is hding in plain sight for the day. You can almost see the wheels turning in Andrew's head as he tries to figure out how Fiddle Sticks travels back and forth every night to see Santa and where his magic comes from. For now, he seems to content to believe in the magic, and we hope that continues, as celebrating Christmas with two little boys who believe in the magic of Christmas is well, magical!


No Christmas season would be complete without our annual visit to see Santa Claus at Santa's Wonder Land. We also were planning to drive through their massive light display again this year, but they changed the set up, so now, during "peak times" you have to take a hayride to see the lights. Hayrides are fun when the temps are nice, but are not so fun when it is cold and you aren't dressed for extended time outside (lesson learned from a previous visit), so we skipped the lights this year, but the boys did not seem to even notice (they were too busy running around like mad men).

Santa's Wonderand was busy but the line for Santa was short - granted we got there past 9 pm! The boys were very excited for their visit with Santa and he did not dissapoint. They were in awe of seeing the jolly old elf and shly told Santa what they wanted for Christmas afer taking what may be their best Santa photo yet.

Tyler asked for a glow stick (a last minute minute request that we are not sure where he came up with) and Andrew asked for a DS game. Santa seemed surprised that was all that they asked for, but Mommy had dutifully explained that the boys could each ask for one or two toys, Santa is a busy guy after all. Andrew questioned the number, remembering that Santa always brings them more than one thing, but I told him that Santa likes to bring surprises too.

After their quick conversation, Santa told the boys that they have very good this year and surprised them with a book, It's Christmas David, that they asked for months ago (side note, the David book are all wonderful, especially for little boys who always hear "No!"). In the book, Santa wrote a letter that reads:

Andrew & Tyler,

Fiddle Sticks told me that you have been good little boys this year. I am so proud of you both!

Remember to be kind to each other, listen to your mommy and daddy and help others - Santa's #1 rules.

I know that you both love to read, so enjoy this book about David as you count down the days until Christmas.

Santa Claus, 2010

p.s. I loved the cookies and milk last year and Rudolph enjoyed the carrots - thank you!

The boys were pretty taken aback by the gift and left Santa's workshop still in awe of what had just happened and even more excited about Christmas.

Here is our annual photo and click here to see photos of our past Santa visits. You will notice that we have been visiting the same Santa for 6 years now! Can you believe how big my boys are???

Du the Teddy Bear

Andrew competed in his first race in October and I could not be more proud!

We live near Bear Creek Park and there is an annual duathlon in October called "Du the Bear". I have never raced it because it has yet to align with my race schedule, but the bike shop I frequent is the head lining sponsor and I just happened to see an advertisement for a kids race called "Du the Teddy Bear".

The kids race was supposed to be a half mile run, 2 mile bike ride, and half mile run, but they ended up splitting the race into kids over 8 (they did the original distance) and kids 7 and under, who did a shorter version.

Here are the photos that will do a far better job of telling the story of the race ...

Waiting for the race to start - deer in the head lights anyone? :)

Having fun on Run Part I

Still running
T1 - preping for his ride

On the bike leg ... he actually had a minor crash at the turn around, but he got right back on his bike.
These 3 are my favorites - look at him, finishing strong!
The grin is on his way out ...

Receiving his medal

Andrew with his buddy Jack and his favorite little brother
Showing off his medal

Andrew with his gear

Brothers

Proud Mama

Proud Daddy

Happy "Out of This World" Halloween!

Lake Conroe Getaway

Our wonderful friends, Brandon and Gina, invited us to spend Labor Day weekend at their lake house on Lake Conroe. We had a great time and the boys had a blast.

I have so many more pictures to share from Andrew's birthday and school events, but these will have to suffice for now. I am racing in less than a week and then I promise to get caught up blogging.

Andrew giving the double thumbs up to go faster. After Doug went on the tube, Andrew kept asking to have us go fast like we did for his Daddy!

Family Photo

Daddy with his boys

My guys

Super cool Andrew sporting his shades

Tyler actually fell asleep sitting up in the back of the boat. I moved him to the front and he slept for at least an hour like this ...

I took the opportunity of having a lake backdrop to take Andrew's 6 year old photos - here is a quick preview:

Ruff Ruff

For some reason I cannot understand, my children enjoy pretending to be dogs on occassion. They move around on their hands and knees and will bark and lick to be funny. I don't remember ever doing that as a child, perhaps it is a boy thing?

Well, Saturday morning while I was riding my bike and swimming Andrew was pretending to be a dog. This is the scene as Doug played it back to me:

Andrew and Tyler were playing in the kitchen and Andrew was pretending to be a dog. The boys, well, Tyler and his pet dog, Andrew, were both hungry for breakfast, so Tyler opened the pantry to retrieve Poptarts. At this point, Tyler told his dog to "Sit" and "Down" to get Andrew to sit and lie down.

Tyler took the Poptarts to Doug to ask permission to eat them for breakfast and then asked Daddy to open them. Once open, Tyler took them back to the kitchen and gave Andrew the "Up Up" command to get him up from his current position. Tyler proceeded to give Andrew his Poptart and tell him he was a good dog.

Silly boys.

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?!

The Great American Pasttime

Andrew graduated this summer from playing t-ball to coach pitch baseball -- he's in the big leagues now! The first order of business was buying a new baseball bat. Did you know that baseball bats are pricey - as in $150 pricey?

Despite many rain outs, we had a great time watching Andrew play baseball in July and August. We watched Andrew get his first hit and score his first run. He's a pretty good hitter, when he focuses on it, but he has zero interest in fielding.

Needless to say, the camaraderie among the parents was great and it made the games even more fun. The best part was watching all of the kids improve so much in just a short time.

Do you see the ball?

There are a bit blurry from the crop -- I REALLY need the 70-200 f/2.8 IS Canon lens (hint, hint!) This is Andrew sliding into home plate.

Team Shots