Christmas Morning For The Lakes

I never really cared for Christmas. I guess I always felt exempt, in a way, from the insanity of it all: shopping, santas, the music, and only one big presents day instead of eight. But now that we have the guys I kind of loved Christmas. Everyone was very sweet and thoughtful with their gifts to them. Gramps made them wooden toys and made donations to their college fund, Grandma Carol got them awesome toys (a baby playtable and a dinosaur ball-pit!), Auntie E got them a box full of great toys (Haba wooden teethers, a pig whose butt rattles when you pull his tail, and other awesome toys), Gramma Ellin sent great books and dinosaur socks, Grampa Len sent a donation to their college fund, and I could go on and on. It is way more fun to get presents for the boys then for ourselves. So thanks everyone. The boys are loving their stuff and I finally enjoyed Christmas!

The guys opening their box from Auntie E.The box that Grandma Carol's presents came in was ALMOST as much fun as the presents themselves.

More fun with the box that the toys came in. Actually, this shot was more fun for me than it was for Levi.

Levi in another box. Why do I keep doing this to him?

Levi, finally having a blast, in the dinosaur ball pit.

I'm Walkin'. Yes Indeed, I'm Walkin'

Levi is walking using Gramma present (an awesome playtable) as a walker. Yay Levi!

Nondenominational St. Nick!

He was the greatest nondenominational St. Nick! His beard is real. We know this because Levi pulled on it nearly the whole time. He is such a cynic.

Fa la la la la la la la... latkes.

It is a strange first Chanukah. We're had an epic snowstorm here in Seattle this week and had something like a foot of snow on our block. People are skiing past our house. Even for this Chicagoan it is a little much. Benny and KJ were supposed to arrive tonight and we were supposed to start our road trip tomorrow. But since the airport is a disaster zone and all the flights are cancelled the trip is postponed until Tuesday. Earliest. Fingers crossed.
In the meanwhile, we only have enough candles for 6 days of Chanukah! Can we make the candles last all 8 days? Will we have a Chanukah miracle? Wait and see.
The boys tear into Gramma Ellin and Grampa Michael's awesome presents. The tissue paper was nearly as much fun as the books!

Fun fact: dinosaurs, made by Gramps, are both tasty and delicious.

Let It Snow

Little Boys - Big Store

Estate Sale Wisdom

How could we possibly survive the coming years without this little gem of a pamphlet printed in 1946 by Bethany Press in St. Louis? It looks like PerfectMom (tm) has boy/girl twins! I'm sure it'll have loads of handy advice.

I can't wait to tell this story to the guys... They'll want to hear it over and over again!

Snow Day!

We had the one day of Seattle snow today! The guys didn't really seem to get it... but we had a lot of fun anyway. And we made a new friend down the street.

MMMmmmm.... Toes....

What? You never saw a guy eating his brother's toes before?

We Are (Were) Ten Months Old Today (Yesterday)

Wow. Can you believe that guys are T E N months old now? Lately they've been up to all kinds of exciting shenanigans. For instance, Levi is almost cruising all by himself. They are playing together more and more ... or maybe they are just stealing each other's toys... hard to tell. They just love their solid food and have had their first restaurant meal - macaroni and cheese at the Red Door in Fremont. Breakfast is their favorite meal. Books are utterly fascinating; they love to hear them AND eat them. Ms. Spider's New Car is their current favorite. And, last but certainly not least, they are sleeping through the night nearly every night - next step is to put them back in the same room and see if this continues.

Levi in blue and Milo in grey ponder the months ahead

Zoo Time!

We had a zoo day today. And the boys were WAY happier to be at the zoo than it looks. Trust me.

Farmer Levi was working the soybean fields and had time to pose for one photo.

Ok, actually two photos.

Farmer Milo was not as excited to get started on the plow-work as his brother. He wanted to go back and look at the tiny horses we'd just seen.
Special note to Gramma Char: The guys love their sweaters and they were toasty and warm in the hat and sweaters you made them!

Post Holiday Cute

I have a ton of photos to post from Thanksgiving, and I'll have even more once Dad sends me his. But in the meanwhile I know you are probably suffering a cute-withdrawal. Here is a little dose of cute to get you through the day.

Milo was taken by a surprise attack of the pillow monster

Levi misses everyone