Christmas 2014

We had a lot of fun this Christmas! Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

Nick took the boys to Costco after dropping Uncle Evan and Kelsey off at the airport. Oliver picked out these flowers as a Christmas present for me :)

We made and decorated gingerbread cookies. Elliott decorated two, one that he put his entire bowl of frosting on, and the other that he dumped his bowl of sprinkles on :)

We also made reindeer food of oats and glitter to sprinkle on the front lawn for the reindeer to eat when they arrive with Santa.

We walked up to Olympic Manor to look at all the Christmas lights. This was the candy cane house.

We ended the night watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (the original 60's version) and drinking hot chocolate in Santa mugs.

And leaving a snack of fruit and gingerbread cookies for Santa.

The kids were up early (6ish) on Christmas morning and we let them open their stockings as soon as we made it downstairs. Oliver was eager to try his candy cane.

 

And they both loved their stocking toppers, the Abominable Snow Monster for Elliott and Olaf from Frozen for Oliver. Penny also enjoyed a few presents!

 

 

Jim and Cynthia came over later for brunch and more presents. Oliver received a 1/8 size violin from Santa and he and Elliott gave a concert for everyone.

 

After (early) naps, we headed down to the beach at Golden Gardens to get some fresh air and enjoy the beautiful day.

And we took a few selfies :)

family photo including Penny!

For dinner we went over to our friend's house and took this picture by their tree. It was a wonderful day!

Oliver's trip around the sun

At Oliver's preschool each child gets to have a special day once a year, which usually falls near their birthday. For their special day they get to walk around a sun, while holding an earth, passing the twelve months until they land on their birthday month each round. Each round represents a year that the child turns, starting at 0, going until their current age. At each age, the teacher holds up a photo of the child and reads a brief description. Oliver was so excited for his special day this week, and this year Oliver picked out the photos himself. I found it interesting to see his choices.

At the end of class, they child gets to select a book to be read to the class and also gets to bring something special for show and tell. Oliver chose a scrapbook that he and my mom recently put together of all of his sewing projects. It was adorable to watch him flip through the pages, pausing in front of each group of kids sitting in the circle. He is so proud of his book!

walking around the sun

sharing his sewing book

Here's a short clip of his walk around the sun! (I wish I had recorded the whole thing)

Finally, in order, here are the pictures Oliver picked out to share with his class:

pumpkin patch, 2014

We took our annual trip to Bob's Corn Farm and Pumpkin Patch last Sunday to finish off Oliver's birthday weekend. This was our fourth year! The weather was warm and the boys had a blast. Elliott was so excited that he was running for any pumpkin in sight. They rode the cow train by themselves for the first time and Oliver surprised us by being able to push the full size wheelbarrow by himself. They are now waiting anxiously for next weekend to come so they can carve the pumpkins we picked out.

climbing party

For Oliver's birthday party (with friends) this year he decided that he wanted to go rock climbing with his best friend and neighbor, Charley, and Elliott. I couldn't say no to this low key party idea :) He selected the snacks and the kids fueled up before heading down to the ropes. They climbed for a bit together, hit the bouldering wall and then finished up with brownies and presents. It was the perfect party for Oliver and you can see how happy he is in the pictures (and how much he adores Charley). This was the last of three days of celebrating his 5th birthday. He was one partied out boy by the end of the weekend.

my favorite picture from the party!