More Christmas fun.

 Luke & I went on a double date with our friends from town.

I still can't believe it...Luke & I went on a date!

And we got a babysitter too.

That is sure a rarity lately.

We met at Grizzly's & we had amazing food.

Then we ventured downtown St. Cloud to the Paramount

to watch White Christmas.

It was so wonderful,

especially since all 4 of us LOVE the old movie.

Our friends came over another day & this is what happened

the whole time.

I guess with 6 boys under the age of 7

you can't ask for anything different!

The free library gingerbread house making event was full this year.

SHOOT!

So I had to improvise

& I was not going to entertain the idea of spending $10 or more

on a premade house or kit.

So instead I let the boys pick out a cake mix & I explained to them

that they can bake their own house to frost, decorate & then eat!

Of course I came up with this idea because I wanted a house to decorate 

& eat too!!! 

It was a win for everyone.

Here's the houses fresh out of the oven

ready for some frosting.

Brock decided to frost his roof & be done with it.

My hungry boy wanted to eat it!

This little one shared a house with me & kept picking off the candies

& eating them faster than I could put them back on!

And Mr. articulate frosted his just so & made sure

there were candy patterns on his roof & things looked perfect

before he dove in!

Brock had his 1st Agape Preschool Christmas concert.

Grandma Yvonne came after work to enjoy the festivities

like she does every year & she even spent the night,

which the boys just loved.

Making crafts before the concert.

Brock told us as we drove into town, "I'm so excited to sing."

His remarks were so promising.

I was so excited to finally have a child who wanted to participate 

& sing his little heart out

(as we know Adler is the last person to sing & stand in front of people).

But then stage fright kicked in

& this is all that happened

during the ENTIRE concert!

I felt bad for my little man, but what can you do but laugh.

What's wrong with my kids?!

His hands actually came down for a moment in between songs.

I think this was the picture I got of him at the end of the concert.

Brock's clapping section for the concert.

This past Sunday we bundled up & went to Buffalo to see the lighted train.

It was magical.

Sadly, it was also absolutely freezing outside.

The boys thought it was the Polar Express & they were so excited

to touch the train. 

We were outside for maybe 10 minutes & my face was so cold I couldn't talk.

That's a good sign that you might want to get back in the car!

We got to see the train go down the tracks 

& we got to wave to Santa on the end boxcar.

Then came the time for the kids Christmas pageant at church.

We bribed Adler with candy if he would stand up in the front by himself.

He did it.  We were proud. And yes, he got candy.

(Adler is actually the one not looking at the camera, behind his friend Trent)

Then there was my Brockie.

All the preschool children were supposed to dress up like sheep

& make baa noises when cued.

Brock was the only black sheep who refused to wear 'that costume'

& who refused to baa upon cue!

He hid from all of us & would not look at the camera.

We bribed him with candy too.

(because during the 1st pageant he cried the whole time

& I had to sit with him upfront.  I sure didn't want a repeat of that!)

He sat upfront with the rest of his class (by himself!),

he sang his songs (even though he faced the front of the church 

& not the audience),

and yes, he got his candy.

Ahh these children are tiring!

Yup, that's Brock in the striped shirt, the only one not in white with sheep ears!

That's how Brock sang his songs!

I asked him later if he was admiring the Christmas trees,

I mean what else could I assume?!

After church great grandma Elois & grandpa Wayne ate at the 

church fundraiser event.

Everyone had a good time anyway!

Here's to a better preschool concert & church pageant in 2014!

Winter around the house.

So one day I made a face at Vance,

then he copied me,

then he wouldn't stop,

because we can't stop laughing when he does it,

and it looks like this...

and this...

he shakes his upper body & jitters his face

all while making this look.

Pure talent I tell you!

Since we've been stuck inside the house with the very cold weather outside

we tend to have a lot of bath play.

When there's nothing else to do, you might as well take a bath!

And this is what Brock looks like 90% of his day.

He eats, we wipe his face.

He eats, he wipes his face, because we're sick of doing it.

2 minutes later, his face looks like we or he never wiped it.

I swear!

At this point it's almost comical.

Almost!

I am so thankful for our basement.

The boys and I play and play and play.

The other day I caught all this action happening

& I wondered if I lived with a bunch of monkeys.

All I can say is we're going to end up with more broken bones

with these boys in the house!

Thanksgiving 2013.

Our Thanksgiving was a bit crazy, as it is every year.

The Herdina's keep growing & this year 3 little babies had turned into 3 little toddlers.
You can only imagine!

Relaxing watching movies.

All of our boys have loved aunt Robin.  

As in, they walk over to her, & just sit on her lap,

for long periods of time.

The strange thing is they don't see her that often.

Vance is also in love with his cousin Aubrea.

If there is any baby, he is usually all over them with hugs & kisses!

Dad with 2 of his sons.

Shortly after eating and relaxing for a few minutes

the whole tribe of boys starting wrestling grandpa & their uncles

& they never stopped!

It was wild to say the least.

Grandpa's got them!

Then they got grandpa!

Uncle Nate was up next.

Ohh no, back to getting grandpa!

You see how this all played out!

Then it was time to tackle Uncle Shane.

(And to get baby Aubrea out of the way!)

When we finally got in the acadia to my parents 

everyone was quiet & worn out.

Katie stopped by for a wonderful game of memory!

Poor Katie.

Then grandma Yvonne decided to get the boys bundled up 

& they took off for the barn

to pet the animals.

Then this happened!

Late afternoon nap time with dad apparently.

He stayed 'on guard' with his sword even while sleeping!

What a great Thanksgiving!

Getting ready for Christmas!

This year we decorated for the holidays early.

I make it seem like we don't do this every year,

because we do!

The boys made the final call to start decorating this year

& to my surprise it was Luke who caved in & brought the Christmas totes up.

So of course the boys & I got right to work.

We took a little before & after pictures of setting up the manger this year.

As the boys unpacked each figurine we talked about how they each played a role

in Jesus' birthday.

Any time you can talk about Jesus in your home you probably should right?

Because we all know He does not get talked about enough in this world.

We also unpacked our Christmas books & read through several books.

Christmas in a manger along with making our sticker manger scenes polished off the night!

p.s. look at all the work that was left for me on the couch.  yikes.

Manger scene 'after' pictures.

When the boys went to bed I quickly realized when I pulled out the stockings that

it all would not fit on our mantel.  oops.

So the manger got relocated & the stocking were hung with care...

in hopes that St. Nick soon will be there!

Our tree in all her glory.

Christmas would not be complete without a BUNCH of homemade sugar cookies.

I made them 3 separate times so far this year...that's a lot of sugar!

Merry Christmas!

p.s. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!