Christmas with Gramma and Grampa

We celebrated Christmas with Gramma and Grampa a few days early. After appetizers on the roof deck, we settled in to unwrap some gifts! There were tons of gifts under the tree, but the boys' favorites were Magformers and the Chrono Bomb game.

Henry has so many Magformers that you wouldn't possibly imagine that he would need more, but he plays with them all the time and were at the top of his wish list again this year.   

 Magformer Ferris Wheel

Chrono Bomb is a spy game where you set up a laser field and have to defuse the bomb before the time ticks down. It is a huge hit with our boys! 

After a delicious dinner, we enjoyed traditional Norwegian krumkake (waffle cones filled with whipped cream).

Christmas with Gramma and Grampa is always delightful!

The Days Before Christmas

We are so lucky to have so many friends and family in Houston and spent the days leading up to Christmas surrounded by loved ones. Here's a peek into some of what we did:  

We made it to Zoo Lights before Christmas this year. Despite the crowds and warm weather, the lights were beautiful and it's a lovely family tradition.  

Sea turtle for Henry

Texas sign for my fourth grader

We love Zoo Lights!

Gene made sugar cookies, I frosted them, and the boys decorated them with as many sprinkles as possible.

We also got together to celebrate the December birthdays at Nana and Pop's house. The cousins were engrossed in Prep and Landing while the adults put the finishing touches on dinner (spaghetti a la carbonara). 

Happy birthday, Uncle Mike!

David loves birthdays and singing "Happy Birthday."

Happy 7th birthday to Mary! 

 

And here's one last picture of my two big boys in their new aprons that my sister sewed.

They are awesome and my kitchen helpers will get lots of use out of them!

Lately: It's Almost Christmas!

Our last week before the long holiday break was jam-packed with fun activities. Here's a peak at what we've been up to lately:

Our winter Cub Scout campout was at Texana Park, but last weekend's forecast was a rainy one, so we loaded up the car and headed down to the park on Friday night. Several of our Cub Scout friends joined us and we spent the evening running, playing and exploring. On Saturday morning, with bellies full of breakfast tacos, the boys went fishing for the first time! We also completed a three mile hike and a service project before heading back to Houston.

Will's week was a touch stressful. He competed in the grade-level spelling bee on Wednesday morning.

He spent hours practicing and did really well, but misspoke when spelling "pomposity" and was eliminated. I was SO proud of how hard he worked!

Will also had his Name That Book team tryouts this week, which ended in a tie-breaker on Thursday morning. We are excited that he is on the team again this year and he is already busy reading and rereading the 30 books required for the competition.  

This monkey lost his tooth on Wednesday, so now he can sing, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!"

The boys had their holiday parties/service projects at school on Thursday. They enjoyed a pizza lunch after decorating and filling bags for Kids Meals, Inc.

The boys also brought home ornaments that they made at school. Will decorated this wooden heart

and Henry spent over two weeks sewing this felt ornament.

On Friday night, while out to dinner with a group of friends, Santa walked up to our restaurant and sat down to listen to gift requests! We were thrilled since we hadn't see Santa yet this year. Will asked for a robot and Henry asked for Magformers.

Yesterday, we were invited to a showing of Star Wars: The Force Awakens at Studio Movie Grill.  

We ended the evening at the Houston Arboretum's Winter Solstice Party. We enjoyed dinner with Gramma and Grampa, walked the trails and looked at the night sky through telescopes and made these cute cork reindeer.

Now that school is out for the winter break, the boys are counting down the days 'til Christmas!

'Tis the Season

'Tis the season! Our calendar is full of fun holiday activities and we are all counting down the days til Christmas -- I count down how many more days I have to finish shopping and wrap the gifts and the boys just can't wait for Santa to get here!

Here's a peek at what we've been up to lately:

At school, Will attended a performance of "Scrooge" at the Hobby Center and Henry decorated this light bulb as part of his class's hallway display.

Last Saturday, we attended a gingerbread party thrown by Gene's old firm. This was only our second year to score an invitation, but it was so much fun! We enjoyed brunch, snow in Houston and decorating our gingerbread houses. 

Family photo in front of the tree

Snow ball fight!

Sledding

Decorating gingerbread houses

Will's house

Henry's house

On Saturday afternoon, Will and Gene attended a workshop at the science museum so Will could finish his First Responder adventure. Henry and I joined Gramma and Grampa at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft where we painted wooden trains and toured the exhibits.

The Wildlife Project exhibit

 

On Monday evening, the boys and I enjoyed sweet treats and hot cocoa at West U's annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. It is always a fun event!

As usual, we've been busy with Cub Scouts. The boys made sleighs with their dens at last night's December pack meeting and on Tuesday, Henry and I volunteered with nearly 50 other helpers from our pack for the annual Jingle Bell Express Service project. We packaged up some 800 bags full of food for needy area families. It was a fantastic service project and a good reminder of the need to give back at this time of year when our family is blessed with so much. 

Only two more weeks til Christmas!