Christmas in Michigan

We had a busy and fun filled time in Michigan. I can't believe how fast time flies - I wish sometimes the school year would go this fast!
Our time started off with Christmas with the Stremler's at Jeff and Erika's house. Gerrit was so excited to play with Mia and we did not see much of them all afternoon. They play so well together it is hard for them to live so far away and miss out on playing with each other. We showed the kids what 'slides' were and had a flashback to our childhood.  We all had a good laugh seeing how we were dressed as little ones. It was shocking how close Emmit and I look alike at age 2. You would've thought we were looking at pictures of Emmit on the screen.
Anyways, after much eating it was time to open presents. Ella, Mia and Gerrit were Santa and the elves. Max is now a teenager and we are not sure if he was bored or being silly in his chair in the corner. Opa completed his golf club collection although Emmit tried to fight him for them and take them away (Opa really had to tug hard to get them away from Emmit!).  Emmit enjoyed all the gifts - even the ones that were not given to him (if they had buttons to push) and he was excited to get his very own umbrella (although Gerrit wants to trade him his).

Christmas day and the day after were busy travel days. We were able to sleep in a bit and open up stockings before heading out to Grandpa Bob's. The boys sportin' their Christmas jammies made by mom and Oma. Grandpa Bob made a Hot Wheels race ramp for the boys which was a big hit.  At Grandma and GG's we enjoyed hanging out and celebrated Emmit's birthday a bit early. Both days were also spent with Uncle Travis which was fun.

Gerrit and Emmit enjoyed playing with mom's old toys - Emmit is sitting on the doll lawn chair and Gerrit is trying to sit in the high chair! Foosball is a huge hit with both boys and they often played it together - nicely! Emmit would be found on top of the table trying to get the balls so he had to be watched closely! 

Gerrit received a 'shaving' kit for Christmas and Emmit was able to enjoy it too. Gerrit wanted to shave every day but we convinced him, every other day was enough! 

The rest of the week included: me attempting to play Hockey with Erika. While she worked on technical skills, I worked on skating forward and stopping! I finally got the stopping down by the end of the night. I was sore and have a new appreciation for hockey but will stick to being a basketball player. The best part of that night was the hot tub and drink!

We were able to see some friends for lunch - without kids! That was a bonus. And Opa surprised me with a ticket to the MSU bball game! (He had one for Adam but was able to find one for me so I could go too!) Family movie day with the cousins and just hanging out with the cousins was also included in our busy week.

We had a family dinner to celebrate Uncle Bill and Emmit's birthdays too with cake back at Jeff and Erika's. Emmit has figured out how to blow the candle out all too well. The boys got matching Beetle sweatshirts in honor of Uncle Jeff's love for Beetles. We attempted to get a picture of the cousins and Gerrit survived a tickle torture from his Aunt and cousins.

On our way home we stopped in a suburb of Chicago for what else? A bike race! Luckily Adam did not plan on racing as you can see how muddy it was! Gerrit and Emmit enjoyed the break from the car and ran around a lot! It was great because they each took a 2.5 hour nap once we were on the road again!

As much as we love being with family we were happy to be home again and enjoy a few days before the routine has to start again.

The Sound of Water

Lately I've put Emmit on the potty chair before his tubby. He barely talks, but has shown a few signs that potty training is in his future. (Maybe I'm just hopeful the training comes soon so we can be done with diapers. And yes, Emmit got underwear in his stocking - you can never start that tradition too soon!) He has yet to go on the potty, but I figured it doesn't hurt to get him familiar with it. It is also a step stool (it was made w/ dual purpose) so it is always in the bathroom and at times Gerrit threatens to use it! Tonight when I said 'tubby' to Emmit, he started to get undressed (in the kitchen) and once his clothes were off, he headed for the stairs. He went right to the potty chair and tried to take his diaper off himself. He stood up on the stool and turned on the water for the sink, lifted up the lid and sat down as if he were to go potty and even pointed his penis down (I've got him trained in that area already!). 

I had to laugh. 

You might ask why the water??? 

Well, from experience, if the sound of water (or any liquid) can aid in going to the bathroom. I've used it with Gerrit when I want him to go, even if he says he doesn't have to go - and it works most of the time. So I thought I'd try and 'help' Emmit go as well. It hasn't worked with him yet but the fact that he turned the water on himself cracked me up. 

I hope I haven't started a bad habit for him in that he thinks there needs to be running water in order to go potty!

Christmas in Z-town

 Saturday night started off with this:

  

followed by this Sunday morning:

Santa had made an early stop at our house because we will not be here on the 25th. And Santa did not disappoint - Gerrit got his MSU football uniform (next year he's hoping for a Lion's uni!), and Emmit got his own set of football guys (no more fighting over Gerrit's!).  (Oma made the Santa sacks and they looked so cute by the stockings! Gerrit even asked if Santa wanted the bags back!) There were some other gifts from mom and dad and everyone enjoyed the morning of opening presents. I think Gerrit liked some that Emmit got and Emmit liked some of Gerrit's! I guess we should just get them the same thing in the future????

Following a busy morning of opening presents involved a busy morning at church for the Christmas program. No, Gerrit did not wear the sweater vest but looked hansom in his tie (thanks again Oma - lots of compliments). He sang and cooperated even if he did not cooperate well at home! He started out looking like the photo in the bottom left which had me wonder if he would cooperate but he did great! Emmit, well, he had to be removed from the sactuary (luckily it was after Gerrit was done singing with his age group).

We had a special visitor come to Gerrit's program too - Uncle Travis! He brought the boys their Christmas gifts too - Emmit a football and Vikes jersey and Gerrit got Lego stuff (which he was not excited to get but when we assembled it, played with it the rest of the day!). 

And to end this post, a picture of the family:

This picture doesn't show it well, but Emmit had a matching tie to Gerrit's and Gerrit's vest was the same color of Emmit's sweater (if only we could get it over his head)! Emmit looked so cute in his sweater and tie! I didn't get any pictures of just him (and I'm kicking myself for this) but will put him in it again and for sure get pictures. (He cooperates better than his older brother when it comes to clothing so I shouldn't have a problem getting the sweater on him again.)

The afternoon was spent assembling the Legos and Playmobil stuff as well as playing with the new toys. I think my fingers will need a break from assembling at the Stremler Christmas party - thankfully Max can take over that duty. 

We like our new little tradition of opening gifts as a family before we head to MI. Makes things a bit hectic getting things ready 'early' but it is worth it. We are able to make our own little family memories and traditions which is the best part (for me anyways - Adam just goes w/ it b/c he knows how important it is for me!) 

New Pups!

Ever since I found out I was pregnant with Gerrit, I've wanted to find him his own Cuddles. The top left photo is of my Cuddles -  he's over 30 yrs old! This is one toy from my childhood I just can't part with (even though he looks pretty sad and Adam threatens to make him disappear). Seeing I couldn't find a Cuddles (other than a Clifford dog - but Clifford has black ears, not white like Cuddles). I came across a pattern to knit a dog and knew exactly what color - red! So this fall I started on Cuddles II and III and finally finished them last night! I needed them done by Sat. night (our little family Christmas is Sunday) and made the deadline! I've got plenty of things to finish up before Sat. or before we leave for MI so getting this big project done makes me feel so much better! I was having a tough time assembling the pups because Gerrit would be around the times I had to sit and knit. He had no idea what I was knitting but if I started sewing them up, he'd know it was a dog. (He even asked me to make him a dog one day when he saw the pattern sitting out.) When Gerrit was up in bed, I was able to get a few pictures of the new pups with Cuddles. I don't think the boys' dogs will be able to withstand as much love as I gave Cuddles because they are hand knit, but if I have to do some repairs or add more filling, I won't mind!

I don't think the boys' dogs will be able to withstand as much love as I gave Cuddles because they are hand knit, but if I have to do some repairs or add more filling, I won't mind! I'm so excited to give them to the boys and show them my Cuddles; I hope they like them (neither boy is really a stuffed animal kid).

Christmas Fun

Last week Santa visited Zumbrota! Gerrit was all excited about seeing him and promised he would not be scared this year. Well, as you can see from the pictures, that does not look like a happy Gerrit! I knew Emmit would not like Santa but I put him on his lap to get a picture (top right). I couldn't move back fast enough to get a good picture before Emmit was ready to jump off Santa's lap! The bottom photos display the struggle I had getting Gerrit to sit on Santa's lap - and you can see who won!

I wonder how many years Adam or I will have to be in the picture with Santa???

The boys have way too much fun playing with the Christmas tree. Luckily, there haven't been too many ornaments broken this year but I often find their toys in the branches. Gerrit likes to hide the Robin eggs and then tries to find them. For some reason on Sunday the boys were hanging out by the window - probably because they could get higher. Emmit even took one of the stools, and set it on the window ledge!

Here's our tree without at night - I played around with my camera settings and got a decent picture!

Kids of Christ Christmas Program

We had quite the start to the morning that was not planned.
1. Adam did not feel well so he missed out on Gerrit's program.

2. I had been working on prepping Gerrit to wear the sweater vest I had made him special for Christmas and even agreed to put numbers on the vest when the season was over. Gerrit thought the vest looked like a jersey which I agreed with him on the comparison until he insisted I put numbers on it like real jerseys. I finally got him to agree to put it on just before we left and we couldn't get it to fit over his head! I was crushed!! (After 2 attempts since this am, I've adjusted the neckline and we are back in business.) So a quick belt and straightening of the tie and that was the outfit for today. (Thanks Oma for making the tie - it looked great!)

3. As I was getting the camera ready while Gerrit was walking down the aisle, the battery died! I was ready to cry after the morning we had. Luckily, I didn't pout too long and spotted an outlet nearby so I quickly charged the battery during the first half of the service! I figured the pictures would be the same regardless of when I took them, so I waited patiently to get a little juice in the battery and snapped a few pictures:

On a brighter note, Gerrit did great! He stayed up front the entire time, sang every song, said all the Bible verses and only played with his tie a little bit. The worst part was him sticking his tongue out as he walked down the aisle! I was a proud momma as this was the first time Gerrit participated in a singing event in front of a crowd.

And the best part is listening to Gerrit sing the great Christmas hymns at home the past few weeks!
We have 1 more Christmas program and one more chance at getting the sweater vest on!

PS - I was told the program was video taped so I will work on getting a copy of it to show at Christmas time.

Changes this Week

Gerrit got his cast off this week! He was pretty excited about the day because he started off hanging out with mom at school for a bit. We then headed for lunch, a few errands and then to see Dr. Schiffern. The cast was quite smelly so the whole family was extra excited to get rid of that thing!
Gerrit was a bit hesitant to let the man use the 'saw' to cut the cast but eventually he gave in and stood still long enough to get the job done. Gerrit walked around as if the cast was still on which I thought was pretty funny. The Dr. said everything looked great and it healed well. It has been a few days since the cast came off and you'd never know he had broke his arm. He is using it to its full capacity as he told Adam tonight he did a pull up to reach something on top of a dresser! Guess he didn't loose too much muscle! We did not opt to keep the cast (thankfully) and will just have a few pictures to remind us instead.

We now have a few inches of snow yet that did not keep Emmit from riding his bike! These were taking the morning of the snow storm (it hit after lunch). We had a light dusting earlier in the week but Emmit did not mind. He would live outside if he could! Every day he gets out of the car and whines standing by the garage door waiting for me to open it. Usually I don't but Sat. was a 'warm' day so I thought he better get one more ride in before the snow! And just as the snow was starting to fly - Adam took off for a ride with a few guys! Guess Emmit has it in his blood!