Tis the Season

Tis the Season for many things!  Let's see how many of the seasonal things we can cover in this blog to get us up to speed on the last TWO WEEKS!

Tis the Season for... SNOW and SHOVELING.  Daddy isn't going outside without his two helpers.  It doesn't matter how cold it is outside, these two will bundle up and help shovel, go sledding, make snow angels, and tackle each other.

 Tis the Season for wet snow gear, getting all bundled up to then tell us you have to pee, and for "warm chocolate".  You can't make "hot" chocolate or they think they will burn their mouths!

  Tis the Season for fun outside.  It's all fun and games until someone tackles the other and they get a face full of snow.

 Tis the Season for chilly cheeks.  Ashton is in a horrible cheese face phase right now and they are both obsessed with me taking their pictures and wanting to "see it".

 Rosy red cheeks and silly faces.

 Tis the Season for HOCKEY!  We went to a high school hockey game and the boys came home with a puck.  The pucks are so great, for they don't work inside the house.  They only work outside and on the ice, and this is so much better than the footballs, baseballs, and basketballs, that "slip out of their hands" in the house.  

 Making silly faces to "see" on the camera.

 Some senior picture poses... 

 Tis the Season for decorating the Christmas tree.  Let's just say we started decorating the Christmas tree, and then we finished it and moved some ornaments once they went to bed.  

 Aiden was more interested in seeing the ornaments and playing with them.  Ashton took the decorating part very seriously, even though ALL of his ornaments were on the same branch.

 Here is a random picture.  I guess it Tis the Season for holiday treats (or spaghetti for supper) and gaining a couple pounds.  In Aiden's case, he LOVES spaghetti.  So much so he doesn't want to take the time to use a fork or he is just a messy, silly boy!

 Tis the Season for St. Nick.  St. Nick left some treats in the boys' boots and Elf was keeping an eye on the treats.

 St. Nick brought some holiday fun, ornaments, and a couple treats.

 Daddy had some fun with the props...

 Then the boys warned up to the idea of wearing the props and have some fun...

 Try not to only pay attention to Aiden's dirty little face  ;)

 Tis the Season to wear a Santa hat, tree glasses, antlers, AND a Rudolf nose.

Aiden James

     Ashton Alan

Tis the Season for Elf on the Shelf.  Our elf has yet to be named.  At first they wanted to name him Will, however that didn't stick for very long and they now call him Elf.

He has been very busy watching over our house and reporting each night back to Santa. 

He has brought a couple treats...

Helped put the lights in the tree...

Hangs with the Santas, and brought Santa's key.

One morning he was reading to some of his friends...

He was climbing the card holder to get a better look at Blais and Brigs's Christmas card!

He had his own bowl of cereal with the boys...

He was trying to be a farmer...

He brought a flower...

He was sitting high, and swinging from our dinning room light.

He was riding the sharp tooth one morning...

This morning, he brought a movie for the boys to watch!

Tis the Season for dance competitions!  Last Saturday we went to cheer on Mikayla at her Holiday Classic Performance.  The boys L.O.V.E to watch Mikayla dance, but after about five performances they were wondering where the basketball players were.  ;)

Mikayla's #2 and #3 fans.  Who is her #1 fan you might ask?  

You will see later in the blog.

So much fun watching her dance!  There were many other performers and although I was very proud of Mikayla, there were some littles that brought tears to my eyes.  I am going to be blubbering when it is my own boys I am proud of!

Mikayla's Holiday Performance

Then right before lunch she performed her Pom routine.  

AJ is Mikayla's #1 Fan.  Even his shirt says so!
That is why Ashton and Aiden have to be #2 and #3...

Tis the Season for Holiday get-togethers.  Saturday night we hosted the 3rd Annual Stout Christmas.  Adam and his college room mates and families get together each December to catch up and have some holiday fun.

It's so nice, as each year passess the kiddos play more and more together and more independently.

Aiden wanted right in on the action with the big kids' iPads.

The Room Mates:  Deek, Mike, Chuck, Adam and Smoothie.

Deek, Dave, Adam, Smoothie, Mike and Chuck all enjoying a drink from their moose glasses.  

Some of the kids.  

Aiden, Milo, Isaiah, Ashton, Kayden.  

"Uncle Chuck" was quite the hit with the kiddos.  He must have had a cool game on his phone ;)

The Crew!  2013

Tis the Season for enjoying some snuggles!  This little boy was pretty happy when Izzie decided to snuggle into his bed at bedtime.  Izzie usually can't wait to cuddle in with Mom but this night she though Aiden's bed looked pretty comfy!  It only lasted for about 15 minutes before she wanted to find a spot in my bed or on my lap, but the day maybe coming where she chooses to sleep with on of the boys.

I was in the Dells for three days presenting with my principal and two other co-workers at the SLATE Conference (School Leaders Advancing Technology in Education).  I never thought that I would be okay with public speaking, but it was a blast!  I will be presenting in January and February locally, and then at a conference in San Francisco in March.  

The boys stayed home with Daddy, and I brought them back a treat.  They thought their snowman and monkey cookies were pretty special!

When will the cheese face go away?

Celebrating Mommy being home... Mommy wanted some wine and the boys got some juice in their wine glasses.  Elf was celebrating with us too!

Tis the Season for the Winter Daze Parade!  Must also be the season to freeze our buns off at the parade...  The boys love it with all the horses and lights, and I suppose the candy doesn't hurt.

A horse dressed up like a Packer Player!

The boys still love tractors!

Heaven - a garbage truck all lit up with Christmas lights!

The parade ended with a camel, donkeys, Santa, and reindeer!

When it ended, we were FROZEN and headed home for some warm chocolate before tucking into bed.

Tis the Season to clean off the pond for some pond hockey.  The boys might be getting some hockey gear for Christmas and how convienent to have a pond we can see from our house!  Daddy and the boys spent most of the morning shoveling it off.  Then while the boys were napping Daddy put on his skates to work out some kinks after more than a couple years of them sitting in  the basement.

Tis the Season to be Merry.  Tis the Season to feel the never ending pressure to finish shopping (which we have done) and now wrap presents until out finger turn purple.  Tis the Season to enjoy some festive cheer with family and friends.  Tis also the Season for constant hand washing to avoid the flu like the plague, avoid Hand Foot and Mouth which has made it's way through our entire daycare except our two boys, and to fight a just-about-three-year old to get drops in his eyes every three hours (yes, Ashton has pink eye)... 

Tis the Season.  

The Wamboldt's