Merry Christmas!

This is the very first year that I haven't bought new pajamas for the boys for Christmas Eve. Ben is wearing his from last year, capri pants and all, and Owen is wearing Ben's hand me downs from 2 years ago.  Christmas arrived anyway and it turns out they didn't care one bit.  They did make sure to leave out cookies and milk just like we always do and leave some carrots and celery for the reindeer.

They were excited as ever when Christmas morning rolled around.  Once again we told them that they couldn't wake us up before 7:00.  We heard them rummaging through the loot in their stockings well before that and we were all smiles when they came bounding into our room.  They presents got unwrapped in record time and the rest of the day was spent playing with all the cool things Santa brought while waiting for the roast in the crock pot to be ready.  A very cozy Christmas.



Seven!!!

Ben turned seven at the beginning of December.  This kid is growing up way too fast!

He celebrated with his friends by having a taekwondo party.  The last time we were at a party there it was more game centered.  This time it was structured like a class.  At the end all the kids got to break a board. They thought they were pretty tough.

Ben had a speaking part in the first grade Christmas musical.  I had to work that night but I was able to watch the performance that they put on during the day for the school.  It was just a few lines but the program was really cute.  I had to buy dress clothes for the boys who only wears jeans and sweats.  They're pretty handsome all dressed up!



Thanksgiving

My mom was here over Thanksgiving and made a pumpkin pie with us.  I've never made a pie so she was "teaching" me using the can of pumpkin mix there and pre-made pie crust.  This is a pie I can make.

 Ben's being a little dramatic about the smell of the pie filling.

The pictures are out of order but Owen was very excited about this process. The two of us finished off this pie once it was done in record time. 



Happy Birthday O-Man!

The earth goes round the sun the sun and now Owen's five! That's from the sweet little song that the kids sing during their celebration of life at preschool.  I still can't believe how quickly he has grown. Being our youngest it's always a punch in the gut when I realize that he's such a big kid.  His preschool teacher, Ms. Debbie almost had me tearing up as she was talking about how little he was when Ben started there over four years ago.

We celebrated his birthday last Friday with a playdate at Kidzone with his buddy Charlie. They came back to our house for cake and ice cream and to play some more until Ben got home from school.  We opened presents then loaded the car for a weekend trip to IL to visit cousins.



Trick or Treat

Captain America and Hawkeye assembled to grab some candy. 



Boys!

Halloween is a major holiday in our home.  We've been decorating for a month but the boys started discussing costume ideas way back August.  Their plan always include Jeremy and me and we're both game to play along. This year has been all about the Avengers here in the Guthrie house so it came as no surprise that it was at the top of their lists.  The boys already have a Thor costume complete with a hammer, Hulk with big smashing gloves and an Iron Man costume or two, but they didn't like the idea of repeating something that they wear all the time for Halloween! Owen has wanted the Captain America costume since last year and Ben had his heart set on being Hawkeye. The only 2 that we didn't already have laying around.  Ben's favorite heroes are always the most obscure. Remember Beast from last year? Once we tracked down a Hawkeye costume Jeremy and I picked out ours.  I made a joke in the car a while back about how they won't like me when I'm angry to which Ben sweetly replied, "Mom, you're always angry". Jeremy really just wanted to have a full head of luxurious blonde locks. Who can blame him?

Trunk or Treat night was Friday at preschool and we loaded up and headed out. Ben was very distraught that this was our last time EVER to attend since Owen is heading to kindergarten next fall. It sent him over the edge when I busted out a bag of Airheads to mix in with the candy to hand out.  Owen was pretty quiet while making his rounds and very selective of the candy that he chose.  I think that it was a little overwhelming, but he found his voice and said thank you as we made our way through the parking lot. Seeing all the kids dressed up and their teachers in costumes really made their night!

After getting the boys to bed for the evening, I was putting their treat bags away and couldn't believe how heavy one of them was.  I opened it up and found that it was full of Airheads. Ben went through our stash to give out and "saved" what he wanted. I had to laugh.  I'm pretty sure his Uncle Greg would whole heartedly approve!



"If they take them out, when will I get them back?"

I took Owen in for his four/five year checkup a few weeks ago.  He received his kindergarten vaccinations and I discussed his snoring issue again.  He's had an ongoing issue with his adenoids, they were huge-blocking much of his airway.  He has been having night terrors for quite some time but recently he began sleepwalking.  I was really hesitant about having them taken out because I'm a big ole wimp.  I talked to Jeremy and we decided to go ahead and schedule an appointment with an ENT to discuss surgery. The surgeon said he could take out his tonsils when he was in there to prevent problems in the future. They were swollen, but not terrible.  I let Jeremy make the call on that one so that I could tell Owen that it was all Dad's fault. I'm just kidding- I wouldn't have been able to say yes even if it was a necessity. I completely remember having mine removed when I was about 8 and it was the worst pain EVER!  We left the office with a date scheduled and Owen had his tonsils and adenoids removed on the 17th.

I'm not going to lie- I was a complete mess. I was so nervous for the poor guy. How was I going to explain that I'm taking you to the doctor- even though you feel fine and you are going to leave feeling miserable? I took him in that morning while Jeremy got Ben off to school. He was all giggly from the dose of versed that he received but my heart broke a little as they wheeled him off. 

Jeremy arrived after I had talked to the surgeon and all went well.  We got to see him when he woke up and he was not a happy camper.  We tried to coax him into drinking enough fluids so that we could get home but he really just wanted to sleep off the pain meds. We did go home later that day, but he fought us every time we tried to give him his medicine or anything to drink.  The first few days were rough, I was so relieved that by Saturday he was at least trying to talk a bit and found something that he wanted to drink.  He didn't like anything cold, so I warmed up some milk and made "hot chocolate" with carnation instant breakfast.  

Grandma Guthrie was already planning on visiting us that week when we planned the surgery so he got a lot of extra attention (and presents!) when she arrived. My mom also sent a care package so there was a lot of spoiling of these two going on! Big brother got the best end of the deal- all the loot with no downtime!

He's recovered and life is back to normal as we know it. He just wants to know when they're going to give him his tonsils back!



Fall Soccer

Both boys played soccer this fall which kept us fairly busy with practice for each kids once or twice a week and games on the weekend.  The season started out a little stressful because I don't know how to fill out a form therefore Ben was put on a different team that he was on last year.  After many emails to the coach and to the league, I was basically told that there wasn't anything that could be done once the draft was over.  I was more bummed out about this than Ben because I really like his coaches and the other teammates that he played with.  Plus I'm a weirdo and slightly antisocial I was not looking forward to getting to know an entirely new group of people.  At the very last minute the league screwed up and put a kid who was sponsored on the wrong team and a spot opened up on our old team! We were both relieved.  Turns out that one of the kids on his team this year is one of our friends kids so the season was even more fun for us.  That's what it's about- how comfortable us parents are at practice and games, right?

Owen also wanted to play this year so we went ahead and signed him up too.  After the first game he decided that he was just kidding and didn't really want to play soccer.  We kept him at it out of principle but it was pretty evident that he just wasn't enjoying the game.  He's pretty quiet and shy and hung back  during practices and hardly ever touched the ball during the games.  We bribed him early on, cause we're awesome like that, and told him that when he scored a goal he'd get to pick out a small lego set that he had his eye on. During the last game he played, he made good and scored that goal! It was pretty exciting and his coach was just as excited as I was!  

Ben's age group went from playing 3 on 3 to 6 on 6 with a goalie.  Ben played defender during most of his games, which means he was to hold back and help out the goalie.  He improved so much this season that it was fun to watch his progress. That doesn't mean that he didn't get a little squirmy when all the action was happening on the other end of the field. I'm pretty sure during one of his last games he was doing the Thriller dance.  His team played five games last weekend and ended up winning 2nd in their tournament. He's pumped to play again in the spring and I promised him that I'd read the form and fill it out correctly next time. 



Look at him go!

Way back on August 26, according to the date stamp on these pictures, Owen learned how to ride his bike without training wheels!

I'm so far behind at posting pictures but we were so proud of him! He was very determined and learned fairly quickly once the training wheels came off. Now days he's keeping up with the big kids!



Beach bums

We went to Sarasota on Friday for one of my best friends weddings. The wedding was absolutely beautiful. The boys played on the beach on Saturday and we were able to hang out with the bride and groom and her family for a bit as well. It was a great way to end a fantastic week.



Day Four-In the Rain!

I think the boys were more excited about going to Universal Islands of Adventure than they were Disney. Don't know if I've mentioned it, but my boys are crazy about super heroes (all three of them). And not just any super heroes, Marvel Super Heroes specifically. They loved every single thing about this park. It was unfortunate that it was not just raining while we were there, it was a flat out storming. We made the best of it, put on our ponchos and went on our way enjoying Seuss Landing, Wizarding World of Harry Potter (my favorite!) and of course the Marvel gift shops and 4D Spiderman ride. Ryan, Jeremy and I even rode another roller coaster there!

This is the park that the kids keep talking about. Owen liked the pajamas I got him at a gift shop, and the Red Fish, Blue Fish ride that finally reopened before we left. (It was closed due to the rain.) Ben loved the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey that took us through Hogwarts. I must say, it was my favorite too! They are already asking when we can go back.



hanging out at the pool

 We took a day off from the amusement parks to regroup and spent the day lounging around. When it stopped raining, we took the kids to the pool at the resort we stayed at.