Christmas Day

Ever since I came into the Vruggink Family we have always done Christmas day at Tor's parents. We go there right away in the morning, open stockings, have a great breakfast and then open presents. It is quite crazy with all the grandkids, but it is a great tradition that we all look forward to. Because we celebrate with my family the week before, Torrey and I had Christmas with the boys on Christmas Eve. After a nice dinner, we went to church and then came home to open presents. Cameron did not have much under the tree, Haiden had 2 presents and Tor and I did not exchange gifts this year. Needless to say the whole opening of presents went rather quick! But we wanted it that way so we could surprise Cameron with a big boy loft bed(yes he has been in a crib since birth but he actually loved it!) I'll post pictures of that later. These pictures are of my attempt to get a picture of the boys first Christmas together by the tree(you read the word "attempt" right?) and of Christmas morning. Can you believe it has come and gone already?!
"GIVE THAT BACK!!!"
"What did you say, Mom?"
"How did I get under the tree?!" (Haiden only knows how to go in reverse)
Just before opening presents(yes, that is Cameron actually sitting and smiling nice!)
All the grandkids checking out some cool stocking stuffers.
Story time while the guys cleaned up breakfast.
The moms actually getting to sit!
Daddy and Uncle Trent helping figure out a new Nerf gun.

Let the parties begin!

Now that school is done it seemed that it was time to sit back and relax but so far it has been a crazy week. However, if you could classify different craziness', this actually has been more relaxing not having to rush out of the house in the morning or rush to get things done at night for the next day. We started our the round of Christmas parties with the Roby side first. As the boys get older it seems to get a bit crazier but all still fun! And we have the BEST stockings ever! Donuts and "grandpa's meat"....not much tops that(at least in our family!!) Here are some hilites from the night.

The boys...all standing still for the moment(we told them they could not open presents until we got a good picture!)
He couldn't get them open fast enough!
Grandpa getting very excited about his grill from Cameron ;)
Grayson showing Haiden how things work.
Checking out a new Nintendo DS by the counter--they had to sit here because it was plugged in to be charged and they couldn't wait ;)
SO FUN!!!!

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

I always laughed at the little kids who got up in front of church to sing at the start of the Sunday School Program. This year I about cried!! MY little boy was now standing up in front of the church singing. And yes there was a funniest video moment when he has both pointer fingers up his nose but overall he at least did the motions and sang the songs. I just couldn't believe he was big enough to be up there all grown up without needing me to stand by him or sing the songs with him. Even though it was such a short little thing, it's a thing I will remember vividly for a long, long time.

Really concentrating
"lay down his sweet head"
"We WISH you a Merry Christmas!"
Cheering on his big brother

And on a side note we had a snow day today. The weather was not really that bad but it was a day I really needed just to relax and have nothing I "had" to get done other than play and be at home.
Here we are playing restaurant.....at least for a little bit until the plates became a frisbee flying across the living room.

Tis the season......

We have been quite busy around here lately and when I put up my calendar for December I started to get a little panicky about what needs to get done, what I would like to get done and the reality of not getting much on both of those lists accomplished!

Haiden is growing by leaps and bounds. No crawling yet but he is at least lowering himself down and attempting to be on all fours. One leg gets kind of stuck yet. I could sit and say "bye bye" to him for hours just to see his cute little patty wave in the most adorable way!

Cameron is in love with Christmas decorations, trees and lights and the realization that snow is getting closer and closer. And that of course means riding his snowmobile will take on more excitement than simply sitting on it in the garage! Oh dear....

So, tis the season to.....

play in the first snow of the year(even if the sun was not up all the way)

try to get a decent family photo.....we'll keep trying

decorate the tree(even if the ornaments are in clumps, it's the prettiest tree around, and no, I did not make him wear the Santa hat, he was all about getting in the spirit if things!)

try to learn how to crawl(mommy was thinking ahead and didn't get crazy with decorations....great excuse to not get out all those totes!!)

and stack the garage full of wood for cozy winter fires!

Goofy

I just have to say having 2 boys can just be goofy sometimes. Cameron gets Haiden laughing and giggling at the dinner table and baby food goes flying all over(from not just one boy but both), bath time is a splash zone, mud is constantly on my floor and on clothes and cuddle time soon becomes a wrestling match. But taking a Sunday afternoon nap with my big boy yesterday makes it all worth it Even when I have mopped the floor for the 5th time in day, life is good. Here are some goofy photos.....Cameron got a hold of the camera for this lovely close up and then wanted me to take a silly photo of him.

I have no idea about the jammies and the coat?!

Actually both smiling, looking and sitting still!

Haiden doesn't use a bink, so when he finds one and plays with it, he just looks so adorable to me. Not sure why this one had no clothes on at this time. At least in one of these pictures they look normal!

Relax

It seems that I do not know what it is like to relax much at this point in my life. And you don't really realize it until you get a chance to do it. Well this weekend I had a chance to do just that...relax. Torrey took a continued ed class just outside of Chicago. So while he was in class I was able to lounge in the hotel room and get some good reading in, extended work outs, school work, nails done, shopping, walks in gorgeous weather, TLC :), pictures downloaded and Christmas cards ordered! It was so refreshing to be on a laid back pace and spend some quality time with my husband. As I was sorting through pictures I found some to share that are new and some that just make me smile and I hope they do the same for you!

My sweet little baby who is growing up way to fast. Notice his hands are still wrinkly! ;)
And this little man. Always has to have his hands on in the work with daddy. I could watch the 2 of them all day.

100 Acre Woods

This year we ended up with a 100 acre woods theme with winnie the pooh and tigger. Cameron has had his costume on CONSTANTLY pouncing and bouncing all over the house. I thought last year he got the idea of trick or treating but he REALLY got the idea this year and ran(literally, he ran)from house to house. Most of the night he had his tigger head off because he was getting so warm ;) We just hit one street up and down with cousins Will and Ellie. We are so thankful we have family close by to do fun things with and create memories. The kids had a great time. Now it's the hard part of rationing the candy. It seriously is a 5 minute routine of picking out what candy Cameron will eat next. Mom has dibs on the full size candy bars that have somehow already made their way into the secret stash of mommy's halloween bucket. Who says it ALL for the kids?!

I LOVE this picture!!!


"We know you're in there!!"


"Um.....I think I waaaaaaaaaant......


....this one!!!!"

SOOOO BIG!

Haiden has picked up the SOOOOO big routine!! Sometimes he will just put one arm up......
And then there are times he gets both of the up there...he looks like a goof but it's really cute in person!
And here is just a snapshot of my baby boy.....don't you just want to kiss the computer!!

A time to.....

We've just been doing are regular life lately but of course we have to make time to.....

play (Haiden just loves to sit and play!)
read (Not sure about the things on the head with him)
and clean (If he could only reach the top!)
Then when all is said and done, mommy has to clean this....
Seriously, how can one little boy make such a mess! But we had fun ;)
Life is good!

What a goof!

So I try to get a nice picture after a fun bathtime and this is what Cameron is now thinking is fun to do as soon as mommy points the camera at him.
I love the expression on Haiden's face. "what is he doing mommy. i am so more mature than him." ;) I am starting to ask myself if we are ever going to be "normal" with boys in this house?! As you can see with Cameron again in this picture what he decides to do with my decorations(like the one of 5 I have out and of course he notices them ALL!)

Life is crazy, life is fun....I love this life of boys!

my boys

my boys......

This is what happens when....

This is what happens when mommy stays home......

A nice little snack and some fabulous smiles......
And this is what happens when daddy stays home.....
A nice little craft turned into a free for all......
So proud of his work of art!

A Good Kind of Crazy

Well needless to say from my lack of posts that things have been a little crazy around here since I became a full time working mom of 2. Things have gone very smoothly with the boys getting adjusted to a new routine and me actually making it out the door with clothes on us all(maybe a spit up spot on me, cameron's mismatched jammies and haiden's bulging diaper but at least we are out the door!!) And since we simply have been racing through our days there have not been many opportunities for pictures(and Torrey was gone week bear hunting and had the camera of which I'll spare you the pics of his adventure) But we did venture to the circus this weekend with just cameron. He was feeling a little under the weather for some reason but he was surely captivated by it all and not sure what to focus on. It really was entertaining and a fun time for just us 3!

It was amazing to see how still and quite he can actually be!
It is pretty cool how this show continues to do new and different things. Not so cool that a snow cone is a plastic clown cup and a small bag of popcorn costs almost $20!!