Counting Down to Christmas - Part 1

We have been busy Counting Down to Christmas with a lot of fun activities!  But I have realized taking pictures and videos with two kids is harder than one - there is a lot more "refereeing and guidance" going on with two :).

We made a Gingerbread house....





Eric took Alex to a kid's building workshop at Home Depot....Alex LOVED it!

Alex had his Christmas Program at school, but we were so far away it is hard to see him on video so I will be borrowing a CD from a friend who was up close and will put that on here as soon as I get it.

We had Christmas at our house this morning since we will be visiting family for Christmas.  We wanted to give the boys time to enjoy their presents for a few days before we left.  Alex was SO THRILLED to walk downstairs and see all the presents under the tree!  Alex is very into soldiers this year and that was the theme of most of his gifts.

A soldier marching in the parade.  Alex told Brodie to be a fire truck and go "whoowhoowhoo" ;)

Happy Birthday Brodie!

Brodie turned two yesterday.  I can not believe my baby is two - time keeps going faster!  We just had a low key family celebration for his birthday.

Presents in the morning....Brodie kept giving us sweet grins.  He is old enough to get that something exciting is going on and it is about him, but not exactly sure why ;).  Alex on the other hand knew what it was all about and REALLY wanted to be a part of it all! ;).  Keeping him from doing everything for Brodie was a full time job so I didn't get as many videos as I would have liked.

 

 Cake in the afternoon...like the minute he woke up from nap as you can see from his hair.  Alex couldn't get the whole process started fast enough.  The cake was falling apart slightly by then too ;)

Brodie kept taking bites and looking up at Eric- like he was saying "are you really going to let me eat this stuff?" ;)

 Brodie goes to the doctor next week for his well visit.  I will do his 2 year old blog then!

Baby Jesus

I didn't grab the camera until the end of this - but you get to see a little bit of Alex telling Brodie the story of Jesus birth using the Nativity - so sweet!  I love that "Jofet" had the baby :)

Chattanooga

We did a little one night getaway to Chattanooga, TN over Thanksgiving weekend.  We left first thing on Friday morning and headed straight to the Tennessee Aquarium.  The boys LOVED it!

The petting tank....

The Butterfly House

 
 Of course the escalator was big fun....

 The penguins were probably Brodie's favorite part...

 Checking out all the amazing tanks....

 Alex's favorite part was getting to touch the snake...

 This is Brodie saying "ouch it bites"....

 Brodie loved the phone in the hotel, he would just sit and chat away...

 We walked the pedestrian bridge over the Tennessee River..

The only bummer was our hotel pool was freezing.  We did let the boys do some "swimming" in the hot tub instead.  Besides trying to get them to go to sleep at night all in the same room together at the hotel :), we had a really great little get away!

Thanksgiving Feast

Alex had his Thanksgiving Feast at school today.  The feast started with a little program by the kids. Not much cuter than little kids singing and doing motions ;).  Alex is in the red shirt and Pilgrim hat - a little to the right of the corner. Sorry about the shaky videos - I was holding Brodie on my lap and my arm up over his head and he was doing the motions with the kids on my lap ;).   A little tricky to hold my arm still!

Here are a few of the songs:

The rest of the pumpkin pie song...

Happy Halloween

Also known as "The Best Day Ever" if you ask Alex ;).

Alex had a Halloween Party at his school.

First they walk around the church and Trick or Treat to all the church employees.

Then they go through various game stations.



This is Alex's teacher...

This is Alex's BFF at school - Wyatt...Such a sweet boy!

And finally, snack time.  Alex had to get exactly what Wyatt picked to eat.

Although I apparently I have no proof in pictures, Brodie attended the party as well.  He just followed behind Alex and was happy to watch everything going on around him.  He was not really impressed to be following behind Sully from Monsters Inc., but got comfortable with him after awhile.

At night we headed out Trick or Treating.  Of course the rain came in just as it was time to head out.  It wasn't too bad because it was a warm rain, but the wind was very gusty.  

Ready to head out....

 Brodie loved it!  He did great with all the walking.  With my leg brace we are about the same pace so it worked good ;).  After each house he would say "get more!'.

 We trick or treated with some friends for a little bit, then looped back by ourselves.  Alex led the way all night with a loud "Trick or Treat' at each door.

Trick or Treaters in action.  At the end Alex says, "Thank you for giving my baby some" ;). 

One house had a really scary set up and a guy dressed in a Jason mask handing out candy through a slit in the door.  When Alex saw the guy he backed away quickly and said "sometimes superheroes get a little scared too" ;).  

The kids never complained about the rain, they were having too much fun.  When we were done, Alex did declare that he was "soaking and wet".  

Checking out their loot!