Newseum

Nathan passed along some free tickets to the Newseum in Washington DC that had to be used before the new year. We had fun seeing the Calvin and Hobbes comics, playing on the computers, seeing the FBI exhibit, and the front pages of many cool things in history (like the announcement of Joseph Smith's martyrdom). Hannah was super uncooperative and a pain in everyone's side. We found a rooftop area for her to scream and eat snacks, which helped a little.

 Tommy got a kid video camera from his grandma for his birthday. He was hilarious. We'd be walking on the sidewalk, turn around to count heads, and see him videoing everything! His batteries finally wore out, but he sure loved it!

Afterwards, we walked over to the Natural History Museum to see the dinosaurs. Well, I have never seen the Smithsonians sooooo crowded!! Bummer news too, we found out the dinosaur exhibit was being redone and under construction, but saw a T-Rex and Triceratops upstairs. Hannah loved the animals, but she eventually crashed...in our arms! 

 We stopped off at Cafe Rio in Annapolis on the way home. Yum! Yum!! A fun day during Christmas break, but wish Nathan was around to join us.

Tommy's Birthday!!

Tommy finally turned 6!! He was so excited for his birthday! He wanted orange chocolate swirl muffins for breakfast and then we went to church. He requested spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. We let him open presents before dinner and cake afterwards. His friend also stopped by and dropped off a present. He was one happy kid!

 I decided months ago that I was going to make Tommy a Hobbes from the comics, Calvin and Hobbes. We have a few books and he loves reading then acting them out. I found a pattern online and bought the supplies, but didn't start it until after Christmas. It took forever!! All the stripes were hand stitched on!! I decided to just give him stipe-less Hobbes on his birthday so I could sew the stripes on without having to hide myself in my room and miss out on the fun. I told him I'd sew it while watching tv. One day we were watching a movie and he comes up to me and says something like, "I'm just wondering why you're not working on my Hobbes. You said you'd work on it when you're watching tv."  Correct, buddy. So I got to work:)

Tommy wanted a Star Wars cake, but I had no idea how to make one. His cake was a little lame this year, but he seemed happy with it!

We sure love our Tommy. He's our little comedian, sweetheart, snuggler, builder, imaginer, dancer, spanish speaker, super awesome big brother and we love him to pieces!!

After Christmas Fun

Hannah loved her new puzzle from her aunt and uncle!

 Setting up the new train!!

 Playing in all the big boxes from Christmas. These two loved it!

 Tommy learned to ride a bike without training wheels!! He took right off, which probably means he was ready months before...awesome parent award goes to us!

 Damon loved riding his new bike too!

 Hannah loved chasing the boys.

 Spectators.

 Eating Chick- fil- A with gift cards from Grandpa. Damon bought himself and Tommy dessert too:)

 I walked in the toy room and saw this. Super funny. I guess Joseph ditched Mary to get to the stable in a pink car. Maybe they were in a hurry to rescue the baby from the top!

Christmas Day 2014

Christmas morning finally came! We had the boys sleep in the bonus room so they couldn't sneak down to look at their presents. I ended up having to go in with them at some point. They were up early begging to go downstairs to see their presents. We held them off until at least 7.

Santa brought Hannah a doll cradle and she loved it! Damon got a new bike and Tommy got 2 new Lego sets!!

Each grandma gave Hannah a new doll and she loves them both!! She also got a new phone and had to take a picture of her baby and dollie!!

Christmas is always fun with kids. They were so excited and happy. Every time we turned around, Hannah was eating someone's chocolate from their stocking! We had a great day and delicious dinner with friends that night. It's always sad to see Christmas end, but awesome to have dad around for a few days!

Christmas Eve 2014

The boys had school through Dec.22. So, they were really excited for Christmas Eve day! We HAD to decorate graham cracker houses since we've done it a few years now. Hannah loved getting in on the action this year...mostly just to eat all the goodies! The boys basically did their's all by themselves. 

We had meatball subs for dinner. We had a fun evening of reading the nativity story, singing Christmas carols, and getting Santa's cookies ready. Tommy could barely settle down to sleep.

Snacks in her mouth...

 

 Tommy was proud of his candy cane chimney.