Christmas in Fremont

 Building new Lego sets

 Garrett and Carter playing foosball. Garrett is as tall as me now. Does that mean Carter will be my height next year? Yowzers! I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

 Nerts

 All 9 cousins

 

Wii

Snow Day Happiness

His face says it all.

 

Hot Tub on a Cold Night

The First Snow Day 2

 

The boys dug out their snow gear first thing Sunday morning and went out to tromp in the newly fallen snow. When I went out to check on them at 9:00 and warn them it was time to head to church, I found a snowman almost as tall as Owen and three very wet and happy boys. Instead of spoiling their fun, I decided to watch them play.

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Church starts at 9:15.

*

The boys were still outside playing at 9:12.

*

I very seriously considered skipping church. Like I said in my previous post, there is something about the first snow. And there is an excitement in the boys faces that you can't get back. And I knew that the snow could quite possibly be gone before we returned home. So I let them play longer than I had planned, and we arrived at church a bit late. And that's okay. I'm pretty sure God isn't punching in our time clock when we arrive at church and I'm pretty sure He was enjoying showering my boys with a gift of snow.

There's Something About the First Snow

 We were so excited to look out the window and see snow falling Saturday night. I was sad that my little man was already in bed asleep, but Carter and Owen went outside and enjoyed it. They scraped the snow off of the deck rail to make snowballs which they tossed out into the street.

 The first snowball.

Some people probably think I'm crazy, but I like snow. It does get old after a while, and I do enjoy mild temps too, but I much prefer a winter with snow than a winter without. The first snow is the best. I could just sit and watch it fall. And seeing the excitment in my kids as they watch it fall is even better.

Blinking Baby

Because simply watching a newborn baby look around is fun.

 

The Twins Are Here!

Keith and Tomi had twins yesterday! Here he is with Paityn Grace and Collin James.

 Cute family!

 

Proud Grandparents

Collin James, 7 lbs. 4 oz

Paityn Grace, 6 lbs. 11 oz.

Showing off a baby and the picture Luke colored.

Decking the Halls

Yesterday was tree decorating day at the Harms House. The boys helped with the big tree and decorated trees for their rooms too.

 

Lewis finishing up with the most important decoration.

 

 

 

Lewis' tree

 The living room.

I love love love love having a woodburning fireplace.

(Now the boys are eagerly anticipating their annual sleep under the tree night with Corey.)

Carter and Owen's tree

A Thanksgiving Roll

What's the first thing you think about doing right after a big Thanksgiving dinner? Unbuckling your belt? Watching some football? Taking a nap?...How about rolling down a hill? On a full tummy it does not sound pleasant to me, but that's exactly what these guys did. And at least two of them had seconds on turkey. (Thanks much to Gretchen and Robert for hosting. That was quite possibly the best turkey I've ever had. Yum!)

 

My Crazy Boys

Last night my boys became Chris Bosh - Miami Heat, Kareem Abdul-Jabar -Lakers, Sensei Wu - ninjago and Iron Man.

 

 A little bball. Super Hero vs. NBA players.

 

Had a blast at Lewis' classroom party. My little man is pretty darn awesome!

 

The boys and friends ready to hit the streets. Lewis was pooped out after 45 minutes. It is hard work for a 5-yr-old to keep up with a bunch of 10 and 11 year olds.  We had a ton of trick-or-treaters visit and ran out of candy around 7:30. Four jumbo bags of kit-kats, a bag of dum-dums and 1/2 a bag of tootsie rolls wasn't quite enough.

Pumpkin Guts and Power Tools

 Carving pumpkins has got to be the most unpleasant holiday tradition ever invented. Eww. I'm a mom of three boys and I can handle gross stuff, but I hate those stringy pumpkin guts!! Carter's pumpkin was rock hard and he needed a little help from daddy's dewalt jigsaw. (wish I'd have gotten a photo of that) Thank goodness for a handy hubby!

 Owen did a large portion of his pumpkin free-hand, and he stayed focused for over an hour carving away.

 The finished products.

We had to get a picture with Mara before she leaves us to get married. Patrick's a nice guy, but come on, what could be better than living with us? :)

Friends

 Sometimes it's fun to be creative together.

Sometimes it's nice to just sit and play video games. :)

The Sound of Music

Someone has been paying attention in music class. I love listening to my Lewis sing himself to sleep every night.

Sleepyhead

Belated Birthday Party

 Unfortunately this is blurry, but it's a super-cool cake that Mara found online for me to make. He blew out all the candles with one blow, which I think means he doesn't have any girlfriends. Whew! I'm not ready for that phase of parenthood anyway.

 The boys getting ready to watch The Avengers. Carter has a pretty great group of friends!

 Pizza

 Giant Jenga

A Little Weekend Fun

Owen trying out Mara's longboard (I think that's what it's called.)

 Hitting the road on the longboard, the skateboard, the scooter and the tricycle.

Lewis having a little hang-out time with Patrick.