Winter 2012

Wow!  What an awesome holiday and Christmas season we all had!  We have been so busy since our last post in October that I didn't have time to sit down and write a blog entry.  The boys are all doing so great.  Here are some things we did at the end of October (obviously, I keep this as a reminder of what we've done as a family and I like to keep track of almost everything.  Please don't feel bad if you don't feel like reading everything!):

- We all went to a wedding reception downtown
- We all went to Miss Mia's FIRST birthday party!
- Noah and Evan played their last soccer game for the season
- We all attended Uncle Mark, Aunt Sarah, and Dominic's Family Halloween Party
- Noah and Evan had a Halloween party at school
- We all went Trick or Treating in our neighborhood on Halloween

Iron Man (Evan), Thor (Noah), and Buzz Lightyear (MJ) 

 

The family getting ready to trick or treat (Joshua was The Hulk)

Here are some things we did in November:

-Our Parents as Teachers educator came over and assessed the boys - they're all developing very well!
-Brian went to his first Sporting KC game on November 7th
-Noah and Evan went to see their first movie in a movie theater on November 9th - Wreck it Ralph!  They LOVED it!
-We all attended a birthday party at a gymnastics center for our next door neighbor Abby.  It was "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" themed.  The boys had a ton of fun flipping and jumping in the foam pit!
-Noah and Evan had a Thanksgiving lunch at school on Friday, November 16th.  They took the mashed potatoes.
-We all attended a 50th wedding anniversary party for Brian's Great Aunt and Great Uncle (Auntie and Duane) on November 17th.  We took the boys to Crown Center afterwards and ate at Crayola Cafe.
-We got to go to Michael Jude's 4th birthday party on November 18th!  It was cars/race themed and the boys all had so much fun playing games.  Evan even pulled the string on the pinata that broke it!
-We had an awesome Thanksgiving.  We had my side of the family over for Thanksgiving dinner. Luckily, Grandma Mary did most of the cooking:)

Wreck it Ralph at Town Center Plaza

Noah, MJ, Gus, Evan, Joshua, and Charlie getting ready to play a game at MJ's birthday party

We've had some illnesses lurking around our household for the past month or so.  The boys all developed coughs around Thanksgiving, and Joshua even developed a case of the croup that landed him in the Children's Mercy Emergency Room the night after Thanksgiving.  He also had two ear infections within two weeks.  Basically, he was on two rounds of steroids and antibiotics all within one month.  He had gone his whole life with no prescription meds until this happened.  Brian also developed a terrible cough that turned into bronchitis.  He took himself to the ER on December 23rd and got steroids and antibiotics as well.  The doctor said it was a good thing he went because it could have turned into something much worse since he has asthma.  Knock on wood - I haven't gotten sick yet.

December was busy, but mostly right around Christmas.  We had our work holiday parties (mine and my Dad's was even at the same place at the same time, so we got to introduce each other to our coworkers).  For Christmas Eve, we made tamales and then went to church at 4:30 mass at St. Regis.  Then we hosted the Miller Christmas at our house at 6:30.  It was a success, and Noah, Evan, and Joshua got several new toys and some clothes.  Christmas morning, Noah, and Evan, and Joshua woke up to what Santa had left them...the Ninja Turtle sewer and van for Noah and Evan, and Bucky the Pirate ship (from "Jake and the Neverland Pirates") and a Toy Story race track for Joshua.  They also got several toys from us including Ninja Turtles dress-up sets (all 4), a super hero poster, a plush Jake toy, and new toddler bedding for Joshua.

Noah with his first snowball of the year!

Evan playing in the snow

Joshua taking it all in

Handsome Noah and Evan getting ready for their school Christmas program

Joshua with Jake on Christmas morning

Raphael (Evan) and Donatello (Noah) on Christmas morning

Raph!  

Leonardo (Noah)

Joshua, Bucky the ship, and Daddy on Christmas morning

Mia and Joshua enjoying Christmas dinner

...and the end of the day attempt for a grandparents/grandkids picture :)

Christmas day, we went to the Quirk Christmas at Uncle Pat and Aunt Debbie's house at 1pm.  We then went to Grandma Mary and Grandpa Mike's house for the Sonderman Christmas at 4pm.  The boys all got SO many new toys.  We ended up bringing more than two yellow trashbags full home - plus more that didn't fit in those bags!  Noah, Evan, and Joshua have had so much fun playing with all of their new toys.  They are very lucky!

Noah and Evan are doing great in school.  They love going there and seem to be starting to become more well-rounded individuals.  We get compliments from people about how good they are about sharing and being polite.  Their typical day at school consists of group circle time, snacks, and individual "work" time where they all work individually on whatever they are currently "mastering."  When I ask them what kind of work they did that day, they usually say things like "coloring work" or "painting work" or things of that nature.  Noah is becoming a coloring fanatic - actually coloring at a 4th grade level.  Evan likes to color too, and also look at books and do puzzles.  Their current obsession is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  There is a new show on Nick Jr. that they watch every Saturday with Daddy (who likes it just as much as they do).  They had a Holiday program for school on December 20th, where they sang "Joy to the World."  They stood in the back row and didn't dance or sing, but it was still fun to see them up there!  They had no idea what to expect from a Christmas program, so we didn't expect much out of them :)

Noah and Evan playing with their ninja turtles

Joshua is still doing great too.  He talks more every day.  He loves Buzz and Woody (Toy Story).  He also loves "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" (both shows on Disney Jr.).  He can now tell Noah and Evan apart, and does call them both by their names.  He just started using Evan's name (although he's been able to say it for months).  He loves to sit and look at books and also likes to color.  He is still coming in to our bed in the middle of the night since he was sick for such a long time.  That's something we'll need to work on soon :)