Merry Christmas!!

It has been a bit since we updated...computer problems have plagued us of late. But we are on board again to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

The week before Christmas we lucked out and had Uncle David and Aunt Lesley come for a visit! The boys took them to one of their favorite hang out places...Wacky Bounce!

Who is having more fun?

The past week the boys have not been in school so we have been filling our time with lots of art and writing projects. Here they traced Dad's shoes and then decorated them together.

We also had to get a new washer/dryer this week :( and convinced the delivery person to leave one of the big boxes. Here the boys are using pencils and measuring tapes to mark out additional windows in their new play house.

We managed to squeeze in some big squeezes!!

We also took a horse drawn carriage around downtown Albany. The boys especially loved the battery powered candles they got to hold and all the hot chocolate that was passed around. They laughed at some of the Christmas carols that were sung...like 'Grandma got run over by a reindeer' and 'I saw Mommy kissing Santa'.
Christmas eve we made cookies at our friend's house...can't have enough cookies!!
On Christmas morning Dylan woke up singing Jingle Bells...but stayed in bed until Cole ran back down the hall announcing that there were presents under the tree. After taking a look both boys ran back to Mom and Dad's room and Dylan said "Mom, there is like eleven-teen (his favorite number is 11 and he always adds 'teen' to the end!) presents under the tree...come quick!"
Cole was very excited for his chocolate Santa in his stocking...too bad for Mom and Dad that he ended up thinking that was all he needed to eat for breakfast!The highlight of the morning was this ginormous trash truck from their cousins. After opening this they were not interested in opening anything else for at least 2 hours.
Another highlight was this 'Snap Circuits' toy that another cousin gave Dylan. Dylan picked this up immediately and after one or two times was able to read the instructions and create his own circuits.
After a fun and crazy morning at home we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house...news was that Santa stopped by their house too!
Grandma and Grandpa are enjoying watching the boys tear into their presents!
Then cousins Brooke & Miles and Aunt Julie and Uncle Todd showed up and the present opening commenced again!!
To end a fabulous day of thrills and chills Dad sat down and told the boys all about the Fiegener tradition sniffing the 'official' smell of Christmas.

Graham Cracker House Party

This afternoon we had some friends over to help us decorate graham cracker houses.
Mom thought all the kids would like to decorate so she 'pre-made' some of the houses.

They were all concentrating on the task at hand.

And being very careful to get the icing glue just where it needed to be.
Dylan did his first house all in red...with only a few nibbles here and there.

Grandma helped out too with all her decorating experience she shared some great ideas with us!

Cole finished decorating his house and ran and got a fork and proceeded to eat all the candy off the top of his house.

Then decorated it again as a snowy ghost house that he then blasted to pieces with his fork and knife. The house was left in a big rubble pile...as Cole put it. That's my boy!

Friends munching on graham crackers!

O Christmas Tree!

We are getting into the holiday spirit these days.

With baking yummy treats...

...to going to our favorite Christmas tree farm to pick out the perfect tree.

The sleigh ride behind the reindeer pickup truck is a favorite with the boys and their friend Jonah.

Helping Dad carry the tree to be measured after we got to cut it down ourselves!!

We were all very excited to get the tree and house decorations down from the attic. (The boys keep saying that when they are 5 they can go up in the attic...hmmmmm.)
And placing them in just the right place on the tree!
Once the tree was decorated they took a huge box of pine cones and 'decorated' the rest of the house! They said it looked good! They also took some ribbons and snowman plastic food trays and put those in their room with the pine cones...all laid out on their book shelf and dresser. They sure were in a festive mood!

Seattle Thanksgiving

We spent a lovely Thanksgiving holiday in Seattle at Aunt Cindy and cousins Amy & Paige's house. The boys were so excited to see their cousins...and it was snowy at their house too! Even more fun!!

We spent lots of time playing and reading...

And eating!!! Thanks Cindy for such a great meal!!

We also headed out to downtown Seattle to check out the sights.

We took the monorail round trip to see more downtown sights.
We got to sit right in front next to the driver! Dylan liked being able to see all the buttons and levers!!
They even had a train show (inside thankfully!) and kids rides outside! The boys couldn't pass up this jeep ride.

We had so much fun visiting, playing and dancing around...but we also had time for cousin cuddles!!

Snow!

Last night it snowed!! The boys were jumping on Mom and Dad's bed this morning at 6.30am shouting that it snowed. They were ready to go outside right then...we managed to hold them off for a few minutes. But you will notice the sky in the photo below is dark...yes it is still dark at 6.50am!

One of the first things Cole said when they went outside was 'why is it so quiet?'. Answer: It tends to be quiet that early in the morning since many people aren't even awake by then!!

We finally got them to come in for breakfast about 3 hours later, but they ate breakfast with their jackets on so they could run right back outside when they finished eating.

While tucking the boys into bed tonight, Mom asked what was their favorite activity in the snow was and Cole said "cleaning the snow off everything in the neighborhood!" We walked the entire block while they swept the sidewalk. They cleaned off our driveway, our cars, the deck, their slides, our front walk and all our bushes.
Hopefully it snows again this season!

Happy 4th Birthday Dylan & Cole!!

Today Dylan and Cole turned the big 4. I truly can not believe they are already 4 years old...my babies are growing up so fast!!

We had a party for the boys on Sunday at a local toy store that has a playroom and birthday room. And of course Grandma made the boys cakes to order...Cole wanted a T-Rex with 'ferocious teeth' and Dylan wanted a yellow bulldozer with crawler tracks and black and red writing. The cakes were a huge hit with the kids (and parents too!)!

I made capes with all the kids names on them (12 kids!!) and crowns...

...that the kids got to decorate with shiny and sparkly shapes.

Then it was playtime in the playroom. The boys stuck close to their gal pals from their school. Actually they were fairly inseparable! Very cute.

When it was cake time the boys started chanting 'cake time' in the playroom and then all the kids ran into the party room screaming 'CAKE TIME'!

Cole wanted to eat the 'ferocious teeth'.
And Dylan wanted to eat the bulldozer blade and dirt!
I don't think you would be able to get 12 3-and-4 year olds to sit at a table so quietly without cake.
Then it was back to the playroom until they kicked us out!
Today as a Birthday surprise we took the boys and their friend Jonah to the Wacky Bounce House after school. They ran and bounced so hard they could hardly keep their eyes open this evening!
We ended the fabulous 4th birthday celebrations with remnant cake pieces and a final Happy Birthday song. It was a memorable celebration!!