Christmas on New Year's

This year, we celebrated Christmas with Eric's side of the family after the holiday; on New Year's Day!   We got twice the bang for the buck.  :-)   

(Yes, the posting date on this blog is back-dated, to ensure it winds up in the 2015 printed blog book!)

Ramsey's playing his Kindle while waiting for Troy, Sarah, Sadie, and Isaac to come.

After they arrived, the beautiful Miss Sadie scooped Ramsey up and I took a some shots.  Sadie never complains.  :-) 

When the big boys joined the party, it was time to be goofy! 

Time sure does fly by.  Here, Connor is 13, Sadie is 12, Isaac is 10, and Ramsey is 23 months.

After things calmed down a bit, it was time to open presents!

Connor and Nana gave me a nice big grin.  We were happy to be with everyone again!

Connor received some really wonderful gifts; a Kindle Fire Stick and remote, a Star Wars shirt, an Under Armour sweatshirt, a gift card, an autographed football, and more.

Ramsey got a lot of great gifts also; a basketball hoop set, some super cool clothes, a Paw Patrol play set, a ton of matchbox cars, a number of Thomas & Friends railway cars, etc.  He didn't want to sit still a lot to open presents (he wanted to explore everything and see what everyone else was doing), so he had some help.  :-)

...although he happily inspected and played with all of his wonderful toys and presents after-the-fact!

We had a little fun Isaac.  Eric had purchased a gag box for him as well.  Isaac was the proud recipient of "Extreme Chores", a Wii-like game which featured oh-so-fun chores like doing dishes, digging, raking, and scooping the litter box!  While we all chuckled at his reaction, he was perplexed and not overly excited about it.  We pestered him to open the box to show us the contents.  He pulled out a Star Wars hoodie and shirt instead.   Relief!!!!

Uncle Cory happily tore into his presents.

I snagged a nice pic of Auntie Sarah and Uncle Troy after the presents had been opened.

Isaac figured out he was small enough to hide in the TV cabinet.

But Ramsey found him!  He found it amusing to continue shutting the door on Isaac.

Present-opening is pretty exhausting stuff, so Nana made sundaes and malts afterwards.

Ramsey got some good Bumpa time.

And of course, Riggsy could not be forgotten at present time!  Nana and Bumpa bought him a HUGE rawhide dog treat.

Here's Bumpa... with his bone. 

I tried to get a decent picture of Riggs after he was given his present, but he wasn't about to sit still; he was jumping and shaking his head while I took the shot.  My efforts were futile!

After supper, Nana had a project; candy trains.

She diligently showed Sadie how to make them.

Ramsey and I sat there with the ladies.  We weren't very useful; we just pigged out on candy.

 Sadie ended up making about a half dozen.  

 Here are Nana and Sadie after the completion of their fun craft project.

Connor and Isaac came up from playing and started calling dibs on the trains they wanted.  :-)

 Ramsey wasn't fooled by the candy.  He knew they were choo choo trains!  His Thomas the Train cars have magnets on each end to connect them together.   Ramsey was trying to connect the candy trains to the metallic ends of the Life Saver wrappers and push them around.

The next day was the annual Christmas party for the kids (organized by the company that Nana works part time for).   As usual, the event was held at the movie theater, so our "second breakfast" was popcorn and pop!  

We went to see Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens (yup, Ramsey too!).   Eric and Connor had been waiting a YEAR to see it!  Star Wars is one of Connor's favorites and is Eric's all-time favorite childhood movie series (nay, EPIC SAGAS).  For me, Star Wars is pure nostalgia with some great light saber battles.  FYI: The new movie did not disappoint!

Afterwards, the kids received wonderful gifts and had their picture taken with Santa's elves.  

Then, sadly, it was time to go home.  So, off we went, in an overloaded truck, feeling like gypsies.  :-)

Speaking of home, Riggs tore into his ginormous bone after we'd all settled in.  

We've been having fun wagering on his progress.
This one might take him more than an hour to finish!

Merry Christmas 2015!

Here's something to leave you all with at the end of the year:

"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count; it's the life in your years." 

~ Abraham Lincoln

Chugga Chugga Toot Toot!

Each of the boys received a customized Christmas present this year.   Connor got the DIY backlit Vikings headboard.   Since Ramsey loves cars and trains (pretty much anything with wheels!), his personalized present is a new train table.

I had found a number of train tables online.  But, even though they were quite expensive, they seemed flimsy or not exactly made of the highest quality materials.    I happen to know a very good carpenter (Mom's neighbor, Allan, who has done quite a lot of work for us here at the house).  I asked him to create a custom table for Ramsey, complete with an inset (so his train tracks, trains, cars, etc, would not fall off the edge), two toy bins, and a nice shelf (for another storage area or a place for him to drive or park more vehicles).  And, I asked him to create a "cover" for it, so all of the tracks and such could be easily covered and it could be used as a coffee table.  Multi-functional!

Allan had some cherry wood leftover from a cabinetry project.  Cherry?  For a toddler?  Hey, it was less expensive than the pine that he had, so we went for it!

After laboring for about a week, Allan had completed the table and toy bins.  And, he had also created a chair that converts into a stool.  Clever!   It was bare wood, so I had to stain and clear coat it.  (Yay)

The end result:

Like Connor's large custom gift, this too was much too large and heavy to wrap.  So, Ramsey spotted it a few hours before gift-opening time.

The lid/top had to come off.  When he saw it, he started banging his trucks and Star Wars figures on it in excitement.... and added a few light scuffs!  Whoops!

Here are pictures from Tuesday, the day after we'd opened presents.  He had received some Thomas & Friends wood train cars, a felt toy mat, and a set of wooden railway tracks.

Mom laughed today and told me that she thought I liked playing with the train set and table just as much as Ramsey!  I admit, I think I do!

"Musical Beds"

Oh yes, another DIY project in the D household!  :-)

Prefacing details: Nana and Bumpa offered Connor a full-sized mattress set in early November.   We pondered.  Connor pondered.  Connor has always LOVED his red Lamborghini race car bed that Bumpa made him years ago!  Giving up such a cherished possession would be a tough decision.   But, Connor's 13 now, almost 14.   It might just be "time".

More pondering.  Connor agreed.

To make the transition easier, I had talked to Connor about redoing his bedroom and I offered him choices for fun themes; fishing, hunting, football,....  Football!  Yup, the light bulb flashed on for Connor and his eyes lit up!!  Yes, he wanted a football room!  Moreover, he wanted a Minnesota Vikings football room!

With Christmas coming up, I now have present ideas.  Mua-hahahahaha!

And so, the brainstorming began.  What to do... what to get...?  And, how could we make his bedroom "not just any Vikings room?"    Hmm.

Well, our super cool teenager would need a new headboard.  He would need some new wall art.  Why not put the two together?!?!   So, that's when the brainchild began.  I'd make a headboard with some cool Vikings graphics.   And,  to make it even cooler... it will be back-lit it with LED lights so it will glow!  Coolness factor?  Check!

After lots of time and efforts lugging, lifting, hauling, sawing, puttying, sanding, drilling, and decal applying, this is end result!  Connor has a new Vikings headboard with Vikings comforter, new sheets, new mattress set, new dust ruffle.... the works!  Aaaaaaaaaaand.... the LED lights cast dozens of colors, that twinkle, flash, etc, with the touch of a remote control.   ...seems pretty teenager-chic to me!  

This massive Christmas present wasn't exactly wrappable, so Connor got this present a few days prior to present-opening.

We still have a few minor tweaks for the room, but at least the "big stuff" is done.   Yay!  Another project successfully completed.

In case anyone is wondering what happened to the red Lamborghini race car bed, it is now in Ramsey's room!  (Ramsey was using his 3-in-1 crib as a toddler bed, so it was a relatively smooth transition - I slept with him a few nights while he adapted).

Ramsey LOVES cars.  Cars are one of his favorite things.  When Ramsey's new bed was installed, he clapped his hands, jumped up and down, and laughed and smiled.  

It worked out quite well.  The boys are happy and that's what matters.  :-)

Thank you to Daddy, Nana and Bumpa, and Nana K who made "musical beds" possible!

Opening Presents a Little Early

Since we don't have Connor for Christmas this year, we opened presents a little early on the last day that he was with us (this past Monday).  

As our usual Christmas tradition, I went "all out" and made frozen pizzas!  :-)  (I did spruce them up a little bit so it was kind of like cooking!)    My Mom started the  tradition of pizzas (except hers were homemade!) years ago on the ranch because my brother and I were usually too anxious for gift time (Christmas Eve) and didn't have the patience to wait for everyone to finish and enjoy a big supper and dishes (plus, we had already been to church)!   With all of the hustle and bustle, pizza is a dandy nice shortcut and no one ever complains!

This particular get together was comprised of Eric, Connor, Ramsey, Riggs, Nana Karen, my brother Lance, and me.

Just before supper, we had a surprise visitor; Santa had come to deliver gifts!
Caution: This video is long.  I am a poor video editor so it's nearly as-is.  Deal.  :-)

Well, at least he didn't cry!  :-)

The first non-Santa presents to open were special from Daddy to Ramsey (Mom joked that the presents were just as much for Daddy!); Star Wars figures Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper.

Ramsey wasn't sure what to think of these guys.  They were just as tall as him!!

Connor played Santa again this year and passed out presents.  Connor's smiling big, as always!

He helped Ramsey open his presents too.

Eric wrapped a present for Mom inside of a gag box.  She didn't "get it" and thought it was a strange gift!  We teased her about her "cat naps".  

Lance and Mom were goofing off (typical!).    Mom wound up with a bow on her head.... again.

Riggsy received presents too; rawhide bones, treats, and a new Canadian goose toy (the internal squeaker may last another five minutes before he has it successfully chewed out!).

Happy puppy.

The best Christmas presents of all....  having family to share the holiday with.