Early Christmas

Our "first Christmas" of the year was on Thursday, the 21st.  We wouldn't have Connor for the actual holiday, so we got to have an early Christmas!

We decided not to have a "real fire", so we put a Yule log on TV, courtesy of YouTube.  Thanks, YouTube.  :-)

And, Alexa graced us with a nice Christmas music channel for our listening enjoyment.

As per usual on gift-opening night, we had pizzas.  This year, it was of the frozen chicken Alfredo persuasion.  While the pizzas were cooking, we snapped a few anticipatory pics.

Before it got too late, Eric decided to "remind" Connor to go "pick up all of his stuff that he left out in the yard"!   Perplexed as to what his dear ol' Dad was talking about, Connor looked out the front door and found his first (and largest!) gift of the evening; a new kayak, complete with rod holders.

While we waited for supper to cook, we hung out.

Ramsey practiced his light saber moves.

He invited Connor to a duel. 

After supper had sufficiently been snarfed, it was time to open gifts.

Ramsey was the "gift-giver" this year and handed out gifts to everyone.  He was able to read everyone's names and pass out presents effectively.  Connor was the spot-checker and also helped.

Connor mostly received clothing, candy, and XBox gaming gear.

This was the first year that Ramsey really opened his own presents, though he did have a little help,

...a rather uneventful video below, but it's the first he'd done [mostly] on his own.

He got some more kinetic sand here; a dinosaur kit!

Eric gave the boys a present together; a "fly gun" (it fires salt at flies in order to eradicate them).  I believe this will mainly be used by the older of the two!!!

Eric also got a fire arm for Christmas!  A super duper "Raptor Whisper" air rifle, with inert gas technology, allowing pellets to move 1300 fps (apparently faster than his Glock).

"You'll shoot your eye out, kid!"

And the gifts kept on coming...   Ramsey's outfitted to be Captain America, his favorite Avengers character.

He's also more equipped to be a storm trooper, in his new First Order storm trooper pajamas.

Among other things, he also received a microphone.  So, we had a sort of "karaoke night" once gifts had been opened.  I'll spare you Ramsey's 6-minute version of Bohemian Rhapsody (for now.. muah hahaha).

The evening was fun, chaotic, and surprising.  Among the craziness that it kind of was, it was a wonderful evening.  We are very blessed.  Merry Christmas!

Ramsey Q&A

So, once again, it's time to post the "answers" to the last six months of questions that Qeepsake (a free web-based service) texts me for our growing preschooler.   It's a fun little way to remember things [later] about Ramsey at this age.

If you asked Ramsey what he wanted for lunch, what would he say?
Chicken fingers or grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Does Ramsey like to draw?
Not like his ol' Mom did when she was little.  He doesn't draw or color much just yet.

What foods does Ramsey like to eat for a snack?
Graham crackers, Gogurt, vanilla wafer cookies

What's Ramsey's favorite spot in the home?
On the couch or anywhere comfty, either playing Kindle or playing toys.  Or, hiding/playing under the living room table.

Did you learn anything new about Ramsey today?
We usually do learn something new!  I just learned that for Ramsey's birthday (which he is ridiculously excited for!), he wants a minion cake, a Minecraft cake, or a "dead loser cake".    I have no words. *sigh*

Does Ramsey generally listen to what you say?
Typically, he either listens 100% and tries to please.... or he's 100% oblivious and is in his own little world!
There are times when he's picking up toys (like he's been asked to), then he gets side-tracked, playing with the toys he's supposed to be putting away.    No matter the time of year, a reminder that "Daddy's going to call Santa" (to tell him Ramsey isn't listening) is enough of a jolt to get him back on track.

What is Ramsey's favorite drink?
"Chocolate vitamin milk".  AKA whole milk with Amazing Grass Kidz Chocolate Superfood Powder. 

What is the last thing that Ramsey made?
Besides a mess of the living room (Star Wars guys everywhere!), we made reindeer hand print pictures for the grandparents for Christmas.  That was fun!  No pictures here, as it would completely spoil the surprise.

Is Ramsey talkative?
He is a chatterbox and comes up with some pretty good lines!  He has terrific manners; he always says "please", "thank you", "Good Morning!", etc.  When he meets someone new, he says "It's a pleasure to meet you".  When he sees someone, he tells them, "it's nice to see you again!".   Lately, he likes to reiterate the Arby's commercial slogan.... "Arby's... WE have THE MEAT!"
He also loves to laugh.  Refer to video:

Does Ramsey show pride at new accomplishments?
Of course, as most children his age do.  He beams with pride and we let him know how proud we are of him too.

What size clothing is Ramsey wearing right now?
Ramsey's wearing a size 4T in pretty much everything.  He wears a size 7 shoe.  He's got a narrow waist, so adjustable pants are a must!

If Ramsey could write a book, what would it be about?
He would write a book about Star Wars and Minecraft.  It would be a mix of both!

Is Ramsey afraid of the dark?
He doesn't seem to be afraid of the dark, but he does like to sleep with his night light (or his mini Christmas tree) on.

Does Ramsey ever go grocery shopping with you?
Ramsey is my super good buddy companion when I'm grocery shopping and he accompanies me about 80% of the time.  He does a great job and sits so nice!  He usually sings while we go up and down the aisle, greeting people and waving at them.

Note: Ramsey does know more of the song than just this one line. lol

Is Ramsey scared of thunder or lightning?
I don't recall Ramsey ever freaking out over a thunderstorm.  

What is Ramsey's favorite article of clothing to wear?
His Star Wars pajamas or any of his Star Wars underpants.  He also likes his police man shirt.

How does Ramsey get along with animals?
Ramsey loves animals.  His only playmate thus far as been Riggs, but when we go to the fair, he loves the goats, riding the ponies, and whatever they happen to have that can be touched in the barns or petting zoo.

Does Ramsey prefer playing inside or outside?
He loves playing both inside and outside.  Outside, he loves to just run around the yard, playing with sticks - or swinging on his play set.   Playing on the front deck is also plenty of good (enclosed) fun!

What is Ramsey doing right now?
Right now, Ramsey is upstairs with Nana Karen.  I can hear him yelling "whoo hooo hooooo".  I don't know if he is singing, pretending to be a train, or what!?!

What does Ramsey call you?
Ramsey calls me "Mom" (it used to be Momma) and he calls Eric "Dad".  In the middle of the night or early in the morning, I frequently hear, "Mooooooooooooooooooooom!  Mom!  Come here!"

Other notables:
Ramsey LOVES to sing!  He sings in the grocery store (lately it's been "Jingle Bells" and "Bohemian Rhapsody"), in his bedroom, and in the living room (when Eric plays his Star Wars songs on You Tube).  The kid is hilarious!  He's not always in tune, but he really gets into it!

Trains, Darth Vader, and Santa. What a mix!

It turns out, this past weekend (Saturday to be exact), there was a LOT going on in our town!  Thanks to Facebook, we were informed of a few fun things that we decided we needed to do. 

Ramsey and I started out going to McDonald's, having a nice mother/son lunch.  Mr. Social met a little girl named Misty that became his new friend.  She was a pretty little 7-year-old blonde that Ramsey grew fond of.  :-)   Add yet another girlfriend to his little black book!

Then, we met Bridger, Kevin, and Kristi at the train depot.  (Connor had to work and Eric stayed home to clean and do laundry - nice eh?!)   The depot was having an open house in the basement.

They were featuring all of their model trains and set-ups.  It was amazing!  There were about seven different set-ups there, all of which were extremely detailed... and huge.

There were different types of trains and different scenarios of our town, throughout various periods in history.

I bought a few raffle tickets, in the hopes that Ramsey would win the locomotive set.  Fingers crossed!

One of the "train conductors" on site let Bridger and Ramsey use the remote control to "toot the horn".

They certainly got a charge out of making the whistles blow!

After about an hour, I took the boys to a quaint little bakery downtown.  I knew they had fancy Christmas cookies.   The boys each chowed down a beautifully iced snowflake and I ordered a gingerbread French macaroon.  Heavenly!

Santa was at this particular bakery, so the boys were able to say hello and wish him a Merry Christmas.  I wasn't able to get a picture because the line of kids waiting to see him was winding around the outside of the building!

Then, it was off to the mall!  I had heard that Darth Vader was going to be there (somewhere!).  Both Bridger and Ramsey were excited for this!  But, since he wasn't supposed to arrive until 2:00, we had some time to kill.  So, the boys played like mad on the indoor play set.

 As a [sometimes overprotective] Mom, I was a bit leery of Ramsey climbing up SO HIGH.  But, with Bridger along, I knew they'd play together and that Bridger would watch out for Ramsey.

 Those two squirrels played for about a half an hour, going up and down, across the bridges, inside the look-out towers, etc.  Every time I would see them, I'd look again and they'd be clear on the other side of the huge contraption!

For a while, they thought it was funny to pretend they were "in jail".  Yes, partners in crime, they were!

At 2:00, it was time to go try to find Darth Vader.  The three of us walked up and down the mall, searching every nook and cranny.  No luck.  We asked people if they'd seen him.  No one had.

We did manage to see Santa and his helpers though.  Again, no pictures, due to a very long line to see him!  The boys waved.  Bridger wondered how Santa could get to the mall SO QUICKLY; we had just seen him minutes before at the bakery!   We concluded that Santa must have a few "helpers" for all of the P.R. appearances.

Thinking that the Darth Vader sighting was futile, we decided it was time to leave.  Just then, we found him!  Darth Vader was near the movie theater.

He was there with a storm trooper and Wicket the Ewok!  Ramsey was a bit hesitant at first.

 He still wasn't quite sure what to think of the Ewok.

Ramsey gave Darth Vader one of his Star Wars encyclopedias to sign, in which Darth Vader wrote, "The force is with you. ~ Darth"

 Ramsey thought that was pretty cool.

 So much excitement for one day!  But, we still had groceries to get at Wally World (the least-fun part of the day.)  Bridger wanted to go with us, so we high-tailed it on over there.  The place was packed (ugh).

But, on the way in, one of the greeters had whispered to me, "Santa's here!", so I was sure to keep my eyes peeled for him.  As we started grabbing the necessities (and a few treats, of course), I heard a

 "Ho Ho Ho!!".  Bridger's and Ramsey's eyes got big.  It was our mission to find him, right then and there.

With Bridger hanging on to the front of the cart and Ramsey singing "Jingle Bells" (the entire time we were in Walmart, by the way! lol), we bolted.  We found Santa near the bread aisle.  Santa and his helper gave the boys candy canes and wished them a Merry Christmas.

We then went back to our shopping, singing Christmas carols (Bridger and I both joined in - people were laughing and smiling... probably thinking we're all nuts!).

We heard Santa's "Ho Ho Ho's" again.  Bridger's eyes got big again and he asked if we could go find him.  Off we raced again.  When we saw him, Ramsey yelled "Santa, WAIT!".  He stopped, Ramsey wished him a "Merry Christmas!" (again), and Bridger tugged on his shirt sleeve, waved, and sweetly said "HI!".

We did this about two more times.  I joked with the boys that we were the "Santa stalkers"!

Bridger decided that the "real Santa" was probably the second gentleman that we saw in the mall.  Ramsey shook his head in agreement, as did I.

 

Super fun day! 

Though we were bushed when we got home, we were already planning our slumber party get-together for after Christmas.  Hopefully we'll have some snow by then so we can go sledding!

Revving Up for Star Wars

The excitement is building... for the new Star Wars movie "The Last Jedi"!   We've been looking forward to seeing this new movie in the latest trilogy since last year, after we saw Rogue One!

The whole family is going on Friday, the 15th.  I'm not sure who's more excited; the kids or Eric!  I am excited also, just for the record!  :-) 

When we ask if Ramsey is excited to see the movie, his new response is, "YES!  But, I don't want to eat popcorn; I don't like it." 

In all of this excitement, Eric had some fun with Photoshop in the days leading up!

Connor Skywalker

Darth Ramsey:

Obi Connor

Ramsey Solo

Our First Gingerbread House

Of all of the creative fun things I've done, I have never made/decorated a gingerbread house!  (Odd, I know.)  I figured it was "about time"!

Ramsey and I picked out a kit at the store and brought it home.  It's been sitting on the counter for a few days, waiting for Connor to be here too!

Tuesday night was the night.  Everyone was here!  Connor decided he would sit out on the decorating, but would be happy to nibble on candies later.   Ramsey was dying to start!

We rolled out some red fondant to give the house some color.  Ramsey was excited because he said, "It's just like Play Doh!".  Hmm, good point, little man.   :-)

Then, we started piping some icing and attaching gumdrops and holly hard candies.

 We had some delicious candy canes for the roof too.

 Ramsey's attention started veering back to more playing and eating.  And by eating, I mean dipping gumdrops and candy in the piping frosting and licking it off... repeatedly.    Mmm.  Sugar.

And, after about an hour of piping, playing, sticking, decorating, and intermittent nibbling, here was the finished product:

I have to give a kudos nod to all of those Food Network stars who create palaces, castles, and beautiful lodges out of gingerbread. It's not as easy as it looks!  And frankly, I wouldn't have the patience.  I was tapped out!   That said, I do think that this will be a yearly Christmas/Advent tradition!

 We all had to gather 'round the gingerbread house and get some family pics before its imminent  demise.  Truly, what's the joy of having one of these fine sugary structures if it's only there to look at, then get chucked in the garbage in a few weeks?  Yes, it must be eaten!

Connor got the coveted honor.   Since he LOVES demo'ing and demolishing things, I handed him the heavy duty protein pounding hammer... and let him smash and destroy our beautiful work of art!  :-)

Dessert for everyone was yummy sugary gingerbread house.   Even Riggs got a treat (probably not great for a dog), when he sniped some that had flown onto the floor.

While Ramsey nibbled on his piece, he kept giving the craft project sideways looks, sighing, saying "Awww, poor gingerbread house".  

Oh, but it was so tasty.  :-)  

Celebrating Advent

Advent is the time we  prepare for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas time.   Growing up, we didn't formally celebrate Advent in our home with an Advent wreath, calendar, etc (we really went nuts for the Christmas season though - which I guess is an informal way to give the proverbial nod).  We celebrated it at church - and I wasn't fully aware of the total meaning of it or its history.  I've been wanting to make it a new celebrated tradition in our family.

There are a lot of ways to celebrate Advent and everyone does it a little bit different.  To me, it's all about the excitement and joy of the season, giving to others, and realizing the true meaning of Christmas.

This month, these are some of the things that we've done with the kids to celebrate:

* "Paid it forward" at McDonald's by paying for the vehicle behind us (the last two times!).
*  Trimmed the Christmas tree and decorated the house for the special season.
*  Resolved to make this Advent season a special time of reflection, peace, graciousness, and thankfulness for our many blessings.
*  Purchased boy and girl gifts for needy children and dropped them off at "The Giving Tree", located in a local restaurant.   Ramsey picked out the presents at the store.   He seemed so proud of himself and pleased.
*  Had "Hot Cocoa Night" with the kids.   Connor loves hot chocolate (with a ridiculous amount of marshmallows) and Ramsey hadn't tried it before (loved it! - no marshmallows).  I think he tried it for me because he'd just learned about it in school.

*  Visited Santa and got a nice picture.
* Took Ramsey to the local craft store to pick out special tree ornaments.  Incidentally, out of the thousands he could picked from (Star Wars ones included), he chose three cross ornaments; one that said "Believe", another "Family", and lastly, "Hope".

*  Read Christmas stories and talked about why we celebrate Christmas and what its true meaning is.  (This is more of an ongoing lesson this month.)
*  Picked out toys Ramsey no longer plays with and donated them to Good Will.
*  Made "Lemon Sugar Cookie Whipped Body Butter" for Ramsey's teachers and some family.  (Love how it turned out!)
*  Decorated a gingerbread house (first time ever!)
*  Opened a few presents "early".   Eric insisted on this (he LOVES to give gifts!).
         One evening, after opening an early present, Ramsey claimed he saw Santa outside and was so excited!

Other things we plan to do:
*  Make more gifts for Ramsey's educators (thinking soaps and yummy bubbling body scrubs).
*  Bake and deliver goodies to the local police department, the women's shelter, etc.
*  Create new Christmas ornaments for our tree (and for our family/friends).
*  Bake Christmas cookies and decorate them (need some for Santa too!).
*  Make special "from-the-heart" gifts for grandparents.
*  Take cookies and gifts to neighbors.
*  Road trip to town to see Christmas lights.

We'll continue our celebration of Advent and enjoy these precious times with our family.  We are so blessed!

Visiting Santa Claus

Santa Claus came to visit our town at the beginning of December.   Ramsey was sooooooo excited!  Eric and I took him to a local photo studio to get his picture taken with the jolly ol' soul.

Ramsey asked for a "Wonder Crew Superhero Buddy" (doll) and "Star Wars stuff".   I guess we'll see if Santa delivers!