Happy 2010! Goodbye 2009!

Welcome and Merry Christmas!

Welcome and Merry Christmas to any new blog readers! I started this blog almost two years ago as a way for me to keep my out of town Sister and Dad in the loop. You are welcome to go thru and read from the beginning or just look at the pictures. They are my favorite part but, if you do not have time or suffer from insomnia then let me catch you up.

Alexander Warren

Alex is now 7 1/2 years old and in second grade. He is so much like his father it is crazy but has his own personality coming thru more every day. Alex is incredibly smart (not a vain mother moment, it is just numbers) and is either 1 or 2 grade levels above his class. With this intelligence comes a bit of social awkwardness and so we are working on things like tact and common sense which I am not sure is something you can teach. Alex is very sweet and may have already found the love of his life, which with a boy like Alex I can actually believe it. Alexis is the perfect girl next door (well 3 doors down) and is as smart as Alex only not awkward which is perfect. She makes him a little crazy and not nearly as serious as he can be. Sounds impossible but they have been "together" for 3 years which we celebrate every Halloween!

The only thing Alex might love more than Alexis is baseball and computers!
He has proudly played on the T-ball A's and the Cubs for the past 2 years and is really looking forward to joining the real baseball farm league next year. So far he plays every position but he is going to end up in field and thinks pitching is cool.
Alex's favorite color is green, food is ice cream, animal is polar bear and he loves to ride his scooter.

Lukas Wayne
Lukas is now 6 years old and in 1st grade. He too is at the top of his class even though he should really be in kindergarten. He loves Math, Science, Art and to learn about different places and languages. Lukas is so much like my sister Valerie it shocks me some days. He is funny and sweet but certainly has his moments. He is very interested in knights and castles thanks to his best friend of 3 years, Logan. They are certainly 2 peas in a pod when they get together! He also plays baseball with Alex and was asked to play on the same team next year but he loves soccer too. Lukas & Alex love to go camping with Mamo and Pappy. Lukas is happy just sitting on a rock fishing even though he has never caught anything. He says he loves nature and animals so exploring in the woods is perfect for him. He loves anything to do with penguins, his favorite color is red, food is fish sticks (no, not kidding) and he also loves his scooter.
My Colorado native boys somehow got some of their Cali mothers love of the ocean. They both are perfectly at home in San Diego and in the sand when we go to visit Aunt Valerie.
And of course... It's all about Alex and Lukas

Basketball, maybe not so much?

Alex started basketball this month and the verdict is still out. He is not a huge fan yet and has even asked if he has to finish the season but who knows with more time he might like it or he may be just a baseball kid!

Practice

Ready for his first game

1st Grade Christmas Party

I was able to go to Lukas' Holiday party at school this year. Alex's was later in the day so I did not go but he did not seem to want "mommy" to anyway. Lukas' teacher had told us that Lukas has lots of friends and that he is a leader in the classroom and I found this to be true at the party. He is not bossy with his classmates they just seem to look to him and follow his lead. Thank goodness he is well behaved most the time!

In line for the holiday feast, he is the santa hat of course!

Yummy!Lukas and Miss Muehlenkamp We love her!

Happy Hanukkah!

Our Hanukkah with the Iten family is one we treasure! The boys love Hanukkah and it is even more fun with Annabelle! Maybe next year she will be crazy too and not just my boys. Oh dear, thank goodness Auntie Cathryn and Uncle Scott are patient people.

Our traditional Anthony's pizza for dinner.

Ok, this was hilarious. Annabelle is very into baby dolls right now since she has a baby sibling on the way. So she was trying to have the boys play with her. Oh the difference between boys and girls! I think they tried but they are so rough and well you can imagine.

I am sure she does this all the time but, I had never seen her sit on her feet like this before. I just think it is adorable and so very grown up. Slow down Annabelle!

Our traditional doughnut menorah. Cathryn once again trusted my children with fire but this year was scarier than most. I don't have any pictures of them lighting, I was too busy praying!

Presents, the boys insisted on immediately putting on their PJ's from Cathryn and Scott. I think they like them!

Sweet face with the St. Jude's bear Cathryn gets the boys every year. This will be the last year for St. Jude's bears so "Carter" is the final addition to their collection.

Dreidel, Dreidel. The boys remembered how to play and even remembered most of the sides and Annabelle even understood how to play. It was so much fun! The best was Annabelle hiding her chocolate coins in her lap.

I think we had better get used to this mouth being full.

Kids Christmas

Since Logan had a kids Halloween party, Lukas decided he needed to have a kids Christmas Party. If I do say so myself, it was really fun and a tradition I think we will keep.
The kids were CRAZY running around the house most of the time but I think it was the first time any of the parents had been able to eat before their kids in the last 6+ years! We had a taco bar by kid request and mini cupcakes for dessert which were fabulous! The kids calmed down to watch Merry Madagascarr and then finally sort of ate something. Alexis took an immediate love to Annabelle who played with the big kids pretty well and just keep saying "the boys!" in great excitement. I am not sure she even realized that Alex was not there with the tornado of children around her. Alex did not want to help get ready for the party so Daddy took him out instead of being able to attend :(

Alexis and Annabelle

PRESENTS! We did a gift exchange but each child had one person to buy for. This group has gotten pretty close so it wasn't too hard.
Alex-Alexis (shocker!)
Lukas- Logan
Logan- Alex
Katie- Lukas
Alexis- Katie

Lukas' new swords and shield were a big hit!

Merry Christmas from the kids party!

Too Cool for School

Lukas was the Star of the Week this week.
Monday: Guessing Bag of 41 cars.
Tuesday: Favorite Stuffed Animal so Peef went to school.
Wednesday: Show and Share with his Batman computer
Thursday: Favorite Book Peef the Christmas Bear
Friday: His star from the top right clockwise was;
Family: our picture from when we went camping
Pets: 2 pictures of Blue
I'm sad when: there are Tornados
Friends: Picture of Logan and Lukas and then a picture of Lukas, Logan, Alexis and Alex
I wish: I had a pet Penguin
I like reading about: Nature and Animals
Things that make me happy: The Beach, The Zoo and Christmas
Words that describe me: smart, funny, weird, athletic, nice, friendly, artist, son, brother, cuddly and American.
He picked all the pictures and wrote it all himself!

Lukas won the coloring contest for the whole 1st grade! His school had a contest for Veteran's Day and this was his picture. He won a special Veteran's coin, certificate, gift card to Southlands and his artwork in the main hall at school!

Alexander has gone crazy about reading. He has read 65 books and 97,890 words just at school! There is a computer program that calculates their comprehension of these books and he has an average of 88% including an 11,002 word book!

Lukas the soccer champ

2 goals for Lukas!

Boo at the Zoo