Owen's Special Day

Last Thursday, we decided to take Owen out on a special date with Mommy and Daddy. Eli got to go hang out with Aunt Sar while we took Owen to do a special "big boy" activity... Rock Climbing! I have bought a couple of groupons over the past couple of months to a couple of local indoor rock climbing gyms with the thought that it would be something that Owen would really enjoy. When we first arrived, it took him a while to get his feet under him. He was scared to be belayed because he thought that automatically meant that he had to go high. He gave it a couple of tries, and then we decided to just let him watch us climb for a while.

Look Ma! A wall that I'm allowed to climb!

As the day went on, his confidence grew and he became more and more excited and willing to climb. We discovered that he was much more comfortable climbing when he wasn't belayed because he felt more in control of how high he went. He is actually a very good climber! (imagine that!)

Here's our little monkey doing a flip on an inverted wall. He's a crazy one!

We had such a fun time climbing, even though we were completely worn out by the time that we finished! We decided that we need to do training to strengthen our arms before we go back. We also decided that we need to build a climbing wall in our basement- and that maybe we need to open our own climbing gym in Plainfield! ;) I can see the beginnings of another really fun hobby for us!

Christmas with Michelle and KaeLynn

Wednesday, we made the trip up to Muncie to spend some time with my sister and her little sweetie, KaeLynn. We hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving, so Kaelynn of course has changed a ton! She's such a laid-back little sweetie- I just love her to pieces.

We did our part in spoiling her rotten. She's totally rocking out that rad new hat that her Aunt Stephie made for her! Can you believe that she was 5 months old exactly in this picture? Crazy! Where has the time gone?!?!

I can't wait til I get to see my girls again. I always miss them a ton. I wish that they lived closer :(

Christmas Part Two: Gessner Christmas

December 26, we hosted Second Christmas with our Gessner family. We had a wonderful, enjoyable day! My favorite part was celebrating our nephews' first Christmas and seeing the four boys together. I just love those little nephews of mine, they're pretty lovable little guys!

Here are a few highlights from Gessner Christmas

They brought a *few* presents.

My SILs and handsome nephews

The Grinch

Grandpa Dave and Cutie Cooper

My boys *teaching* Nolan how to use the pound and roll tower.

Aunt Jodi with Cooper and Eli. Eli LOVES the babies!

As always, so thankful for such wonderful family. I couldn't have picked more wonderful in-laws! Love you all so much!

Christmas Part One

Christmas has once again come and gone. I am sitting here enjoying the glow of our Christmas tree for the last evening before we pack it away again. I'm still trying to figure out where on earth we'll put all of the new toys and gifts, and leftovers from oversized meals still reside in my fridge. As much as I love Christmas, I'll be glad to have everything packed away, cleaned up, and back to normal.

Christmas Eve, our wonderful neighbor, Kathy, spent several hours making a gingerbread house with Owen. They did a terrific job, and all of our holiday guests admired their handiwork. It was so sweet of her to spend the time to make this with Owen, and he really appreciated getting to do it.

After Christmas Eve Mass, (which was far less eventful than last year's mass!), we came home and the boys put on their Christmas jammies and watched the Polar Express.

Christmas morning, the boys discovered with excitement that Santa had indeed made a visit during the night. They were thrilled to be able to rip into the big suprise!

And they were even more thrilled to discover what Santa had brought!

Later in the day, we were joined by more of the family. Grandma and Grandpa McKinney, Grandma and Grandpa Gessner, and Great Grandpa Norbert all joined us for presents, food, fun and family time.

Owen and I also made a birthday cake to celebrate Jesus' big day!

As Christmas came to a close, jammies were re-donned, books were read, and tents were crowded.

It was a wonderful day and we were so thankful to be able to spend it with the ones we hold dear. How lucky we are to be so blessed this Christmas!

Never take your eyes off of a two year old. Never

Guess what happens when you combine...

a plug and cover plate laying innocently on the floor

a hole in the wall

and a master of mayhem?

That's right, you get to spend the next 30ish minutes scraping the crap out of your arm while you use various kitchen utensils and tools rigged up with magnets to fish out said plug and cover plate.

Awesome.

Casa de COLD

Monday night into Tuesday we got another healthy dose of snow. This was that perfect, wet, dense snow that packs like a charm. A very rare snow indeed! It was also a perfect day for playing outside since it wasn't so cold. We made the most of it and bundled the kiddos up and spent the better portion of the day doing something really productive-- making an igloo!

Matthew and I can both get a little exuberant making snow structures. (Gessners-- remember the 10 foot long snow tunnel a few years back at Christmas?? Case and point.) Once we realized how well the snow was packing and how quickly we could roll giant snow balls, the idea became more and more realistic.

The finished product is a wonder to behold. An igloo with vaulted ceilings that all four of us can fit inside of. It even has a slide that wraps around the side!

Those of you coming here for Christmas will get to appreciate this beauty in all of its glory! Need a place to stay? We're considering putting it up for rent- I'm sure that the local Inuit population will jump right on it!

COLTS!!

Man did we get lucky this weekend! Matt scored tickets for field level suite tickets to the Colts game. We've been to several games, but never like this!

It was really such a neat experience, and I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to do it!

Little Loves

Look at these two little monsters... I'm just adoring how ridiculously cute they are in their new hats.

(Don't ask about the look on Owen's face... I can't explain him. Won't even try.)

Annnd look what I found in the sleigh by my tree. Allie seriously sat in this thing and allowed us to take pictures of her for probably close to 30 minutes. Quite the obliging little thing considering she'd just had the surgery the day before! Isn't she such a doll?