and the winner is.....

going to look at Christmas lights has always been a favorite thing of mine to do at Christmas. unfortunately it seems like more and more people do not put up lights. i don't know if people are not in the spirit or if it is just to much work. who knows, but i really appreciate the people that still go all out. every year we drive around and look at Christmas lights. i think at first garran just did it because he knew how much i loved it, but now that we have kids, we all really enjoy it. this year we decided to add a little spin to our tradition and hopefully spread some holiday cheer.

this year we decided that we would hand out a prize of sorts to whoever we thought had the best decorations. nothing big, but just a little surprise left in their mailbox to let them know we appreciate their effort.  now we don't always go for the prettiest house, we kind of lean towards the one that is the most fun! 

this year, this was our pick. we liked how everything was coordinated but this house also had lights synchronized to music!! we took a vote in the car and it was a definite winner!

the boys were so excited to leave this little gift in their mailbox. like i said, nothing big. hopefully they will enjoy their surprise when they check their mail tomorrow. this is the first year we have handed out awards, but i think we will continue to do it. it was so much fun and i was surprised how much the boys got into it.

I made this little tag to put on the box of candy and tried to dress it up with a bow! the tag says:

With Christmas Lights 

Done Up Right

Our Family Wanted to Say, 

You are the winner this Year

of the 

Finest Holiday Display!

Merry Christmas!

After that i just put a little note explaining that it was a holiday tradition and that we appreciated their lights! it was such a fun night and i can't wait till next year already!

cullans sweet card

this is probably the coolest card i have seen in a while. Garran's sister Britt sent it to Cullan for his birthday. i took a video because I thought it was so funny that Cullan had learned the words to the card and was lip syncing to it every time he opened it. i know i have said before how much the boys love getting mail, but this one was just so cute. sorry about briea's little head popping in and out. she wanted her picture taken...if you can't tell. ;0)

steak and shake.

the boys got some surprise birthday money in the mail today from their great grandmother. we did not really have an idea what to do with it since Kael had already opened presents and Cullans birthday was not for a while, so we asked the boys what they would like to do. We had thought about taking them to go and see a movie but then the boys said they wanted to go out to eat. This is something that they RARELY get to do, so it was a real treat. We let them pick the place and everything. They had never been to steak and shake before, but that is where they wanted to go. They ended up loving it. I had not been there in years and so I was impressed with all the fun things they had for the kids. They got hats and these cars, plus coloring pages. The kids loved the cars!! They are still playing with them today.

 Here is Cullan sporting his cool hat!

 Briea enjoying some apple juice!

 Kael did not want to wear his hat at first, but then decided he want to put it on before we left. I had to snap a quick picture of him. 

they all behaved really well, which i was happy about. since we don't go out much, i worried about how things would go, but they did really well. the boys both ordered chicken, BIG SURPRISE. some days, i think these boys will turn into chicken. they LOVE IT!!

it was a fun night. we even surprised garran by picking him up from school to go! we had a lot of fun. Thanks Nanny for thinking of the boys and letting them have a fun evening out!

the card

today when we got home from running some errands, kael had a birthday card from Aunt Britt and Uncle Dennis. It was so cute. He has already memorized the little song it sings and he will not let Cullan or Briea hold it. i figure it is his birthday card, so he should not have to share all the time, right?? Anyways, this video does not show him kissing the card or saying how sweet it was of them to send it. he did want to make a video of him saying thank you to them for sending it to him.

sketchers

the boys got a surprise package in the mail the other day. they have really wanted these shoes for a while. randomly my dad had called and said that my uncle had bought these cool shoes for his two little guys and he wanted to get some for the boys. to my surprise they were the exact shoes the boys had seen and wanted. so it worked out really well for everyone!! the boys keep jumping around and bouncing everywhere because they light up neon green.

thanks for the surprise grandpa Jeff!!

easter surprise!

yesterday the kids got an Easter treat in the mail from my mom. i thought i would post the before and after. they were very excited about each of their little chocolate bunnies.
briea could not wait, it just went straight in her mouth.thanks for the treats mom!! they love getting fun mail and yummy surprises!

over the moon!

today the boys got a package in the mail from my mom for valentines day. in it were tracks, and two trains that the boys have been asking for since Christmas. we tried to find them, but did not have any luck. today was a great day for them.when cullan opened the Lady train, he said "oh lady, you are the most beautiful train". Then kael opened his. he said "oh rosie, your are my best friend train!".
thanks mom! they were over the moon.

50 dollars~

well if you ever read my blog you know that my boys love to get mail. yesterday they got birthday cards from Aunt Monica, Uncle Eldon, and Katie. they were so excited. They got fun cards that had frogs and a race car on the front. when they opened up their cards they were shocked. inside was money! the boys have gotten money before for their birthday, but usually in the form of checks. cullan opened his card and looked up with wide eyes...he then says "mom...i got $50.00!!!" garran and i both started laughing. they were so excited. they got to go have some daddy son time and get some goodies while b and i hung out at home.
here is kael holding his "dollars". he kept taking it in and out of his pocket to show me.cullan with his "fifty dollars" and a bloody nose to boot!
after the boys got back from their afternoon with daddy, they decided to show me what they got. i was really impressed that they did not spend all their money. I think they each came home with a dollar or two.both cullan and kael wanted these rackets. i am still not so sure about them.
cullan got this funky gun thing. it snaps shut. every time he just bust out laughing. he goes around snapping it shut on things and laughing!and of course what boy doesn't want a little gun that shots balls...they played all night and had a great time.
thanks so much Eldon, Monica and Katie for the birthday cards and hours of fun!

halloween package!~

the kids got a fun Halloween package in the mail the other day. they love getting mail.

it was by our door when we got home. they boys were excited to open it.
they boys got cool light sticks. at first, they were not sure how to work them.
got it! cheese. happy boys. they love them.briea got a ghost....she liked it.... i think...just kidding she really did like it.
i just could not pass up posting that picture.
it was to funny!

easter mail~

today the kids got some fun easter mail from my mom. they were so excited when the ups man came a knocking on the door. garran helped the boys open the box and the first thing out was for lil miss! she got this sweet little soft bunny. can't you see how much she loves it already.then the boys pulled out these yummy suckers but somehow briea ended up grabbing one of them.

then they found the gift from grandpa george!the boys were so excited. they have been talking about fishing for the longest time. they sat and played the game for a long time.
kael catching his fish.
cullan was so excited. he thinks it is a really fun game.
they also opened coloring books which kael has asked me to "read" to him multiple times.
it can be very difficult to explain to a two 1/2 year old why you can not really read a book that has only pictures. oh well. he is cute.

thanks mo mo and george for the fun easter stuff!!!

WOO HOO~

ok friends.. the good news keeps rolling in. today garran was checking his email and found a wonderful little surprise. the man that runs the gallery that garrans piece is in right now sent him an email saying that a woman had contacted the gallery director about purchasing the piece that garran has in the show!!!!!

WOOOOO HOOOO!!!

we love when garran sells art work. im so excited for him. so garran emailed the woman today and we are just waiting to hear back from her to firm up the details.

just thought i would share some good news!

going green today~

HAPPY ST PATRICKS DAY!

well today we are totally getting into the st. pattys day fun!!

we started the day off right - green for everyone.

kael started without us this morning. he got out of bed, found a marker, colored himself and came in our room to say "GOOD MORNING" & "HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY".

cullan kept it simple and wanted to wear his green army man underoos. i figure as long as he had some green we were good. he thought it was funny to get chased so that we could pinch him.

briea is in her "kiss me im irish" outfit that grandpa got her just for the day. it is hard not to give this girl some kisses, she is so sweet!

garran is sporting his green pants! he was the second one ready for the day-so you know that means we all got pinches before we could get ready =)

i decided that since garran wore the pants i would cover the shirt part! so here i am my shirt was in the mirror!

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so here is a question i would love an answer to-

does anyone know who sent me these?

they are so pretty, but came with a card that said "for mom and briea" with no name. i would love to say thank you because they are so pretty. so if anyone knows who sent them i would love to know!!!

busy weekend~

so this weekend was kind of busy for us. we had a lot of fun things going on. friday we spent the day with garran after he got done with work. we just were able to hang out and enjoy being together. saturday garran had to work in the morning but my parents came to visit for the day. they had not had a chance to meet briea yet due to the fact that my mom was in florida visiting her sister. so the boys and briea were excited to see them. it was a non stop day. the boys were on over drive because a-they were excited that people were here to play and have fun with them and b- it was grandma and grandpa. who doesn't love when they come into to town!the boys hanging out watching a fishing show with grandpa!

mom and briea- i dont know what the face is that briea is making but it is kind of funny lookin =)grandma mo-briea-"my lil ham" (kael loves to get in the pictures)

while my parents were here the mail man came. boy oh boy did the boys get excited. my aunt Monica sent a little surprise for everyone in the mail. of course the boys always get excited when Monica's boxes show up. they were yelling "ohhhh presents"!! she is so good about thinking of the kids and sending fun things she thinks they will enjoy.

they boys instantly wanted to wear the shirts that were in the box. cullans said naturally irresistible and keals said moms lil helper. very cute!! (thanks monica-they loved them) also there was a great cd in there. if any of you are ramones fans let me know. it was a hit with my kids and garran=) thanks for all the other goodies-it was fun to get a treat in the mail!

more love in the mail~

today the post man knocked on our door personally.

he had a white box covered in hearts and a stack full of pink and red envelopes.

i could not believe it. this was a first at our house.

we usually never get this many little valentines day notes.

so we got cards from my dad, uncles family, grandmother and a few others.

the white package with hearts was from my mom!

inside each boy got a little box of chocolates

(yes they noticed the train on the front =)

also an adorable pink little onsie for the newest addition.

thanks everyone for thinking of us!

here is a video of the boys saying thanks to my mom and george.

(DONT FORGET TO TURN OFF THE MUSIC AT THE BOTTOM!)

they were pretty excited about their train chocolates!

thank you~

*BE SURE TO TURN OFF MUSIC AT BOTTOM BEFORE PLAYING VIDEO*

our house has been a busy house for mail. (which the boys love!)

today the boys got a fun gift from aunt monica. thomas bubble bath, shaving cream, and a pretend razor like daddys. they immediately wanted to take a bath and have some fun. so here is your thank you aunt monica straight from the tub!!

maybe we should~

start leaving our post lady a snack.
let me explain.
my mom sends the boys little letters in the mail because they just love getting mail.
well she told me that she had sent them a little something. today it came!
however when we went out to check the mail this is what we found.
only one letter (kaels) and it had been torn open. i liked the fact that they put it into another post office envelope that says that they care. =)

so in kaels were two very smooched treats (the boys still shared and enjoyed them, dont get me wrong) and a letter from my mom. cullans letter is M.I.A. maybe it will come tomorrow or maybe the post lady enjoyed a nice letter from my mom and a few little goodies. either way thanks mom for the note. the boys really enjoyed it.

he got mail~

since cullan has become a sunbeam at church each month he gets a letter in the mail talking about what they will be learning about, songs that they can practice, and peoples birthday for that month. things like that. well i have to say, cullan loves it. this month when the mail came, he carried the letter around all afternoon taking turns showing it to garran and i. he would say things like "check it out, i got letter in mail"! it was very cute. he is getting so big...ahh where has the time gone?
(cullan holding his primary letter!)
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i just decided to throw this in because who could resist this face.

he is just so darn cute!!

family pics~

while i am not ever a big fan of having a picture taken while i am prego i am always excited to take family pictures and it is that time again. i have the boys picture taken each year around there birthday and then a family shot and one of garran and i as well. the hang in our living room and i always enjoy looking at them. so this was just one we took at the house. we have them done professionally each year. but i thought this one was pretty cute.

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(yes in case you were wondering it is 5:00 and kael is still in his cars pj's , he was really enjoying them today so i figured why not. somedays i am in my pjs all day too =)

a super big
THANK YOU
my mom for the fun Halloween package that she sent to the boys. she was nice enough to send them a Halloween thomas movie with the haunted engine and two fun pumpkin lights. the boys both wanted to have their picture taken with theirs. it is so funny. cullan looks so serious in his picture, like he really means business!
thanks again mom, the boys love them and are watching the movie right now (thus the reason i can blog real quick)

thanks mo mo and & geo geo

well due to sickness this is the first chance i have had to post a thank you to my parents for the great gift they sent the boys in the mail. needless to say it was nice while i was not feeling well to have something they really loved to keep them entertained while sargento could not be home!

the boys were

a. super excited to get mail and

b. super excited that there mail had to do with thomas!

here is curls holding what he calls "his thomas" he likes this one the best i think!rewind checking out his favorite.. we have already watched this one twice!this is my favorite ... the boys, on the couch, you can barely see rewinds head, however sitting so nicely watching their thomas and waving frantically yelling "hello thomas" every time thomas comes on the screen!

thanks parents for the great gift.. the boys love it!!

ps..sorry they were not looking at the camera for the pictures, the movie was actually on, and there are no distractions while thomas is on =)