Christmas with the Umscheid's

Christmas with the Umscheid's was our 3rd Christmas on Christmas Day! We started off by celebrating with just Jeff, myself, and the boys, then we headed to my Grandma and Grandpa Umscheid's for WAY too much food, and finally after the boys took a nap, we had Christmas with my parents, brother, and his girlfriend (and yet MORE food...ugh). To say the least, I would describe the boys as happy, lucky, and spoiled rotten, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Christmas with Our Little Family

On Christmas morning, the boys woke up, excited to see what Santa had brought for them! There was some question as to wether Santa would come to our house or not because the boys were not always on their best behavior, but they must have ended up on the "Nice" list after all because Santa brought more than enough toys to make the boys happy!

Christmas with the Duvall Side

On Christmas Eve, Jeff, the boys, and I headed to Cherokee to celebrate Christmas with Jeff's parents and brother. The boys were quite excited as this was their first opportunity to open presents!! We had a great day, good food, and the boys scored pretty good on presents, too!

Snowday!

Since Mother Nature dumped 11 inches of snow on us overnight last night, I had no school today! I love snowdays, but with it being so close to Christmas break, I would have rather gotten in another school day so we don't have to make it up in the summer, but oh well! It was warm enough that after naps today, I took the boys out to play. They LOVED all of the snow!! Logan climbed around in the white stuff like a pro, but it was just too deep for Landon. After getting stuck a few times, he contained himself to the driveway and sidewalks, which were much more manageable for him! We also took a sled ride around the block, as there was still plenty of snow on the streets, too! We had a fun time playing outside, but after about an hour, I had no problem convincing the boys that it was time to come in, so they must have been getting a little cold, too! Of course we came inside, only to watch A Christmas Story for about the 100th time!! Oh well, I guess there are worse shows they could be addicted to!

More Pics of Logan's Preschool Xmas Program

Logan's Preschool Xmas Program

Today was Logan's first "program" he's ever been in, and all went well!! He had his preschool Christmas program, and I really worried that he wouldn't sing any of the songs or do any of the actions, but he DID sing some and do some of the actions! He's such a stinker...unless he knows exactly what to do and how to do it, he really has no interest in it. After the program, Santa came to visit the preschoolers and we all had cookies and juice...it was a fun time!! 4 out of the 10 kids in Logan's class go to my mom's daycare, so, bless her heart, she gets them to and from preschool 3 days a week! We are so lucky she was willing to do this (mostly because her grandson was one of the kids needing a ride to preschool)! Now we've got one Christmas program down and one to go. His Sunday School program is coming up on Sunday, so hopefully he does as nice of a job there as he did at preschool! His friend Grace (also in his preschool class and goes to my mom's daycare) goes to Sunday School with him, so that helps out a lot that he has a buddy to go with! I'm sure I'll be posting some pictures of that program soon!

Duvall Thanksgiving and Logan's Birthday Party - Part II

On Thursday, we went to Cherokee to celebrate Thanksgiving with Jeff's family and celebrate Logan's birthday with Grandma and Grandpa Duvall. We weren't sure Jeff could do it, but he cooked a very yummy turkey for us and Lorraine had plenty of other food to go with it! A friend of the family, Marian, joined us for our feast. After stuffing ourselves, the boys got to go out to the farm and ride the tractor there...a little chilly, but the boys didn't care. I wasn't feeling the greatest, so I didn't go and don't have pictures of that. When everybody got back to the house we ate some more (like we really needed to) and had cake, ice cream, and Logan opened his present. He got a drum set and was SO excited! He's been wanting one for awhile now! Now he won't have to set up 3 or 4 buckets and pretend he has a drum set...he has the real deal now...I'm sure even the neighbors know it too, as he drums constantly and there are no volume controls on a drum:)

Family

Today the Umscheid side of my family celebrated Thanksgiving and a family reunion. Many members of the family were able to make it home, but not all. Included in the pictures above are: Dale and Maurine Belz (great friends of my grandparents and like family), my family (Mom and Dad are in front with Logan and Landon, Ben and his girlfriend Alyssa and Jeff and I are in the back row), my aunt Donna and her family, my aunt Diane and her family, and my Grandma and Grandpa with all of their children. Not everyone got a family picture taken because not everyone was here, but I included the ones that I had. We had a nice time, and things didn't get too wild and crazy this year, though many family members either ended up with a piercing or a tatoo from my cousin Eric (yes, he is licensed to do both)...not my kind of thing, however! I am thankful for my grandparents, who head this family up...they are GREAT!

More Pictures of Logan's 4th Birthday!

Logan's 4th Birthday!!!!

Today was Logan's 4th birthday! It's hard to believe that 4 years have gone by already! We started our celebration last night by taking the boys to McDonald's (Logan's favorite, not ours). Today we spent the day just playing, and hanging out, and getting ready for his party tonight! After eating lazagna, cake, and ice cream, Logan opened his presents and was pleasantly surprised by them. Some of the items he got from everyone that came were a new farm set, a new, larger bike, a scooter, some books and a Memory game, 2 play snowmobiles, and small 4-wheeler, a fire helmet with gas mask, a fire extinguisher/hose toy, some new clothes and pajamas, money, and I'm probably forgetting some too! I think he scored pretty big!! After all of the guests left to go home, he played farm with Jeff for awhile and now he is staying up late and watching his favorite movie of the season, "A Christmas Story" (my personal favorite) in Mommy and Daddy's bed! He told me had a good birthday! Now he is getting excited to celebrate his birthday again when we go to Grandma and Grandpa Duvall's for Thanksgiving!! Round #2!

Hawkeye Family!

As we prepared for Logan's 4th Birthday party today, we also prepared for the Hawkeye vs. Minnesota game! The Hawks won BIG time and made us proud!!! The word is fight, fight, fight for Iowa, until the game is won!! Go Hawks!