Oswald Family News: January 2011

Random Pics...

Making Rice Crispy treats to send to GG. Get well soon GG!!

I came downstairs one morning to find Estin had helped himself to the rice cakes for breakfast...3 of them! :)

My sweet boys!

Eli LOVES his chocolate toast! I can't get enough of these messy-face pictures!

Estin and his black-checker eyes... this is what we do for fun!

My sweet pink polka dotted elephants... learning about the letter E!

The Polar Express at Grandma & Grandpa's

Every year, Grandma and Grandpa Oswald have a kid-themed gingerbread house making/Polar Express night. As MUCH as Estin LOVES trains, you can only imagine his excitement this year when he got to really participate...

Grandma and Grandpa got an early Christmas present from all the kids... a new TV!

Grandpa was the conductor and collected tickets before the movie started...

Worn out!!! (I love the Superman pose!)

Snow Day!

What better way to enjoy the snow than by building a GIANT snowman with daddy!!

New Year's 2010-2011

We spent the day as a family at "Incredible Pizza." The pizza wasn't that incredible, but the atmosphere was fun! The boys had a blast riding bumper cars and miniature bowling. I love being able to spend time as a family!

Estin was so excited to ride the race cars... Justin said he giggled the whole time. I will never forget the image of him frantically waving each time he and Justin came around the bend, smiling from ear to ear!

Eli in his own race car...

A kiss from my littlest man...

Oswald family party...New Years Eve: Games, football & food, food, food!

Toasting to a new year!

A midnight kiss...

Here's to a healthy, happy and prosperous 2011!!!

Christmas Morning 2010...

Christmas morning I woke up to all the lights on in the house. I knew that some little man had beat me to the presents! Look who found his train!! I have NO idea how long Estin had been up playing. He was SUPER excited about the wooden train Santa left unwrapped under the tree!

Justin, once again, surprised me with a cherished heirloom. This glass globe hung over my dear Grandma Nelson's dining room table for as long as I can remember. He cleaned it up, replaced the old, rusty chain, and had it ready for Christmas morning. I will always think of my sweet Grandma when I look at this special light hanging in my living room.

The boys and their matching drums Santa brought...

Someone found the stocking treats!

Present Time!

The new electric train from Grandma and Grandpa Meier. He LOVES it...

Can you tell?

The aftermath...

Christmas morning projects... Painting with his new paints.

Morning Munchies...

Our traditional Christmas morning breakfast: Crepes!

What a GREAT way to wind down the day: Christmas lunch with the Oswald family...

Christmas Eve 2010...

Estin wanted a star on his tree just like the one daddy made for ours...5 years ago. Now it's complete and Estin is happy!!

We decided we wanted to start a new tradition, as a family, to put more emphasis on Christ's birth. We want our children to recognize that Christmas SHOULD be about that celebration. To do this, I made a breakfast pull-apart for Christmas Eve morning; we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and blew out the candles.

It was great to just hang out as a family Christmas Eve day. We played games, watched movies and read stories...

While Estin, Eli and Daddy were taking out the trash, Santa's elves stopped by and left them each a gift on the front step to open... Pajamas!!

My little present...

After our own family time (opening PJ's, reading the Christmas story, setting out cookies for Santa and sprinkling food for the reindeer) we headed over to the Oswalds for their family party.