A flash of a weekend

Thursday. Technically not part of the weekend but I'll put this here for documentation purposes at least. We're marking this as FAIL #2 on the advent calendar. The item was supposed to be "donating coats to Project Warmth" which technically we did. I picked the boys up from school/daycare and drove down to the dropoff location on Shawnee Mission Parkway. Reid fell asleep first, followed shortly by Ryan. The car was toasty warm and it was a long drive so when we got there I hopped out and dropped off the coats and drove home. The boys slept until we hit our garage. We played Sequence for Kids that night (Thanks Grandma Cella) so they did do something fun but I'm not sure they caught much in the lesson about helping others.

Friday. On Friday night Reid had a hockey practice and a goalie lesson so waiting for him meant that the advent calendar didn't start until 8:00. I did the best quick idea I could come up with and we made 'door hangers for the boys' rooms'. They were actually a big hit and very quick. All of the pieces were foam stickers. I took the backing off of the stickers for Ryan but he put everything on following the pattern that was on the packaging. Reid did his all by himself.

* I love this picture. He was kind of hiding behind his door but also so proud of his door hanger - quite the look on his face!

* And this was Reid's...

Saturday. On Saturday Reid had a boy scout 'Go and See' at the Shawnee Fire Station. Ryan was invited along but decided not to go and stayed home with Ross and I. Once Russ found the station (they gave the wrong address in the e-mail they sent out... nice!) they had a great time. They got to see a lot and Russ said Reid answered all of the safety questions.

* Guess who's kid is screwing off in the picture... Russ' of course!

Saturday night. On Saturday night we were babysitting for our friend's three kids (The Miller's). The Miller's and two other families help us out watching Reid before school in the mornings so we no longer have to do before & after school care. It has worked out fabulously for us and we are so thankful for their friendship. We are trying to come up with ways to pay them back so we offered to babysit for each family at some time so they could take a date night. Russ took their oldest son (Caden) to Reid's hockey game to watch and I stayed home with Finley, Ashtin, Ryan and Ross. The night could not have been any easier! Seriously - why don't we do this more often?? Ryan and Finley played in his room for a LONG time while Ross, Ashtin and I played in the living room. Ryan wasn't whining, Ross wasn't screaming... it was NICE! They all ate really good and then went back to playing. Finley and Ryan went to the basement and played tools and Ross and Ashtin were back in the living room. When Reid and Caden got home from hockey they ate dinner and then really only had about 20 minutes to play together. They played in Reid's room for a while and then I took the Miller's home to get ready for bed. Russ kept our three boys at home and did showers and then the advent calendar. Given the busy day we went for 'ice cream for bedtime snack... with chocolate syrup." I read books to the Miller's and put them in bed and their parents were home about 30 minutes later - it really all went very smoothly... who said 6 kids was hard?

* The kids eating dinner. Ashtin did a really good job sitting at the "big kid" table since Ross had the high chair.

* Yes, Ross ate ALL of this... and then some!

Sunday. We had a big day planned for Sunday (one that included Ross staying home with a babysitter, Ms Taylor Zimmerman). Our mortgage broker had rented out a theater and invited us to see the movie Elf. So, our advent calendar was "Go see Elf and then visit Santa." The boys had never seen the movie before so even though it was a couple of years old it was just the same as going to the theater for them, complete with snacks and popcorn! They both did great during the movie. We went directly from the theater to our neighborhood clubhouse and saw Santa. We only had to wait in line behind one family. Reid went first and spent SEVERAL long minutes carrying on a conversation with Santa. We kept saying that we had to move on as other kids were waiting (only a few) but Santa kept asking him more and more questions - I think the two could have went on all night long! I fully expected Ryan to back down when it was his turn but he hopped right on up there and talked to Santa and answered his questions as well.

* Deep in conversation...

I guess Reid is past the "sit on Santa's lap" as he just stood and talked to him.

Ryan was right on the knee...

He did this a couple of times... stared at Santa and just took it ALL in.

Russ took the boys home and relieved the babysitter while I stayed and volunteered (filled drinks) for an hour. Then I walked home so Russ could get to a hockey game. I gave the boys their bath, read some books and they were OUT! I wasn't far behind them.