One more night before CHRISTMAS!

Monday - On Monday night Courtney got into town and stayed at our house so we made our advent activity "exchange presents with Courtney." She got the boys some really neat gifts. Ross got two cars and a helicopter that are little wooden cars. Ryan got a pots & pans set that look very real. Reid got a dodgeball game where you weare some vests with velcro to catch the balls that came with it. All of the presents were a great hit.

Our activity on Tuesday night was to "Go out to eat at a FUN place." We took the boys to Izumi, a Japanese steakhouse that cooks hibachi style. We really did have a lot of fun. The big fire at the beginning scared Ross and he cried but once he got over it I think he enjoyed watching the show. The two big boys really enjoyed it and Reid loved it. He loved the entertainment AND the food. He ate with chopsticks and did a great job at it! Each meal comes with a soup that is so good. It is basically clear but has a ton of flavor, almost like a chicken broth but better. Reid ate all of his, Ross liked it, but Ryan wouldn't try it. After the soup we had a salad. I had been there before and did not like the ginger dressing so asked for all of our salads to be served with no dressing. We picked at them and Ryan ate all of the carrots out of many of our salads.

After our soup and salads it was time for the big show. The chef made a volcano out of an onion, grilled the meat(steak, chicken and shrimp) and the veggies, and even tossed some shrimp for us to try and catch. Russ went 2 for 2, Mom was 1 for 2, Reid was 0 for 4, Courtney was 1 for 2 and Ryan wouldn't try it. We also got some bonus noodles that were very yummy! We had a TON of food.

Our chef did several tricks with us and really kept us entertained. He had a ketchup bottle with a string inside it that he squirted at Reid and Ryan at different times and they both fell for it. He had a great sense of humor and really entertained us. My favorite line was when he put sesame seeds on our chicken and then drew a line and said it was "sesame street."

By far one of my favorite nights this month. We've never taken the boys to something like this before (we actually RARELY even take them out to eat) and they behaved so well!

Wednesday - Tonight's activity was to "Make cookies for Santa". We'll be in Holton tomorrow celebrating Christmas with my side of the family so tonight we got our cookies baked for Santa to enjoy. We made chocolate chip cookies and tasted some of them as well - they were GOOD!