A Team Week 64: Making Memories/Keeping Traditions

A Team Week 64 (December 7-13) was another fun holiday week of making memories with friends and family and keeping our family traditions alive.

Avery enjoying his spaghetti dinner.

On Wednesday, we got to spend the morning with our friends Britni, Theo and Lilou who were back from Texas, and we had a fun time catching up and playing in the basement.

Lilou takes up guitar.

Britni gives Lilou a little lesson.

Lilou was also a big fan of our felt Christmas tree.

After a fun morning with our friends and some naps, the boys and I enjoyed the rest of the afternoon being silly together.

Asher sporting his Bumble pop.

Avery playing peek-a-boo in the play kitchen's oven.

Silly Guy.

Avery going for a walk in my shoes.

Early that evening, I began plating our Christmas cookies so that we could deliver them to all of the houses on our street once Eric got home from work.  Although the day had gone very well up to that point, plating cookies with our little man hovering nearby was not easy, as he was desperate to get his little paws on them.  Avery did everything he could think of to get to the cookies.  I had to pull the chairs away from the table and try to keep the plates away from the edges as much as I could.  Asher was playing in another room for most of this time, but eventually he came and asked if he could help.  Since I didn't want him to touch the cookies that we'd be giving away to others, I told him that he could help me by either entertaining his little brother or at least help me keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't get the cookies.  A few minutes later, I heard Asher yell, "He's got one Mommy!" as I turned to see Avery running off as quickly as possible with a cookie in his hand.  He was NOT impressed when I took it away.

That evening I posted this picture on Facebook and I was surprised by the amount of people that felt sorry for Avery.   Thus, I will clarify: Although Avery did not receive one whole cookie, he did receive several pieces of cookies and no amount of generosity seemed to be enough for the little man! :P

The finished plates.

Our goodies.

Once the cookies were plated, we enjoyed a nice family stroll up and down the street to deliver them to our neighbors and visit shortly with a few of them.

The next day after work, the boys continued the family fun by playing together for much of the evening.  It was so cute to see them spend time together playing now that Avery is old enough to do so.

Asher wanted to play buttons and since buttons are not exactly a baby-friendly toy I asked him to play with them at the table.  Avery was not impressed that he was not being included and when I turned around I found that he had climbed up on top of the table and was standing on it and walking toward the buttons! 

When the button "fun" was over though, the boys really started to play well together.  Asher got some blankets and pillows out that they were playing on and it resulted in him pulling Avery around the house on the blanket.  At this point it was their bedtime, but they were being to cute (& Eric and I were getting so much done in the meantime) that I just couldn't ruin it! 

(2) Videos: Brotherly Fun

After the boys had had a good deal of fun together, Eric and Emma also joined in on the fun and I happily sat back to enjoy it all.

My boys wrestling in the kitchen while I enjoy the show and the glow of our Christmas lights.

Avery playing with Emma

Video: Avery & Emma

When the weekend arrived, there was more fun to be had...Gramps and Grammy Migrin were in town for a short visit!  We enjoyed a low-key but fun visit with them on Saturday before they had to head back home Sunday morning.

Cheese Curds Boy! Asher and Avery enjoying cheese curds with Gramps.

Asher, Gramps, Avery & Grammy enjoying their morning coffee.

Gramps & 2/3 of his boys.

Happily sporting Mommy's slippers again :)

Later Saturday morning, everyone headed to Burlington RV to check out campers together while I stayed back at home to work on getting my Christmas cards done (which didn't happen, but I did get a lot accomplished).  From the sounds of it they had a great time riding around the property to check out the different campers and then headed to Georgie Porgies for a Treefort lunch before heading back home for nap time.

Avery driving a camper.

Asher, Avery & Eric in their ride for the morning.

Asher and Grammy enjoying their lunch.

"Cheese!-burgers!"

After everyone had enjoyed some time to rest, we spent the remainder of the day playing in the basement and then enjoyed a nice family dinner at the Olive Garden.

Grammy reading with two generations of Migrin boys.

Avery enjoying the stickers at the Olive Garden

Fun with Breadsticks.

On Sunday, we enjoyed a little more time with Grammy and Gramps before they had to head back home.  Then we enjoyed Sunday morning church (including a surprise showing of the children's christmas choir) and a restful afternoon.  Another week in the books and more family memories made.

Asher & Gramps reading together on Sunday morning.

Family Photo

Avery with Gramps & Grammy (Asher refused to cooperate).

The kids singing two songs at the end of the service.  They sang Joy to the World and Silent Night.  It was a complete surprise to us and we had no idea that our little boy would be upfront singing.  If we had known we would have sat much closer to watch, but it was still fun to see the kids sing, and it felt a bit strange to actually be the parent of one of these kids.

Close Up Shot Courtesy Allison M.

Close Up Shot Courtesy Allison M.

Close Up Shot Courtesy Allison M.

Video: Children's Christmas Choir

Sleepy boy enjoys his Sunday nap.

A Team Week 63 extended: Since things have been a bit crazy lately with Christmas and everything going on my pictures were (& still are) a bit disorganized, so I missed a few that I'd like to share in my previous post...

One night this week Eric had a late night meeting so I was flying solo with the kids.  I was feeling very overwhelmed with work-life and home-life so to be completely honest I was kind of dreading the evening.  When the boys and I arrived home though we were treated by a warm spaghetti dinner waiting for us on the stove (made by the Naughty Pumpkins).  From there the evening went quite well as I felt very loved by my husband who took off work slightly early to make a quick dinner for us so I wouldn't have to do it on my own!

Avery wanting to help me make the cookies.

On Friday night of week 63 my Dad arrived to spend the weekend with all of us (since my mom was already there).  The boys were very excited to enjoy some time "beating up on Papa!"  :)