Christmas Goose

Jeremy took the boys for another hunting adventure...a goose hunt. Carter and Luke each had their own blind to sit in (they will reenact how it works if you ask them). It was a successful morning. Jeremy and his dad got several geese. Carter and Luke has a blast watching the whole thing.
Jeremy was prepared with lots of donuts and hot chocolate. They sipped on it all morning. Carter sipping and look for Luke's little head peeking out of the blind in the back ground!

Christmas Round 4

Christmas Day in Maryland with my family. Lots of time opening gifts and lots of food.
My sister, me and my brother

Luke sang his Christmas carols. His favorite is Come On, Ring those Bells. It is so sweet to hear his little voice sing...however, he forgets the words and keeps singing over and over because he does not know how to end the song.


Carter let his cousin, Mekayla, paint his fingernails. He was not too thrilled when he realized, as he put it, "the paint does not come off when you wash your hands!"



Overall a great Christmas, a little tired but wonderful.

Christmas Round 3

Christmas morning at home.
Breakfast was eaten, presents unwrapped, boys playing...all before the sun came up.
We attempted a photo but as you can tell they were not feeling the Kodak moment.

At least Brayden was feeling the Christmas spirit.

The boys reached new levels of competition with their new gifts.

Christmas Round 2

Christmas Eve

We joined the entire Jenkins family (minus a few out of towners) at the Red Fox Inn in Middleburg to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa Jenkins 60th anniversary. Christmas Eve is their anniversary.

Jeremy's grandparents had a wonderful time. The food was delicious and the place was beautiful.

Christmas Round 1

We started our Christmas festivities on the eve of Christmas Eve. Jeremy's family gathered for the annual throwing of the Christmas paper. Ok, not really but you would think so with the way everyone rips into the presents. Paper is flying, presents are passing by and children (and adults) screaming in delight.

Papa (Jeremy's dad) lead the children in some Christmas carols.

Luke found his new buddy, Jeremy's cousin Connor, who incredibly sweet to him.

Brayden got a new hat, that actually fit.

We tortured them with photos.

They had a blast.

Handel's Messiah

Jeremy and I joined my parents and family for an afternoon at the Kennedy Center; a showing of Handel's Messiah in the beautiful concert hall. The chorus and orchestra was amazing but still not sure about some of the soloists.

We were in the President's Box which has it's own sitting room, bathroom and most importantly a fully stocked fridge with snacks and drinks (let's just say we raided the fridge).

A Boy's Brunch

Carter invited some of his Kindergarten friends over for a Christmas Brunch (and their mommas). It was a morning of food, decorating Christmas ornaments and making snowmen cookies. They seemed to have a great time.

Luke's Preschool Christmas

Luke's preschool class (along with another class) put on a little Christmas show for the parents. The children sang, Got tell it on the Mountain, Away in a Manager, Happy Birthday to Jesus, Jingle Bells, We wish you a Merry Christmas and Come on Ring those Bells. Luke had been singing those songs for days. For the performance each child had a jingle bell necklace ready to ring at the right moment. Brayden and I, along with many eager parents armed with tons of cameras, enjoyed the show.











Luke and his cousin Austin

The best Christmas tree

Jeremy, Carter and Luke headed out to cut down a Christmas tree. I stayed home with Brayden because below freezing temperatures are not so good for him (he has issues controlling his body temp).

The boys know the routine: search the fields for a big tree, run from tree to tree declaring that they found the tree, "help" daddy cut down the tree, drag the tree back, get hot cider and popcorn, ride home in daddy's truck and spill the popcorn all over it.

That has been the story for the last few years and they loved every minute of it.

They always tolerate the posing for pictures (we would go for action shots but they move to fast).

The tree is beautiful. The boys did a great job finding the perfect tree.

Luke is 4

Luke turned 4 today.

He continues to be a boy that loves life and always looking for a "good time" (a favorite phrase of his that he picked up from a song).

He is sporting is new shirt from his grandma. He thinks it is cool. He tells anyone that will listen, "I got a front (he turns around) and a back!"














Luke's treat for the day was a dinner with no force feeding (he is not a big fan of eating), a milkshake and even desert.

90

Jeremy’s Grandma Sommerfeld celebrated her 90th birthday. The Sommerfeld family gathered for the occasion. Almost the entire family was able to come. Grandma is an amazing Godly woman, who is filled with grace and contentment. The party, hosted by Jeremy’s mom, was wonderful. Grandma seemed to enjoy all of it; seeing the family, eating and posing for countless pictures.

Luke loves to hug her! After every Sunday dinner he makes a point to hug her before loading into the car, if he forgets, he lets us know.

Luke and his buddy Noah, who stayed at our house for the weekend, eating (or should I say shoving in) the cake.

And Brayden just taking it all in.

DC with kids

Jeremy's cousin and family, the Ross gang, stayed at our house for the weekend (in town to celebrate Grandma Sommerfeld's 90th). We decided to head into Washington DC. First stop was at the EPA's headquarters, an amazing and interesting building. A brief stop at my dad's office, he was not there but we sat in his office to feed the kids, then headed to the White House for a few photo ops. Our photo is in front of the White House Christmas tree.

After the photo shoot we walked to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Before heading there Jeremy and the boys dined on treats from a street vendor (yikes).

Finally at the museum we only made it into 2 of the exhibits. The place was wall to wall people. The museum had only been reopened for a few weeks and apparently everyone else thought it was a good idea to see it the day after Thanksgiving. The boys enjoyed the Invention at Play, where they created wind mills amongst other things. Then we head to America on the Move to see the trains, ships, buses and cars. They hopped on the Chicago L for a ride and walked the machine room of an ocean liner. After that we were done, the kids were done and we headed home.

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Jenkins this year. Jeremy's grandparents were the hosts for the festivities!

Lots of food, lots of family, lots of fun.

Deer for Thanksgiving

Last night the boys went to bed at 6:30 (actually got in bed at 7:00). How did we do that? They were told that if they wanted to go hunting in the morning they must go to bed early and they did it!

Carter and Luke slept in the long johns so they would be ready to go.

Jeremy woke them up at 5:15 a.m. I know that sounds early but they usually wake before 6:00 a.m. any other day. Dressed in camo and orange from head to toe they headed out.

After a breakfast stop at McDonald's and spilled syrup, they were ready for the hunt. Jeremy led and the boys followed. They spotted a buck. The buck was too far to shoot, Jeremy called him in and it came closer (despite the boys trying to be "quiet"). Jeremy shot and got him! Carter and Luke were thrilled.

I cannot forget to mention another highlight was the hot cocoa in the thermos. Carter and Luke thought that was such a treat.

That was the start to our Thanksgiving day.

Butter, Jello and Thanks

Carter's kindergarten class invited the parents to join them for a Thanksgiving treat. The class prepared a video. The video was a picture of each child and a drawing about what they were thankful for. Each child spoke about their drawing. Carter was thankful for his parents and family because he loves them.

His head dress tells a story about a boy who went on a journey to find a bear.

The children shared corn bread and butter, made by the class, for everyone to enjoy.

Luke's preschool hosted a Thanksgiving lunch. Brayden & I joined Luke for some yummy food. Luke, not being a big eater, dined on a roll and orange jello.

And Luke said he was thankful for his dog.

FYI, we have no dog and Luke is deathly afraid of them. He told me he is thankful for his dog that he will have some day.

Pump it Up

Luke celebrated his 4th birthday with a party a Pump it Up, a place the has rooms filled with giant moonbounces. He loved every minute of it.

Pump it up provided the birthday boy with a special t-shirt which he was thrilled to wear (and he slept in it).

Luke has been in counting down the days until it was time for the party and was thrilled when the day actually arrived. Luke definitely let his big brother Carter know that it was Luke's day and not his!

He invited all of his friends and loved that they could join him in the fun.

By the end he was wiped out but he loved his moment to be the birthday boy!