Merry Santa from Hayden

Hayden gets the Merry Christmas part mixed up, but it is cute nonetheless. :)

Santa Came

Santa knew how much Hayden likes to play with dry oatmeal, rice, and water so he got Hayden a sand and water table.

We are going to put it in the basement and fill it with oatmeal for Hayden to play with in the winter and take it outside in the summer. I may even fill it occasionally with water for him to play with. Hayden LOVES doing the dishes and playing with water in the sink, so I figured this way he can do it as long as he wants in the basement, and we won't have to fight over the kitchen sink.

Hayden got some wiggles movies, bubble bath, candy, and other goodies in his stocking. He was excited. He doesn't quite get the Santa thing yet. I can't wait until next year.

Right now the table is in our living room filled with Oatmeal. I vacuumed 4 times already and am thinking it will need to head to the basement soon. Hayden played with it all day and loves using his tractors to push the "sand" as he calls it.

We went over to our neighbors for supper tonight. We ate soup and had a great time. Nancy's house is FULL of collectibles and fragile pretty things, so we have to keep a close eye on Hayden. Hayden got a sheep, shirt, and a cool barney bag from Nancy. Joey and I got a few things as well. We are sooooo blessed to have such a great neighbor.

Day After Christmas

Bev and I woke up at 5:15 to go shopping. I went in to Bev and Joe's room to make sure Bev was up and treated Joe to my rendition of "rise and shine and give go the glory glory" complete with clapping and other animations.

We hit Younkers and Target. We had a fun time and found some great bargains.

Joey's sister and family arrived and we enjoyed an awesome pork chop dinner. Then we had our grab bag exchange. We also found out that Joey's sister is expecting their 4th on August 3rd (Hayden's birthday). We are excited for them!

After all of the fun we headed out. We had to make it home in time for Santa to come to our house. He didn't feel like hauling up all of Hayden's things to Waterloo. :)

Merry Christmas

Christmas day was a low key event for the most part. We got up late and relaxed. Joey and I made breakfast. We had eggs and ham, blueberry muffins, and sausage.
Bev made a turkey for dinner. As we were getting ready to eat the doorbell rang. Joey opened the door and in walked his grandparents and aunt and uncle from Wisconsin. They surprised us! Luckily we had a ton of food. It was a great surprise!

Christmas Eve Recap

We had another fun drive up to Cedar Falls thanks to the weather. It was slow going but we made it just in time to eat Brunch and Grandma and Grandpa M's house. I mad an egg casserole. It was a great brunch.
Mom and I ran to Ace hardware to get a snow rake for Raleigh. We made it just in time as the store was closing. We are glad we got it before they left to AZ so they could get all of that heavy snow off their roof.
Then we met the Paricka's at the Vineyard for Christmas Eve Service. It was a great service and Hayden was impressed with the live animals.
Then we went with my parents over to visit Grandma Goodie. Joey missed seeing her last week because he was trying to get the car started. We visited for a while. Joey and Hayden had fun taking grandmas scooter for a spin.
We ended up at the Paricka's for Christmas Eve appetizers and presents. The highlights of the evening for Hayden was his John Deere Tractor and the awesome bubble bath Aunt Darliene made for him. When Joey took the tractor away at night Hayden kept saying "no barn". He didn't want the tractor to go in the barn for the night. He wanted it to sleep with him.

Christmas Eve

We are gearing up for our Christmas celebration. Joey's last day of work was yesterday. He goes back January 5th. AND he finished his class and is now done with that until Jan 12th. I am sooooo excited. We haven't had this much family time for a LONG time. He always gets this time off of work, but usually goes from one class to the next. He rarely gets a break from classes.

Last night Hayden got to open 2 presents. He got a constellation night light and a big magna doodle. He loves the constellation night light and loves the fact that he can see the moon. He loves finding the moon outside.

Today we are headed to my parents to have a late brunch and visit one last time before they head to Arizona. Then we are meeting the Paricka's at the Vineyard at 3:00 and then over to their house for the traditional Christmas Eve appetizers. Then tomorrow we are having a turkey lunch and then headed home, I believe.

I am kind of sad Christmas is here already! It seems to have sneaked up on me. I feel that I haven't fully enjoyed the season yet, and it will be over before I know it!

More pics from family Christmas

Grandma and us.

Hayden, August, and Niall

Hayden and his uncle Rob

Trying out his new potty chair from aunt Becky.

Christmas parties 2 and 3

Enjoying a Kinderegg from his Advent calendar that Aunt Ingrid sent from Germany

Cole liked his gift from Hayden

Playing pool and Grandmas

Ellie using Hayden's new potty chairs as a seat

We had a great Christmas weekend. We ended up celebrating in the hotel. With the blizard conditions we chose not to celebrate in Dunkerton. So we all made our food in roasters and crock pots and had a fabulous meal.
After supper Uncle Rob took Joey and Hayden out to do some plowing. Hayden AND Joey had a blast pushing all of the snow. Well Hayden watched as Rob and Joey played I mean plowed. :)
After the festivities Joey and I went to a party at our friend Kyle's parents home. We had a blast and it was so good to see him again and meet his new girlfriend.
Sunday we all met at the nursing home to celebrate with Grandma S. She got showered with gifts and gave way too generously to her great grandchildren.
Joey had to miss out on the celebration on Sunday because our truck would not start. I am sure the way below freezing and blizzard conditions had something to do with it. Joey's brother helped him and after 5 hours they got it started. Oh the miracle of heet. I wouldn't be surprised if Santa leaves Joey a case under the tree this year.