Tractor Rodeo!

Last Saturday I took the boys to a tractor rodeo! It was out in a little town near here called Wellton, which is about a forty-five minute drive away. It is the farthest from home I've gone with both boys by myself. The rodeo was at the Mohawk-Wellton Irrigation and Conservation District headquarters, on a playfield. They had a tractor pull kind of thing going on, but we didn't watch that since it was dusty and loud, and had no place to sit. Instead we went and looked at all the tractors and old engines they had on display.

Stirling got to climb up in a few tractors and pretend to push buttons.



There was also a jumpy castle for kids which Stirling really enjoyed.

We ate lunch, ("steak" according to Stirling, who smelled it and saw someone cooking at the grill) which included hamburgers and sausages. We also had ice cream, and Stirling rode a horse.


Logan was pretty content for most of the time. He liked looking around. Unfortunately, I hadn't brought a hat for him, since it was cloudy when we left the house, and he ended up getting just a little bit sunburned.

It was nice to do something different than the usual routine. It was also a day that reminded us of Opa and Ry, so we were thinking of them a lot.

Boys Room

Ok, so this is a little out of order since the boys have been sharing a room since before Christmas. I am behind on my blogs! Logan did fine moving from the bassinet to the big crib, and Stirling adjusted amazingly well to having Logan share with him. In fact, he was excited about it. "When can Logan sleep with me?" I think at first he thought Logan was going to sleep in his bed with him! They often go to bed at around the same time which is really nice.
We don't really have a single decorating scheme. Logan has all of the jungle animal crib bedding and a Noah's Ark wall blanket. Stirling has dinosaur bedding and a cuddly animal wall blanket. There are creepy crawlies on the curtains. Lots of good boy stuff! It is nice having them together. I like to peek in and just watch them sleeping sometimes.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...

... so I took the boys to the playground. After a few minutes playing, we decided to walk the path around the little pond, where Stirling decided to throw every leaf he could find into the water. Logan was so excited to be outside and sitting in the grass that he sat and laughed out loud for 20 minutes! What a wonderful afternoon.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve

On Christmas eve morning I took the boys to the playground to feed the ducks and play outside for a while. Logan got to sit in the grass and was pretty enthralled with pulling it out of the ground. Stirling had more fun stomping the dirt than anything else! It was nice day and a good way to distract from Christmas presents and goodies!



In the evening, we took the boys for a walk around the neighborhood to see all of the Christmas lights. Living in such a warm climate means people are more willing to spend time outdoors putting up lights. There is one house nearby that has its lights computerized to blink and dance in time to a Christmas radio station. It is really neat. Both boys enjoyed all of the lights and just being outside for a walk in the dark. I wore Logan in the baby carrier, and by the end of the walk was wishing for the stroller. He is getting so big!

Advent Days 18-24

On Day 18 of Advent, Stirling did a hand and foot print reindeer. The reindeer's face was a footprint, and the antlers were handprints. I forgot to take a picture before we gave it to Stirling's daycare teacher as a Christmas card.



For Day 19, I borrowed an idea from the kindergarten team at school and made a little coloring book titled, "Santa Claus, Santa Claus, What Do You See?" Anyone familiar with the "Brown Bear" books will be familiar with the pattern of this story. Stirling colored a little, but mostly wanted to "write" on the back cover of the book.




Day 20- another matching game. Not much interest in this one.


On Day 21 we did a math game. We rolled the dice and graphed squares according to the picture on the dice. It didn't last long- we each only did a few rolls before Stirling lost interest.



Day22- candy cane alphabet match. We did some, but not all of the letters.




Day 23 was reindeer food day. We mixed oats, seeds, mini-marshmallows, and glitter to leave outside for Santa's reindeer.


Our Christmas Eve activity for the last day of Advent was reading Christmas books. I found a little book that I printed off the internet that told the Bible story in a simple way, and also had a variety of other books, both religious and secular. We read "Santa Cows" and "An Angel Came to Nazareth" as well as "The Night Before Christmas."

December Images

Isn't this sweet?


My little bit of grown up Christmas decor.



Logan is such a cutie pie. Since he is a confident sitter, he can come with me into the kitchen now when I am cooking. He is much happier that way!


The boys playing together!