Pre-Christmas Festivities

Colin's kindergarten class had a fun holiday party. Crafts, sweets, parents, reading. Good times.

 We had an early visit from Santa before our Christmas trip to San Francisco! Justin did not want a new bike - he just asked for a bell or a basket. So Colin got a new bike and Justin got a new bell!

 And I got my very first present made, wrapped and written solely by Colin & Justin. No help from anyone. My most favorite Christmas present!

Winter Wonderland

Last week, Justin's school had an early morning holiday breakfast.  Love his school.

This weekend, Ohio gave us a winter wonderland. 5-6 inches of snow over the weekend = lots of inside play time. Colin will play in the snow, but Justin won't even consider it. Justin even wants to be carried from door to door so he doesn't chance his pants getting wet.

Our living room view.

On Saturday, we spent the full day inside. Quality family time. And this is the only picture I found. haha. (For the record, Justin did this to himself.)

 And on Sunday, we had a lunch playdate with friends. Nothing like an ice cream topping bar for dessert. =)

And we ended the weekend with an early Christmas dinner with family/cousin-time. A huge thank you to Grandma for our early Christmas present. Any bets on how many layers (and different kinds) of cookies are in here?!

After bath time, Justin curled up in his towel and blanket. 10 minutes later, he was fast asleep. Partied out.

Justin @ 3 AND A HALF

Justin cracks me up. constantly. He also makes me crazy. constantly.

Last night, we were talking about what it would be like if we had a baby in the house.  After I told the boys that they were old enough to help with diapers (among other things), Justin said, "I have an idea. We can just do a playdate. Then the baby can go home with their mommy and daddy." And now, he only talks about playdates with babies.

This morning:
Me: Be a good listener and kind today.
Justin: I know. My teachers told me.
Me: Oh, your teachers told you that you were a good listener and kind? (with a proud mama smile)
Justin: No. They told me that I have to be a good listener and kind.

As I kiss him on his arm.
Justin: How many times do I have to tell you? Only kisses on my cheeks.
(Oh, and another Justin rule is that you can't kiss during a hug.)

As we're pretend playing Fireman Sam, sometimes I don't do things exactly the way he wants,
Justin: You're not listening. I'm not very proud of you today. Take a break and think about listening.
Me: I tried my best.
Justin: Do you want to try again? Listen this time.

• He is at his absolute happiest when he is wrestling and getting in tickle fights with Colin and Jack.
• He throws a fit if he thinks that you are laughing at him at all.
• Most of the time, he absolutely hates to be alone in any room of the house. But every now and again, we'll hear, "I need my lonely time."
• Absolutely hates being dirty. Lint on his feet & crumbs on his hands are the absolute worst.
• Will eat his veggies, but only if you serve them in quantities of 3.5. (his current age)
• His food will-power is amazing. Sometimes he turns down sweets and snacks, "too much sugar. Can I have something healthy?" (healthy = crackers, applesauce or yogurt)
• His toy will-power is also amazing. Even if Colin wants a toy, Justin will not beg for one. He'll just say, "No. I don't need anymore toys."
• He runs up to Jack and punches him. It's also common for him to "hug" Colin and end up tackling him.
• He loves to run and slide on the hardwood floors.
• If Colin does something nice (like share), Justin will say, "what a nice brother."
• Colin loves to roll his jeans up at the bottom. Justin refuses to. "That looks goofy."
• He loves to dress me in the mornings - and he does a pretty good job. He picks out skirts and dresses most and he loves it when I curl my hair. "You're so beautiful" he tells me. =)

And that's just a dose of his big personality. Love that Justin.

"It's his birthday AGAIN?" -J

Colin's birthday fell in the middle of Thanksgiving this year, so we had a lineup of birthday dinners with family friends this week.

Justin just could not understand how it was "still his birthday?"

Our weekly dinners with Leela.

 They know Colin so well and got him his first "Creator" Lego set. Same set of pieces with three ways to build something. Colin loves it!

Colin is truly on board with keeping our Christmas magical spirit alive. Once he found out, he stopped telling Justin that Santa was not real and instead has helped Justin have fun with the elf and Santa. And Justin loves finding that elf every morning!

I told Colin that he could invite a small group of friends from his kindergarten class over for a playdate. 4 boys and 1 girl came and they had a blast playing legos, building stuff and doing some crafts. It was so much fun to watch them all play and talk.

 I asked if he wanted cake and he replied, "I don't like frosting. Can I have brownies?" He's certainly my child - I'm not a fan of frosting either. =)

 But we are both fans of ice cream toppings. Ooooh, the fun!

 Happy Birthday (again) my 6 year old!

 A friend gave him another Creator set. How did we not know about these? And Colin is getting so good at putting these together!

 Justin doesn't have the attention span for a whole set yet, so he runs off to play with remote control things. Justin is all about crashing and loud noises. He loved all of Colin's loud toys. =)

 Can you see this? I put the boys to bed and found this on the dining room table. The note says, "PLEASE DONT MESS WITH THIS."

 Lucky Colin got a Target gift card for his birthday and he used it on....more legos. I don't know how it happened, but we are officially a lego family. How bad would it be if you knew legos were our home decor in the dining room?

 Our family friends came over for lunch - Chloe and Colin started at the same daycare together since they were 18 months old! They are in different schools now, but they still have so much fun together. On our chalkboard, Chloe wrote, "Chloe loves Colin." And drew two people with heart eyes. =) She has such a fun spirit, we love having her around.

And Emily came over to help celebrate Colin's birthday too. I didn't realize how people so easily pick up on Colin's love for building things - they got him an architecture building kit. It came with its own drill gun and Colin put together a motorcycle and helicopter already! That boy loves it all.

 Other highlights:
Justin:

• He cannot wait for his birthday. Almost daily he asks me how many more days until his birthday. He actually had a breakdown in the car because too many "people think that I am 3 years old. I'm not. I'm three AND A HALF." tears, whining and more tears.
• At Colin's birthday party, he barely could keep up with the group of 6 year olds, but held his own as much as he could. Let's just say "feeling left out" was a first for J this weekend.
• During Colin's 6 year old doc appt, Justin took over. He answered all of the questions and Colin barely spoke. Justin told the doctor all about his itchy skin, belly aches and body questions. The doctor called Justin "precocious." Yes, Doc, that's one way to put it.

Colin:

• This time of the year, the kids get into the "I want" mode and I don't like it. Colin, especially, lists all of the toys and things the he wants as presents. To combat it, I was telling the boys about the "giving tree" at work. I told them that we could buy presents for kids who don't have many presents at Christmas time. Some kids get to write what they want on a piece of paper and we can choose one to buy presents for. When I asked Colin if he wanted to help buy a present, he answered, "ummm. How do we get on that list?" Umm, not the response I was hoping for.
• I asked Colin what after school classes/lessons he wanted to take, and he said "no" to all of the sports ones and said, "isn't there something where I can make something? build anything?" There was one pottery class he liked, but we can't make the time. Beachwood, please create more non-sports classes after school. Thank you. 
• A friend told me about code.org for kids who are always looking to create things. I'm definitely looking into this for Colin. Jack & I can't code, perhaps Colin will be the first in our family. I wouldn't doubt it.

Jamie & Jack:

• The key to a clean house is to always invite guests over. =) Jack LOVES not having anything on table tops.

• Over the last 7 days, Jack has worked over 75 hours at his work. We're talking multiple 12 hour shifts. Want to know what else? He surprised me and cleaned our stove one night when he got home at 3am!  For the record, I did NOT ask him to do it either. He saw it was on my list and it was truly amazing to wake up to that. =) Wow. Love him.
• Remember how I was eating clean and feeling good? Confession: I'm back to my sugar loving ways and will resume the clean eating in 2014.
• You know how homesick I can get. Well, having good people around me keep me going and I am so thankful!
• Oh, and summer camp schedules are out. Seriously. And I keep hearing to sign up early or they'll be booked. It's December and I'm signing up for summer camps.

Thanksgiving Elwell-Style

A timeline is the best way to show the Thanksgiving craziness in our family.

 Tuesday: Aunt Natalie drove through a snow storm and arrived to CLE safely! Thai food dinner is our tradition when she's in town and the new restaurant we tried was a winner. Delish.

 

 Wednesday: Jack & Jamie go to work. Aunt Natalie takes over parenting and drives C & J out for some quality cousin time. (There are 14 Elwell grandkids total.) Thank you!

 Thursday: Happy Turkey Day! Jack ran the Cleveland Turkey Trot to get the day started. Then we all met up at Grandma's for the afternoon/dinner. I wish this picture could capture how huge this turkey was. (over 20 lbs, I think!) Thank you to Grandma Peg for hosting the entire family at her house. Tons of food and lots of family fun.

 Kids table.

 Cousin wrestling. Ben & Rylee are the oldest cousins and are great with the little kids. It was so great to see them for the holidays.

 Grandkids picture & Christmas exchange

 Every year after Thanksgiving dinner, we do Colin's birthday cake. Happy 6th birthday, Colin!

 Friday: We woke up to 8 deer walking through our backyard. Spotting deer never gets old in our house.

 

 Christmas decoration time & the elf is out. Oh, I should also add that Colin knows the Santa secret. Long story, but the way he was talking, we didn't want Justin to lose out on some of the young fun quite yet. So Colin now helps us move the elf every night and Justin still has some Christmas fun.
Colin knows not to tell anyone else about the Santa secret, even those older than him. Let's hope this all works out.

Cousins bounce house party - Happy birthday to cousin Chloe! I had to turn away when Colin was put in charge of holding baby Danny. How is my child old enough to hold a baby?

Elwell women: Natalie + her crazy sister-in-laws.

Saturday, November 30: Colin officially turned 6. For his birthday, he requested, "doughnuts for breakfast, a hike and Cheesecake Factory for dinner."

So lucky to have presents! Remote control lego train set, easy bake oven and a remote control helicopter. He was loving every moment!

Remote control helicopters are cool. Jack & Colin love flying it and Justin & I hide and duck when they do. =) By the way, Colin rolls his own jeans up like this. I always have to unroll them 1-2 times before we head out! =)


The sun came out for our birthday hike. On the hike, Justin told me that for his birthday, "I want to watch TV and rest instead of hike." He has since denied making this statement and insists on a hike for his birthday as well. =)





 Afternoon play time with Reagan & Brooke. And for the record, I can still do (an assisted) back-hand spring! I have a video to prove it too. =)


 Cheesecake Factory Dinner. Party of 18 please. Thank you everyone for making Colin's birthday so special. What a day!


 Sunday: Otherwise known as "pajama, don't leave the house" day. 

 Colin woke up at 7am and built his train lego set all by himself. Even the remote control parts! It was great to see him work.

 We introduced Aunt Natalie to monkey munch.

 Then, Jack & Natalie left for errands/family time, and I was supposed to go grocery shopping. But instead, the boys and I stayed in our pajamas the entire day and played legos. The boys asked to stay home for the whole day and it was so easy for me to agree.  I couldn't have asked for a better way to close out Thanksgiving weekend!

 

Justin said at school, "I am thankful for Colin. Oh, and daddy and mommy too." We are all so thankful to have family. Happy Thanksgiving all.