Christmas, part 1

Our first Christmas celebration has already come and gone.  We celebrate Perry family Christmas the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  There were two new babies since last year - Kale and Joshua.  It is always fun to see everyone and visit. 

Lucas and Great Pa.

The adults each bring a gift for an exchange.  We draw numbers and when it is your turn, you can pick a new, wrapped gift from under the tree, or you can "steal" someone's gift.  Lucas had fun helping pick up the gift wrap and carrying presents to and from people.  That was until someone wanted his daddy's gift.  He even stood in front of Brent to protect it.  He didn't understand this silly game and was pretty sad. 

It was all made better when Andrea got a Cyclone checkers set, though.  He enjoyed "playing" checkers and Landon was a good sport to let him interrupt the game. 

Then it was gym time!  The big boys and little boys (and Audrey, too) enjoyed burning off some energy. 

Disney on Ice

We had a quiet Thanksgiving because we celebrated with my family the weekend before and Brent's family was at Brad's in Chicago.  My doctor recommended not traveling that far so close to delivery, so we stayed at home.  On Friday, we took Lucas to Disney on Ice: Mickey & Minnie's Magical Journey. We had no idea what to expect, or if Lucas would even sit and watch, but we were hopeful he would enjoy it. 

Our tickets were great!  There were two rows right beside the ice and we were the first row up.  When the characters came to our side of the rink, they were only a feet away. 

Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daffy and Goofy were there.

We saw the Lion King, Little Mermaid and Lilo & Stitch.

Peter Pan, Wendy, John and Michael "flying."

This is the dog from Peter Pan.  The poor skater was hunched over the whole time - ouch!

Captain Hook's pirate ship.

Lucas loved it.  He sat in his seat most of the time, but by the time Captain Hook came out, he was on Brent's lap.  It was a fun afternoon, colorful and great music, with talented ice skaters who can perform wearing awkward costumes. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

kids DO say the darndest things

I knew the day would come that Lucas would say things out loud that make us want to cringe from embarrassment... it's happened and I have some examples. 

Last week at the grocery store Lucas looked up at the man behind us in line and said "That guy big!"  And he was big - very tall and robust tummy.  I looked at him with pleading eyes and smiled, hoping he was an understanding guy.  He smiled and told Lucas, "If you eat your vegetables and drink your milk, you'll grow up big, too." 

Phew.  That one didn't end so bad. 

Last night he was waiting his turn to get his haircut, while Jennie was finishing another client.  Lucas sat patiently on my lap, but was acting nervous and scared.  He points to the woman in the chair (getting her haircut) and says, "She scary."  Luckily, she and Jennie had a nice conversation going and neither of them heard what Lucas said.  I whispered in Lucas' ear, "That's not a nice thing to say.  We don't say things like that."  Then he winced like he really was scared of her.  I was able to distract him with some toys for awhile, but as she was leaving, he said it again.  I took him into the bathroom to go potty before it was his turn to get his haircut and explained, again, that saying something like that might hurt someones feelings.  "I don't want  her to cry," he said sympathetically.

Even though he is a tender-hearted boy, I know this will not be the last time he says something that I hope people don't hear.

Let the birthday begin!

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family this weekend at my parent's house.  Because of the busy holidays and family living several hours apart, we also celebrate Lucas and Abby's birthdays.  The cousins all do so well playing together, especially considering the age spread is 19 months to ten years old.

Will and Lucas playing cows.

Lucas helped Aunt Karen do dishes.

Lucas, Abby, Aunt Jen, Nick and Adele. 

Aunt Jen made this YuMmY pumpkin cake - moist cake, creamy whipped filling, caramel drizzle and crushed pecans.  Oh my, was it good!

  

 

Lucas just about jumped in the bag to get this barn puzzle!

Handy Manny construction set.

Buzz Lightyear and Woody cowboy boot slippers!

 

We got Abby a shirt and sparkly scarf, the scarf became a popular toy.

                              

Coming soon...

...a new little Cyclone!
6 weeks until due date.

Covered walls

Lucas moved out of the crib and into a new room and new, big boy bed, in March.  He was 28 months old.  It was really no big deal and he has slept in the big boy bed ever since.  I spent quite a bit of time cleaning out what had been a a guest room in our house, but really turned into the "catchall" room.  We left the crib and all baby-related things in his old room with hopes that we would be blessed with another baby someday. 

My biggest dilemma in creating this room was that Lucas wouldn't always feel like a little boy in it.  I didn't want to overdo it with characters because interests change and I'm not that into themes.  But at the same time, I wanted a room that was about him. 

I had this vinyl wall piece made {very affordably} from a designer on Etsy.  I told her what I wanted it to say {all things that describe Lucas} and she whipped up some great designs.  This is the one I chose:

He is always proud {rightfully so} of his newest artwork and latest creativity from school.  When he first saw this he said {very excitedly} "My pictures!"  Definitely an easy way to display "his" stuff. 

*Sidenote: the first picture of his bed with only one stuffed animal on it is deceiving... he normally has at least ten stuffed animals in his bed.  Sometimes to the point you can't find him! 

Tree cutting

Although it is November and I'm thinking about Christmas, this tree cutting has nothing to do with the holidays. This is another sad reminder of that awful hailstorm of August 2009. None of these trees survived the storm and it was {finally} time to take them down... harvest was done, it was wet, so we could burn... what better thing to do on a yucky, cold Sunday?

Making progress.

Lucas did a lot of this.  We were in and out to "check on" the guys, but it was way too cold for us to stand around.  Trust me, the almost three year old and 7 months pregnant lady would have been very little help. 

All done; assessing their work.

Papa Steve, Lucas and Brent.

A new view the next morning... frost on the ground, the fire still smoldering and you can see deer in the cornfield.  We'll be seeing a lot more without our tree cover.  It is sad to remove 30 trees, but there was no life left to them.  The stumps will be ground up soon and then we'll decide what to replace them with. 

Just another reminder of August 9, 2009.