Pizza Night!

The rest of our Christmas break was very relaxing. We spent a lot of time relaxing at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I did get a chance to spend an afternoon with Anna helping "prepare" for Baby D. Then Shawn and Anna came over to see the boys. Luke was excited to see them. But the real story from the week was Ben and his office. Grandma has a great set up in the back bedroom. Not only is there a shelf of toys but there's a tv with cable hooked up so Nick Jr. and Disney can play alllllllll day long. Ben spent every waking moment in that room. And you could usually find him sittin

g in or on a laundry basket. Yep, that's how Ben spent his Christmas break. In a basket.

Luke would join him if the show was REALLY good.

We ended our break with a family tradition...PIZZA NIGHT!

Aunt Jan and Uncle Steve and the girls (and boys) come over to make homemade pizzas. It was a great night. Luke loved playing with baby Sophia.

He tried to cheer her up with peek a boo.

And the kids even helped with the pizza dough. Luke and Sam were very good listeners.

Daddy helped smoosh down the dough.

Sam and Aunt Jan work on a crust together.

Ben let the other kids in on the great basket seat idea.

Then Ben took a turn making some crust.

Aunt Jan teaches Ben correct techinque.

After dinner Ben and Sophia spend some time discussing life at the bottom.

Great Grandma and Ben talk about Luke's new cars.

We were going to leave for home the next day but holiday food and exhaustion from late nights caught up with me and my tummy didn't let us leave until Monday morning. We can't wait to be back in St. Charles!

Christmas Day

The boys slept in till 9 Christmas morning. In fact we ended up getting them out of bed. They ran right downstairs to check the plate of cookies they had left for Santa. He had eaten all the cookies and left them a very nice thank you note. And they jumped right in to the gifts.

It was just a small pile from Santa (and from Mommy and Daddy)

Luke's "big" present was his first remote control car. It was a little disappointing at first, the batteries didn't work right but once we got a new set it ran great.

And Ben's "big" gift was of all things a baby. He plays with every baby doll he finds so we figured he could use one of his own since we don't have any at our house.

After a great day of relaxing and watching movies the rest of the family came over for the Grandma and Grandpa portion of our holiday. The kids tried to wait patiently...

Unfortunately Ben got tired of waiting for all his cousins' turns opening presents and decided to protest by laying face down in the middle of the living room floor whenever he wasn't opening a present.

Don't worry, he had PLENTY to open...

Sally made sure to get a picture of one half of the presents we all opened that night.

The most popular toy that evening was the toy Ben got from Uncle Jeff and Aunt Sally. It's amazing how the classics never get old.

Both of the boys are still completely enthralled by the jack in the box. In true Elf fashion it brings shock and giggles.

It was a wonderful night to spend with the family after their busy day. Luke and Ben love seeing their cousins and Aunts and Uncles.