The Boone Family

A family tradition that I look forward to each year is Christmas Eve Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Grocho's. We all pile into the smallest space to share a yummy meal and see family we don't get to see very often.  You can see by the smiles on the faces of my grandparents how much it means to them that we are all there under their roof!  These two people are so special to me and I am so lucky to have them be such a huge part of the boys lives too!

As soon as school let out for Christmas break, Carter and I ran through the hallways with excitement.  Oh, how great it is to be able to be home with the family for the holidays!  Friday night the festivities began with the Boone Family.  Bob and Ron started off the night with a trip to watch the Cavs.  Shannon, Angie, Jeremy, Katie, Autumn, and Gage all came and we played to the wee hours of the night. Saturday Julie and the girls came down.  We laughed, ate, opened presents, laughed, and ate some more!  What a blast we had together! We love when everyone makes the trip down for the holiday! 

It's time for the annual visit with Santa.  This year we decided to try a new location because a friend from Michigan mentioned a "free" Santa photo shoot at Cabela's. The boys had never been to Cabela's so it was a good excuse to show them the store. When we walked in they were amazed by all the animals.  Their favorite part was when they found these crazy cap guns and were using them to pretend to shoot all the animals. Santa was set up in the cabin upstairs and when we arrived we were the only ones there.  Carter ran up and jumped on his lap and quickly started reciting everything on his list.  Landon and Nolan were a little reluctant at first.  I pulled Landon off to the side and said, "Look Landon, this is not the real Santa.  Santa only comes on Christmas Eve so this is just Santa's helper."  He quickly jumped up on Santa's lap and told him what he wanted.  Bob looked at me with wide eyes and said, "What are you doing???"  ...

Carter story: This morning when I was changing Nolan's clothes I asked Carter to run upstairs and change his clothes.  When he came down the stairs he was only wearing a sock…on his penis.  In absolute shock I was speechless.  He says, "Hey, Mom I could totally pee in this sock."  I said, "Why yes you could so head on up and get your clothes on."

This year we planned ahead so our Christmas tree experience was a little different from last year. We jumped in the van on a 60 degree day in November accompanied by both grandparents and drove to Sell's Tree Farm. We were the only ones there so all the employees catered to our every want. The boys were given rubber saws to help cut down our tree and we had a blast. Landon was so proud when he really cut a small piece. Please tell me you are not one bit surprised by this photo...fighting with saws...of course the Boone boys are doing it! Check out this proud boy who found the perfect tree for our house. On sight there were real reindeer to feed.  We cut up apples and hand fed them.  Nolan was a little scared at first but once he watched the boys he was right in there with them.  How silly are these boys with antlers!!! Landon hard at work cutting down our tree Handsome lumberjacks Another perk at Sell's Tree Farm is free hot cho...

Here are just a few recent photos along with some great stories I don't ever want to forget! On a drive home from school, Carter was playing the drums to one of our favorite dance party songs.  I said, "Wow, you are good at playing the drums!" He says, "That's because I am going to be a rock star and an art teacher when I grow up!" He proceeds to say, "I will have to play my concerts on the weekends and at night because I will teach during the day." Landon has had some recent exposure issues.  One of these happened at the sitter where he placed his penis on her glass front door!  Yep, I was mortified and as punishment I made him wash all of the windows on the ground floor of the house. Just when I thought it was a phase of the past, he was waiting to get into the bathtub at my parents house when I saw him place his penis where the paper goes in the printer.  In shock, I said, "Landon, what are you doing?"...

The love the boys have for each other is indescrible. I love watching them  all together! These are the days that I never want to forget!!

Who doesn't love a little impromptu family weekend in the big city?  About a month ago, Bob came home from work and said he grabbed us tickets to the Lake Erie Monsters hockey game, then he booked one night hotel stay close by. This was just what we needed.  On Saturday, we drove out to the hotel where we couldn't keep the boys out of the pool.  The pool was huge and the hot tub was amazing. Once we dried off we jumped on the RTA train to ride it downtown.  This was a genius idea because then we didn't have to pay for parking or walk outside in the cold either.  The boys had a blast riding and watching the city pass by. The train ride was putting Nolan to sleep. Bob and I were fully prepared to be walking around the hallways of the game to keep each kid busy during the game.  To our surprise all three boys were totally engrossed in the game.  Landon was munching on popcorn, cotton candy, and slurping pink lemonade.  Carter was watching...