Santa at the pool

The kids had been making Christmas lists for week in anticipation of this visit to Santa. We were fortunate that Santa decided to make an appearance in our neighborhood at the pool for us to visit him! I loved the boys' lists and they were so excited to give them to Santa :)

We met our friends/neighbors and had fun with them in line waiting to see Santa

Dylan was a little hesitant but eventually warmed up enough to sit on his lap. This was our first picture in years without someone crying!

After we visited with Santa, they had a hot cocoa bar and cookie decorating. It was such a gorgeous day outside!

Yummy cookies!

They had a train in the parking lot that we got to ride a couple of times which was so random but also so cute and fun.

After our visit with Santa, we wen tot Vista Gardens Memory Care Center for Christmas caroling. I tried hard this year to think of some things that we could do with the kids for them to physically see the impact they had on others. We talked about donating money to people who needed food and invited them to donate if they wanted, etc. but realized that things like that are not tangible enough for them at this age. So we had the opportunity to go sing to residents at this care center. They were obviously not super excited about it, but when we asked them about it on the way home they said that they had noticed people smiling and singing along and could tell that we made them happy. I am not always great about being social and outgoing, so I didn't force them to talk to a bunch of people, but I did my best to set a good example, so Dylan and I walked around and talked to everyone and tried to bring joy to their lives. The boys did sit on this cute lady's walker after the last song because she REALLY wanted them too. They were hesitant and felt awkward but they did it and I was proud of them for going out of their comfort zone to do something kind. I hope we can continue to find opportunities like these.

Merry Christmas season!

A Ninjago Halloween

For Halloween this year I let them really decide what they wanted to be...and they all decided they wanted to be ninjas, even Dylan who can say "ninja" now ;) He has been on the Ninjago ride at Legoland a few times now and has the moves down!

All of the store bought costumes I found were not my favorite, so I went with the semi homemade approach which is my favorite. I bought karate uniforms and then added all the embellishments to make them true to Ninjago. Vinyl cutter and sewing machine were critical tools.

Dylan=white Ninja (Zane)

Boden=red ninja (Kai)

Rowan=green ninja (Lloyd)-from the Ninjago movie where he has the black suit

Master Wu with his students

And the cutest 3 Ninjas ever! I love how in character they got! They wanted the real Ninjago swords which were like $26...so I said I'd buy them the dollar store one and if they wanted the "real" one they could pay for the rest. Needless to say, they were all very excited about the dollar store one in the end.

Harnessing their "elemental powers"!

Master and Mrs. Wu and their ninjas

(I was pretty proud of myself for last minute making Grant and my hats from posterboard and his facial hair from pillow batting :)

We put out a candy bowl (which got stolen later in the night) and went to the Siclari's for dinner and then to trick or treat and we had a great time with a bunch of friends. They had delicious pizza and then I made "witch's brew" (punch with dry ice) and a jack o lantern veggie tray. Lots of fun costumes and friends.

We trick or treated our entire street (a huge loop) which I thought would take forever but they did great and it was fast. Then we drove up to the Vaughan's and did the crazy Halloween street with the pirate ship, etc. By the end of that we were definitely ready for bed...but not until after we checked out all our candy!

Passed out with a lollipop in his mouth...dentist dad's nightmare ;)

 The night before Halloween we went to a trunk or treat on base which was really fun. Tons of candy and toys, got the kids used to saying trick or treat, and there was a big dinner and dance party. Boden tore it up on the dance floor, it was the cutest thing ever!

 The day after Halloween the kids had off from school, so we  went to Legoland with friends in costume! They loved riding Ninjago with their Ninjago outfits on. It was pretty cute. 

Happy Halloween!