And another year begins

As nice as the holidays were, I am sooooo glad they are over. The boys had the most wonderful holiday season. I think they spent more time at the grandmas' houses (overnighters) than they did at home. Well, it feels that way anyway. They've been smothered with love and attention and more toys than they know what to do with. We decided that Brandon was old enough to start giving to kids less fortunate than he is. We explained how very lucky he is to have such a loving family and a warm bed to sleep in and so many toys to play with. Then we told him that there are some boys and girls who don't have a warm, safe house to sleep in and no toys to play with, so wouldn't it be nice to give them one of our toys. He actually wanted to give them a house, not toys. In the end he chose one of his unopened toys to give away. The most difficult part for him was choosing which toy to give. I was so proud of him for being such a big boy and so giving. I didn't expect him to handle giving away one of his presents so well.

Shh...here she comes

Russell worked very hard (with a little help from his brothers) and actually pulled off a surprise party for his mother this afternoon. She thought she was going to PF Chang's for a late lunch with Scott & Kristin and our family. She was almost to the top of the mezzanine when we all yelled surprise. Russ said he saw her knees buckle and was afraid she was going to fall down the stairs. Diane claims we almost gave her a heart attack. She was so happy and completely surprised. She started to cry looking around at all her dearest friends and family.

I tried to get a picture of everyone that came, but I'm not sure I was successful. (BTW, the photos at the attached link are in backwards order, so start from the bottom.)
http://s230.photobucket.com/albums/ee163/justcallmelemon/Dianes%2065th%20Bday%20Party/?albumview=grid

Family photos

We had a photo shoot this morning with all the Fuller brothers' families and their step sister's family. A nice little Christmas present for Russ's mom and dad & Kathy. Brandon was really looking forward to seeing his cousins again, and much to his surprise, he met two more cousins that he didn't even know he had. Owen was the smiliest (is that a word?) of all. He was so happy to be there even though it was freezing outside. He also managed to kick the same shoe off about 10 times, and eventually got the sock off too. Anyway, enough of my jabbering. Here are the photos: http://www.heathermwhiting.com/pickpic3/gallery/splash.php?gallery_id=43

Rain, rain has gone away...

...so we got a Christmas tree today. The boys had a blast walking up and down between the trees at Indian Rock Ranch. They loved that the ground was frozen with frost, and how it crunched under their little booted feet. Brandon was sure he was going to find the perfect tree. In fact he pointed out quite a few perfect trees. He was completely into the tree hunt. Dylan, on the other hand, just wanted to run up and down the mountain. I don't know how many times Russ had to grab him by the hood so he wouldn't go barreling down the mountain. Owen spent the day in the Baby Bjorn. Talk about cardio and weight training all at once! You try strapping 18 pounds to the front of you and hike up a mountain. Today I realized that we should have dug out the Kelty and put O on my back.

Something happened tonight that hasn't happened in years...we decorated our tree the same day we brought it home. I loved watching my boys decorate the tree. I loved that only the bottom branches were sagging with ornaments. Russ helped them balance out the tree and decorated the upper branches with the glass and heavy ornaments.

Up O goes

Owen grabbed his crib rail and stood up today, so he could see what I was doing in his dresser. He watched me pick out his outfit for the day.

Owen's mobility

Owen's mobility is starting to freak me out. I was prepared for the crawling, but not the pulling up or sitting up on his own. That's just too many things going on at the same time! Next thing I know, the boy will be running after his brothers (which I suspect is his goal). He gets so upset with me, if I don't carry him into the same room his brothers are playing in. He wants to be with the boys all the time. Anyway, I caught Owen pulling himself up onto his knees to reach the fringe on our window shade on Monday. Today I turned around expecting to still see him practicing his crawling, but instead he's just sitting there looking at me with this big smile on his face. I put him back on his tummy so I could see him do it again.

Owen's chin-ups

No Christmas tree today

Today was the day we planned to load up the boys and drive up to Apple Hill to hunt for the elusive "perfect" Christmas tree. The rain has dampened our plans. Of course, we could still go, but who wants to walk around in the cold, wet and muck? So far, Brandon has forgotten all about the tree hunt. I just hope he doesn't remember at all today, because he's going to be so disappointed.

Model children

Brandon and Dylan are in the December issue of Inside East Sacramento again. This time they got to check out a new park for a story about small public parks. As they played, the photographer, Linda, took their pictures for the story. Brandon liked the park so much he asked me again the next day if we could go back.