Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas!  The boys were super excited to see that Santa had visited them.  He brought them a play kitchen and play food.  They played with their new toys from Santa while we set up breakfast. 

 

We then ate our yummy savory bread pudding before diving into opening presents.  Magnus and Ragnar very quickly became present opening experts.  They really enjoyed opening them and seeing their contents. 

The boys played with all of their toys, and we chatted with family throughout the day.  Auntie Dani had spent the night and was there to celebrate the day with us.

 

 

Christmas Eve

We did our traditional zoo visit on Christmas Eve this year.  Auntie Dani came with us too.  This year the boys really enjoyed seeing all of the animals.  They also went on the carousel and had a lot of fun.

After the zoo we went to Arbys for lunch.  It was a good time for all.

After naps we played with the boys until dinner.  We had a yummy family dinner and had our Swedish wind chimes going during it.  Magnus was mesmerized by them.  After dinner we then acted out the nativity with our Little People nativity.  We then opened our star presents, pj's for all, and put the boys down for bed.

Gingerbread Houses

We had a fun family home evening activity in December.  We made gingerbread houses with the boys.  Gramsie, Grumpa and Auntie Dani were there too.  It was good having all the extra adult hands to help with the sticky mess.  The houses were pre-assembled and in a kit with the frosting and candy.  Auntie helped Ragnar decorate his and Papa helped Magnus decorate his.

Magnus eating some candy

Holiday Visitors

Gramsie and Grumpa came to visit us during December.  We did a lot of fun activities with them.  We went to the kids museum, toddler time, snowflake lane and the botanical garden lights.  The boys had a great time.  Ragnar became fast buddies with Grumpa and wanted to do everything with him. 

 

 

Santa Claus

We went the week of Thanksgiving to visit Santa Claus and have the boys' picture taken.  We visited him at Redmond Town Center.  We arrived at a great time as there wasn't a line.  We walked right in and talked to Santa a bit with the boys before attempting the photos.  I told the photographer ahead of time that we were fine with any picture she could get of them. 

Ragnar immediately started crying and reaching for us once put on Santa's lap.  Magnus started to get upset shortly after.  We got a few pictures and took them off of Santa's lap.  Magnus calmed down quickly, especially once Santa gave him a candy cane.  Ragnar wouldn't take the proffered candy and didn't calm down until we left.

For days after if we mentioned Santa at all Ragnar would loudly say "no, no, no!"  But, by the middle of December he didn't do that, but he wouldn't go near any Santa's we saw when out and about.

Double Trouble

I came out of the kitchen into the front room to find the boys doing this:

So, like any good mama (haha) I grabbed my camera to capture the naughtiness.  I got them safely down.  Of course, they continued doing this for the next few days until they realized it wasn't acceptable and was unsafe.

Halloween

I made the boys' costumes for Halloween this year.  Ragnar was a white bunny with floppy ears and Magnus was a brown puppy. 

We took the boys to our ward Halloween carnival this year as well as trick-or-treating in our neighborhood for Halloween.  They enjoyed the carnival and we left before the chaos of the indoor trick-or-treating started.  Auntie came with us for the carnival. 

*note-before adjusting/buckling his car seat

On Halloween we went trick-or-treating to the neighbors in our cul-de-sac.  We went early and were the first out and back home before trick-or-treaters came to our home.  It took a bit to get the boys to understand what to do for trick-or-treating.  But by the third house they had it figured out.

 

 

Ragnar signing "more" - he wasn't done trick-or-treating

When we got home they each chose a piece of candy to eat.  Ragnar picked an Almond Joy and Magnus chose a peanut butter cup.  They both thoroughly enjoyed the candy.  Ragnar was very confused when one bite had an almond in it though.  

We then let them run off some energy and help hand candy out to trick-or-treaters before bedtime.