Our January

January brought temperatures all over the place, irritating colds for 3/5 of us, lots of school responsibilities for Caden, basketball games for Cole, and another lost tooth for Kieran.

The boys taught Nana and me how to play the PlayStation VR. The carnival game is a lot of fun.  

At some point most nights, both cats end up in our room in their spots. Jovie adopted her new bed. Her new thing is dragging it around the bedroom. I am not sure where she wants it.  

Kieran lost his second tooth on January 2nd. I was hoping he would lose it before Christmas, but no such luck. He almost lost it while spending Christmas gift cards at Toys R Us, but I made him wait until we were in the car.

Most nights, Rey starts out by hiding under Cole's bed right before bedtime and hopes that she is allowed to stay. As long as her purring doesn't keep Cole awake, I allow it. They are both happiest when I let her stay. The night before this photo was taken, Rey had gifted Cole with a red Angry Bird.

On the last day of winter break, we met one of Kieran's kindergarten friends (Zaiden) at Chuck E. Cheese's for games and pizza.

More of Rey's antics...

Keeping a distant eye on the robotic vacuum

For some reason, Rey has adopted my Ugg boots. Too bad she didn't discover them earlier. She would have been able to fit inside of them a year ago. 

Rey dragging "her" boot around the house

Jovie snuggled up against Nana during some game time for the boys.

Rey found her spot with Caden on the beanbag. She alternated between watching Caden's game and sucking on her paw.

Cole is playing basketball in the Chatham recreational league again this winter. He is #5 on the red team. It is hard for me to get good photos in this gym. The lighting is weird, and the movement is constant unless someone is shooting a free throw.

Kieran switched to a backless booster. I made the mistake of not taking the old booster to the basement right away. Now, we have a booster seat in one of our entry ways. Jovie and Rey think it is a great sleeping spot.

Kieran celebrated 100 days of kindergarten!

With his 100 day project...100th day ocean with 100 goldfish 

We were excited about the return of Food Network's Kids Baking Championship. The show makes us hungry and also inspires baking here. We enjoyed Cole's creation (white cake with strawberry icing) first.  

Good friends, Olivia and Ethan, performed in Lion King Jr. It was a great show!

Cole and Ethan

The boys with Olivia (Grasslands character) and Ethan (Young Simba)  

Our Christmas

Christmas Eve is one of my favorite days. I love our family traditions! We attended the 3:00 Christmas Eve service at church. After church, we watched A Charlie Brown Christmas and ate pizza for dinner. After dinner, we watched A Christmas Story, opened our ornament presents, tracked Santa's whereabouts, and put out Santa's cookies and the reindeer's carrots. Finally, we read Twas the Night Before Christmas before turning out the lights.

Sporting their new Christmas pajamas that they received on the last day of school before break

Opening their ornaments--BB8 for Caden, Star Wars Death Trooper for Cole (same as his Halloween costume), Black Panther for Kieran

On Christmas morning, all of the boys were up bright and early.

Checking out their gifts from Santa

Jovie and Rey wondered what all the fuss was, but they were happy with their gifts. 

Santa brought Spongebob's Glove World to Kieran. He has been asking for it since before his summer birthday, so he was excited. 

After seeing their Santa gifts, we emptied our stockings.

Jovie and Rey were happy with their stocking stuffers too.

After breakfast, we opened presents from each other. I like to spread out the present opening.

It was a Pop! Christmas. Our boys love adding to their Pop! collections.  

Jovie guarding her gifts

Caden was surprised by his Back to the Future Pops. 

It was also a bathrobe Christmas. Each of the boys received a cozy bathrobe. They stayed in their robes for most of break. 

Jovie waiting for the presents to move, so she can claim her spot under the Christmas tree

Cole received several books, comic books, and graphic novels. 

Cole with his Niffler Pop from Fantastic Beasts

Clearly, Kieran was thrilled with his new pirate ship.

Caden and Cole had just been talking about how there should be Pops for one of their favorite video games, Overwatch. Surprise! They do exist!

Round 3 of presents with Nana and Papa

Rey was fascinated with the kittens and puppies on Hallmark's yule log. She could not take her eyes off the tv.

Beanbags from Nana and Papa for the basement video gaming area 

Can never have too many books!

Kieran was pretty excited about the new Skylanders set. 

With Nana and Papa

The first of many times playing Pop the Pig

Aunt Shannon and Uncle Josh arrived mid-afternoon.

Kieran demonstrating the new PlayStation Virtual Reality

Caden's shirt says one of his most common phrases/complaints, "What's Up With The WiFi?" 

Kieran happily lost PieFace Showdown. 

With Aunt Shannon and Uncle Josh

Even more presents

Kieran received Googly Eyes from Aunt Shannon and Uncle Josh. Such a fun game!

Nana and Papa were able to stay until Monday evening. We enjoyed lots of family time, good food, and some fun games. Aunt Shannon and Uncle Josh were able to stay until Tuesday afternoon. We enjoyed the extra time with them, including the introduction of our new favorite family game, Telestrations. LOTS and LOTS of laughter!

I introduced Caden to The Price is Right. If I was home at 10:00 during the week as a kid, The Price is Right was on. I can't believe I haven't watched this with the boys before now.

It was another very merry Christmas!