Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium

  Probably the biggest highlight of the holidays was our week with Greg.  He actually had a week off after Christmas and we really enjoyed having him home instead of working!  We laid around the house, went out to eat, and went to the aquarium.  Chase was with his mom seeing his grandparents and family in Virginia, so he wasn't able to come with us, unfortunately!  We hope to take him there next time because we had such a good time!

Here are some of the pictures...

 You wouldn't think a catfish would be really exciting, but this guy was great to talk to!  The boys spent a lot of time making faces and laughing at him.  Ha!

 Holden amazed by the sharks.

 What a great picture Greg caught!  Scary!

 The otters were a favorite as well!  They were so cute swimming in the water and cuddling up to each other on the rocks.  The boys would squeal when they would swim past them!

This is the best picture Greg took all day!  It's absolutely hilarious and horrible of me!  Rhys is reaching out to touch a horseshoe crab and my purse almost fell into the tank!! 

What a fun day!  We'll be visiting again soon!

A Busy Christmas

  What a busy holiday!  Here are some pictures to recap on the festivities!

  Here are "The Decorations" I worked so hard on.  I decided to take pictures so it's faster to put them up this coming Christmas!  How's that for preparation?  I have no idea why we didn't take a picture  of the Christmas tree, but I will make sure of it this year!

  

 Dining Room.

 Foyer.

 Staircase.

Living room.

  This was our 3rd visit to see Santa at the Cotton Exchange downtown in Wilmington.  He is absolutely wonderful...he is THE Santa and always makes you leave having chills.  We have had to explain to the boys that other Santa's are just "helpers" and this guy is the real deal.  And I'm not kidding.  Even Nana got tears in her eyes.  He talked with the boys for at least 10 minutes, maybe more, about how their year has been, what they would like for Christmas, and with mention of the most important thing to remember, that it is Jesus's birthday.  

  Chase knows Santa here well and walked up quickly, but shyly.  I love this picture as Santa takes his hand.  He asked for a "PS3 and video games."

  Holden took a little bit to get warmed up to him, but got the courage to sit in his lap after a few minutes and loved telling him that he wanted a "Lego Bumblebee from Transformers and a Lego Optimus Prime from Transformers." 

  Rhys wasn't so enthused about sitting in Santa's lap here, but did actually calm down a bit as Santa talked to him.  He did say clearly that he wanted a "big hammer."  Ha!  

  We didn't get a great picture with all of them smiling, but I think I like the pictures of them interacting with him best anyway.  

  Holden had a Christmas party at school and they did a skit and had a party.  Holden is the wise man to the far left!

  Holden and his friend, Samantha.

  We went to the candlelight service at church and then came home and decorated cookies for Santa!  

 Rhys worked so hard!

 Chase's creation!

 Holden is concentrating very hard!

Here is our Santa plate ready to be put on the mantel with milk and notes to Santa.  Of course we always put out carrots for the reindeer, too!

  I am sorry to say that we did not get pictures of Christmas morning.  Just a little bit of video and that's it!   I don't know why, as we always do get a few pictures!  Next Christmas...

To end...

I love this picture of Rhys asleep on Nana.  He clung to her the whole time she was visiting and even cried for her in the middle of the night when she left.  He is definitely in love!  

Coming up, our Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium trip!  

A New Year and Catching Up

 First, Happy New Year!  We had a whirlwind of a Christmas and New Year and it's finally starting to settle down a little...just a little!  So now I am finally able to sit down and go back and post some pictures of our events through the holidays.  I'll probably separate these posts as we have Rhys's birthday, Christmas, and the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium to cover!

First...

  I can't believe our little boy has turned 2 years old!  Rhys kept saying he was turning 4, but I'm sure that came from Holden announcing he will be turning 4 in a few months.  He had a Mighty Machines birthday party on December 17th and he had such a great time!

  We got a 3D cake that was absolutely amazing!  I ordered a construction site that had a  crane with a wrecking ball into a building and a dump truck filled with oreos and bricks!  The whole thing was edible and really good!

Some pictures from the party...

 Rhys, our handsome 2 year old! 

 Adorable Holden.  He did great with all of the attention given to Rhys, I might add.

 Our friends, Katie and Matt, with their daughter, Ella.

 Our friend, Anne, with Jack.  Jack is one of Holden's best friends.

 Getting ready for the cake.  He was getting shy!

 Singing, "Happy Birthday!"

 Blowing out the 2 year candle!

 Of course, we had a to light the candle again and let Holden blow it out, too!  To be expected.

 A happy boy among his presents.

 Rhys with Nana.  "Don't even think about it...this is my cake!"

 Rhys and Daddy

 Our friends, Chris and Pete.

Greg with friends, David and Ladd.

 I love this picture!  Holden with friends, Miles and Jackson.

Rhys, Holden, and Chase playing with Rhys's toys after the party.  

  Next, a post of our Christmas.  I hope to get up to date in a  couple of days!

We hope you had a wonderful holiday season and that you're having a great start to the new year!

The Early Bird

  I am so tired.  All day I have been listing things I need to be doing...putting up Christmas decorations, cleaning, doing laundry, putting away toys, even making the bed.  It's days like this I feel like we've got 20 children.  The culprit...

...THIS guy.  Rhys William Woodfill.

  

  Today he woke up at 5 AM...and this picture was taken at 5:15.  Hmmm.  Lately, this is a late day.  Greg and I take turns in the mornings to get up with him and Greg has the magic to get him to "sleep in" until 6.  However, with me, he screams and screams in the rocker until I give in to go downstairs with him.  We sit on the couch, we draw, he plays with his tools, he even looks at magazines with me as I drink my coffee.  I try to bore him to death with adult talk, but I think he enjoys it.  

  So as you wake up at a normal hour of the morning if you have little ones that actually sleep, your little ones are all grown up, or you don't have all the craziness of little ones, think of us and be thankful of your sleep.  We've already been awake for hours! 

  

Brotherly Love

  It has been a great month, and what a wonderful time to be so THANKFUL for our boys to get along.  We've witnessed more laughing than crying together these days and it makes us so happy!  Here are some adorable examples...

Holden is helping Rhys put on his shoes to go to school.  

"Reading" magazines together behind the kitchen table.

Enjoying bath time together!

Headed to preschool together!

Starting early morning rock bands together!

Sharing rain boots, a current favorite activity!

Sneaking dad's scrub hats together!

Rhys - 23 months

Holden- 3 yrs 8 mos.

  

 * Driving to preschool yesterday, Holden told me, "I like Rhys, Mom."  I told them how wonderful it was that they had each other and that they will likely be best friends as they grow up.  Rhys leans around the side of his car seat and lovingly says to Holden, "I love you, Holden."  Holden looked down acting shy.  After a minute, he said, "I love you, too, Rhys."  My heart was so big that morning and I keep going over those few minutes so I can memorize it forever.  Too soon, I will be looking in the rear view mirror at two teenage boys.  Time goes by so fast.  I am so thankful for these moments, all of them, the crazy and the calm, as these wild and crazy boys make us want to pull our hair out and eat them up from their infectious adorableness at the exact. same. time.  I am so thankful to be their mom.*

Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween 2011

   

  We had a great time getting dressed up and going trick or treating!  Two months ago (Yes...2 months ago...) Holden decided he wanted to go as Obi Wan Kenobi during his Star Wars craze.  And after we dressed up as a family last year, he didn't even question if we were going to be participants this year.  He decided Greg was going to be Darth Vader, I was going to be Princess Leia, and Rhys was going to be Yoda.  It's amazing how fast we agreed to the idea!  

 I was able to bribe Rhys with a sucker to get his costume on, but the Yoda ears were a no go. 

  

We went to our friend's house for a cookout beforehand and I was able to capture this...

It didn't take long for Greg to get into character.  He looks like a natural...minutes earlier, he was driving home from work!  Just the look in his eyes scream he's, "good gone bad!" Scary. 

 It didn't take long for the boys to catch on to the process!  Holden was especially good at running up to the doors yelling Trick or Treat, which was so cute!

This house was a scary one and Holden ran up past the older kids who had stopped feet ahead of him and wasn't afraid at all.  He laughed at their masks and skeletons and played with their fake hand.  Rhys didn't like the idea, but quickly warmed up when he saw they had suckers!

Now don't we all look so naturally happy to be dressed up?  Greg's seriousness about his role was really the treat of the night and I needed a reward for wearing those darn buns of hair for hours- they were so terribly uncomfortable- but it was fun!  And we tell ourselves it's all for the  kids!  Holden and Rhys are pretty lucky to have such willing parents!  They had a great night getting lots of candy and seeing other people's outfits!  

I'm guessing this is the last year we'll be dressing up in themed costumes all together because as Rhys gets older and starts to get his own ideas, I'm sure he's not going to agree to Holden's ideas for Halloween, even if he likes them!  I'm sure one of us will be dressing up like a nail or a hammer as Rhys dresses up as a carpenter...just a guess!  = )

Hope y'all had a great Halloween!