Happy Birthday to Ken!

Ken is officially closer to 40! The boys were up early Saturday morning wanting to start the celebrating. Thomas told Ken that he "looked taller". We had a nice quiet day at home (after taking Nathan to the doctor for a sinus and ear infection). My mom and dad came over to continue the celebrating. Then we took the boys to Sho Gun for dinner. They have never been to a hibatchi restaurant. They loved it! Thomas loved how they chopped up the food. The best part was when they came out with ice cream for Ken and sang "Happy Birthday" with a gong! It was a fun way to celebrate his birthday.

The next morning Nathan insisted on using his chopsticks to eat his fruit loops. He caught on so quickly. Grandma Seiko will be proud.

Reading Buddies

When it's quiet in the house I get nervous. After bathtime the other night it got very quiet. I searched all over the house and found the boys in Nathan's room and Thomas was quizzing Nathan on his alphabet letters. Thomas told me he got some wrong but still gave him a 100% since he tried his best.

Aquarium Trip

Thomas has been wanting to go back to Tampa to visit the aquarium since our last visit. We had plans to go over winter break, but I forgot that Ken was on stand-by so we had to post-pone our plans. We were thankful for a beautiful day to travel. The kids were very excited and Thomas read ocean fact books all the way there. We saw all the animals and had lunch outside even though it was chilly in the shade. Afterwards, the boys ran off their energy in their playground area and had fun the sandbox. By the looks of their shoes, they brought half of it back with them! It was a fun way to spend the afternoon.

Furry Friend

Thomas and Tinkerbell are so cute together. Tinkerbell lays with Thomas and Thomas enjoys having a special furry friend to love. I caught them snuggling on the couch. Later that night I was giving Nathan a bath and Tinkerbell was vey curious!

Milkshake Monsters

My mom has created a monster... a milkshake monster. My parents are getting ready for some updating at their house and my mom has started to clean out some of her things. She offered us the milkshake maker. I was so excited!!! The machine is likely older than I am and it is super heavy! I remember making the best banana milkshakes using that machine while growing up. After she brought it over I sent Ken to the store to simply get ice cream. He came back with enough ingredients to stock an ice cream shop (including straws for milkshakes!). The milkshakes were a hit with the boys and I know that we are going to get so much use from it!

Happy Half Birthday!

Thomas is now 6 and a half! He is so excited that he is "older". He even thinks he looks taller. :)
We "celebrated" his half birthday by making an orange cake (his request) and singing only half the words in the song, "Happy Birthday".

Christmas at Mom and Dad's

After celebrating at home we headed over to my parents house to celebrate there. Mom made her famous homemade spaghetti and meatball dinner. They always order salad and breadsticks from Olive Garden, too. Yummy! We had a wonderful dinner and then got to open presents. Thomas was thrilled with everything he got. Nathan got so excited about a pair of Cars pajamas that he had to take off all his clothes and try them on. It was a fun day for sure. We are thankful that we got to spend it with both of our families.

hand"cups" from Uncle Mike

Super Mario bed sheets

Cars jammies from Uncle Mike

Light Saber!

Nathan got a mini-light saber

"Nathan, I AM your father."