Party Time!

The boys and I went to the ice rink for some New Years festivities!

The night ended with a toast at midnight (7 p.m.)! The kids got goodie bags and the rink had lights and a disco ball!

Speedy as usual!

Charlie enjoying some ice time!

Getting Ready for the New Year!

I took the boys to a local indoor water park this morning. It was a little hard to get any pictures without ruining my camera!

The park center was also having a New Year's Eve celebration, complete with balloon drop.

We were able to count down and be there for the noon balloon drop...

...Sully was mesmerized!

Hockey Skills Camp!

We signed Sully up for 3-one hour sessions of skills camp. The first day he made it halfway through but his skates were too tight and bugging him. He ended up with the stomach flu that night so maybe he just wasn't quite himself.

He skipped camp the second day due to recovering from the stomach flu. We did get him new skates and he was ready to go for the last session.

I took these photos at the last session. He said camp was challenging because these kids are all in the house league and have much more experience actually playing hockey games. It was good for him to get a taste of what being on a team might look like.

I thought he did a great job and he was certainly tired at the end!

Charlie!

Just hanging around the house this week! It's nice to just relax and play.

Holiday Cheer!

We headed to Grammy and Grampy's for some Christmas cheer today!

We opened presents...

...enjoyed a nice walk and some time at the park before dinner...

...and of course played some more football!

More great food and family! We have had a wonderful Christmas and plan on spending the next few days relaxing at home!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Santa was very good to everyone this year! No coal, although it was touch and go for a while! We enjoyed a lazy morning opening gifts, drinking coffee, having a great breakfast prepared by Chef Andy, and waiting for the new 3DS to charge! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2011!

Olivia opening her present!

A look of pure happiness after opening a Cutler jersey!

More joy---an awesome pirate ship!

A rare shot of Any and I! It's always so busy at the holidays so it's hard to get us together.

It wouldn't be the holidays without some football!

An action shot of Sully and Trevor!

Loving this pirate ship!

It was a great Christmas Eve at Poppa and Gramma's!

-great food

-fabulous company

-awesome desserts

-lots of football outside

-wonderful presents

Tantrum Time!

Even sweet little Charlie Bear could not escape this wonderful phase of toddlerhood---Tantrums! This is what he looks like after crying uncontrollably about something neither of us can remember. I am hoping it is a short phase!

Open Skate!

The park district has a bunch of open skate times during the winter break. Yesterday, we all headed over when Andy got home from work.

It was good for Charlie to get some extra practice since there are no lessons for the next two weeks due to the holidays.

He did great and seems to enjoy the skating!

Andy was trying to prove to Sully that he's "still got it" and can catch him on the ice! Sully had a great time and we even ran into a friend of his from school. Sully actually fell asleep in the car on the way home---he certainly plays hard!

I took most of these pictures while skating myself so the quality is not great!

Jingle, Jingle Little Bells!

Charlie had his "Holiday Sing" at school on Wednesday. His class sang two songs. He was pretty shy during the fist song but really liked the jingle bells (video below). Andy, Sully, and I went to see the performance and enjoyed a treat afterwards.

On My Own!

Having a chat with Coach!

Group Huddle!

Today was Charlie's 2nd skating lesson and he didn't use the walker at all! He is shuffling along and is very good at getting back up from the ice. That is a pretty tricky skill for kids to learn. He is having a great time!

No Hands!

Charlie has already tried some skating without the walker. Looks like he may be a natural like his big brother!

Ice, Ice Baby!

Charlie started ice skating lessons today! He is already getting comfortable on the ice.

The coaches were great and I think they knew everyone's name by the end of the session.

The coaches say that usually kids are done with the walkers by the third session.

A high five from one of the coaches!

It was a great first session. Stay tuned for more pictures and videos!

Day After Thanksgiving!

Bec and the kids joined us at a park nearby yesterday. The kids had a blast running around!

The park has a maze, jungle gym, lots of space, and swings for relaxing!

The inside of the maze has this climbing thing.

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday and is relaxing as much as we are this weekend!