Virginia Discovery Museum

It's been a cold and rainy/snowy week, so the boys and I had to spend a lot o time inside. Luckily, the boys had lots of new toys to play with from Christmas. The boys also had lots of fun playing on my bed while I got ready every morning.

Evan's goal is to get every pillow off the bed as fast as possible.

The boys played a little bit on Thursday morning with their toys.

And then we headed off to the Children's Discovery Museum. We have a season pass, so it's free to go and they even validate your parking. It was the perfect place to go when on such a cold day. Apparently, I was not the only person with this idea, but we got there early, so it wasn't too bad. The boys played so good and had a blast.

Of course, they rarely wanted to play with the same thing, so I was trying to watch them both and talk one into staying a little longer in a particular area or talk the other one into going into a different area so they would stay together. It's been awhile since I've taken both boys there by myself and it actually went really well.

The boys always love the toddler area with the slide.

They each had to push every.single.button. :)

Panera has a great set up in one of the back room of a fake, kid-size store with all kinds of fake pastries, a register, etc.

Carter offering me a muffin. We were the first ones back there, so the boys got to check that area out. It's usually so packed.

Of course, the train table is always something the boys want to play with.

Both boys love pushing the crosswalk button on the sign.

Carter taking "pretend" bites after I told Evan that they weren't real and we had to "pretend" eat it.

There's a fun craft room where the boys got to color.

There's a free carousel outside of the museum and when we left there was nobody on it, so the boys got to ride it for a little bit. They loved "riding the horses"

The boys got a gift from their Aunt Carrie, Uncle Eric and cousins Ian & Lainey and loved it. They got a few new books that they were so excited to read.

As soon as we opened the books, Evan pointed to this one and said "It's Carter" and every time he sees the book he says "it's Carter!" haha.

Any resemblance?

It's one thing being cold outside, but it's been so windy and either snowing or sleeting a lot. It looks like we're going to have several days next week where it's going to be cold, but clear, so we'll bundle up the boys and take advantage of being able to get outside.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning, the boys got up and ate breakfast. Evan noticed the presents and stockings after he ate and started going for them as soon as everybody was coming in the living room. Me, Greg, and the boys wore our matching pjs that his mom sent us for Christmas, but I didn't get any pictures of the four of us. :( I can't believe I didn't get a family picture on Christmas. :(

Here's some of the pics I did get, I gave each boy a stocking with stuff from the dollar section at Target, I saw some cute things that I wanted them to have, so I've been saving them for stocking stuffers for awhile.

Evan found the Skittles right away and immediately grabbed both from each stocking and thought he was done. Carter was so excited about these play dough tools, I don't think he even knew what they were for, but he was excited to get them.

Carter wanted Papaw to help open all his presents. He would get one and say "help me, help me"

I love this picture, Carter asked for help and then got distracted by one of his toys. haha

Greg and Carter in their matching pjs.

Evan ripping open those stocking stuffers. Thy got these Cars packs with crayons, stickers and a coloring book.

Aunt Caroline playing with the boys magna doodle. ;)

The big present this year was their easels. I got them a Melissa and Doug easel with a chalkboard side, a white erase board side and a roll of paper that can be pulled over the easel to paint or color on. I also got them a Magna Doodle Easel and both of them are a huge hit. I got a great deal on them both and am so excited that they like them.

I filled up the paint cups (the spill proof Melissa and Doug ones) with a little water and they "paint" the chalkboard. They love doing that. I got the idea from another mom in our playgroup.

I put the boys in their high chairs to play with the play doh, the loved the tools they got. I got them each a bag and they came with several cookie cutters, rolling pins, scissors, etc all to be used on play doh.

Everybody relaxing on the couch watching Aladdin.

Sheetz had free coffee on Christmas day, so me, Greg, and my sister decided to run up there (it's like half a mile away) to get some coffee. We thought that it would be dead since it was Christmas so we went like we were--in our pjs, no make up, etc. Greg put on socks with sandles. :)

But, we were wrong. Sheetz was packed! I couldn't believe how many people were there, most of them dressed nice like they were on their way to somebody's house to celebrate Christmas. I was so embarrassed to be in there looking like I did.

Proof of the long line of people buying stuff.

But, our yummy and FREE coffees were worth it. I got a candy cane coffee and it tasted a lot like a peppermint mocha from Starbucks.

The boys played hard all morning, you can tell they were worn out!

I got Christmas dinner ready about 12:30, so the boys were able to join us, but they weren't interested in any of it. I made ham, homemade mashed potatoes, homemade macaroni and cheese, green beans, corn, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, and crescent rolls. My mom helped out so much in the kitchen and everybody else kept the boys entertained and out of the kitchen.

After lunch, we all took naps. When the boys woke up, it was more playtime. The boys got some last bit of playtime in before going to bed. We sat around and talked and had cobbler and ice cream. We all got lots of nice gifts and had a great time with my family. I feel like each Christmas with the boys gets better and better. They're at a much easier age now, so we can all really enjoy the day and they understand more and more each year, so it's so much fun.

Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve

Sunday morning we let the boys open their presents from Aunt B (my friend, Brandi) and her boyfriend, Mr. James. Since they're still so young, I knew that they'd get overwhelmed on Christmas day and not know who any of the gifts were from, so we let them open gifts as they got them so we could tell them that it was from a certain person. I still don't think they got the concept of who gifts were coming from, but it was nice to split it up a little. Evan got the concept of ripping off the wrapping paper right away, but Carter still likes to be gentle. He actually brought his toy over to play with while opening the gifts. :) I don't think he knew he was getting new things to play with.

The boys loved their gifts, they got play doh, books, mario cars, and a movie.

These are the best cars, they really have some power, you pull them back and they will go across the house.

Carter, admiring his car.

We let the boys play with their playdoh right away. They loved it.

They loved all their gifts from Aunt B & Mr. James, they are very lucky (and spoiled!) little boys.

Later that morning, we took the boys to the park since we knew it was calling for snow and sleet for the next few days. It was cold, but the boys didn't mind one bit.

My parents and sister arrived from Georgia about 3:30-4:00 on Sunday. They played with the boys and got settled in. Monday morning, we woke up and it was snowing! We did make a quick trip to Target for a few things, but other than that, we stayed inside and played and just hung out.

The boys coloring.

During the boys nap (evan, Greg, and carter) my parents helped me put together the boys easels for Christmas, and by "helped" I mean, they put the entire thing together for me. :) I wrapped the rest of the boys gifts and we were all set for Christmas morning.

After the boys woke up, all the guys went out in the garage while my dad grilled steak. I'm sure the neighbors thought we were crazy to be grilling with it so cold (and snowing) outside, but the steak was so worth it! The boys got a ton of samples outside while my dad was grilling. My mom cooked some onions and baked potatoes for the steaks and I got the breakfast casserole ready for Christmas morning (we had a crock pot breakfast casserole that you put on the night before) I wish I would have got more pictures, I'm always so bad about getting pictures when my family is in town. :(