Park Pics

Monday, Monday

Early Monday morning a happy (only AFTER being nursed) James crawled over & woke up daddy.

We were soon joined by Alec and his usual cheeky antics.

I herded the boys downstairs for some breakfast (more 'snacking' for James):

We decided to hit the trail and get some playtime in before Alec had to head out to pre school

Maggie & Milo, patiently waiting whilst the boys play:

Everything Alec does is absolutely hilarious to James, which only encourages him (and that's bad!)

Currently James's favorite thing is the slide! He can crawl up the steps and slide down on his tummy & his face gets this look of total glee!

At home the boys love to 'wrestle'. Alec is surprisingly gentle with his baby brother, so it looks more like James poking his brother & hugging him.

We invited my parents over for Family Home Evening, that Alec presented & a lovely fruit pizza Alec baked & decorated.

James is incredibly attached to my dad. He chooses him over everyone else-even me (his food source! Hello??)

Christmas morning was...mostly about the trampoline

We let the boys open their 'Santa' presents first thing. Alec would usually want to stop and play with each thing, then move on to the next.

Even the apple was an awesome present! (Note to self: next year spend more on me and give Alec fruit).

Maggie loved her girly doggie bed. I went as girly as possible-she's the only other female in the house-I need my help!

James, of course, is at the 'I love wrapping paper' phase of life. Consequently, he only got 3 gifts...

We headed back to my parents' for breakfast-Eggs Benedict-YUM!!

Kayden's new wagon was the 'Space Mountain' of the diaper crowd!

After presents at my parents', we headed home for Alec's big surprise. Paul even skype'd his parents so they could see Alec's face when he first saw it!!

It was a long, cold night before Christmas

Christmas Eve is celebrated at the Hunter household. This may not have been the best pic of us, but it captured how we were. Alec is fussing, "But, I don't want my picture taken!" James is staring adoringly at his big bro, whilst Paul and I smile/cringe.

We always make gingerbread houses and over the years the tradition has morphed into a sugar-driven frenzied competition for the "best house". Enthusiasm usually dies down for most after about 10 minutes, but the early part is riddled with 'hidden goodies' people sneak in and bought ahead of time to gain the upper hand (seriously, it's that important!).

Next comes the 'candy' game. Like a white elephant gift exchange, but with candy bars. This usually turns into a playful trading of one stupid candy that nobody really wants (really, we should play this BEFORE making the houses and eating candy).

And of course, Christmas Eve pajamas. My parents started this when we were young (along with the rest of the world), after realizing how ghetto we looked on Christmas morning in ragged old baggy t-shirts (we used to rip off one arm and call ourselves 'Nephi'-as costumed in the 'Living Scriptures' DVDs, so spiritual).

The three babies had matching Mickey Mouse and Alec got Buzz Lightyear. We tried to take some pics, but Ben (as usual) got hungry and decided to munch on Kayden's leg. Kayden couldn't even fight back!

Hyped up on sugar (well, Alec anyway), we took the boys home for a bath where I got some cute pics of James in the tub. The joy of my life-his hair curls into little ringlets when wet! This excites me much more than Paul, who has curly hair and continually asks/nags when I'll be cutting James's mullet.

The boys were giggling before storytime, so I caught a sweet moment.

Now for the real fun. Paul had to put together Alec's big Christmas present from his granny & grandad. I'd be teasing Paul for a month about putting it together Christmas Eve and he kept telling me about his plans to do it in stages leading up to Christmas Eve, since Alec never went into the rock-covered backyard. Without me nagging, that never happened.

Luckily, my cousins Danny & Sawyer volunteered to brave the freezing Vegas cold night (seriously-I think it got below 50!!) to spend a couple hours stretching springs out.

Bless 'em, they got it done!

Seeing Santa

I should preface this post by admitting, Paul & I are not "Santa" people. We've always told Alec that Santa is pretend and avoided buying any Santa decorations or watching Santa shows. Maybe we're a tad too pragmatic, but, we don't see the point and, hey, why let someone else take credit for all the gifts?

Knowing our son, I figured we should ostracize him from all other children whose parents strive diligently to perpetuate the charade (and who might hate me eternally for ruining it), but Alec firmly announced, "No! Santa is real and you're on the naughty list!" I had to turn my head and chuckle, but agreed to visit Santa at the Bass Pro Shop. Free pictures and grandma willing to wait in the hour-long line, why not? This way Alec could state his demands as he'd been (arguably) 'good' this year. So, Alec wrote his letter,

I even let him hold a gun (shudder) and play some games.

And, of course, a picture with the big guy. James apparently feels as I do:I did get a free candy cane out of the day, since Alec hates anything mint flavored, so it was worth it.