12/27 - The rest of IA Christmas

So we learned that Eli truly doesn't like the cold. He won't stay outside longer than 10 minutes and he looks miserable the entire time. We put food coloring in water bottles and took the boys outside to "paint." It was hard for the boys to initially pull the trigger but then he got the hang of it.

I had to take about 5 pictures to get this one picture in which it appears that Eli is having fun. Haha. He promptly went inside after this picture and then Brad and I stayed outside with Aiden to help him build his first snowman.

Aiden enjoyed spraying the snow and making pictures.

Aiden really had fun when he built his very first snowman. Brad helped him put the chunks/balls of snow together. We've tried to make a snowman for the past few days but the snow wouldn't stick and we couldn't make a ball. Aiden painted eyes on the snowman and then put a carrot on his face for his nose. We found sticks for arms and a twig for the mouth. He was pretty excited about his creation. He then thought the snowman needed buttons on his chest so he created them with the water bottle (see bottom left picture).

Aiden decided he was cold and wanted to go inside. He got inside and wanted to help grandma with her with her new christmas present: a shredder. He had fun (and was very safe) putting stuff in the shredder.

I was not feeling well most of the day today. Once I finally got up, it wasn't long before Brad and I had to leave for an appointment with our financial advisor. When we got home, Aiden and Eli were playing nicely and all ready to go down for their naps. Kassie and Bryce let the boys play with these puff ball toys (when you squeeze the tummy of the animal, balls pop out of the mouths). It is actually great therapy and Aiden had a hard time doing it at first. He started putting the balls that popped out of the mouths onto his Hex Bug track.

Someone found Brad's old legos and brought them out today. The boys (all 3 of them) had a blast playing with them. Brad has lots of cool pieces and little men. He also has lots of wheels (to make cars).

Kassie and Aunt Pat were playing the piano tonight and Eli was dancing all around with Brad. It was too cute to watch. Eli loves himself some music and cousin Kassie is pretty darn good on the piano.

Eli even had fun putting together the legos and experimenting with them. He was watching daddy play and seeing and hearing the noises he was making and started mimicking that. They did a good job sharing as long as they had their own little pile.

We attempted to take a family picture tonight. It turned out pretty good. Tomorrow we are going to take a full family picture of the Hoyt household in IA right now.

I'm not sure how we are going to make it back with all our luggage once we add in the christmas presents. Thankfully Delta lets military (even on personal travel) check up to 2 bags for free. I've missed my kitties and can't wait to see them. We are praying for a healthy, uneventful trip back to AL and for all of us to be healthy.

12/26 - Christmas Eve and Day

So I spoke too soon. I finished the last blog saying how everyone was fine. I should have known better. Aiden got sick on Christmas night, BJ got sick yesterday afternoon, and I started getting sick last night. Boo on the rotovirus. So let me back up some and tell you how the few days around Christmas were. On the 23rd, I took Eli to urgent care. Aiden stayed home and got to help make cookies!! It was a great therapy exercise for him because it took lots of finger/hand strength to push out the icing. He had quite a bit of fun doing it.

After rest time, Eli started feeling much better. He even went out in the snow for the first time. He wasn't a big fan of having to get all dressed up in a snow suit but he played outside for a little bit. When I say little bit, I mean enough for me to take 2-3 pictures. He said it was too cold and wanted to go back inside.

Aiden on the other hand was having a great time. He saw Kassie shoveling snow earlier in the day and wanted to try his hand at it. He finally found a shovel he could maneuver and use. He also got to try out the real sled with Kassie.

Daddy didn't want to come play in the snow with us because he still wasn't feeling that great. 

Here in the Hoyt House in Iowa, they do the opening of presents on Christmas Eve after brunch. That said, we played around during the morning of Christmas Eve and the boys had some fun taking pictures with my camera and the cool christmas picture apps.

It was so good to see Eli back to his old self. He was full of spunk and energy.

They boys loved handing out presents to everyone.

They were both great little helpers. They were excited to open their presents and it looked like a bomb went off in the living room with all their stuff scattered everywhere.

Here is a cute picture of Brad and his mom. We gave her this mousepad for Christmas. It was Aiden's handprint at school that he (and his teacher) turned into a peacock. I really thought she would like and appreciate it (and she did).

We went to bed late on Christmas Eve because the boys were having so much fun playing with their toys. On Christmas morning, we went upstairs and the boys saw that Santa had visited!! They were pretty exciting and opened their present that he left before their stockings. Aiden got a breakaway truck and Eli got a dancing/rhythm microphone LeapFrog thing. They were both pretty excited. 

Aiden started a picture for Nana after he had some breakfast and also played with his stencils.

Eli was determined to be naked the entire day. He and Uncle Rueben watched Cars 2 for a bit.

After a long day filled with lots of playing, we tried to get some energy out of the boys before bedtime. Aiden was dancing around and Eli and I were playing with his new toy. It has a freeze dance game on it that he finds highly entertaining. 

Brad was feeling better and was playing and wrestling with the boys. I love this picture below Aiden is about to whollap Brad with the pillow. It's been about a month since we have stopped cow's milk and Aiden had made some HUGE strides. Coincidence or not, I don't know but am so grateful for the progress. Eli was finally feeling good to and having a great time playing.

Aiden even danced around the living room half naked for a while.

 

Brad thought it would be fun to wrestle with his sister so he is actually sitting on top of her. It's fun to watch them interact.

Minus the rotovirus, it's been a pretty good trip. The past couple days have been rough with dividing time between sick kids and/or parents or letting someone get rest/sleep who didn't get any the night before because they were sick or taking care of sick kids. The Hoyt family loves to play games but it's hard for Brad and I to stay up too late since the boys get up so early. At this point, I'm exhausted and not feeling great and haven't even felt like I've seen Brad that much. I'm hoping for a few healthy quite days in Alabama before Brad goes back to work. It's been great to visit with the Hoyt family and get to play in the snow a bit though. I'll post one more blog tomorrow to finish up our Iowa trip.