Snow Pics

Clearly these pictures weren't taken recently, but Rob has just gotten to posting the KC pics on the blog, so here they are. I'll try to recall what was going in each scene.

Corey and Brody are very cute and smell sweet after they take a bath, and there's no more fun bath than at my parent's house, where they get a super huge tub. My mom purposefully withheld a bath toy collection for Brody from Christmas, and we took it home after. Just a note: she did not let them play with the bath crayons or finger paints. She left those for Phoenix... isn't that nice?

Ever since the cruise, little Brody has been LOVING his towel bunny. On the cruise, you come back after dinner and the towels are folded like animals. Luckily this one is sewn in bunny form, or it would have unraveled a million times over.

The kids loved the snow, but no one more than Corey. You'll note the kids are wearing their "Animal Crackers" hats I made them (right from my Harry Potter knitting book - from Ron in the third movie). Aren't they crazy cute?

Corey is wearing rain boots in a few pictures. He had one pair of sneakers and a pair of Crocs (which has holes in them, of course), so we got him something he could wear in the snow and leave in the garage. However, it was Brody who was with us when we purchased these shoes, and you should have seen the look on his face when Corey put them on. He had been sure they were HIS boots, and he was NOT happy about Corey wearing them at all. It's funny because neither my mom nor I recall Brody caring anything about the boots in the store.

Brody really enjoyed wearing Daddy's gloves... not sure why.

I said the kids loved the snow, but Brody was at first hesitant. It's because my mom started dragging him in a sled, and then let him FALL out!!! It took a while for him to be convinced after that.

Of course, no snow expedition is worth much without a snow man. However, we had difficulty getting it to stick, so the snow man was much smaller than we'd originally planned. Which meant it was gone the next day!

Brody had a few crying fits in KC, so he had to be comforted with Towel Bunny, a blanket and a binky.

We played a LOT of games while in Kansas. Crazy Eights, Hearts, you name it. But it was a rare Corey-sitting-still moment, so you can't be too disappointed!

Poor "Papa" got to drag Brody around (probably because he trusted him more than Nana, I think). Brody was in Papa mode all week. Papa this, Papa that.

Brody never even noticed our Christmas tree in Phoenix (maybe that's saying something, I'm not sure) but he LOVED Nana and Papa's tree. Mostly the Papa ornaments that lit up and talked.... Star Trek, Star Wars, little moving golf carts. There was something to behold (or just grab) every time he walked by!

That concludes our journey to the past... well, a few weeks ago! Rob and I enjoyed a night out Saturday night, and it was nice. We spent Sunday recovering, though, because neither of us is used to staying out so late. Plus it rained all Sunday, so it really was a good day for being lazy.

Next up for us? Not sure. We have tickets to the FBR Open this weekend but haven't figured out what to do - if anything - with Brody, who will undoubtedly NOT follow the red jacket's signs for silence. But if we're at the 16th hole, no one would even notice.... Hmmm... more later.

Weekend Update

OK, so it's not the snow photos I promised, but here are some pictures from the Coyotes game we went to Saturday night. Although they lost in a shootout, it was a historic game in that both of them lasted the entire game (and by "them," of course, I mean Carrie and Brody)!

By the way, Brody just HAD to wear a hat because his daddy and big brother were. And now that he knows we keep some in the laundry room, he's been going in there and saying "hat."

Corey's doctor's appointment last week went great (everything is going well enough that he no longer needs to take his bactrim medicine every weekend). He doesn't have school tomorrow and the Coyotes have a day game, so we're going again and will enjoy having the expensive Honeywell seats.

Hope you're keeping warm wherever you are! (It was kind of weird watching all the freezing cold NFL playoff games while it was sunny and 60 outside!)

Merry Christmas (Photos)!

Here they are ... the much anticipated, never duplicated Sinclair Family Christmas in Phoenix photos! They pretty much speak for themselves (the photo of Corey and his new socks is particularly classic), but this is a sampling of our Christmas Eve, Christmas morning/day festivities.

Corey was funny, saying "a box, just what I always wanted" every time he unwrapped a box (I guess he learned that from me).

Brody really didn't seem interested in opening Christmas presents ... until he realized they were full of phones and Elmo and Elmo phones!

As far as an update ... we spent the weekend taking down Christmas stuff, putting away Christmas stuff and cleaning up what had been buried beneath Christmas stuff. Corey has a doctor's appointment tomorrow after school, and I think it's just the finger prick and checking his blood. Hopefully that means he can stop taking bactrium soon!

Enjoy the photos!

Coming soon: SNOW in KANSAS photos!

Holiday Happenings

Obviously we've been busy.

I know we haven't posted, but I promise that if you stick with us, we'll come back!

It's been a busy (gulp) month. (It has been a long time since we last posted, but not yet a month, I'd think.)

Let's see.... The kids' last day of school was Friday, Dec. 21. We were busy preparing for Christmas, and yes, we did go to church on Christmas eve. That day was particularly busy. Each kid opened one gift and that kept them occupied most of the day (which tells you how long our Christmas day was!) After church, it was off to bed! Corey was able to unwrap one more present, and he was so excited to receive a Crate & Barrel spatula so he could now help Mommy in the kitchen with his own equipment! However, it didn't take long to find the gift card was for "Carrie" and not for "Corey." But Nana's a sucker, and after she heard the story (and how disappointed Corey really was - maybe for misreading the gift but I think also for not getting a spatula), Nana got him one of his very own.

On Christmas Day, we went to a friend's house, and nearly didn't make it because we thought it might take all day to unwrap presents. Both because there were so many presents and because of the boys. Corey went through spurts where he'd tornado through five gifts, and then stop for an hour or so to play with one of them. Brody had little interest, but made lots of noise after Corey unwrapped his gifts for him. And Brody thoroughly enjoyed throwing out all the wrapping paper. Apparently cleaning skips generations, because he's got Nana's bug for it.

The day after Christmas, Brody and I left for Kansas City. Rob and Corey followed two days later. Brody immensely enjoyed his "alone" time with Nana and Papa, and he is a big fan of Papa, let me tell you. Whether just up from his nap or playing around the house, Papa was the first one he went to for nearly everything. (Lucky Papa also got to change "pooh" pants and clean up after Brody too!) Brody's favorite thing to do was to unload Nana and Papa's DVDs or books from their media center and bring them, one by one, to Papa, Nana, Rob or Julie - or really anyone who would take them, and then after he felt the work was sufficient, he'd take them all back one by one. He was meticulous about it until the very end, when he left a stack behind. He also 'helped' Nana by cleaning her family room with a sponge. (Nana was not so happy about the sponge cleaning the leather recliner....)

Corey had a great time as well, starting with playing with his cousins, Ben and Grace. We also saw his friends Ben and Cooper and his friends Ryan and Reid. We were able to spend an afternoon in Lawrence (unfortunately on one of the coldest days, and most unfortunately on a day that my precious Yarn Barn was closed!) and we got to see my friend, Christy, who is also Corey's godmother. Corey said he didn't need a fairy godmother, and I didn't really know what to say about that. I mean, it's always good to have a fairy godmother. Of course, unless she has powers she hasn't shared with me in almost-30 years, I think she's just a godmother....

We were able to eat at our favorite KC restaurants - Jack Stack and Garozzo's - and the boys really, really enjoyed a trip up to T-Rex. Corey also got a game of hockey in with my parent's neighbor's granddaughter, and though she was only a year older, and a GIRL, she beat Corey in hockey, 3 to 2 or 4 to 3, depending on Corey's mood.

The boys and I headed home a day early, and I'm glad we did. It gave us a much-needed day in the house. As it turns out, in the two days that Rob and Corey were home without me, they did not clean up the house at all. Not that I've made a dent, but I'm exhausted from trying! We were also able to stock up on milk, which is a necessity around here. I think the boys went through 3 gallons of milk in about 9 days at my parents' house. However, my arm is now starting to ache from possibly overdoing it on Wii tennis this morning with Corey, who started around 7 a.m. and stopped only for the requisite shopping trip and after I forced him to "rest" while Brody napped.

I'm still working on the house that looks like a tornado went through (it was a toddler tornado... he picks things up and takes them to other parts of the house. I spent a great deal of time trying to find my brush one day as a result.) Thus... no pictures yet. But I'm sure that when Rob returns Tuesday, he'll be the hero and post hundreds.

Thanks, and happy 2008!!!