December 2014 - Leading up to Christmas

Well, I didn't quite make my goal of catching up on the blog before the end of the year.  I'm sure you three faithful readers have been sitting on the edge of your seats ;)

December (as usual) was a balancing act between trying to fit in all of the meaningful and fun activities surrounding Christmas and trying to keep life peaceful and calm amid the chaos.

Big brother reading to little brother.

That time of day when we snuggle in the chair and take random selfies.

Poor Anders has to put up with Kai and I messing with his hair.

First haircut - 5 months old!

Loves his food, especially squash and sweet potato just like his brother.

Christmas shopping/Starbucks date with Kai.  He decided this year that he wanted to use some of the money he'd saved from his birthday to shop for daddy, Anders and his grandparents.

Our annual trek to the national forest to hunt for our Christmas tree.

Anders enjoyed tree-hunting so much that he fell asleep :)

A lot of joy in our house these days.

Sunday afternoon at the park.  Such beautiful weather for December!

Building "gingerbread" houses.

Preschool field trip to the Festival of Trees.

This had me laughing so hard.  Kai was the only one in the preschool who didn't circle that they have been "very good".  At least he's honest.  And, I thought it was awesome that he wanted Santa to bring Anders a new paci since his other ones don't really work.  Haha!

Santa storytime at the library.  Anders wasn't too sure about this one.

We read through this great book for advent this year.  

Kai's preschool Christmas program.
He came out all smiles, waving to us and announcing to everyone that his mom, dad, brother and grandparents were there to watch.  But, once the show started, he was all business. :)

Bryon and Nathan were brave enough to take three kids skiing, and (after meltdown recovery!) Kai was really excited to lead his friends around at A-Basin.  Fun to see friends using Kai's old equipment too!  Glad it can be used while waiting for Anders to take over :) 

Little did Kai know, he was helping build his own Christmas present ;)

Our annual Christmas sleepover by the tree.

Brother love.

We gave Kai his Christmas gift from us early since it was too big to take up to Estes.  As per Gamache tradition, he had to complete a treasure hunt to find his gift.  First clue, outside in the milk box.

Then, he had to complete some jumping jacks and Christmas caroling before moving on.

He finally made it to his new lego table, which we still haven't quite finished, but it's definitely usable and has provided lots of fun.  Bonus, it's high enough that Anders can't reach it.

Next up...a white Christmas!