On a Sunday evening...

When all the stars are aligned and everyone is in a decent mood you might see a scene similar to this in our home.

I sure do love these boys.

karate

For the past few months James and William have been taking karate.  They have learned some great self-defense moves but my favorite skills were those of respect.  When I say, "attention!" they now come running, stand at attention and yell, "yes ma'am!"  Also, every week in class they yell, "I will respect my parents!  I will respect myself!  I will respect my teammates!  I will respect my teachers!  I will never misuse my karate!"  I love it.

It is always fun to watch the boys.  One week they got to spar with each other and James was especially fun to watch--he's such a little scrapper.

William had to spar against the tournament champion and won.  He was pretty happy about that!

A few weeks ago they took their belt test and advanced to yellow belt.

William decided that he is going to stick with it while James decided to try t-ball in the spring.

 It is an impossible task to give an 18-month-old a decent hair cut.  Especially this particular toddler.  He is just too busy and wiggly.  But he sure is cute.

This is a "before" picture.  There is no after because, like I said, it is impossible to give him a decent haircut.

Oklahoma here we come!

We decided to travel after Christmas this year.  It's just too hard to bring Christmas with us these days.  So just a few days after Christmas we packed up and headed back to Oklahoma.  We were lucky enough to be able to fly.  Our first flight was re-routed and it took some time to get everything in order.  The boys got a little restless.... but after that we were good to go. 

 We had a great time visiting with family and friends.... I wish I had more pictures of everything but I was just trying to enjoy myself!  The few that I do have are all from my phone...

The best gift was the snow we got the first day in town.  The boys loved it--especially after our super warm Christmas.

One day Grandpa treated us and the cousins to Gattitown.  (Think: Chuck-e-Cheese times 20).

My one request was that before we leave we had to have the cousins take a picture in the photo booth.  Too much fun.

 These cousins all get along so well.  One night Daniela earned a place as #1 aunt by having a sleepover!  They even made gingerbread houses!  (Or attempted to at least.)

And Henry had a fun time with little Layla.

The boys (especially James) love spending time in Grandma's hot tub... even if it is freezing outside.

 We even played a little "Just Dance Disney" with Lisa.  I could watch the boys play this all day long--it just cracks me up!

On New Year's Eve we headed downtown to have dinner with friends and watch the Thunder game.

 And before you knew it our trip was over and it was time to head home!

And because of a misplaced piece of luggage... our trip ended how it began.  (Except that this time they were actually asleep!)

Christmas

Like I mentioned in this post the boys make gifts for each other.  They each worked really hard--indulge me while I share them so that I don't forget.

Henry had a fun time helping me stamp these bookmarks for the older boys.  (He stamped Love, Henry on the back.)  He thought he was pretty special.

The three older boys worked painting some Alaska Christmas ornaments for Grandma and Grandpa Fisher.

Alex made some super awesome super hero masks for his brothers and picked a special color for each of them.

James and William worked extra hard to make fleece blankets for everyone. 

And these little artists-in-disguise

helped make some nativities for their school teachers.

Once all the presents were made and wrapped we were all ready for Christmas.  We had fun sprinkling reindeer food on the front lawn.

We enjoyed the lights of the Christmas tree--even if there were decorations only on the top half due to a busy one-year-old in the house.

After a delicious Christmas feast we acted out the Nativity Story.

 (James=Joseph, Alex=shepherd, bear=sheep, William=angel, Henry=wiseman)

 We left a little note and treats for Santa and then it was off to bed.

I think the boys had a great Christmas.

They especially had a great time playing with the marshmallow shooters that Rich made for them--although I'm pretty sure that Alex just watched while he ate all his ammo.

It was a wonderfully relaxing Christmas day... and only the beginning of our Christmas break fun!