A Bunch...

So, like the dummy I can be at times, I forgot to bring my camera to TWO Christmases -- my mother-in-law's and my own parents'. So, although we had a great time at both, I have no photos. I have no evidence to show the crazy fun of discovering Telestrations at Phil and Crystal's house, I have no record of Jacob skating with his Uncle Ben (or Greg almost wiping out during his first skating session in about 15 years), I have no photos of the boys being spoiled rotten by George Bob and Papa, and I have no images of Anne trying to kill the Food Network critics on Cook or Be Cooked for Wii.

No proof, but we did have a fabulous time. :)

We got home on Christmas in the evening for our first Christmas with just the four of us. Time to build our own little family traditions, right? Jacob's been asking for the dumplings from Kung Fu Panda since he saw the movie, so I thought that would be something special. I researched "kung fu panda dumplings" and came up with tons of Chinese dumpling recipes. They all looked like pot stickers. I finally found a comment on one recipe saying that the Kung Fu Panda dumplings actually looked like bao zi. I planned some tasty-sounding fillings and made them on Christmas Eve day to resteam once we got home.

And....

They were gross. Jacob said they weren't the Kung Fu Panda ones. Mine turned out like round disks. The Kung Fu Panda dumplings are round balls. And mine tasted gross.

So strike 1 for little Stone family Christmas traditions.

I made hot chocolate on the stove, and that was super tasty! We enjoyed that quite a bit. (One point)

We thought it would be cool to sleep in the family room each Christmas night, watching movies until everyone fell asleep. The kids enjoyed it, but the adults? We discovered that we are way too old to sleep on the floor. (Strike 2)

The kids enjoyed all of the time spent together, and we had fun watching movies like "Stuart Little 2" and "Up."

So 2 strikes, but several very nice, good things. We'll tweak it a little next year... new recipes and maybe an air mattress for mom and dad. :)
Benjamin opening a present Santa left at our house.

Jacob opening Power Rangers from Santa.

Benjamin knew what to do. He pulled lever and the toy made a loud, "Mooooo!" noise. Benjamin loudly responded, "Coooooowwwwwwww!"

A cool truck/tractor-thingy from Santa.

A Power Ranger cell phone from Santa.

Sleeping bags from Mom and Dad.

Books from Aunt Sarah.

Mmmm... hot chocolate and marshmallows!

The boys making a toast with hot chocolate. Jacob held his cup out to Benjamin and said, "Cheers!"

Benjamin doesn't quite "get" toasting yet.

Wearing a super cute outfit from Great Aunt Karen and Great Uncle John.

And a super cute outfit from George Bob and Papa.

And the wrapping paper frenzy at Grandpa S. and Mimi's house.

Showing off his new snow boots while working with his tools.

Sledding at Uncle Daniel and Aunt Heidi's house.

Benjamin wasn't sure about it and thought his cousins inside had a better deal.

Screaming, "NO!!!" at me as I tried to take a picture. He was mad at me for the rest of the night.

Benjamin thinks the Rock Band drums are his.

The weird thing is that he ends up hitting the sticks to the beat pretty often.

He can't quite do the pedal, which makes him mad.

Some Older Ones First...

Benjamin getting in some Facebook time.

Christmas Post Coming Soon

Just to warn you, I forgot to take my camera to Christmas with Nana AND Christmas with George Bob and Papa! So.... Christmas photos are sadly lacking this year.

Here's one of Jacob's "gems" from Christmas...

As someone opened a box with "Macy's" on it, Jacob said:
At Macy's they have a bunch of clothes and stuff, so you probably got clothes (in a very matter-of-fact way, of course).

More Jacob Questions

Jacob: Daddy, are the power lines hot?

Greg: No, you can see the snow on top of them. It's not melted, so they're not hot.

Jacob: Well, if they get too much snow on them, will they fall?

Greg: Yes, and that happens sometimes in the wintertime.

Jacob: Is that why they put them in the ground in our neighborhood?

Jacob's Question

Jake: Daddy, does the Earth spin faster in the winter?

Greg: No.

Jake: Then why are the days shorter in winter?

Considering that Jacob only lets us know about 4% of what goes on in his head, what else is he wondering about?

34 Photos and The Real Santa Claus!

We visited Santa last year, and Jacob concluded that the Santa we saw was not actually the real Santa. He decided that Santa probably has helper Santas to help visit malls and Santa breakfasts. After all, he has a LOT to do in December. Jacob checked with Greg on Friday, just to confirm that not all Santas in the mall are real.

Jacob was very serious during the visit and kept looking Santa's face up and down. After the visit he asked Greg if he thought it was the real Santa. Greg said, "I don't know, but it seemed like it. I think it was." Jacob looked up at him and said, "Me, too!"

Benjamin just sat on his lap and chilled out.

Breakfast afterwards. Benjamin had a great time!

I don't know what this face is, but I love it.

Me: Jake, smile!

Um, okay... try again.

No, really. Just smile, Jake. A normal smile.

Nevermind.

On the way home, Jacob wanted to take photos. Here's number 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

He was then in the mood to pose for some photos.

Benjamin wasn't sure about all of this goofiness.

So, he did what any baby brother would do.

He hit him on the head.

Little Stinker.