Charlie the Elf...Part 2

Our 2nd and 3rd weeks with Charlie were pretty eventful...Charlie was feeling a little bit lazy a few of the days and just hid in random places around the house but most days he found some exciting place to hide and left the boys a note (their favorite part) talking about something he noticed, good or bad, from the day before!  Here are a few of our fun days with Charlie!

One night he hid on a shelf in their bedroom and left a note that said, "Boys!!  I heard you both went to sleep in your own beds last night!  Great Job Super Stars!  Lets see if you can do it again tonight! Love, Charlie!"

Unfortunately Tegan came down with Croup and poor Charlie got it too! That night his note said, "Hi Paxton and Tegan, I think Tegan gave me his bad cough so I am going to have to rest today! Remember to be good boys and that will help me feel much better!  Love, Charlie"

Charlie is getting pretty smart and can even spell his own name...Paxton said it must be because he goes to preschool!!

Paxton had been waiting all month for Charlie to toliet paper our Christmas tree like he did last year...luckily Charlie remembered and did not forget!

One the most exciting things that happened this month was that Uncle Jake came home from his mission to Mexico...after we went and picked him up at the airport Charlie found Andy's old missionary tag and  left the boys a note that said, "Dear Paxton and Tegan, Yay!! Uncle Jake came home!  You guys are going to be awesome missionaries someday just like Jake!  Remember good missionaries work hard, are nice to each other, listen to the rules, and are good examples!  I know you are good boys and can do all these things so you can be good missionaries now!!  Love Charlie!"

On another day Charlie made a big mess in the bathroom and left this note:

"Boys, Thanks for always reminding Mom to brush your teeth at night!  I tried to do it too and it is pretty tricky-sorry for the mess!  Love, Charlie!!"

On Christmas Eve it was time for us to go to Grandma's house and time for Charlie to go back to the North Pole...he left the boys this farewell note (thanks to Pinterest!!)

"Today's my last day and I must say good-bye.  Tonight I must go to the North Pole I'll fly.  But soon Santa will be here with gifts and good cheer and I will be back to see you next year!  So be good boys and take care of yourselves...remember all the fun times with Charlie, your Elf!!"

It has been a pretty fun year with Charlie...it was so fun to see how excited Paxton got each morning to see what Charlie was up to that day!!  Can't wait to see what Charlie has up his sleeve for next year!

Jake Comes Home!!

December 19th was a long awaited day in our house!  Uncle Jake finally came home from his mission to Mexico.  

It started off to be a crazy day with a huge ice/snow storm hitting Utah the night before and into the morning.  We woke up to news that they had shut down the airport and didn't know when or if it was going to open back up.  Luckily the snow let up a little, the airport opened back up, and with some very cautious driving we were able to make it to Salt Lake.  Jake's flight was slightly delayed and it took him a while to get off the plane (probably on purpose!!) so the kids were getting quite restless and we were just ready to see his face!

Finally after a long wait he was home!!  Paxton was so excited to see him!

Tegan was not quite sure about Uncle Jake...he was only 8 months old when Jake left so he really only knew him from pictures!

We are glad to have Jake home safe and sound...now we just wonder how long it is going to take to break the boys of their habit of praying for "Jakee in Mexico!"

Charlie the Elf

Our Elf on the Shelf, Charlie, finally returned to visit for the Christmas season on December 1st.  This week he has caused a lot of mischief  around our house (unfortunately I didn't get pictures of him everyday!)

On Monday night Charlie left a surprise and a note especially for Tegan.

"Dear Tegan, All your mommy wants for Christmas is for you to learn to go poop in the potty!  I can do it and I know you can do it too!  Love Charlie"  

Well Paxton loved it but poor Tegan was a little traumatized and wouldn't set foot in the bathroom for a few days...elf fail!!

On Tuesday night, Charlie was so proud of Paxton for helping his dad shovel the snow 14 inches of snow we received that he left him and Tegan a basket of Christmas books for them to read during Christmas time!

On Wednesday night Charlie hid in one of the boys' Christmas stockings to make sure that they were being good boys that day.  Well wouldn't you know that Paxton's best friend Teague's elf Christopher hid in his stocking too...Paxton was so excited because "Our elves are best friends mom just like us...they hide in the same places!!

On Thursday night Charlie hitched a ride with our giant clothespin reindeer that Grandma Charlene made!

On Saturday night, Charlie found Paxton's snowman candy jar and ate a bunch of Paxton's candy...he left wrappers and half eaten candy everywhere!!

On Sunday Paxton had a little accident because he was "having too much fun playing to go to the bathroom" and unfortunately his favorite Superman undies ended up in the garbage. Charlie left him this little reminder about not waiting until the last minute to go potty...

"Dear Paxton, I heard you had a little accident today...remember Santa wants you to be a big boy so when you have to go potty stop and go right away! Love Charlie"

We have had a blast having Charlie in our home this year!  I love how excited Paxton is about it...Charlie is the fist thing he looks for in the morning and the first thing he shows me when we get home from school!  Hopefully the boys will keep being good so that Charlie will not have to leave them little "reminders" about good behavior!!  Can't wait to see what our elf will be up to this week!

Meyer Family Christmas Party

We have been eagerly anticipating the annual Meyer family Christmas party this year.  Unfortunately this year only Paxton and I got to attend because Tegan was sick with croup...so prepare yourself for a lot of pictures of Paxton's adventures at the family party!

Paxton remembered BINGO from last year and was so excited to play...especially when he saw the tables full of prizes he got to pick through if (when) he won!

 Luckily he didn't have to wait long because he was one of the first BINGO winners...he picked out an awesome Iron Man puzzle!

 Luckily Mom won shortly after that so he got to pick out another cool prize...this time it was super hero pens!!

 After a yummy lunch the adults got to play a game and the kids got to decorate Christmas ornaments to take home and put on their tree.  Here is Paxton's snow globe ornament...it just needs a picture for the middle!

 Paxton was also the big winner of one of the candy guessing jars...I think it might have been a little bit rigged (it usually is) because he just happened to get the snowman jar full of chocolate that he kept telling everyone "he knew he was going to win!"

 And while we were off enjoying our family and the snowy weather in Goshen...Andy was enjoying some football and poor Tegan was miserable...so miserable he fell asleep on the couch like this!  Luckily Grandpa and Grandma were in town so in addition to taking out his stitches Grandma also gave him a shot for the croup and a few hours later he was feeling much better and running around the house!  Don't know what we would do without Grandma and Grandpa!!

Christmas Lists

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is writing our Christmas letters to Santa...it always begins with a look through the Christmas ads to see what is new and cool in the world of toys.  

 Tegan just liked pointing out all of the toys that coordinated with his favorite show...until he came to his one true love and desire an "Ipad Touch!"  That was the one thing he was adamant about putting on his list!

 Here is Tegan's Christmas list for 2013!!

This is the first year the Paxton has really had an opinion of what he wanted for Christmas!  As we were looking through the ads he spent a lot of time looking at all of the stuff he wanted like trucks and helicopters and quickly dismissed anything that was too babyish or "for girls."  

 Paxton wrote or dictated his whole Christmas letter this year!  I love how involved and excited he is about the Christmas season!

Paxton also decided that he needed to draw a picture of himself on the back of his list so that Santa would give his presents to the right boy!  Notice the Santa hat on his head!!  I thought this was the perfect touch to the letter, it will be fun to see how that picture changes from year to year!!

November Via Instagram (and some other stuff!!)

Just some highlights from another exciting month at the Hamberlin's!!

I think the nesting phase has begun a little early this time...I keep getting urges to clean weird things.  On this particular day it was raking leaves!

Our reward for making it through family pictures...we love shakes!

 We finally had a decent snow storm...the boys were begging to go outside and play in the snow!  I was begging them to stay inside!

 Eventually I gave in and let Paxton go out...he had a blast and has been begging for more snow ever since!

Dinner anyone?  I think I ate this combination of goodness for 3 meals a day for 2-3 days!

 The Candy Crush obsession is taking over our entire household...now all 4 of us have to play!

 Really Paxton...sometimes I just wonder what they are thinking when they do things like this!

We got some sweet new tanktops at Erin's volleyball game...we figured out the make great capes!

Our LAST Utah Volleyball game...we are going to miss watching Erin play!

 The day after we set up our tree I noticed it was looking a little bit bare...apparently Pax decided to go ahead and do some redecorating.  He said the had to put all the "berries
 together! 

Tegan's First Set of Stitches

Life is never dull with Tegan around.  During Thanksgiving Break he kept getting hit in the head by various things (a bowling ball, a car seat, and a wooden board.)  We kept joking that too many hits to the head would not be good for him...little did we know that we were right!  

The boys were playing downstairs at Grandma's house and Tegan tripped over something and hit his head on the metal frame of a daybed.  I was in wrapping presents and just heard screaming from both Tegan and Andy.  As soon as I saw his head I knew we were headed in for stitches!!

 Luckily Grandpa was home so we loaded up and headed into his clinic.  Tegan was being a little stinker and did not want to hold still for anything!  

 A close up of the cut once it stopped bleeding so much.

 We finally got him settled down by letting him play the phone, lay by dad, and eat a sucker.  It took 3 people to hold him down for shots and stitches but 5 stitches later he was as good as new!

 The stitches...he also got a big bump on his head, a black eye, and a big bruise on his cheek.  I thought we were going to have a rough day but he acted like it was not big deal.  He kept touching his head and saying, "I bump my head..."  or "I bump my head at Grandma's house."  

Hopefully this is not the first of many trips to the doctor for this kid but somehow I don't think we will be so lucky!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from our little family to yours...unfortunately Tegan was asleep and missed all of the good food (which he wouldn't have eaten anyway!)  

Preschool Thanksgiving Party

It's time again for another epic preschool feast at East Meadows.  From the moment we started talking about the feast Paxton knew exactly what he wanted to bring...milk.  While that is a far cry from the Little Ceasers Pizza he insisted on last year, I finally convinced him to bring some crackers to go along with his milk.

 All together their feast consisted of mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, apples, bananas, go-gurts, chips, twizzlers, popcorn, juice, ice cream, and of course crackers and milk!!  Sounds like quite a feast to me!

 After lunch the it was time for Turkey crafts!

 And a little Turkey Dancing!!