Thursday, November 29, 2012

O Christmas Tree

Last Sunday, we continued our every other year when we don't have an infant or I'm not hugely pregnant tradition of cutting down our own Christmas Tree. We headed out with the whole fam for a beautiful day in God's amazing creation. 
The kids all had a great time exploring the land! 

We snapped a few family photos before heading out to hunt. 

We didn't really get a perfect one, but such is life these days, let's be real people! 

We borrowed this back pack from Gwen & Tim. It was perfect for lugging our little guy around through the trees. I'm thankful he is at least 5 pounds lighter than Nolan and Heath were when we did the same thing with them at just short of a year of age. 

Heath loved carrying the saw around. He held it like a gun and pretended to shoot things. No matter how hard I try to say "no guns", "no shooting", boys will be boys! 

Nolan eating a donut and checking out trees with Oma. 

The whole crew on the hunt. 

We decided right off the bat that no tree is perfect. We've learned this lesson in past years. So we knew we wouldn't spend forever hunting for something that just doesn't exist. When Mark spotted this one after just about 20 minutes we were happy. It was pretty full on top, and if we cut off the sparse bottom at a height that would actually fit in our house, it would be just the right size. 
The boys liked it too, so we decided it was "the one"! 

Nolan and Heath both helped saw a bit. 


Then Mark finished the job! 

We were the first to find our tree, so we just hung out in the trees and played a bit before making our way back to the car. 




The two pictures above just crack me up. Typical Heath faces when wielding a stick, bat, or light saber. 

As we were hunting, a group of friendly people rode up on Christmas horses. They passed out candy canes to the kids. 

Payton looked so happy petting Indy. 

Mark ready to haul the tree back to the car. 

Heading back to the car with his candy cane snack. 

The Syers fam was the next to return with their tree in tow. The kids tailgated, snacked, and hung out in the car together. 

Bruce & Barb and Brad & Jayne took awhile longer to find their trees and make it back. When they did we enjoyed a yummy lunch in the trunks of our cars, chatted, and watched the kids explore together. It was a fun outing with great weather. We hope this will be our tradition every year from now on...no more babies for this fam! 

We drove home and put the kids down for a nap. While they slept  or rather, messed around in their rooms for a few hours, Mark put the lights on the tree and I got the house cleaned up and ready to decorate. When the boys woke up they were SO excited to start! 
 
Nolan did a great job and loved remembering certain, special ornaments. 

Heath did an excellent job for just being 3. He got really into it and was really independent. 

The Broncos game was on, so they were sporting their Broncos gear. Nolan wanted to hang the Broncos ornament too! 

They both decided that they each needed their own branch to hang their favorite ornaments on. This was Heath's. 

I liked letting them decorate the tree the way that they wanted to. But their branches were getting a bit too heavy, so we had to disperse some ornaments when we were done. 

Brooks helped out with a few ornaments as well. 



Love his sweet face checking out the tree. 

And here she is in all her glory! A perfectly imperfect tree! 

And a few more decorations...
Mark picked the perfect day last week to hang up our outside lights. It was 65 degrees and sunny. It was fun for him to figure out how to decorate our new home. He did a great job and it was actually pretty easy- two straight rows and a little garland around the porch. 

This picture is a little dark, but we put garland and our "12 Days of Christmas" ornaments on our staircase in the front entry way. I also have a good spot for my Willow Tree Nativity Scene now. 

We don't have a fire place in our new house, so our stockings are hung on the railing in our Living Room. 

This time of year is just the best. But there is nothing better then seeing it through the eyes of three sweet boys. 

May you have a merry Christmas season...
from our home to yours. 

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Sesame Street Live

Mark got free tickets from work for our family to see Sesame Street Live: Elmo's Super Heroes! 
It was a fun morning out downtown. 
 We had really good seats right in the middle, but it wasn't stadium seating and we had an older lady with big hair and too much perfume sitting right in front of us. So at the intermission, we moved back some rows and had a much better view! 

I brought snacks for the big boys. 








We laughed and danced and sang along and learned about healthy habits. 


It was another special treat for the boys during our busy Thanksgiving break! 

Heath Tyler Jansen...three year old!

Three years ago, our little Heath came into this world in an early hurry! He was rushing to get out and has been pushing us ever since. Pushing us to be more patient, more loving, more fun, more silly, more crazy, and more joyful. This kid has drive, he is persistent, and no matter what challenges life throws at him, he rises to the occasion, and is a winner. He certainly has won our hearts over! 

Heath is a crazy sweets monster! So when we were thinking about his birthday party, there was really only one choice for a theme: SWEETS! For his invites I used the ice cream cone pic that I posted on his birthday. He has never met a sweet he doesn't like. 
The birthday chair was devoted to our SWEET guy! 

 When he woke up on November 22nd, he and I snuck downstairs for a few quiet moments together by his birthday chair. He was in awe when he saw it. I had gifts on the seat and he immediately said, "take those down". I obliged and he hopped right up. When he sat down he said, "I need a red hat." I was confused about what he was talking about, but quickly figured out that he wanted one of our old birthday crowns. So sweet. So I ran and got him one and he happily posed for this adorable pic.

Heath ran upstairs for some Daddy snuggles and Nolan and I snuck out of the house to pick up some donuts for breakfast!
We had a donut picnic. Check out Brooks...stretching to try to grab a donut! Ha! Nolan picked out a chocolate donut for the birthday boy. When we brought it home Heath said, "Chocolate! I LOVE chocolate!" 

After a quick bath, it was time for some Skyping and present opening!
Look at how handsome my big three year old looks! 

Grandma, Grandpa, and Auntie Mal sang "Happy Birthday" to Heath over the computer! They wore "red hats" too! 


Nolan picked out these Star Wars guys for Heath! He loved them! 

Uncle T. sent Super Man, Hawkman, and Flash. We are all about the action figures around here these days! 

Another fun Sloothaak package! 

 Uno Moo

A package from Auntie Mal too...clothes and more Star Wars toys! 


And this awesome Cat Card! It meows the "Happy Birthday" song! Perfect for our cat loving weirdo boy! 

Grandma and Grandpa sent a Super Hero Veggie Tales DVD and when we go to Chicago they will be taking him to Build-a-Bear to pick out and make a new stuffed animal, just like they did with Nolan on his 3rd birthday

Daddy and Mommy bought Heath new Nerf balls: a basketball and a soccer ball. Our new basement is perfect for shooting hoops, "ball wrestling", and kicking goals. The boys spend a lot of time down there with their Daddy messing around. 

Since Heath's real birthday was on Thanksgiving, we decided to do his party the next day. 
We spent the morning relaxing around the house, then we went out with Auntie Jayne to shoot some family photos- hoping to get a good one for our Christmas card. After pictures, we had dinner and playtime at McDonalds. Uncle Brad, Auntie Jayne, Cohen, and Arie joined us as well. 

Then it was off to Fro Yo Spot for dessert and Heath's party! He LOVES all the toppings, so we thought this was a great idea for his party! 


Everybody met us there. It was fun to see which flavor froyo everyone chose and what they topped it with. 



The bigger boys table. 

Heath could not wait for us to sing to start digging into his creation. 

He ate all the way through the song and barely cracked a smile. He acted kind of shy and embarrassed, but oh so cute! 


The whole gang. 

After we ate it was time to head back to our house for some play and presents! 

Heath showing off his cat card. 

Heath got a bike helmet from Oma & Opa...

more Star Wars toys from Cohen and family...

and a Darth Maul lightsaber from the Syers fam! It was like a birthday for Nolan as well, since they play with almost all of the same things. He was more than just a little excited about each gift Heath opened. He kept jumping into Oma's arms because he could barely contain his excitement! 

It's huge...almost 2 times his size! But he LOVES it! Oh my, have I learned a lot about Star Wars in just a few short months! 

A party wouldn't be a party with this many boys and no wrestling! 

The party favors...Heath specifically picked out big candy bars and boxes for each of his cousins. It was super cute to watch his reasoning as to why each candy was perfect for each child. And when we got them home, he still remembered who got each candy as he showed them to his Daddy. Then I just whipped up these little tags and attached them with bakers twine. Simple but perfect. 

Heath also got to have Payton and Brady sleep over after the party! 
My super sweet niece and I worked on perfecting our high ponies! 

All the kids piled into their sleeping bags and surrounded themselves with stuffed animals. They had fun being silly, talking, and goofing around in their room until about 11 p.m. These boys are so lucky to have their cousins as best friends! 

It was a great couple of days celebrating our THREE year old! 
Heath...we love you SO much and are so proud of the fun, spirited, smart, and kind boy you have become! We pray that you will always use these gifts to brighten the lives of others! Muah!