The Rubles

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Cookie making

Expanding on a tradition we started last year, we invited some friends over to decorate Christmas cookies. Jojo and I made the cookies before everyone arrived.

We started out strong--the kids were into the frosting, the sprinkles, the sprinkles, the sprinkles.

But by the end...the kids were playing in the basement and the adults were decorating! :)

The results:

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Ben is 4 months!

Ben turned 4 months on Dec 21st. He's a happy, chubby baby. :)

And as usual, his brothers want to be in on the pictures!

A boy and his monkey:

Monkey love!

At his 4-month appointment, the doctor said we could try food at any time. I said that we'd probably wait until after the holidays because we'd be traveling and it was just one extra detail we didn't need to deal with. And then promptly went home and gave him rice cereal for the first time. :)

He liked it and did pretty well with it. Then he ended up getting a cold over much of the holidays and kept throwing food up, so we stopped until early January.

Here's the video!

Friday, April 24, 2015

Rudolph Ramble!

Once again this year, Diane, Kathy and I ran the Rudolph Ramble in Chicago. It's an 8K run on the Chicago lakefront in December, so you don't know what you're going to get, weather-wise. I like to call it a girls' night made possible by a race the next morning. We lucked out this year--last year, the temps were frigid and the path covered with snow. This year it was a balmy 40 something and no snow!

Getting ready for the race--see all the antlers?

Posing with the inflatable Rudolph, along with our very own Santa, played by Matt, who joined us for the race this year.

And a photo with the "real" Santa, who had a fairly unrealistic beard.

The reindeer hats were a new addition this year--aren't they great?!

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Breakfast with Santa

I signed us up for a fantastic Breakfast with Santa at WMU this year. Red velvet chocolate chip pancakes for the boys, a lovely room, friendly wait staff, and most importantly, an understanding Santa. The day started with me having to talk TJ out of wearing sweat pants--we compromised on jeans (though with a hole in the knee, I'm not sure those are much better than sweat pants!)--and I'm once again left surprised that I'm having clothing battles with a 5 year old boy. Thought I'd be skipping those clothing battles by having only boys!

Jojo looks hesitant here because he had to be talked into eating the red pancakes.

You're right, Momma, they ARE good.

The big boys did NOT want to sit on Santa's lap. Or go anywhere near him. Santa gave us some suggestions on how to make them more comfortable with the idea, and we also used Ben as Santa bait. He had no problem sitting with Santa!

After finishing breakfast and watching other kids survive their interaction with the big guy in red, the boys got brave and posed for a picture. When Santa asked what they wanted for Christmas, Thomas assured him that they'd write a letter with details. :)

You'd never guess from these smiles that they had been nervous!

Ben really wants some of TJ's candy cane.

Candy canes might have been the highlight of the morning.

Family picture in front of the huge tree.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Candy houses

Kathy and I continued our annual tradition of making candy houses. This year the three neighbor girls came over to make houses as well--the more, the merrier! As usual, there was plenty of candy eating during the process, but less eating of the candy off the houses over the ensuing weeks.

Hanging out, watching the action

Kathy helping Jojo. None of the kids felt that it was necessary to have frosting cover every surface, which drove me a little nuts. Who wants a candy house with cardboard milk container showing through?!?! :)

The girls finished quickly so they could hang out with Ben

Kathy tried to construct a house just using graham crackers (rather than covering a cardboard milke container). Sadly, it fell.

Jojo's finished house and yard. He did a great job this year!

Thomas and Kathy with their finished houses/yards.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Christmas tree hunting

On a non-snowy morning in early December we headed to Warmhoff Farm to pick our our Christmas tree. This was Ben's first cold-weather adventure. The boys brought their Santa hats along to get in the Christmas mood. :)

All bundled up and enjoying facing the world

The tree we didn't pick

Another tree we didn't pick--the big boys wanted to bring this home for Ben. :)

Cutie close-up

Our tree!

The boys hold it while Ed saws

Timber!

In the truck bed with the tree

The boys served as chief light testers. Somehow every year, it seems like about half the lights don't work and need to be replaced. :(

Adding the star. I do the lights on the tree, but since Ed's taller, he places the star on top.

Ben hung out here while we decorated the tree.

Jojo did much better putting ornaments on this year.

So many ornaments to choose from!

Everyone wants a turn on the ladder

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving started for us on Tuesday, when Jojo had a Thanksgiving feast at preschool. Here's the table, set for 17 preschoolers. Each child had to bring in 17 of something (a cracker, a marshmallow, a grape, etc.) and each kid then had 17 different things on their plate. Honestly, most ate about 4 things off their plate, and they pretty much all started with the brownie.

Jojo in his pilgrim hat

The kids all had personalized placemats they'd helped make. On it, the teacher had helped them write what they were thankful for. Many kids said "family" or "my parents" or something similarly poignant. Jojo? He said "marshmallows." I think this was the day after we'd first had hot chocolate for the winter season, so marshmallows were top of mind, but still...

My parents and Karen, Corey and Niki all came to Kalamazoo for Thanksgiving. Niki had just turned 21, so we went to Eccentric Cafe on Wednesday night to buy her a beer. I babysat both these two and changed their diapers--now they can drink! Yikes!