Ugly Sweater x2

Last Saturday, we went to the party of the year!  The Burrow's 2nd Annual Ugly Sweater Party. One word: FUN.  Total, absolute FUN!  I love this party - it was a blast last year and an even biggest blast this year. Ryan and I raided my mom's closet to pull out the stops and Ryan was part of the winning group for most outlandish costume!  SO MUCH FUN!  

Thanks so much for hosting such a killer party Jim and Em!!  :)

I guess I also better say, THANKS MOM for keeping my boys overnight! Woot woot!

 Love these girls!!!!

 The whole gang (minus Em who was sweet enough to take this pic!)!!

The winners!

 The after party in the man room!

Cookie Decorating Party!

Last week, our friend Jenny hosted her 2nd annual "cookie decorating party" and it was a TON of fun!  Jackson is not as big into decorating as he is into EATING them but he had so much fun!  Ethan got to play with Lily Kate - which is always a good time, especially now that she's walking!  I forgot my camera but Emily managed to snag a few for me and shared them! (Thanks Em!).  I was loving the sweet affection I was getting from baby Noel. Awh, melt my heart. The group shot is the best we could get w/ that big group - it's lacking the little ones (Ethan, Noel and LK) and one big one - Noah.  But hey - that's not too bad!  :) After the party, Jenny invited people to stay and have pizza, so Ryan drove up to join in!  Thanks for hosting Jenny!

First Visit to the Eye Doc!

On Wednesday, Ryan took J to his first visit to the eye doctor!  We went to Dr. Netzel's office in Bentonville and they are FABULOUS.  Jackson came back from the doctor so excited about his experience.  I went there on Thursday for my eye checkup and the sweet nurses talked about how good Jackson did!  I am so proud of him! The doctor even commented on how well behaved Jackson was!  WOOHOO for J!  I must admit - I was a little nervous since I had to wake him up from a nap to get him there on time.  I'm happy to report our whole family has healthy eyes and 20/20 vision - even J (although they said he may have a touch of astigmatism but that's not too uncommon for his age.) AND as a good husband does, Ryan took some pics for me!  :)

"mom, we're just wrestling!"

I decided the other day to just sit behind the camera quietly as Jackson made his move on Ethan.  This is an everyday occurrence in our home... Usually it's Ethan seeking out the tackle on Jackson (and usually doing it!) but as Jackson assured me this time, "Mom, we're not fighting.  We're JUST wrestling."  All while Ethan is scrambling to get away from him - not at all interested in so-called 'wrestling' but at the end of the day, this is good for them, right?  At least it's not fighting....Um.... ?

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

I stole this idea from my friend Amy - who did this much much better, but we gave it a try!  The boys were actually into it too so that was nice!  I ended up using this pic for the card... Such cute little stinkers.  :)

Family Night Out!

On Friday, we did something we almost never (literally, I can't think of one time) do.  After visiting Santa, we all went out for a night out on the town - the whole family.  My boys tend to be a little rowdy, so we never attempt restaurants with them... In fact, J has probably only been in a restaurant less than 5 times.  But we were feeling full of holiday spirit after seeing St. Nick, so off we went.  First the boys wanted to play in the cars at the mall for a little while.. Ethan actually climbed up into this pink car by himself and claimed it as his!  Then we went to Brusco's and had some pizza (Friday is pizza night in the Stearle house!).  From there, we went to see the lights at the Fayetteville Square.   It was AWESOME!  They had camels and ponies and gorgeous lights everywhere... E was in awe!  Then, we shot over to our special spot at Orange Leaf for some frozen yogurt before we called it a night.  The boys were spent by the time we got home!  Such a fun night - I think we may try it again!  :-)

Visit to Santa!

Jackson absolutely loved talking to Santa!  We were fortunate that there was no one there when we got there and Santa was very happy to chat up Jackson.  

 

The conversation went something like this:

J: Hi Santa!! 

S: Well, hello there!  What's your name?

J: Jackson!  J-A-C-K-S-O-N

S: Oh wow!  You can spell your name!  So how old are you?

J: I'm 3, but my brother is 1.  He's a baby.  He is not a big boy like me.

S: Oh I see!  What is your brother's name?

J: Ethan.  He spells his name E-T-H-A-N.  And I have a friend named Ethan too.  He spells his name that way too. But he's a big boy. Not a baby like THAT Ethan. <pointing to Ethan.>

S: You are a big boy, aren't you!

J: Yes!  And I'm SUPER fast and SUPER strong too!  Want to see how fast I can go?

S: Sure!

J: <Running from the front of the space to Santa's feet> SEE!?  I'm super fast.  And I have big muscles too! <Showing Santa his muscles>.  I have big muscles like my daddy!

S: Wow!  You do have big muscles!

Me:  Jackson, why don't you tell Santa what you want for Christmas?

J:  Oh ya!  Santa, I want Diesel 10 - he's not a steam engine.  He's a Diesel and he's not very nice.  And he has a big claw like this <Pretending to have a claw on his head>.  And I want Belle and Flinn the Fire Engine.  They are good engines, like Thomas.

S: That's great!  Do you want to take a picture...? <Getting exhausted talking to my three-year-old.> 

He was excited to get a High Five too!  Jackson talked about meeting Santa for HOURS after!
So glad we went and did that this year!

Absolute Cuteness.

This boy... oh my gosh.  I am so addicted to him!  My precious boy... I just love you so much!

Ethan Chase: 16 1/2 mos.

My (Other) Little Daredevil...

Yep, this toy IS on wheels.

Ryan's Birthday!

On Tuesday, my mom and dad came over with Patrick's burgers to celebrate Ryan's birthday. YUM!  I made him a very boring little cake and we let Jackson sing Happy Birthday to him... It was a fun night, and I hope Ryan gets all his much deserved birthday wishes.  :-)

 

3 Musketeers.

Last week, we had our friends Brad/Darla and Jeremy/Crystal over with Haley and Anna Kate to hang out and have some pizza...  Well, needless to say, J was on cloud 9! I managed to get 3 pictures of the 3 of them... which if you know busy 3 year olds, that's impressive.

Trouble.

These two boys are the definition of trouble.  and they think it's hilarious.  In these pics - J was in timeout - supposed to have his nose in the corner, but E was having none of that.  He wanted J to play with him and wasn't taking NO for an answer.  These boys... :-)