A great day

Cy has been counting down to the 20th of January since November 5th. So today Cy and I sat on the couch and watched the inauguration of Barack Obama. I wanted him to watch as as history was made. He took it all in, asking some questions that I was not prepared to answer. I hope I did some of them justice. I know that he probably won't remember this, and does not realize the weight of it, not even I can, but when he looks back on this time I hope he will be proud to have had it happen in his lifetime. It is wonderful to see the world through the innocent and accepting eyes of children. I loved the commentary about all children actually seeing what they have always been told, that they can do or be anything they want if they work hard. It was a great day for all Americans.

Pre-school Drama

Cole was upset the other day when my parents picked him up from pre-school. Upset that Kaitlyn will not "crush him," she will only "crush Brayden." This means that she does not have a crush on him. Cy asked him later if he was using his "good manners" with her. Cole reenacted how kindly he always asks her. Then reenacted her abrupt "no!" Poor Coley boy!!

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We started with Christmas Eve at my parents house. Nolan's parents joined us along with my Grandma. My mom prepared our traditional meal of ham, yummy potatoes and such. Delicious! We ate, visited, played games and opened Christmas Eve gifts. All of us were pretty tired, pretty early. Too much anticipation.

The O'Brien Crew

Mike, Ashlee & Boys

Grandma & Grandpa Skiby with Boys

The Boys and their Great Grandma Mary, we were very blessed to have her with us this Christmas after a heart attack in October, she's 91 years young.

We made sure that Santa had a snack to tempt him to come.

Don't forget the reindeer. Cy had made some reindeer food in school. It was made up of oats (for them to smell) and glitter (they are drawn to sparkle). Worked like a charm!


Christmas morning started pretty early. Cole is suddenly an early riser (boo!) and was up at 6:30, it was still dark so the coast was not clear. We waited until Cy got up around 7:15 to get started. Santa left a letter saying that the reindeer were so enticed by the food we left out for them that he had stopped at our house first out of all the homed in the neighborhood. Santa gobbled up his Cookies and took our elf, Ralphie, back to the North Pole. Ralphie had kept watch over the boys each day and reported back to the North Pole each night. We look forward to seeing him again next year.



Showing off some of their gifts.
Night vision goggles from Granny & Papa Skiby.


Cuddly Storm Troopers

Santa brought Cole his own Indiana Jones hat and whip.


We had a great day. This is the first year that we stayed home all day. The boys are at the age that they want to stay and play with their toys and avoid running around. We asked our families to come over to our house. It was such a relaxing day. Norm brought over and made all of us breakfast. We chose a great year to do this as the weather was terrible!! We appreciate everyone braving the storm to come spend some of the the day with us.

The theme of our Christmas was Recession Shmession...what recession. It was crazy. As the owners of the only grandchildren on both sides, we were swimming - no drowning in gifts. I still do not have them all put away and it will take 6 more garbage days for us to get rid of all the packaging. Everyone was more than generous, we are very spoiled.

This is the end of the day, still in jammies. We were happily worn out.

Here is Cole re-enacting how he had slept waiting for Santa.

Thanks for a wonderful Christmas. Each one seems just better than the last. Already counting the days until the next one.

R.I.P. Billy Ocean

Cy's fish, Billy Ocean, saw his last day on December 21st. Billy had had a previous health scare a few months ago. I had called Nolan to tell him that Billy had died and to stop and grab another one on the way home. When Nolan got home, he came out of Cy's room shaking his head at me. Billy wasn't dead-apparently just playing possum. So Cole got a new fish that he named, Naughty.
Again, it was me who found Billy. This time I knew he was dead because he was white (normally blue & red). Nolan and the boys were out doing some Christmas shopping, I called to ask what I should do. Nolan chose to tell Cy. When they got home Cy was crying and very upset. He's so sensitive. He made me say a few words and then he flushed him. This is the letter he wrote about Billie.



Being the sensitive little brother he is, Cole, told everyone that Cy's fish died but his didn't, he told everyone Naughty is "awesome."

A December to Remember

We had a very busy December. I am sad to report that I did not "over holiday" Christmas. We were just so busy doing tons of stuff, but nothing imparticular.

Hear is some of what kept us busy.

Cy started Jr. Jazz. He was so nervous the first game. He did not want to play, as a matter of fact, he cried. Turns out, he loves it, just like we knew he would. Jeremy Jewkes is helping Nolan coach, which is much appreciated. Nolan was equally as nervous as Cy, although he did not cry. Cy scored a basket his first game, now he is in LOVE with the sport.



My brother's girlfriend, Ashlee, threw him an awesome birthday party in mid-December. I had a chance to meet all of his many friends. They were all so much fun and very nice. She rented out a little place and there was plenty of food and drink and so much fun to be had. I'm inviting myself to all future gathering. Laughed all night long. I think this might be Mike's first big birthday party. Having a Christmas day birthday is no fun. Thanks Ashlee!



We attended an awesome kid's Christmas party at the Jewkes' home. Santa came too. He was amazing. He made candy canes out of red sugar and hot kid breath, he could juggle and was essentially magic!! I wish I could figure our to get my photos on the blog. Trust me they were cute. Of course, we had the only boys there. I think there were 12 girls and Cy and Cole. Lucky boys. This has become a favorite Christmas Tradition.

We waited in line to see Santa twice. We gave up the first time, too long a line. He listened closely to the boys' requests, so it was worth the extra trip. Besides, we are fairly certain this is not one of Santa's helper but indeed the real Santa. We have held the "Santa is watching" stuff over the boys heads forever - as we were walking away from Santa, Cole pushed Cy. I turned to him and said "are you serious, you were naughty right in front of Santa?" The look of pure terror came over him. He forgot again about 5 minutes later.




Cy had a singing in the round program at school. All the grades sat in a circle and had a special song they sang and then lead the group in a Christmas classic. Cy was chosen to be Donner, so he stood up in front of the group with the other reindeer and shook his little white tail. So cute!Cole seemed to enjoy it too.



After that we headed over to the classroom for the Christmas party. The kids made reindeer food and other fun Christmas crafts. They had a small gift exchange, were Cy became panic stricken because he opened a High School Musical something or other. Luckily, one of the girls, bailed him out and traded him for a cup (lousy kid gift). This next picture is of Cy and his "girlfriend," Grace. It's pretty serious, she has been his #1 of 2 girlfriends since last year.


We celebrated Granny O's birthday on the 20th with dinner and ice cream afterward. Mike scared us by giving her the ugliest, extra large, shiny gold, fake snake-skinned purse. It was a joke, thank goodness. Normally, I would have just brought it and told him "that's horrifying," but sometimes you assume that the girlfriend helped shop. It didn't look like anything Ashlee would pick, but I don't want to scare her away. It was so funny watching my mom try to pretend like she thought it was cute. Good one, Mike.

FaMiLy PiCtUrEs

I finally gave in and did family pictures, here are some of my favorites:

Car Talk

We have a DVD for to entertain the kids in Nolan's vehicle, but no such thing in my beat up car. Most days I prefer driving in my car because car time always gives rise to funny conversations. Yesterday, Cole was discussing the whoas of pre-school. His "girlfriend" at school has, as of late preferred, to sit by another little boy. So Cy was telling him that if he wanted her to sit by him, he had to do "nice things" for her like "buy her flowers" and "stuff that makes her smell good." Cole in his very antimated way said "I just don't have any money." Cy replied "well that's why she doesn't want to sit by you."
Then Cy wanted to talk about his old preschool girlfriend. Her name was Kayleigh and she still called him up until late last school year. We were recalling stories about her and I mentioned that she really liked to boss him around; telling him where to sit, what to do, etc. He said "I actually enjoyed that." I told him he's gonna go far in life, already so wise.