Marcus and Santa

 A few weeks ago we took Marcus to see Santa Claus in Brainerd.  He was super excited about it.  We got in line to see Santa and all of a sudden a person dressed up as the Grinch snuck up and scared Marcus.  He was so upset that we had to leave instantly and would not consider going back to see Santa. 

Since that time we have offered to see Santa a few times and he has never been excited.  That nasty Grinch had him nervous.  The week before Christmas his daycare decided to do a Christmas party and the exciting is that Santa was coming to it.  The daycare teachers talked about it with the kids and the parents were invited to the party.  It was the perfect way to get Marcus over his fear.  He was actually excited about it.

I showed up to the party at daycare and they had all of the kids hanging out in one room playing while Santa and the parents and the parting kids in another room.  Marcus was excited to see him so we got into line.  He got right on Santa's lap and told him he wanted a big etch-a-sketch for Christmas.  It was a success and now Marcus LOVES Santa Claus.

 

 

 

The first time out on skates

 

For Christmas Marcus got a pair of hockey skates from his Aunt Lisa and Uncle Christian.  I play hockey and Marcus is one of my biggest fans (probably after my dad).  For the past 6 weeks or so Marcus has talked about to skate (an play hockey), just like Mommy an that is why he got some hockey skates.  We actually got them on Thanksgiving but we never had a chance to use them yet.

 

On Christmas day we decided it was time.  After celebrating Christmas with family we headed down to the depot in Minneapolis.   This is a really fun place to skate but more expensive than most rinks, so I would consider it a treat.  Luke and I have actually gone skating there on Christmas day before and I would highly suggest checking it out.  Most of the skaters here are pretty novice and they rent both skates and Ice Trainers.

 

http://www.thedepotminneapolis.com/ice-rink.php

 

 

We got to the arena around 5 pm and Marcus was ready to go.  We put on the skates and he was so excited.  It was really cute when he stood up and realized it was for real (well and he almost fell because it took some work to learn to walk in his skates).  On the way he told me, the family, and everyone else that would listen that he was going to skate REALLY fast. 

We all got our skates on an headed over to the rink.  The anticipation was going only to find out that the Zamboni was on the ice and so Marcus just stood by the rink and stared waiting for the ice to be ready to go-  it was the SLOWEST Zamboni ever.  It took over 15 minutes for a small rink but Marcus was patient and so excited to watch the Zamboni to its thing.

Finally, it was time and we hit the ice.  Luke and I took turns skating with Marcus.

When we were about halfway around the rink we found an abandoned skate trainer.  That made it much easier to stake with Marcus.  

We made it about 2.5 laps - with a few breaks before he was wiped out from all of the work.  Heck when you have little legs that is a lot of work. 

 

Marcus and I found our way over to the snack bar and he got a water bottle and a bowl of popcorn.  We sat on the side and watched Daddy skate some laps.

He was a tired from all of the fun on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day- not getting a decent nap on either day.  When the popcorn spilled, so did the tears because I wouldn't let him eat it off of the floor.  Don't worry we got more popcorn.



No first is complete without a few family pictures.  Marcus was cute and funny and photogenic but not really into the family photo but I still think they are cute.

 

And finally a video.  It was great day and so much fun.  Marcus told me he is ready to play hockey with Mommy now!

 

Snow Globe DIY

One of the hot things on Facebook this winter has been DIY Snow globe and I thought it looked like lot of fun.  So Marcus and I tried it out.  I started by researching the potential project.  I spend a lot of time reading about projects before I do them.  It is almost embarrassing that at times I spend more time on the research on the project at times then the project actually but I am trying to improve the chances of not having a Pinterest/Facebook failure.  I watched the video on Facebook, looked it up on Pinterest and even googled the project (ending update a Menards.com).  

Supplies





Canning Jars-  You can use any size you want.  We used quart jars.
Something to put in the jars-   This is all up to you. We looked for Christmas ornaments that would fit inside-  Marcus actually grabbed a Christmas Village Christmas Tree.  Just make sure whatever you put in it will not be impacted by the water mixture.
Glitter-  pick out whatever glitter you want for the project.  We got both small glitter an some shiny starts.
Glue (Hot or Non-Water Soluble)- This is for gluing the ornaments on the lids to keep the decorations in place.
Glycerin-  This is actually an optional ingredient.  The purpose of this is to create a viscous solution that will slow down the glitter when it is shaken up.  In some of the directions they did not include this ingredient at all.  Another option would be to use a clear water soluble glue. I didn't do this because I was trying to follow the directions but since it worked so well in the glitter time out bottles, I think it would work here as well.
Other things-  We used a few other things just to pretty it up- just be creative and have fun.

A few things I didn't use that were suggested by some directions:
Caulk- It was suggested that this was a good idea to reinforce the lid so it won't leak.

Here are the supplies we used.

 

Directions

1.  Once you assemble all of your supplies it is time to go.
2. Start by gluing the ornaments to the lid. Make sure that when you do this, no glue gets on the rim of the lid.  If glue gets on the rim it could create a leak.  I wiped it off with alcohol to make sure it was good.   We actually added some glitter glue to the design as well (you need to make sure this is 100% dry before you put it in the water since glitter glue is normally water soluble).  We also add big red balls because they were fun.  I actually set my Christmas tree ornament on them to raise the decoration up.  I wish I would have raised them either higher and if we do this again I will create a platform so you can see the decorations better.
3. Once your glue is completely dry it is time to add the solution.  We added the water and the glycerin (not a lot) and the glitter to the empty jar.  I kept swirling the glitter around while adding more water and glycerin so I could get to the viscosity that I wanted.
4. Well now you are almost one, just need to put the lid on an screw on the top.  If you choose to use caulk this would the time to do it.
5. Another option at this point would be to decorate the base of the jar but we didn't do that (even though I had actually bought supplies for it) because Marcus's attention span ran out.

Here is our final product.  I like them because they are fun an festive.

This project is pretty short and it will take you longer to plan it out and buy the supplies than to actually complete the project!

 

Here are some pictures of Marcus helping to make these.



Here is Marcus's snow globe.

 

And a video of both of them.

 

Another First- Marcus at Disney on Ice

 

A little over a week ago we experience another first.  We went to Disney on Ice and took Tori and Xandra with and I have to say it was an awful lot of fun.  We have raised Marcus a bit sheltered and he wasn't familiar with the stories but he LOVED it.  The actual event was called "Disney on Ice- Dare to Dream" an it had three stories in it including Snow White, Cinderella, and Tangled.  Marcus sat at the edge of his seat just soaking it all in.  Here are some pictures from that night.

He didn't take his eyes off the ice the entire time.  Our seats were really great.

Tori and Xandra really loved the show as well.  During intermission the girls and Marcus visited and talked about everything that was going on.  He really likes his cousins.

 I grabbed on picture of the two of us (yes, not my best picture).  It was a fun day and I am so happy I got to go.  One of my favorite bonus's about having a kid is getting the opportunity to attend events like this- adults that go without kids seem kind of weird- but it was a really cool event and we will hit one up again in the future!

 

I also got a cute piture of the girls.  I am such a lucky aunt that I have had the chance to spend so much time with girls and have gotten to know them so well over the years!



 

 

Luke & Vonnie 2015 Ornament Additions

Every year Luke and I have continued to add to our ornaments collection.  They are pretty big collections because both of our parents starting giving them to us when we were little (and we continue the tradition with Marcus.  This year we got a few new additions this year.  Here they are:

 

The Big Apple

 This is to represent our family vacation to NYC.

 Manatees

 We loved the manatees we say in Florida in 2015.



Mommy and Marcus Photo Shoot

One of the things that I like about Facebook is that it exposes me to artists and ideas that other people follow.  A few examples of this are HONY (Human's of New York) and Jade Beall.  These are both photographers who do some awesome work and have challenged how I perceive things at times.  I love looking at Facebook and seeing the art they publish.

In September I learned that Jade Beall was doing a fundraising photo shoot in Minneapolis.  She is amazing and I love how she takes pictures and focuses on honestly and loves and looks through the imperfections to find beauty.  I was indecisive and Luke finally just told me to sign up and I did.  It was something that I will always be happy that I did. 

I don't LOVE all of these photos-  I see my many imperfections but I also see love and joy and a Mommy and little boy who adore each other.   Here are some of my favorite pictures from that day.