The Savoie Family

Christmas Morning

2011-12-25T23:52:00.001-07:00

New toothbrushes!

New Wii controller - thanks Santa!

Look Daddy!!

Keeping on Task

Tangled game for the new Leap Pad

Army Truck carrying an Army Tank

New Army Helicopters

Family Photo Christmas Morning

We had a nice Christmas Day. The boys woke up about 6 having checked their stockings. We got out of bed and opened gifts. The boys really enjoyed playing with each other and with all of their new gifts all morning. We had a nice Christmas lunch with friends. We then came home and relaxed for a nice Christmas Dinner.

We hope you all had a nice Christmas with friends and family!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-25T23:15:00.001-07:00

Mommy figured out the timer on the camera and awesome positioning (save for the fridge in our living room)

An early start - the Cars 2 Geotrax set from Nana...kept us entertained while we waited for the rest of the gift opening

Steering Wheels for the Wii - everyone has their own now!

Games from Uncle Sean!

Getting to it...

Completely enraptured

New games for the Wii - Toy Story 3 and Toy Story Mania

New Snowmen from Auntie Lu

LL Bean Shirts from Auntie Lu - we LOVE them!

Testing out the steering wheels

Aunt Shannon sent the "Rifle" Tower to go with our Cars 2 Set and it was AWESOME!

We received so many wonderful gifts - we don't want to bore you with the whole set of pictures. The boys were very excited to open all their gifts and showed genuine excitement each time. It is so much fun to watch the excitement dance in their eyes. Friends have said their kids were already asking to go to the store to get more/different toys...our kids are excited with their haul this year.

Waiting for Christmas...

2011-12-25T12:09:00.001-07:00

Admiring the tre

Decorating cookies

Nick's version of decorating

Jake likes a little cookie with his frosting

Nick's finished product

Jake adding the finishing touches

Nick's Christmas Program

2011-12-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

Nick's class was part of a holiday program. They sang It's a Small World. Nick is an excellent singer and has added several songs.

SGT McClaus

2011-12-25T11:01:00.002-07:00

Santa's cousin, SGT McClaus, came to visit our house. He came to bring gifts, cookies, and candy canes. The boys were surprised and had a GREAT visit with SGT McClaus (and his elves).

Raking Leaves with Daddy

2011-12-25T10:42:00.003-07:00

Santa visits Daddy's Unit Christmas Party

2011-12-25T10:34:00.001-07:00

And he brought GIFTS!!!!

Snow in El Paso - 1

2011-12-25T10:26:00.000-07:00

Snow in El Paso - the first week of December. We ended up with a pretty good accumulation, well for El Paso. School was delayed - thankfully, it didn't freeze the city like it did in February. The storm in other areas was pretty bad - closing I10 from Texas to Arizona!

Highlights from November

2011-12-25T10:15:00.001-07:00

I know, I've been slacking on the blog front. It got crazy busy around here. Hopefully we can settle down a bit. Here are the highlights from November. We'll have some from December and then I'll add the Christmas pictures.

Getting Ready for Christmas Pictures

An early visit with the Big Guy...helps keep us on track. And Jake had a LOT to tell him!

Christmas Pictures 2011

Family Pictures 2011

Bookfair at Jake's school - where Mommy lived for 10 days

More bookfair - awesome decorations by another Mom

Jake's field trip - waiting to get in

Field trip

Decorated Christmas Tree

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-12-25T09:28:00.002-07:00

Iron Man (who refused to wear his mask) and Captain America!

Getting ready to trick or treat with our friends!

Nick: We got CANDY!!!
Jake: Mom! I said TRICK or TREAT AND THANK YOU!!!!

Nick's Birthday

2011-12-25T09:21:00.001-07:00

Nick turned four at the end of October. His birthday celebration lasted two weekends. The first weekend Nana & Pawpaw were in town, Daddy was in the field but made it to the party for a few minutes and the airshow was in town. We LOVE us some Blue Angels and were able to see them from the party and the back yard. AWESOME!

Birthday in the park - means our own Bounce House for the day!!

Bounce house and ballons!

Cake by Mommy - by far, the easiest I've done in a while...

Cake time with our friends!

Time for presents!

Oooh coool - Batman Geotrax! Thanks Nana & Pawpaw!!

Blue Angels from the backyard with my point and shoot camera. I can only imagine how awesome this would be if I had one of those super duper cameras!!

Presents from Mommy and Daddy - on the actual birthday

Birthdays are GREAT!

Nick's cave

2011-12-25T08:48:00.001-07:00

This is how Nick sleeps. Every night. He's buried/mixed in with all the animals. The bunk beds are T-shaped and he's on the bottom - makes his own little cave. He's been seen with a pillow up blocking light/air.

Military Ball

2011-10-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

We had our Ball at the Historic Camino Real Hotel in downtown El Paso. It was a nice hotel and a fun time!!

The stained glass dome in the bar.

Jake's playing soccer!!

2011-10-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

Nick's first day of Preschool

2011-10-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

Nick’s First day of Preschool

Jake, again, ready to pose. Nick…not so much… he’s definitely a catch him when (if) you can!

Nick is doing well in his class. I can tell a difference in him. Mrs. King runs a pretty tight ship – and so far, no bad reports. So, we take that as good news!

New Blog?

2011-10-02T11:20:00.000-07:00

Okay - I'm simultaneously blogging here and at www.savoiefamily.wordpress.com I'm not sure I like that one yet, but I'm testing it out. So far I've got this one working (blogger), so I'll stick with it for now. Check out the other one though - see how you like it! :)

First day of Kindergarten!?

2011-10-02T11:18:00.001-07:00

Jake’s First Day of Kindergarten! He’s in KB – Mrs. Nicklen’s class. They have already formed a special bond. In a strange twist of fate – he’s in the same classroom he was in last year. Of course, it looks completely different – all the teachers were switched around this year.

Daddy was still off – healing from his surgery. So he was able to come for the first day of school.

San Diego

2011-10-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

We spent the night at Marine Corps Airstation Miramar outside San Diego after the trip to Sea World. The next morning, we got up and headed to the beach at La Jolla. What a beautiful way to start the day!

They were anxious to get IN the sand.

This little guy was playing up by the walkway – it was a long way down so I hope he watched what he was doing.

Got our toes in the sand

Right to work in the sand

Testing the <COLD> water with Daddy. We didn’t put them in their swimsuits – a colossal failure considering they were soaked when we got back to the truck…so we put them in their suits for the ride.

And that was perfect since the next destination was swimming at Uncle Sean’s!

Sea World

2011-10-02T10:11:00.000-07:00

We got up, checked out of Disneyland and headed down to Sea World. More fun to be had, of course!

First stop – family picture!

Then…Shamu.

Then the polar Bear and the otter. They were all duly impressed at Jake & Nick’s “I touched a shark” t-shirts.

Watching the dolphins swim.

Touch starfish and other assorted sea creatures. Brave boys! J

Watching fish and turtles – I kept missing the shot with the turtle.

Polar Bear – wayyyyy over there in the corner….and zooomed in with the camera.

And the orca liked to swim on her back. So graceful for such a huge animal!

Disneyland - Day 3

2011-10-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

We started our morning out with Breakfast with Mickey & Friends! It was a surprise!

First stop – photos with Mickey. I’ll post the ones by the photographer (the real one) in another post

The boys and Pluto

Stitch from Lilo and Stitch – we’re hanging Loose

Dancing with Mickey

Daisy Duck & Minnie Mouse

Then it was on to the park. We checked out the horse drawn fire carriage.

Dumbo – Nick rode with Nana and Jake rode with Daddy

The Carousel

Photo op with Woody & Jesse – we found them just hanging out on a bridge.

Brer Bear

Daddy had JUST taken something away from a very tired Nick. The result – absolutely NO cooperation with the pictures after having stood in line for 30+ minutes. On the positive – we had just finished our ride Splash Mountain (I’ll get that photo posted, too). They did GREAT and had a blast!

I’d say we had a great time at Disneyland!

Working on the blog

2011-10-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry about the delay on the blog. I was posting from Disneyland - and then Mom said my pictures weren't showing up. That's aggravating - since that's the WHOLE reason for posting to the blog. And the post that didn't show up - well, that's daunting because there were LOTS of pictures from the first day of Disneyland. For them not to show up, and to remember which of the hundreds I took that day... So I shelved the blog.

Last night, I worked on a post. I actually wrote it about 12 times between it getting lost when Word crashed and the times I've tried to post it. It's not working. I have a draft post sitting here that won't actually post - it has all the pictures. There are no error messages - so again, this is a daunting proposition for me to figure out. Blogging USED to be EASY!

So...I may be changing blogging sites. Stay tuned. I'll make sure ya'll know as soon as it's done. I'm testing out another site right now.

Love

Chris

Disneyland Day 1 - take 2 - with photos

2011-10-02T07:55:00.000-07:00

We got up and got moving as fast as everyone could have breakfast!

Nick was NOT interested in the photo shoot.

Jake is usually pretty accommodating of the photographer – Mom.

If you can wait him out – you can usually catch one of his awesome smiles.

We’re just about ready.

In the park – on the train. To wherever it will take us.

We were lucky enough to be allowed in to the Citizen ceremony in Toon Town. We’re all honorary citizens AND we were able to spend some time in ToonTown before the masses arrived.

Driving Mickey’s car

Donald

Chip – he has a chocolate chip nose

MICKEY!

Our new family photo?

Mommy’s FAVORITE

PLUTO!

I don’t know who he was talking to – but it took FOREVER!

The monorail is AWESOME! And we got to ride with our new friend Blake (His Mom is my friend from high school – neither of us are OLD!)

We took a break from the park with our friends and played on the slide and the pool. It was a great break and a GREAT visit!

Back to the park!

While we waited on fireworks, Jake & Daddy caught one last ride…

And Nick caught some zzzzzz’s!

We didn’t get any pictures – but Jake & Nick rode their first roller coaster this day. Jake had a BLAST and was ready to go back. Nick tolerated the ride…but he wasn’t the greatest fan.

Disneyland Day 2 - California Adventure

2011-08-03T22:06:00.002-07:00

Second Day - Disney's California Adventure. We beat feet to the rides we wanted to see...boys had a great time, again. Especially in Toy Story Mania - GREAT time!! We also got to go in the Mickey Ferris Wheel - no picture there.

Nick carbing up - on a chocolate chip cookie

Carousel had no wait - that was important!!

Toy Story Mania...entertainment for the LONG wait!

Mr. Incredible

Jake was chosen out of the crowd to be a Hero in Training - superhero training with the Incredibles and Frozone!

My little superhero!

Disneyland Day 1

2011-08-03T21:54:00.004-07:00

We started out as early as everyone could wake up and get breakfast in.

Nick...cooperative as usual...

ALWAYS...on his terms.

Boys are READY!

Group Shot...on the train

We were lucky enough to get in to ToonTown for the super secret ceremony that we were supposed to have tickets too. I LOVE Disney! Always going the extra mile - that meant less crowded visits with some characters and their houses.

Chip (he has a chocolate chip nose)

Mommy's FAVORITE!!!

not sure who he was calling - but he had a LONG conversation!

The back of the head in the lighter blue shirt is our new friend Blake. He's the son of one of my dearest (dating back to Washington times) friends...and they came up to Disneyland to spend the day with us. You would have thought the kids had known each other forEVER! A great time had by All!!

Monorail ride is captivating!

Nick on the waterslide

Arrival Day

2011-08-03T21:45:00.002-07:00

We arrived to check in to the hotel in Disneyland on Sunday. We walked around Downtown Disney while we waited on our rooms to get ready. A great intro...

Woody is made of Legos

The intention behind this picture was MUCH cuter than what it ended up.

Chips and awesome salsa at Tortilla Jo's

Jesse the balloon guy was the hero for the night!
A spider Man hat for Nick
A Giraffe Hat for Jake

Nick is RACKED out...sound asleep.

We LOVE Chili!!!!

2011-08-03T21:44:00.001-07:00

On the Road Again...

2011-08-03T21:43:00.002-07:00

Matt & I debated what time to hit the road to Phoenix on Saturday. We finally decided to let the chips fall where they may...when everyone wakes up, we'll go, but no later that 8 or 830. We were on the road by 730...boys were soooo excited, they woke up early. Made for an easy day and relaxing in Uncle Sean's Pool!

Summer Fun

2011-08-03T21:41:00.001-07:00

Playing in our splash pool

There's still more...

2011-07-24T23:07:00.002-07:00

I've about finished all the pictures that I've already uploaded. We've been taking pictures since we've been home, of course. Those are still on the camera - so I need to find where I hid the cord in order to get them on the computer.

We've spent the last 2 weeks almost getting re-settled in our house. The boys have really enjoyed getting reacquainted with all their toys and toy room. Six weeks is a long time for them to have been gone from home. I looked it up, we traveled nearly 4000 miles this summer - not including the trip to Charlotte, NC because that wasn't in my truck.

And on Saturday we head out to Disneyland. We're stopping to see Uncle Sean & August (and Chili the dog, too) in both directions. The boys are very excited for the next adventure. We're having a character breakfast one of the days - and that will be a surprise for the boys.

Stay tuned for pictures and if I can figure out how to load them, videos. No promises on timeline...we all know my intentions are a lot more active than my actions!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Fun at the Park

2011-07-24T22:57:00.001-07:00

Just a night at the park in Indiana - the boys acting silly.

Murray Family 2011

2011-07-24T22:49:00.001-07:00

The Murray family gathering was fun as always and a joy to watch the next generation pick up where we left off. The kids had a great time playing together.

Meeting Dora & Diego

2011-07-24T22:45:00.001-07:00

We were lucky enough to meet Dora & Diego at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. The boys LOVE Dora & Diego, so this was a GREAT time!

Friends & Family

2011-07-24T22:39:00.003-07:00

We had a great weekend visit with the Neu & Mentges Clan's. The kids all played together pretty well and the grown-ups had a great visit! We miss them...and look forward to the next time whenever that may be!

Lowes Build & Grow with Pawpaw & Nana

2011-07-24T22:35:00.001-07:00

Bounce House

2011-07-24T22:30:00.001-07:00

There is a bounce house right around the corner from Nana & Pawpaw's house. Nick absolutely refused to go down the slide until Jake wrestled him down - on three different slides. After that, Nick would go down willingly...as long as Jake was near by. Brothers and best friends!

Hiking with the Family

2011-06-23T11:55:00.001-07:00

Checking out a mushroom with Pawpaw

Carowinds and North Carolina

2011-06-23T11:53:00.001-07:00

We went on an adventure to North Carolina to visit Uncle Joe & Rachel. The boys had a good time at Carowinds (an amusement park).

Uncle Joe made a funny towel hat - Nick's face is funnier.

Racked out Jake

Racked out Nick

The faces of road travel

2011-06-23T11:50:00.000-07:00

Strawberry Picking

2011-06-14T12:50:00.001-07:00

They won't eat them...but they had a good time picking!

Aunt Robin, Tyler & Evan came to see us in Indy

2011-06-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

Indianapolis Childrens Museum

2011-06-14T12:28:00.001-07:00

And then we went to the Children's Museum...in the interest of actually keeping tabs on my kids...I missed some shots of what we were doing...I'm sure most people prefer , but it leaves out some of the story...

Indianapolis Zoo

2011-06-14T12:18:00.001-07:00

We started our visit out right and went to the Indianapolis Zoo. The boys, of course, had a grand old time. Jake has learned a lot lately about sea life, at school, and was excited to see it in action.

Taking pictures of the Snoozing Polar Bear

Watching the Walrus play

We shared Lemonade

Pawpaw and Jake rode the roller coaster

And Nick met some new friends

Splash Park fun

they actually did touch the sharks

Watching Penguins

The Polar Bear woke up to have a look

The Gator

2011-06-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

Again...this was immediately upon arrival. Nick hopped in the Gator and took it for a spin. He has some issues controlling the gator...but he is much improved over last year. Jake may be (should be) scared of riding with him - especially when the evil giggle starts. I'll have to try to catch that on video...now that the video camera and computer are speaking again...

Squirt Gun Fun

2011-06-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

Some of these are going to end up out of order. This was our first night in Indiana. Nana & Pawpaw had gotten squirt guns for Jake for his Birthday - and they had a GREAT time breaking them in!

Water play

2011-06-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

Splash Park fun

2011-06-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

Jake's Birthday

2011-05-30T08:07:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Jake's birthday at Chuck E Cheese. He's been looking forward to this since March. He had a GREAT time with his friends, meeting Chuck E Cheese and all that goes along with it.

Waiting to be led to our table

Our table

SkeeBall - next generation

Presents!

Hot Wheels! YAY!

Ticket Blaster - he announced as we entered the party, he wanted to do this...but really had no idea how to do it!

Birthday crown from Chuck E and Chuck sang Happy Birthday!

Forgot to get a shot of just the cake - a yellow dinosaur - by mom, of course.

Tank from Mom & Dad!

Touch a Tank

2011-05-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

2nd Brigade (Matt's Brigade) sponsored a Touch a Tank even at the local children's hospital and invited the unit out as well. The boys had a GREAT time. They also had an obstacle course, and dog tag maker (and much more) but Mom had to chase kids, so pictures are sparse. At one point we split up, I had Nick and Matt had Jake - so there are few pics of Jake on the equipment. It took most of the day for his smile to fade. They both had an absolute BLAST!

Jake in the driver's seat

Jake in the Tank commander's position

Checking out the Bradley

"they can't hurt anything" as an exterior satellite moves while they're "not hurting anything..."

The soldiers were GREAT with the kids

And learned quickly what one does, they must both do!

In a truck like Daddy's - only Daddy doesn't drive! :)

Easter Fun

2011-05-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

We dyed Easter Eggs at Uncle Sean's House and went hunting there too. The boys had a great time!

Nick on the hunt

Jake Showing off his Haul

Fun in Phoenix

2011-05-29T21:00:00.001-07:00

First I need to ssay - I'm sorry for the LONG delay with pictures/updates. The boys got ahold of the cords one day and I put them away. I put them away so well, I couldn't find them...until today. Good thing I found them...we leave on Saturday for the Great Trek to the Midwest and I had to clean off the memory cards. I wish the camcorder would cooperate...

Here, the boys are playing at the Train Park in Scottsdale - just down the road from Uncle Sean's house. We enjoyed our time so much earlier in April, we went back for Easter - and met up with Nana, Pawpaw, Uncle Joe & Rachel in addition to Uncle Sean & August.

Fun with Uncle Sean

2011-04-03T22:36:00.000-07:00

We had a great visit with Uncle Sean & August (and Chilly). We look forward to going back to Phoenix for Easter and seeing Nana, Pawpaw, Uncle Joe, Rachel and of course Uncle Sean, August & Chilly, too!

Fun with Aunt Shannon

2011-04-03T22:34:00.000-07:00

I suck…we drove to Phoenix to visit with Aunt Shannon and I didn’t get any pics of them together. Nuts… got some good ones of the boys playing in the water though…

Boys' Pictures

2011-03-30T21:31:00.000-07:00

The boys received cameras for Christmas. I was downloading pictures off their cameras in preparation for our big trek to Phoenix and I found these. It cracked me up.

Nick took Jake's Picture...

as Jake took Nick's picture

Cameras are GREAT entertainment, apparently, on the short drives we take.

Videos

2011-03-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

As promised...here are the links to the videos...

Bike Riding

Nick NOT Bike Riding

More Bike Riding

Bike Riding with Daddy

Biking & Scootering with Daddy

Weekend with Daddy

2011-03-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

We have kept Daddy busy this weekend! Saturday was bike riding (and scootering because Nick REFUSES to pedal…) and Daddy got a workout. Sunday was the zoo…now the boys are snoozing while I update the blog. There will be another post with videos of the bike riding (and scootering) – they’re processing now…

Haircuts by Mom

2011-03-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

More excitement to distract us…and I’m getting better at the haircuts! Less and less obvious that MOM does it!

Waffles for dinner

2011-03-27T13:57:00.002-07:00

While Daddy works…we have to come up with some creativity to keep us distracted. We REALLY miss Daddy when we don’t see him during the week!

So…Mommy decided Waffles for dinner – and Jake hasn’t stopped asking for them…for any meal…

Spring Fun

2011-03-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

Org Day

2011-03-22T13:19:00.001-07:00

Matt’s unit had an Org Day last Friday. It’s basically just a big picnic with lots of games, etc. They had some vehicles out – so the boys were in Hog Heaven! And they got a chance to dunk Daddy in the dunk tank.

El Paso Zoo

2011-03-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

During Spring Break, we took a trip to the El Paso Zoo. It’s less than 3 miles away so I don’t know why we haven’t made it until this point but it was so much fun we had to take Daddy back over the weekend.

More swimming lessons

2011-03-22T13:18:00.000-07:00

The first lesson, Nick freaked out after they dunked him under water and made him use some of the equipment. The 2nd lesson, he got out of the pool every 5 minutes. The third one wasn’t much better. I finally asked if we could use the Aquajogger that Nana got last year for Nick. Once we got the okay for that, he’s taken off like a champ! Now, they dunk him and he comes up giggling. Jake is doing great with his lessons and is always excited to go jump in the deep end. It’s a lot of fun watching the lessons.

Gardening

2011-03-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of wildlife, surprisingly, around here. Bunnies and birds eat all the grass (and the seed we put down to try to facilitate growing…) so we were worried about planting an actual garden. We are trying our hand at container gardening…

Lowe's Build & Grow

2011-03-22T13:16:00.002-07:00

One of our favorite Weekend Activites

Spring in Texas

2011-03-22T12:20:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh…nothing I like better than boys playing outside and wearing themselves and eachother out! These were our first warm days – and they were interspersed with cold days. Stay tuned for more warm weather days!

Playing Playdough in the warm sun

Playdough in the sun

Playing in the sprinkler - probably could have been a little warmer - but they enjoyed it

In the Tree

Family Pictures

2011-03-22T09:51:00.003-07:00

My most recent coupon for JCPenney Portraits was about to expire, so we decided to take the opportunity for family pictures since we didn’t do it at Christmas. Ms. Flower, again, did a GREAT job getting AWESOME shots and making it nearly impossible to choose!

Click here to enjoy the family pics!

Oh yea - don't worry too much about NIck's face. It's pretty well healed by now. Matt's schedule was about to go crazy - so we really didn't have much choice in timing. Nick was playing superman on the swing and fell face first in the dirt.

Videos

2011-03-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

Videos take FOREVER to load on Blogger – and they usually don’t work the first time. So…I have uploaded them to a separate site and I’ll add links here. The next few updates may be a little out of order while I get caught up…again.

As always, we hope everyone is doing well! Enjoy the videos!

Swimming Lessons 1

Swimming Lessons 2

Swimming Lessons 3

Snow Day in Ruidoso, NM

2011-02-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

We had a Marriage Retreat in the mountains of New Mexico this weekend. Part of Saturday was designated as fun family time – so we went tubing. The boys had a BLAST on the kiddie slopes. We did larger slopes as a family twice, but no pictures of those. Lots of fun was had by all – and that was a pleasant surprise from Nick, because he usually gives out in the snow. Apparently, 50s and Sunny is Nick’s way to handle the snow. No time for a nap today, so as I write, they are approaching delirium. I feel for the watch care ladies this evening! Hopefully that means a quiet bedtime…who am I kidding?

New Playground

2011-02-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

Swimming Lessons

2011-02-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

IT may be frozen outside, but we’re taking swimming lessons. The first one was the 7^th of Feb. Both boys did great – the same can not be said for Nick & the 2^nd lesson, but we’re working on it. Jake even jumped in off the platform in the deeper end!

New Pans for Momma...

2011-02-12T16:43:00.001-07:00

Means new toys for the boys….

Pizza Night

2011-02-12T16:43:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me that the boys would enjoy having their own pizzas for dinner and what would be more fun than making them ourselves? The boys had a great time…and everyone ate at least some of their pizza!'

(sorry for the sideways shot...I need to figure out some more editing...)

YAY Nick!

2011-02-12T16:41:00.000-07:00

It’s been a long standing deal we made with Nick that if he poops in the potty (FINALLY) we’ll take him to Chuck E Cheese. About a week ago, he finally did it – completely out of the blue…in the middle of the winter storm closings, rolling blackouts and no water. They were open, so we went – and the boys went on to play Air Hockey and had a great time. (for the record, it's still hit or miss, but at least we're getting some hits...)

Snow Day with Daddy

2011-02-03T10:06:00.001-07:00

The thing about snow and extremely cold temps in a place like El Paso is that they shut down as much of the city as they can because of the obvious - snow & ice can be dangerous but also because of the not quite as obvious - when temps drop that low, even people who suffer thru the 30-50 degree temps with no heat NEED heat when temps hover around ZERO (Farenheit...). As this is a largely electric heat area - the system in effect says WHAT THE ..... JUST HAPPENED. Several stations failed - and the backups couldn't get started because natural gas pressure was too low. The Army takes heed and has been closed, shut off all un-needed electricty and shut down all but a couple of shoppettes yesterday so that electricity could be used to power homes. We were lucky - we didn't lose power. This provided an extra day for Daddy to go play in the snow. Mommy is still not a fan - and took some pics. 15 minutes later, Nick had had enough and came inside too. He is definitely my kid - Jake would stay until appendages fell off, I'm quite certain. The snow suits we ordered for the mountains should be here tomorrow. so much for planning...

February 2, 2011

2011-02-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

And this is what we woke up to this morning. The city has closed down most everything and Fort Bliss closed most everything in order to keep people off the streets. I've debated going out and getting pics of the area just to see... Frankly, I don't want to be outside in 9 degree weather, so I'll probably stay right here in my warm house!

We had Jake look out the window when he got up and we got fist pumping "ALRIGHT!" and "I want to go play in it!" Matt convinced him to watch a movie first...but that won't hold him off forever!

Momma's Birthday

2011-02-01T22:54:00.000-07:00

The Boys helped me make the cake

Nick asked about 12000 times if he could have some cake - he's VERY patient...NOT

I'm a fan of the icing on the shirt!

The Great Snow Storm of 2011

2011-02-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

We are one of the 2 dozen states getting hit by snow this week. The camera does a really good job at catching even the smallest flake in front of the camera - so it looks like bigger flakes than it is. But there is a good 1/2 inch on the ground, with more falling and temps not reaching above freezing. I'm highly entertained at the irony: I just ordered the boys snow suits & snow boots on super clearance for our trip to Ruidoso in the NM mountains next week...they should be here Thursday...AFTER all this snow. Oh well...

I'll try to post pics for comparison tomorrow.

My favorite!

2011-02-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

Sometimes these boys can sit so sweetly together - and tell each other stories and have the greatest conversations. Those are the times I like to remember...so I snapped a pic...I have PROOF!

Playing at the Park

2011-02-01T22:37:00.000-07:00

More Building at Lowes

2011-02-01T22:35:00.000-07:00

Building at Lowes has become quite a popular adventure. We have to get there early (or we miss out, like we did on the third part of our train just before Christmas...) and that leaves time for the boys to investigate (read: get into mischief). Last time we went we were surprised to be joined by our friends the Garners. A great time had by all...

Building at Lowes

2011-02-01T22:28:00.000-07:00

Every other Saturday, Lowe's offers a Build and Grow workshop for the kids. We're trying to make an effort to go more frequently - the boys enjoy the morning out and they make some pretty cool stuff.

Thanks Auntie Lu!

2011-01-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the comfy clothes Auntie Lu! They're perfect for hanging out around the house - and the fleece jackets are great, too! We've worn them all weekend!

Love,
Jake & Nick

Snow in El Paso

2010-12-30T22:15:00.000-07:00

We had heard it would happen...and today it did. It snowed in El Paso. Started out as really wet snow - then the wind dried it out, I guess. It was sticking for a while - after bath time. I had a hard time deciding to let the boys get dressed again to go play while it was still out and opted to keep them inside and we watched from the window - except for when I went out to snap some pics. I hope there is still some tomorrow morning for them to play for a bit!

Nick is SO my kid...cold/snow in SMALL doses (and preferably with hands covered...)

As promised...Pics by Nick

2010-12-30T21:56:00.000-07:00

We may or may not need to refine some skills…

As Promised...Pics by Jake

2010-12-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

The camera is actually backwards at this point...

Again…may need some skill refinement…

Scenes from Christmas

2010-12-27T22:06:00.002-07:00

Enjoy some shots from Christmas at the Savoie House. We were lucky enough to have Nana, Pawpaw, Uncle Sean, August & Chili (Uncle Sean's Boxer) join us. Stay tuned for pics from Jake & Nick's cameras – there won't be very many as they have some refining to do on their picture techniques… A great time was had by all. Uncle Sean, August & Chili left Sunday. Nana & Pawpaw left this evening after dinner (having been upgraded to first class, they may have actually been looking forward to their flight home instead of dreading the red-eye…). The boys enjoyed being the center of attention and enjoying some nights in the hotel with Nana & Pawpaw – keeps the boys in practice for traveling!

We hope you enjoyed a wondrous Christmas Season!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

2010-12-24T23:45:00.002-07:00

This is when I remember how far behind I am on the blog…we decorated the tree the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The boys, of course, had a great time.

Wyler Arial Tram

2010-12-24T23:38:00.002-07:00

There is a tram at the top of one of the mountains. It hauls us up the side of the mountain to a platform station where you can see Mexico, Texas & New Mexico in beautiful 360 degree views. It was a great adventure for the boys.

Playing in the Sand

2010-12-24T23:32:00.002-07:00

One of the things we liked about our house here, was our built in sand box in the back yard. The boys LOVE to go out there and play – it's hard with the shorter days, as it's usually just as the sun is setting that they decided to go outside. But they have a great time!

Holiday Photos

2010-12-01T18:26:00.002-07:00

Click here

I'm hoping this works. We had Christmas pictures done this last weekend. I'd been trying to get the boys in for pics but couldn't get my act together. We haven't done studio pictures since 2008 when we were in Arizona for Thanksgiving. That was such a fiasco that I had Ms. Kari do our pictures last fall and then lucked out with a great photographer at the park this spring.

I'm not at all sure of great locations here, so I just sucked it up and took a chance with JC Penney Portraits. It worked out great and we have some of the best shots we've had of the boys in a studio since it was just Jake. Hopefully the link above works so you can all see them since they won't all be in your Christmas cards this year!

We're full steam ahead for Christmas at this point. Jake is convinced that Christmas is this week. We hope you are all doing well...I"ll try to update some more very soon!

Halloween

2010-11-07T08:37:00.002-07:00

The boys went trick or treating with their friend Ayonna (Snow White).

We really didn’t have many trick or treaters at our house…so next year, we may need to have a different plan!

Cattleman's Steakhouse

2010-11-07T08:35:00.002-07:00

Cattleman’s is a legendary steakhouse not far from El Paso. It is a HUGE ranch and has been the set for many movies – the one I most remember is Courage Under Fire several years ago with Meg Ryan. (leave it to me to remember the military one) It’s also been used for the Jessica Lynch story – I haven’t seen the movie, but I know the story.

Anyway, there’s also several different kinds of animals and we had a great time wondering around checking it out and then enjoying dinner – where we could see coyotes right outside the window. The boys had control of the camera at points – there were some good shots but none of the coyotes!

See if you can tell which ones the boys took…

Nick's Party

2010-11-07T08:30:00.002-07:00

Earlier this summer, we went to playgroup at a park on the other side of base. I’d been thinking about where to have Nick’s party (not at our house) that he would have the most fun. We had all kinds of ideas. When we got to the park, THAT was it. There was, coincidentally, a rocket ship bounce house set up and Nick was THRILLED. So he had the rocket ship bouncehouse & a party at the park. It was a gorgeous day and a lot of fun!

We also couldn’t decide on a theme – so I got stickers for all his favorites right now (super heroes…) put them on cookie sticks or tooth picks and put them in the cake & cupcakes. Probably the easiest cake I’ve done since I started doing cakes for their birthdays – and it was a hit!

Carving Pumpkins

2010-11-07T08:25:00.002-07:00

The weather here is so warm that I was scared to carve the pumpkins too early after seeing some around the neighborhood rotting pretty quickly.

So, Pawpaw & Nana got to help with the carving/decorating when they came for Nick’s Birthday

Matt's Truck

2010-11-07T08:21:00.002-07:00

On October 18, Matt called and informed me that he had been in an accident with an 18 wheeler construction truck on his way to work.

He is fine – his truck…not so much. It’s at the “truck hospital” now, getting fixed.

Brothers

2010-11-07T08:18:00.002-07:00

It’s some of my favorite times when I catch moments like these. They are becoming a little more frequent as they are entering stages of their lives where their already small age difference is becoming less noticeable.

Now, they are in the same “class” when I take them to hourly. That happened for the first time this week. I thought Nick had to be potty trained (and he is just at stubborn and controlling on that front as Jake was last year) so I took him to the class that goes up to 3. When I went to pick him up, the ladies told me he was moved to the same class as Jake – and that Jake took him under his wing and showed him around. The teacher in their class told me that Jake tried to take Nick to the potty. Jake tries to be quite the parent sometimes, too.

Varying poses of Nick

2010-11-07T08:08:00.003-07:00

Nick is a VERY busy boy. Every now and then, we catch him relaxing and our favorite times are first thing in the morning when he is extra cuddly and we LOVE that! It only lasts a minute before he’s off and running.

SE New Mexico State Fair

2010-11-07T08:01:00.002-07:00

We had great time at the SE New Mexico State fair in early October.

We enjoyed a petting zoo where we fed lots of different animals.

Really Mom, Must we stop for ANOTHER picture??

Nick really got into feeding the animals.

It was a great night capped off by a rodeo. Only, we were pretty low and people found it oddly entertaining to stand RIGHT where we were watching completely blocking our view. So, naturally, our interest waned quite quickly. It was okay, we’d had a full afternoon of animals, rides & fair food!

Rodeo time!

2010-10-11T09:51:00.001-07:00

There is really nothing to say…

Except that our tickets said starting time of 7 pm. We arrived at 6:45pm.

Rodeo started at 5pm that day.

We did get to see some bull riding – Jake & Nick were disappointed in that…but had fun watching anyway!

I know...

2010-10-11T09:41:00.001-07:00

I’ve been slacking. AGAIN.

Let’s see what I can fill everyone in on while Jake is at school and Nick is out running errands with Daddy. Daddy still doesn’t get why schools are open when the Army is off. They just don’t – and it’s probably so we can have an entire week off at Thanksgiving. I never had that….

First up…is soccer.

We signed Jake up for soccer but were told Nick was too young. Dang that end of October Birthday. I ended up signing up to be his coach because Fort Bliss has grown almost over night. They normally had under 200 kids sign up for soccer – this year they had over 600. I yielded to the plea, figuring this was the time to do it since I know exactly TWO things about soccer:

1. NEVER use your hands

2. Kick the ball in the goal…preferably the one that scores you points…however, I learned at this age even THAT is not critical…

I knew that I’d have Nick playing with us since Matt would likely be at work. So, I bought him the cleats and shinguards as well. I managed to convince the Sports Director to let Nick play since one of the kids on the team was not yet 3 either. Nick, I pointed out, has the natural ability. Jake has the desire, well most of the time.

We have a pretty good team. It’s entertaining, I’m told, to watch the games. I’m on the field with the kids, so my perspective is a little different. Just a couple more weeks…

One of my favorite pictures - the soccer game is still going on and they are watching a double rainbow.

Doing things right...

2010-09-20T09:59:00.002-07:00

Usually on school mornings, the boys wake up before I get up and functional and they join me in bed where we watch TV or just snuggle back down for a few minutes.

This morning, Jake came in just as I was pulling up the bed proudly proclaiming he waited until Mr. Sun got up before getting up himself. He snuggled down on my pillows, so I laid back down with him.

Then Nick came in looking pretty groggy. So, we were all laying on the bed trying to greet the Monday morning. I was talking to them about the day, etc.

Me: I love you, Jakey Bakey!
Jake: I wuvz you too Momma!
Me: I love you Nick Pickle!
Nick: I know!

I kind of chuckled...so he kept saying it.

Then we drove Jake to school. I unbuckled Jake's seat and he climbed over to Nick and said "Bye Bud, have a good day! I love you!"

Ahhhh...I'll hold on to that forever, if I have to. I know they'll be fighting again when they get home!