Life with 4 Krupp Boys.....: December 2009

Monday, December 28, 2009

Merry Christmas!!!!!

As expected, the Christmas season has kept us super busy:

On Monday night, we had our company Christmas party for the Triple B Ranch at the Bullard’s house. It was a ton of fun and consisted of a ping-pong/pool/Wii/air hockey tournament. Paul and I held our own, but just couldn’t beat Cortney and Aaron in ping-pong or Jackie and Kelly in Wii bowling.

On Tuesday, we went down to Grandma and Papa Seidl’s for a nice Christmas gathering. Then we went to Seven Falls to enjoy their beautiful display of Christmas lights. The boys seemed to enjoy it, but since the weather was really bad, we didn’t spend too much time outside. And we didn’t even attempt to climb the stairs this year!

On Wednesday, we went down to Papa and Grandma Slade’s and they took the boys to Chuckie Cheese’s. I think the boys love that place more and more each time we go! We also got to go to the Bullard’s house again to exchange gifts between the boys and McKenzie. They are all just so cute together! Thomas was very helpful in opening Kenzie’s gifts—more helpful than she probably wanted. And Lucas was so cute: one of Kenzie’s gifts was wrapped in Mickey Mouse wrapping paper, and he refused to let her open it so as not to rip his beloved Mickey Mouse. Kevin got to enjoy the gift that Brittani got for Rowdy (Kelly’s dog)—it was a sling shot that flings balls for the dog to play fetch. Unfortunately the balls were hard for Rowdy to find since Kelly was flinging them into inches of snow!

On Thursday, we got to enjoy a wonderful Christmas Eve at the Zeornes’. The boys were so cute and super excited. They loved the holiday festivities. We went to church prior to the gathering, and believe it or not, Lucas was the one in church that talked throughout the entire service! What a time for him to decide to be a chatterbox! It was truly an evening of family, friends, love, and giving. Kevin loved opening presents (go figure) and even made sure to help out the younger boys with opening theirs. Lucas was wound up and not shy at all, despite the houseful of over 30 people. And Thomas was Thomas, ornery, funny, and always smiling.

On Friday, Christmas was finally here! Kevin let us sleep in until about 6:45am (which was better than I was expecting). We had to wake up the twins, and then we all went out to the living room to see the wonderful gifts that Santa Claus brought the boys. They were all very excited, especially Kevin since Santa managed to bring him everything that he had hoped for. My mom, Ryan, Jordane, Britt (who had the flu), and Travis came over, and we exchanged gifts amongst ourselves and enjoyed a light holiday breakfast. Thomas was like a present opening machine—man did he rip that paper open!

Then we went over to the Krupp’s house and had an absolutely amazing Christmas day. The boys received more presents—Lucas especially loved his giant Spongebob and Patrick stuffed animals. He just hugged them and lugged them all over the house. We enjoyed great food and great company! I think we laugh the entire time when us Krupp’s get together! Before we brought the evening to a close, we went and enjoyed some more incredible food at the Stunkard’s house. Veronica sure can make some excellent Italian food!

Not wanting Christmas to end, on Saturday, Ryan and Jordane took us to a house down in Colorado Springs that was light up so marvelously that it was orchestrated to light up with the beat of music. The house actually has a radio station that airs the music, so you turn your car stereo to the station and then it plays the music so that you can look at the house from your car. The boys all piled on my lap and pressed their little faces to the window and were mesmerized by the lights. It really was spectacular! And they were so cute, and when the beat of the music picked up, they would dance right along with it! I think Paul and Ryan need to decorate our house with lights like that next year!

Well, that pretty much recaps the events of our Christmas! I hope everyone had a wonderful one!

Christmas with Grandma and Papa Seidl

Santa Claus at Seven Falls

Thomas helping Kenzie open her gifts

The 3 Krupp Boys and little Miss McKenzie

Brittani, Kelly, and McKenzie

All Dressed Up For Church

Kevin and Isaac

Presents!

Jami and Noah

The Leclercq's

The Krupp Family

Papa and Grandma

The Stunkard Family

Isaac and Lily

Ryan and Jordane

Brittani and Travis

Santa Claus sure came to our house!

Britt, Ryan, Bran, and Traci

Grandma Traci and Lucas

Thomas and Uncle Ryan

Lucas and his best friends: Spongebob and Patrick

Silly Thomas with a net from Kevin's game on his head

Mema and Jessica (sorry Jessica, I know you didn't want me to put any of you on the blog--but I couldn't resist)

Mema and Kevin

The Krupp Men

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Births, Birthdays, Santa Claus & Graduating

Our computer modem crashed this week, so we have been without Internet for a couple of days. So, here is a recap of our week:

Welcome Aiden Douglas! Yes, that means Justine had her little baby boy! We got to go and see the newest addition to the Bullard family on Wednesday, so I have a couple of pictures already! He is precious! He was 21” and 7 pounds, 12 ounces at birth. During the day of Aiden’s birth, we got to babysit McKenzie! It was so much fun having a little girl around. The kids were all super cute with her. Thomas played with her a lot—he is surprisingly gentle with her, which seems to go against his usual wild-child demeanor. Lucas is really good with her, but she wanted to play with one of Lucas’ favorite toys. Eventually, Lucas hid the toy in our Christmas tree! Kevin just loves little Kenz. He is always great with her and frequently says, “Oh, she’s so cute!” McKenzie is such a good little girl. She just sat and watched the boys…they were her entertainment.

Back on the Pre-Christmas note, we took the boys to see Santa Claus again last weekend. They hated him again, but Paul and I did get to pose in pictures with them. Lucas was a bit more cooperative; he even tried to give Santa five. Thomas screamed at the jolly old man, but at the end of the visit, Thomas did want the candy cane that Santa was distributing.

We certainly had a full day today! First we got to attend Lily Leclercq’s birthday party, which was a ton of fun. She had her party at Jumper’s Gymnastics, so the kids got to run, jump, and climb. The kids had a great time. Happy 3rd Birthday Lily!

Also, tonight we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo for their winter wonderland display of Christmas lights. It was cold and packed with people, but the kids still seemed to enjoy it. We were joined by Grandma Traci (scooter and all), Uncle Ryan, Cortney, Aaron, and McKenzie.

Finally, congratulations are in order for my little sister Brittani. She has graduated college! Congratulations Brittani! We are all so proud of you.

Aiden Douglas Bullard

The newest addition to the Bullard family (and Cortney, Justine, Britt, and Bran)

Aunt Cortney, Mommy Justine, and Aiden

Lucas and Kenz, eating some snacks

Thomas playing with little Miss McKenzie

What a cutie pie!

Kevin and Kenz

Kevin and Santa

Lucas, Paul & Santa

Thomas, Brandi & Santa

Kevin on the trampoline at Lily's Party

The Birthday Girl Herself, showing off her skills (she really is great at gymnastics!)

Little Isaac in the Foam Pit

Thomas on the Bars

Lucas in the Foam Pit

We are ready for cake & ice cream!

Happy Birthday Lily!

We're Ready for the Zoo!

Britt's Graduation! Congratulations!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

North Pole and New Do's

Despite the bitter cold weather we have been experiencing in Woodland Park, we did manage to take the kids to the North Pole this past Saturday. We had a terrific time. There were hardly any people there, and the weather was actually decent during our visit. We started off by visiting Santa Claus, and the twins hated him. They cried and screamed so much that there was no way to get even a quick picture with him, so our 2009 Santa picture consists of just little ‘ol Kevin sitting there on the jolly man’s lap. After, we started riding the various rides. I honestly did not expect the twins to love the rides as much as they did. Lucas would cry each time the ride ended—he did not want to get off! Kevin was in heaven; there wasn’t much he wouldn’t ride! And Thomas would run from one ride to the next.

The only downfall was that since the twins are under 2 years of age, Paul and I had to ride almost every ride with them. And let me tell you, some of those rides are not made for mine and Paul’s figures. We were crammed, we had to suck our guts in just to fasten seatbelts…it was actually very hilarious!

And Grandma Traci accompanied us, scooter and all. She just had foot surgery and is unable to walk until the end of December, so she has to either crutch or scoot around. She brought her scooter to the North Pole and managed to scoot up and down all of the icy hills.

Also this week, we decided to save the $10/kid for haircuts. Paul decided to use his own clippers and buzz their hair himself. He did a great job…getting the kids to hold still was an adventure in itself. But I’ve got some pictures here of their new little haircuts—courtesy of Barber Paul.