Cole Sleeps Over

Friday night Cole slept over because Kate was helping with a school event for Jack and we watch Cole on Saturday mornings when Jack plays basketball, so we thought it made the most sense for Cole to spend the night. He was VERY excited about this and it went very well. Cole and Henry started their sleepover with Aunt Kerri who took them home from "school" and out to Dunkin' Donuts. She quickly learned how much more exhausting it is having both boys! Then we enjoyed a pizza party with Kevin's parents and Aunt Kerri. Cole was very excited to spend some time with Henry's grandparents.

I wish I took more pictures, especially when we decided to let Henry try to sleep in the same big boy bed as Cole. As I was sitting outside the door listening to them goof around, I realized how thankful I am that they have each other and are so close, I hope they always stay this way.

Both Henry and Cole were very excited to realize that they were still together in the morning.

Both boys with their backpacks. We are really hoping Auntie pulls through and gets Henry a backpack like Cole's for his birthday.

Frosty the Snowman

At the beginning of the winter Grammy brought all of the grandchildren a very cute snowman kit. We have not had much opportunity to use it due to lack of snow or illness, but Kevin took advantage of the snow tonight and after work he and Henry decided to build a snowman. It came out very nice, it was small, but very sweet.

This is where it started.

I don't think snowmen have three arms Henry.

And he loved stealing Frosty's hat.

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the Day After

So it has taken me nearly forever to post some Christmas pictures, but here they are, finally. We had a great Christmas this year and were fortunate to be able to spend it with so many family and friends. Henry certainly enjoyed himself and was more interested in the toys this year as opposed to the wrapping paper. Here are some pictures from all of our festivities.

Christmas Eve, Henry kept the bow on his head for much of the evening.

Henry got a singing, motorcycle riding santa from his great Uncle Steve and Gracy. This toy is now kept in Henry's room due to the volume, but Henry sure does love it.

Plumber maybe???!!

Another loud toy, again from Uncle Steve and Gracy, you can tell they do not have any kids!

Aunt Kerri got Henry an easel, which he loves. Can you tell she's a teacher? We constantly have to write "H" on the board, he's a little self absorbed!

Henry's stocking Christmas morning, complete with a sword and a new Tiddles.

All of the loot Christmas morning.

Surprised or sleepy? Not really sure.

Henry cooking up some Christmas breakfast.

Henry got a Blue's Clues notebook for Christmas, which he loved, but he was looking for the "thinking chair." He finally agreed to use his rocking chair as a substitute.

We went to Kate and Bryan's on Christmas day to celebrate with my family. Here's Henry and Grammy. Henry's sporting some of his new Christmas clothes.

Henry got a scooter from Grammy and Papa. He was so excited he could not wait to ride it, in fact I believe he had a complete temper tantrum until someone agreed to put it together for him.

Henry and Auntie, judging from his smile, it was probably Auntie he convinced to put it together.

Henry and Cole in their matching "sweet dreams" from Grammy and Papa.

The day after Christmas we went to Kevin's parents to celebrate again with them and also with Great Grandma Klvana and Kevin's Aunt Carol. Henry thoroughly enjoyed his chocolate Christmas tree.

Bubba and Emily's Wedding

On 12/19/09, we celebrated Brian and Emily's wedding. We all had a great time and it was a beautiful day that we were blessed to participate in. Henry and Cole were the ring bearers and did a great job. I don't have any pictures of them coming down the aisle as I was more focused on making sure they made it. Henry lasted until just about the end of the reception and had a great time dancing with his cousins. Here are some pictures from the day.

All five boys at the hotel before the reception.

Daddy though it would be funny to wrap Henry's hands up in napkins during dinner.

Henry then thought he should use the napkins as a prop when dancing.

Henry spent much time getting spun around on the floor as he cousins were "break dancing."

Luke dancing with Henry when Henry could not find a partner, what a good cousin.

Henry dancing with Jack's "girl." I had to ask her to take a turn with all of the boys, one girl and five boys is not such a good ratio!

Henry dancing with Grandma and Grandpa.

The happy couple with all of their nephews.

Brian and Emily with their ring bearers.

The beautiful cake.

Henry thought it was appropriate to join Grammy and Bubba in the mother son dance, thankfully for Henry they welcomed him to join.

Henry thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate fountain.

Getting a lift from Papa.

Showing off his moves!

Breakfast with Santa

*Sorry for the lack of posts, we have been extremely busy, I am trying to catch up, so more to come!*

At the beginning of December Aunt Kerri invited Henry and myself to "Breakfast with Santa" in Suffield. It was a great morning and Henry's first experience of the year with Santa. We had a great time and are very appreciative of the morning.

Henry writing his letter to Santa. On the way he told me he was going to ask him for "crackers." I guess this could be a cheap Christmas for us!

He was not so sure of Santa at first.

These are kind of far away, you may want to click on the picture to get the full expression of Henry's face.

And he refused to sit on his lap, as you can tell from his face. He did however, love the "treats" aka candy canes that Santa handed out and he continued to help himself throughout the rest of the morning.

Bubba Surprises Emily!

This picture was supposed to follow the video, but oh well, I'm done trying. Anyway, this is Henry enjoying the "treats" from Emily's shower.

During Emily's bridal shower this past weekend, Brian (aka Bubba) came home from Washington and surprised Emily, my mom and all of the other guests (except for Kate and myself). He flew in Friday night and spent some time with the Castors and ourselves and we all managed to keep our mouths shut which made for a great surprise for Emily and my mom. I tried to capture the moment the best I could but I couldn't get too close since she did not know what was coming. We all had a great time and are very excited to have Bubba home until Christmas and cannot wait for the wedding!

Fall Fun!

Even though we have a very small yard, we have a quite large tree that blesses us with many, many leaves every year. This year we recruited the help of Henry. It's about time he earns his keep! Although he had much more fun jumping in the piles than raking them up, we certainly enjoyed the family time we had together to tackle this job. Enjoying the pile!

I think he had enough at this point.

What a big helper!

He had his own "mini" rake, that was twice his size.