R.I.P.D.

Sadly, I'm not going to give you a review of the not so good movie, R.I.P.D. Rather, we are saying good-bye to Cole's first pet, Dusty. Rest in peace buddy. You were not around long, but you were a good pet and annoyed me less than Bella (sorry Bella).

It happened last night. Cole and I went to feed him and discovered him upside down in his bowl. Cole didn't even really notice. I had to quick call Kristin because she was at the pet store buying some more fish stuff, obviously no longer needed. Although Cole did say, "I guess I need to get a new fish." He really didn't seem to care all that much. I actually had to try and get Cole and Henry to take the whole situation more seriously because they thought it was hilarious that we were going to flush him down the toilet. In the end, we had a nice good-bye. Cole, Henry and I all said some kind words and then Cole did the flushing. He finished by telling us, "I will remember Dusty."

I'm pretty sure it was the dirty water that killed him. I was seriously just about to change it.

On a weird note, Cole now wears "night gloves." An invention of his own that are really just socks on his hands. 

Pizza Party, Holiday Spirit

We had Cole's pizza party over the weekend and also started to get into the holiday spirit. Overall, I think Cole's party was a success. We were a little mad at Palermo's because they didn't specifically tell us that their lines were not going to be operating for the tour. It would have been a lot cooler seeing everyone at work. The kids seemed to have a good time which is all that matters, I guess.

We asked everyone to wear Cole's favorite color for his party. Hen even sported orange undies. 

Getting party-ready. Don't worry, we fixed that hair

2 hours has never dragged by so slowly, 4-5 year olds are exhausting!

The boys got some goodies for St. Nick, so it seemed like we better get the tree up and start the Christmas celebration. We put up an ugly fake tree that will be finding its way in the garbage after this Christmas. Cole did most of the tree decorating. I also found a nail on the outside of our house to hang a wreath. Done!

The boys even hauled up Xmas bins from the basement.

Bella has an anxiety disorder so the vet suggested this "Thunder Shirt." She hates it and cries while wearing it 

Cole took a decorating break to platy some Mario Kart in the Man Cave. He's getting pretty good, but I still lap him.

On Saturday we went to the Country Inn & Suites for the Country Christmas lights. The boys love this and love sitting up front with us as we drive through. Cole seemed close to shedding tears of joy so I'm guessing we'll end up doing it again this season. 

On Sunday we went to Great Gandma's and Grandpa's to watch the Christmas train go by. Well, we watched and watched, had many false alarms, but no train. Around 8:45 p.m. we finally left since the kids were getting tired and asking to go home. At about 9:00 p.m. the train came by. Damn it. So close.

Holy S*@! I have a 5 year old

Kristin and I recently turned 35 and Cole turned 5. I am starting to feel old. Kristin and I even discussed watching 60 minutes and Dateline and enjoying them. Definitely a sign of old age. As I feel pretty horrible about 35, Cole on the other hand, was very excited and happy to be turning 5. He woke up on Saturday and claimed to be bigger and stronger (just so happens I woke up fatter and weaker thanks to our Thanksgiving dinner).

Thanksgiving was nice and we all enjoyed it. Surprisingly, I don't think I took any pictures though, so we will just jump to Sunday and Cole's birthday.

We had the family over for brunch, which I have now figured out is definitely just for college kids (and they just call it breakfast). Poor Cole had to wait until after 10:00 a.m. to start opening his presents. He did pretty well being patient. We also all got very hungry waiting for brunch to start.

Cole got a ton of presents. Looked like Christmas had come early in our living room. He got a lot of Hot Wheels and Lego stuff. We also took him to the pet store and let him pick out a goldfish. He named him Dusty. For a brief time he changed it from Dusty to Lamp, but luckily changed it back to Dusty.

This Saturday will be Cole's party with his school friends. We are going on a pizza factory tour at Palermo's. Should be fun.

Henry got three presents of his own, so I'm not sure why he seems to have an attitude.

Bampa impressed us all with his pancake skills and made Cole a special 5 pancake

Birthday donut/ice cream sundae (at 11am)

Again with the attitude Henry!

And this starts again. 

We also had our family pictures over the weekend. The kids did not do great, but we should at least get a Christmas card out of it. You can check them out here.

Some other recent pictures are below. I also wanted to share the new game Henry started to play recently:  Punch Fighting. It is exactly what it sounds like, a fist fight. He'll just call out "punch fight!"and then starts to throw down. There are apparently no rules as he challenged me to a punch fight and then proceeded to kick me in the nuts.

I bet dollars to doughnuts Grammie DJ made a comment about Cole being her little angel.