Category: Family

We signed up again for the annual fire station fundraiser! You provide the present and donation, and here comes Santa on a fire truck with the sirens a blazin’! Needless to say, for two little boys who love fire trucks and Santa BUT really love getting presents, this is a total hit! Andrew was a bit apprehensive of the big guy but certainly mustered the courage to get his present when his name was called.

Love our Hogan-Phillips family traditions! Now if we could only get everyone to look and smile at the camera at the same time…. #2018goals

…And if there were words to accompany these pictures they would be:

Andrew: Hey Teddy! Mommy got us all dressed up nice to visit Santa. And she really wants to take a picture. But let’s see how quickly she’ll get frustrated and want to throw the phone across the yard. I’m going to be serious.
Teddy: Cool! I’ll smile and be super cute!

Andrew: It’s working!

Teddy: I’m hamming it up big time and you won’t crack a smile, Andrew. She’s gonna blow!

Andrew: I’ll give her a half smile.
Teddy: Cool. I’ll look down now.

Andrew: Nice work.
Teddy: I think I saw a new gray hair.

Together: Let’s practice NOT looking at the camera and NOT smiling at the same time.

Andrew: Have we practiced enough? Your ready for Santa little brother?
Teddy: I think so. Let’s go meet Santa and give mommy a photo to remember.

Mission accomplished. These boys have an amazing way of making me laugh, smile, cringe and cry all at the same time! And I wouldn’t trade them for anything. Merry Christmas from the Phillips brothers!

The first snow of the winter! On Saturday about 3-5 inches of light, fluffy white stuff fell. Last year Andrew really never got much of a chance to play outside because of the new baby, his varied illnesses and a downright refusal to wear ANY sort of snow gear. But much to my total delight he put on his snow pants, boots, gloves and hat with (almost) no fuss! It probably helped that I lured him with the promise of ‘snow digging!’ The kid is a total sucker for anything that involves a dump truck or digger.

Andrew loved the snow and ‘making paths’, aka shoveling. The snow was so light that he could easily push it around with the kid-size snow shovel I found for him at the rummage sale last fall. He legitimately shoveled a big chunk of the driveway and I didn’t stop him one bit. It’s about time he pulls his weight around here!?

On Sunday once the snow stopped, Teddy and Daddy got in on the fun too. Teddy was skeptical at best of his first sled ride and the whole experience for that matter. And Daddy was pretty pleased with the snowman he built!

We took ‘going to get our Christmas tree’ to a whole new level this year! Instead of just picking out a pre-cut tree, we thought it would be fun to cut our own! [Note: the people who thought it would be fun, were NOT the people who actually cut down the tree.] We hitched up the trailer and headed to Cherryville Farms for the afternoon to find the perfect Christmas tree. The farm was great for Andrew and Austin and they loved watching the wagons and running through the field of Christmas trees.

After some deliberation each family chose their tree and the Daddies got to work with nothing but a handsaw and determination. There was a lot of heavy breathing by the men and remembering that they aren’t in their 20’s anymore. But, success! They hauled two 8+ foot trees to the wagon and we rode back the farm for some hot chocolate and well deserved beer (for the parents of course)!

Finding the perfect tree!

Men at work

Meanwhile the boys played and provided no support (moral or otherwise) to their fathers!

Once home we got to decorating. Andrew mostly enjoyed climbing the ladder but did take pride in putting on his Thomas, train, truck, Polar Express and handmade ornaments.

Final product! Merry Christmas 2017!

By all accounts I think Andrew had a pretty great 3rd birthday. It started with presents and talking cards from Mommy, Daddy and Teddy over breakfast. Then I came to school to read a book to his class. We chose ‘Monsters LOVE Underpants’ to read with his school friends (PS- I LOVE that his teacher includes parents!). By Andrew’s choice I brought donuts to share with his friends for morning snack. Candles and singing occurred of course.

After lunch and nap, Andrew’s best buds Austin and Abigail came over along with the families for playtime, french fries, pizza, cupcakes (and beer). Lots of laughter, toddler screams of joy and of course, candles and singing!

Happy birthday Andrew! We love you!

Our busy and fun filled weekend started with a walk at Jockey Hollow on Friday night. Andrew usually indulges me for the first 40 minutes so I can get some exercise in but the he wants to walk…and climb on rocks, run on trails, splash in the creek, pick up sticks, and so on. He’s our very own explorer.  We also found and brought home wood for the fire pit while daddy was away. #strongmommy On Saturday we went to the Science Museum with the Hogan’s to celebrate Andrew and Austin’s 3rd birthday. Highlights were the big tubes and the Thomas table! Even though it was all about the ‘A team’, here’s proof that Charlie and Teddy were there. Don’t they look thrilled?! We rounded out Saturday with a family fire and some s’mores! And on Sunday we went to see ‘mutts gone nuts’; a dog show with Uncle Peter and Aunt Judy where the dogs do all sorts of fun tricks. Andrew did pretty good for the most part!

Big adventures for our little family! Its truly an amazing gift to experience the world through the eyes of a child! ❤️

Happy Halloween 2017!

Summary: Teddy was a bear and Andrew was a lion (so of course I was a tiger and Andy was ‘oh my!’). They looked one step shy of being tortured at the school parade. But Andrew rallied in time to go out with his best buddies Abigail and Austin. Three 3-year olds are AWESOME at running from house to house asking for candy. And trying to get 6 kids fed, in costumes and to stay together while we roam the neighborhood is truly chaotic!

Parade:

Trick or treating!

We took advantage of a rainy Sunday to finally carve our pumpkin. Andrew chose the face from a few options in his books and got right in there for the carving. My favorite is when we told Andrew he needed to scoop out the insides. So he went and got a digger. ? Love it. The final product! Sweet and simple!