New Years Eve

We spent New Years Eve at home. The boys have done a lot of building Legos and I have been sorting them into their drawers again so they can rebuild their old ones that are broken. We also watched the first Avatar. After it was over we do our own countdown and some fireworks that Eric smuggled before sending the kids to bed for the year.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kziskrX9tJH5xSRR8

New Toys

The boys got a lot of fun new toys for Christmas. Robots, Legos, RC Cars, board games and more. They have had fun trying everything out. That will keep them busy for most of the winter. They have started building some of the robots and they still have a lot of Legos they can build.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/18dAnQ8pBesLMd8f6

Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire

I finished reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with the boys today. They had to wait a while to hear this one as the story line is a bit darker. So there was a lot of anticipation after having to wait over a year since we read the last one. So we are now watching the movie, having some butterbeers and Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cHgXpDs4RxwndiqPA

Lucas' Birthday Party

Jake got invited to his first sleepover at a friends house for Lucas' birthday. He was so excited for this he started his own calendar on his wall crossing off the days. It got delayed a couple weeks because Lucas' got sick, so there was even more anticipation. He had the greatest time. They went to a trampoline place, then Red Robin, and then did movies and a late night disco party.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/sWKaLfcs3iU1eYNy6

Christmas

We didn't do much decorating this year. The boys thought that all of the decorations that Buddy made in the Elf movie were pretty cool. And since I had already finished the wrapping I made them a bunch of snowflakes and hung them up after they went to sleep on Christmas Eve. I had a heck of a time sleeping as we went to a Christmas Eve party that had lots of sugar and it felt like my heart was racing while I was lying in bed. So I was actually the first to wake up in the morning at around 7. I waited for a bit, but since the boys weren't getting up I turned on the lights and called for them to wake up. They still didn't get up so I played Oh Holly Night really loud and that finally did the trick. It is kind of an inside joke because one Christmas morning at my parents house on the westside I was awoken to the blaring sound of Oh Holly Night coming through the woods from the neighbors house. Santa also left Tommy a special message under the tree and a bucket of cheese. Although he didn't seem too phased. Though he told me that was because he got up in the middle of the night and snuck out there to look. After opening our presents we went over to my parents house to visit with family and for roast beef dinner. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/431sDHggEcWsmHQW6

Christmas Ornament

If you have ever wondered what it is like raising two Bingham boys this is a pretty good glimpse. Turn up the volume. Hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. From the lovely little Bingham's.

Sorry I didn't send out Christmas cards this year. I was super busy with work and our post office is super messed up right now anyway. Maybe I will get to it next year.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/48iezAigLTRfC9Uz8

Sledding on Ice

While I was working this morning the boys thought they would go out sledding. I guess the ice sheet created a bit of a Chevy Chase moment and Jake shot into the blackberries. Guess they won't try sledding on an ice sheet again. Don't worry. He is fine.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/b4TTqnqtFX3eEWB58

Sledding

We have had a little bit of snow so the boys have been out sledding. They are hoping for more snow.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DYCu8GZzYPoQFq79A

Sad Elf

After the Santa Brunch Elfy Nick left Tommy a letter talking about how Santa was disappointed in him. He ripped it up before I could get a picture of it. But I did ask him if he wanted to write Elfy Nick a letter back. He did. I can't say he put a lot of thought into it. One can hope he figures out that life will be better if he just behaves.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/biFC9mVSWHgCTniEA

Tommy's First Snowboard

Tommy has been wanting to snowboard since he saw it in the Olympics last winter. He tried to build himself a snowboard so I made him one out of pool noodles he could jump around on his trampoline with and do tricks like the Olympians. For the last year I have been looking at Grannies for a second hand snowboard. Somehow, magically I found a kid sized snowboard with bindings and snowboard boots in his size. All looking as good as new. I had to get the help of other customers in the store because I know nothing about snowboarding or skiing as I have never been. Today we got the stuff out so he could do his first snowboarding. Before I could get me shoes on and get out the door he shredded the boot lace and it broke off because he didn't tie the boot up. And he sat on the snowboard and broke one of the four bindings. Once I did get him into the stuff the best I could with it being broken, I went down the hill to take a picture and fell on my back and hurt myself and my camera fell in the snow. He made it down the hill on the board and I got a blurry picture with my camera that had a wet lens that wouldn't focus. Feels a bit of a metaphor for life right now. Why try so hard when everything turns into a dumpster fire. I am sure Tommy would prefer a bigger hill to try it out on, but I guess he at least got to try it.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/U8id5hPx2W9gDetu9

Christmas Cookies

Haven't really been in the Christmas spirit. I have been tired and busy. But I pushed through and made the Christmas cookies today. The boys helped me out, which is good because after several hours in the kitchen my foot really started to swell. We watched White Christmas while we baked and snow flakes were starting to fall outside too.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5oAwBFdaKJ69orXy7

Santa Brunch

We took the boys to the Santa Brunch at the Eagles so they could get a picture with Santa. Oh Tommy. Why? We didn't stay too long as we were pretty tired after getting up early to watch soccer. But they did get their blueberry pancakes and hot chocolate with all the toppings.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/B9GfEL6UcM2x6KfM9

World Cup Final

The boys have been really into watching the World Cup this year. And it has been the talk of the school. So we wen up to the theatre to watch the finals. We got here at 6:45 so we were a little tired. But it was fun. Such an exciting game to watch.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3JXMhcoRdL5h2n7u6

Eric's Tree

Well, Eric brought home a tree or a branch. Not sure. Likely he found it on the side of the road or something. I don't even think it can hold anything on it. And just so you know Eric has found a free tree for the last 7 years. So I have been dealing with ungroomed trees. It may be difficult to tell from the picture but on this one almost all the branches face one direction. This is worse than that year he found a tree on the side of the freeway that fell off someone's car and the top broke off. I guess this fits right in with how grinchy I have felt this holiday season anyway. I will not get into it as it is not really put me in the Christmas spirit anyway. Hoping for a Christmas miracle. I stuck a blue blanket at the bottom and maybe just like Charlie Brown it will magically turn into a whole new tree. Tommy decorated the tree with the ornaments that are his he gets to decorate with. So we will just go with it.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FJqh12vpizqvzNYv6

2nd Wrestling Meet

The boys had their second wrestling meet. They both worked really hard. They still have some moves that they need to get better at. Tommy had a hard time finding the correct position for his arms on the half. And Jake was doing the move that I call the floppy fish. It's where he rolls them on their back and lays on them with his belly button and flops around. But they are both really improving. They both ended up winning 2 and losing one. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/H4S5evoHpDioJq7V6

1st Wrestling Meet

Today was the boys 1st wrestling meet of the year. Jake wrestled 3 matches today and won 1. He is still working on his technique but he tried hard. It has been a big step up for him this year. He has been fully participating in practices and really trying. Last year he mostly ran in circles and was cracking jokes. So scoring any points at all was a big deal for him. Tommy was not feeling great this morning so he stayed home. Not sure if it was from getting his COVID booster or if he has what Jake had over Thanksgiving.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hjzpssL9JkN8nZww7

Decorating

I am not really ready to decorate at this point but the boys wanted to. So we brought out some of the stuff. And we did bring out their little tree and the ornaments that they get to decorate with.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/6MAuLAy2KxfywrVU7

Christmas Parade

We went uptown for the Christmas parade. Fortunately Tommy was feeling well enough. There was a free showing at the theatre of the Grinch. And there was even a Grinch outside that you could get your picture taken with. Then they lit the tree and there was a Christmas parade. It was really cold, but the kids had fun.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z3hU8MbCfenebQ3VA

Lena's First Wrestling Meet

We went to watch Lena at her first high school wrestling match. It was really fun to watch her wrestle. She had a pin in her first match. Then lost her second one on points, but she did great. Tommy got to be the timer assistant. His first time he was tapping the wrestlers on the foot with the towel instead of the ref. Oops... And then another time he reared back as if he was going to hammer the ref. But he tapped her nicely.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zfsM4yttpxxrfvsJ7

New Tiles

The Vashon Theatre were putting in new tiles in their entry way as they created their new pavilion outside. Eric bought some tiles. They had a grand opening and free showing of Field of Dreams to thank everyone for their donation. It happened to be Eric's birthday that day so we took him out to the movies for his birthday.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/BQkED7n6RKZJm8U59

More Snow

The was a fair amount of snow at our house yesterday so the boys had no school. I was working all day, but they went out and threw snowballs and did some sledding all morning. We had a little more snow last night. Jake got in some sledding before school the late start to today.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FS19yK87GK4iMAHu8

Covid Boosters

The boys went in to get their COVID boosters today. Eric and I already got ours a while ago. Now the boys get theirs. Everyone has their flu shot as well. Hasn't really helped too much with the cold that keeps getter passed around. But at least that is just a runny nose.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2MwMrHFpk3TXRAas8