The Holidays

The Wogloms of Kansas would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy New Year! We had a lovely holiday, the boys have officially watched more movies in a two week period than they have in their entire lives, Chris went with us to see Star Wars and claimed it was the "best movie ever," we had a great visit with the Titus Family, I turned 40 and now we are hibernating inside because of the Arctic temperatures outside. It was a good break! Here are a few pics (although I didn't go crazy taking too many). I will also start off with Christopher playing "Joy to the World" at our Christmas Eve service at church...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQlyvDUDnC8

Christmas Eve Day

We've had a lovely Christmas Eve day. After playing in the snow, the boys made gingerbread houses, J vacuumed, Chris made cool stuff and the doggies snuggled together... Now we await Christmas Eve service (where Chris is playing piano) and Santa's visit!

It Does Snow in Kansas!

Just in time for Christmas, we woke up to snow this morning! The boys were very excited and, once again, we were seriously underprepared for how much Christopher's feet grew this past year. Looks like we'll be getting him new boots next week. In the meantime, he is wearing my old boots. Jonathan was just fine size wise but he spent all of five minutes in the snow before he decided it was too cold and messy...

Athena, on the other hand, was having some serious fun in the snow with Holly! Recently we figured out that Athena is most likely from Mississippi, which means she most likely has never experienced snow before. Either way, she really seemed to like it!

Irish Dance

So in the beginning of November, Christopher started taking Irish dance at The O'Riada Manning School of Irish Dance. To put it mildly, Christopher loves it! He's picked up the steps quickly and has learned a handful of basic dances, like the reel, light jig, treble jig and hornpipes. (This world is very new to me so I'm learning all the terms, steps and dances too!). They have soft shoe dances and hard shoe dances (the latter is the coolest!). Here is a video of Chris dancing a treble jig in his hard shoes. He's only allowed to dance in the house in the laundry room or basement with the hard shoes because they scuff up the hardwoods!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFtcU1usRVY

Christopher's teacher said he's progressing well and gave him the green light to participate in a feis (pronounced "fesh"). His first feis will probably be in April in town but according to several parents I've spoken too, we may eventually be taking trips to South Dakota, Arkansas, Kentucky and Chicago for these things! And to think we were avoiding hockey because of the travel!

Grandma and Grandpa's Visit

This past weekend, Grandma Jan and Grandpa Eric visited us and we all had a great time! The boys especially enjoyed going to Union Station and Crown Center and making baked Alaska with Grandma. It was a fun weekend!

This morning we had our friends Jack and Maddie over for a Christmas Break playdate. Everyone was exhausted by the end of the morning! The kids made a play dough feast for Leatha and I including a gingerbread girl and house...

Comfy

I think she's officially spoiled!

Cookie Baking Time

Jonathan and I started our holiday cookie baking this morning! He is sporting his great grandfather's Navy apron. Grandpa Clyde made this apron in the Navy and it fit J just right. This first batch of cookies is for a party I'm hosting on Friday as well as for the boys' teachers. Round two next week!

J's First Music Program

Jonathan had his first little music performance at school today! This kids sang a selection of Christmas songs. It was so cute! Here is J's grand entrance...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7h5KA13z88

And here is one of the songs they sang for us...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiJ3JKMH_bY

Midwest Weather

Yesterday (December 4, 2017) the boys chose to wear shorts, not in the typical "I-don't-really-feel-the-cold-because-I'm-a-kid" way. It was literally in the mid 60s and a little humid! Here is a seasonal picture for you: shorts and a Christmas tree...

Today we were bundled back up in winter hats, gloves, coats and boots because it was 32. Yay Kansas!

Sometimes at church, Christopher participates in something called acolyting, which is where the kids light the candles for the service. This past Sunday, Chris and Giles took on the task together. Handsome boys!

Also, the girls have been bonding happily. They play and wrestle in the backyard all the time! And recently, I've caught them curled up on the couch together...

Apparently, however, Athena missed the memo informing all dogs that 3 AM is not an acceptable time to have to go outside. Even crazy Holly is like, "Say what?!" We're working on that one. The good thing about perspective is that with both Holly and Kasey (if you can believe it) we had a period  after we got them when we said, "I really want to just give this dog back" and we haven't had that with Athena yet. Hope I'm not jinxing it!

Hoppy Hanukkah

Here is a video of Jonathan reading his current favorite book, Hoppy Hanukkah....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S_uMZHMYMw

Movie Time

Jonathan went to the movies for the first time today! We picked "The Star" which turned out to be a good choice. Not too long, not scary, and both boys enjoyed it. J did pretty well for his first theater experience. He didn't mess with the recline buttons too much until the end and he got to enjoy a big old bag of M&Ms!

Baby in a Basket

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a really nice Thanksgiving weekend here in Kansas! The weather was stunning, especially for late November. Thanksgiving morning was cold, but as the day went on it warmed up a bunch. We enjoyed our Thanksgiving afternoon in the sun on our patio with no coats while the kids and dogs played in the backyard. Here is Brian working hard to prepare our feast...

And I was slaving away to prepare these fancy, not-turkey cutlets!

The dogs have been enjoying the backyard a lot! We think Athena may have been a strictly outdoor dog based on a lot of her behaviors so she loves the backyard. She and Holly have been playing like crazy together...

They are also very good at relaxing together inside...

Friday was probably the most beautiful day of the weekend, and we went to the Overland Park Arboretum for the Luminary Walk. This was the first year we brought Jonathan with us and it was a perfect night! We got there early so we wouldn't have to wait on long lines. Some of the pictures I have are from early in the evening before it got really dark so they lights don't look as stunning as they did later on. Volunteers set up thousands of luminaries and decorate with Christmas lights. It was a beautiful evening!

Last night, Grammy and I went to a local historical house in Westport where they were having an 1860 re-enactment/candlelight tour of a pre-Civil War era home. It was really cool and the "characters" included us in their re-enactment. When they questioned our clothing (ladies wearing jeans???) we just told them we were from New Jersey. "Oooooh" they said.

Family Time

On their first full day of Thanksgiving break together, the boys enjoyed our abundant leaves all over the yard! Chris raked two huge piles for them to jump in and they had a great time...

 After dinner, Mommy "relaxed" on the couch with all the kids...