Seeing Santa

Saturday we went to The Somerset Collection to see Santa. A place that is so swanky they call it a "collection" instead of a "mall". When Macy's is on the less expensive side of the mall, you know you are in trouble... Lucky for our bank account, we don't go there for the stores, we go to visit the most wonderful Santa I've ever seen. They take your name and give you a time to come back, you may have to wait an hour to see him, but it's not in a line and they cheer for your kids when they call their names to see Santa. You get 3 coins per kid to spend at certain stores in the mall, sorry, in the collection while you wait for them to develop your film. It's a great time and I look forward to it every year.

Alex looks a little nervous, but he was so excited to see Santa and tell him that he wants a bug vacuum for Christmas.
Matthew, on the other hand, freaked out when I tried to put him on Santa's lap. He climbed right up my arm and Santa said "I've never seen a child move so fast. He's like a spider monkey." So we took a family picture with Santa peaking out from behind the tree instead.
Once we did the group shot Matt was calm enough to sit by himself on the block, he had no idea what was going on behind him. My mom was happy because even though my nephews and niece went to see this Santa until they moved and they had some unhappy shots when they were this age, this is the first behind the tree shot we've had in the family. Oh well, he was interested in getting closer when Alex was telling Santa what he wanted and managed to gave Santa a high five before we left. He'll love it next year.

I'm not sure she's a good influence

All I can say is that this is Ms. Lisa's fault.

Christmas Trees

Today Dennis and Dan went on their yearly trip to pick out a Christmas tree. This year Alex was old enough to go with them and was very happy to be added to the family tradition. He asked if Matt and I could go too, but it was cold and snowy and Matthew will not keep a hat or gloves on so he wasn't allowed to go. Besides Matt and I had a secret mission to go on while the men were out hunting for a tree, we called it, Operation Christmas Spirit. While the details of our mission are top secret, I can tell you it was a success. Dennis, Alex & Uncle Dan (the best Burdziak brother-in-law ever!) ready to go get my tree. Alex wanted no part of the picture until Uncle Dan said he would pick him up and suddenly a picture seemed like a good idea.
Alex in front of our tree... in the wild
Matthew inspecting the bottom of the tree... everything checked out okay.
Alex hanging ornaments on the tree.

The finished product. I think the Burdziak men did a great job picking out a tree this year.

Another Fashion statement by Alex

When he saw that I had brought him home a Madagascar toy in a Happy Meal box he said, "A McDonald's on a Farm food container. Thanks Mom, it can be a hat for me." This is how quickly fashion inspiration strikes him.

Two Peas in a Pod

I laughed when I went to check on Alex one night in May of 2007 and found him sleeping like this. I thought it was so cute that I couldn't help myself, I had to take a picture before putting him back in bed. Then a few nights ago I went to check on Matt and found him sleeping like this. I laughed and knew I had to take a picture. It will make a great scrapbook page. I just love my boys.

Our Pumpkins

Dennis had a lot of fun carving the pumpkins this year.
My mom bought the boys each a small pumpkin and Dennis put an A & M on them for Alex & Matt
These are the pumpkins that the boys picked out. I don't remember which is which, but Dennis carved characters from their favorite show Pheneas & Ferb. Everyone loved these ones.
Dennis made me an Elmo pumpkin...
...and Dennis' pumpkin was a Storm Trooper.

Finally, Halloween Pictures

Everyone has been asking about the boys Halloween pictures and I finally had time to post them. We did a lot for Halloween this year. The boys got a lot of use out of their costumes. Matt was a fuzzy puppy, but didn't like the hood, so you can't see the ears in most of the pictures.

Daddy & Matt at the Great Pumpkin Quest in Brooklyn Michigan. The stores in downtown Brooklyn pass out candy and have fun activities for the kids. Alex loves getting to hang out with his "boy cousins", and we got to see them both play soccer in the morning before heading into town for the Pumpkin Quest.
Daddy & his boys picking out pumpkins at Mary's Farm Market in Canton. They only charged us $3 per pumpkin and gave the boys each a little one for free. Alex & Matt had a great time picking out their pumpkins. Alex kept saying that they were either too big or too small for him because he was either "not a grown up" or "a big boy". It was pretty funny to hear his logic for why he shouldn't pick each pumpkin.
Alex & I went to the Safe Halloween put on by the students in the SADD program at Woodhaven High School, one of the buildings I work in. Alex loved following the footprints around the building. He got to paint a pumpkin, make a cookie, get candy & have his face painted by one of the students. He had her try Lightning McQueen, it didn't really look like him, but Alex loved it.Then we went to the Trick-or-Treat Parade in Canton with Pa. They have companies and organizations from all over Canton come and hand out candy. Each little area has a different theme.
Here's Matt with his ears kind of on. He pulled it off as soon as I snapped the picture. The boys and I went out trick-or-treating for about 2 1/2 hours while Dennis handed out candy at home. We got a LOT of candy! So much that we divided it up and gave Grama & Pa their favorites, Dennis got a bag of his favorites, I took some to work for my high school students and the boys still have too much left over at home.
Here is a link to check out all the pictures from our Halloween -->adventures.