nye photo booth

You know I can't get enough of a photo booth!

brothers

There are a ridiculous number of photos from our holiday trip to Tucson to sort through, but in the meantime it's been a while since I had a big stack of brother photos I wanted to just mash together and throw up here...  Those sweet guys made 2016 a really fun year regardless of all the messy garbage. I'm so grateful to live in the moment with them.

tucson preview

Here some snaps from Tucson until I can get the rest sorted out ;)  

xmas morning

So much fun opening presents on Christmas morning!  Thanks Nana and Grampa!  These pictures give you a good idea ;)

xmas eve

Frosty left us a nice note and delivered a Christmas tree to the ranch before we arrived - Thanks Nana and Grampa for helping Frosty with that sweet delivery ;) Nana also made sure we had cookies to leave out for Santa that night.  Santa knew right where to deliver since we had giant santa hats by the tree and fireplace ;)

First thing that morning there was plenty of excitement with that bedhead guy that just couldn't help but sing into his giant lollipop.

merry cards

Merry, merry from these guys that cooperated for some photos for PopPop on a cold afternoon...

tree

Visiting the trees around at the National Harbor and Mosaic...  Check out that snow globe ornament Keaton made for us - cute business.

national harbor

The tradition of visiting the National Harbor to see the dancing fountain, decorations, and daddy's favorite Pepper Palace - was made even better by the addition of plenty of Pokemon Santa Pikachus to catch ;) 

carter

Carter, our Elf on the Shelf, had many adventures visiting us this year!  He had a ton of fun beating the snowman at races up the trees.  The snowman brigade then captured him, and by the next day they were playing cards.  We'll see you next year, Carter!

Two favorite Keaton art projects - there are a lot!

panoramic singing

Singing in the Rain was Aiden's first show in the 9-16 year old bracket. The group of younger kids all played different old school actors and he was Fred Astaire with his buddy Maura as Ginger Rogers. They had some pretty advanced choreography and Aiden was grooving. My favorite scene by far was the Singing in the Rain song and the Good Mornin song was an equal ear worm that gets nice and stuck in your head.  Here are some panoramics from the thrust stage with the audience on three sides.

little stars

Keaton first official A F Y P Showcase was a series of Hollywood productions they created with their chosen characters. Keaton was Bark the Dog in the Animal Equity Association and one of his lines included saying that mouthful of a title which was impeccably cute. They danced and sang Singing in the Rain and Pharrell's Happy (which is quite an anthem for this guy and his buddies).  His director Ms. Rebecca was very sweet to him and we were lucky that two of our neighbors joined the class too. 

class party

Keaton's winter class party was a blast. They had a pajama party day at school where he debuted his new Wild Kratts zebra creature power suit.  They had some fun games: candy cane fishing, pin the button on the gingerbread man, and wrap a snowman.  They decorated gingerbread cookies and made beaded candy canes.  It made an already exciting day even more exciting.  I headed from Keaton's party to Aiden's international luncheon where I found him sick and ready to head home. I was glad I was there to take him home immediately. Poor guy bounced back very quickly and even ate dinner but he left for break with a bang.

would you rather xmas

Would you rather... the Xmas edition:

Not celebrate Christmas this year or not celebrate your birthday?

Not my birthday because we both get presents and more on Xmas

Make presents or ornaments instead of buying them?

Make presents because they are presents like real toys - and when I touch toys it's like smelling a flower!

Have to loudly sing the chorus to Jingle Bells every time you walk in a room for a week or have to wear a Santa suit every day for a week? Sing jingle bells because then I'll have Christmas spirit!

Have Frosty or Rudolph as your friend?

Rudolph because he's a red nosed reindeer - plus he's one of my favorite colors and I really like reindeers because I could go with him to the north pole because he can fly

Have Christmas tree tinsel hair or fingernails that light up like Xmas lights?

Fingernails that light up because then when I'm singing I would flash them with even more Christmas spirit

Eat your cereal with eggnog instead of milk or eat a candy cane sandwich?

Candy cane sandwich because i would take off the candy canes and just eat them

Live in a giant gingerbread house or ride on the Polar Express?

Ride the Polar Express because you get presents on there!

Have a nose that glows red like Rudolph or have pointy ears like an elf?

Nose like Rudolph because I'd like to be a baby reindeer that people think is cool

Get many small presents or one big present?

One big present because it's a big present and it could be anything!

full peter video

So glad to have this full video taken by the media teacher at the school despite it being kinda grainy - This was the last performance for the whole school and it's fun to have the kids laughing, etc:
Peter ! from LB on Vimeo.

houses

We switched it up this year and found a chocolate cookie train and an all chocolate house.  I didn't realize we had to actually melt and mold the chocolate ourselves, but it all worked out ;)  Now we definitely have the tastiest treat house!

tidbits

This season it always seems like there is so much going on...  I finished out my final training to be a wish granter for Make-a-Wish with this great group of people.  The Kid Care Club filled over 130 gift bags as a thank you treat for the teachers and staff at the school.  Dress rehearsals for the Singing in the Rain show where Aiden was learning how to tie a tie. A goodbye dinner to good friends headed back to Arizona after a really nice semester long visit.

The Elf on the Shelf has been darting around causing all sorts of funny business.  I get the report on what he's up to when I wake up every morning.  This big stuffed snowman guy and the tiniest tree at the boy's school ;) I wrapped a bunch of presents that the boys just like to hang out by and wonder...

santa

santa flight school

What's better than matching sweaters and a really cool Santa setup? A fast pass that gets you to the front of line is pretty sweet.  The boys were measured for their Santa suits, they danced in their virtual suits on the big screen, monitored the gift loading, prepped the sleigh, and mapped the path... and then Santa even gave them flight ids and a hero badge.

training video

These guys took their Santa Flight Academy training pretty seriously, and in the end said it was easy to save the day and earn their "Santa's Hero" badge ;) Santa's Flight Academy from LB on Vimeo.

tis the season

For fun friendly holiday parties with photo booths!

one sec fall

It's time to flash through the fall in one second a day... It honestly felt like it went this fast in real life too. One Second Fall 2016 from LB on Vimeo.

whirlwind

Flash back to that really busy weekend with Peter Pan, Little Stars Singing in the Rain, and a quartet at Aiden's piano recital... whoosh, that was a whirlwind.
Whirlwind Weekend from LB on Vimeo.

botanical trains

Every year the Botanical Garden out does itself with the train exhibit made from all natural materials. This year they had all National Parks and Landmarks which was incredible.  

botanical

The National Botanical Garden is a seasonal tradition for us.  This year they even had the lobby decorated in my favorite Charley Harper National Park prints.

neighborhood holiday party

The pool club was party central again for the neighborhood winter party. Keaton was just slightly confused and asked for a pumpkin face paint, which I think just proves that time is flying and Halloween feels like yesterday ;)  The funny magician and good friends topped off with cookie decorating and plenty of dancing... big thumbs up from the Brennan brothers.

decorating

Pulling out the xmas decorations and realizing that the boys really remember our traditions. They look for certain ornaments and get that they are sentimental.  The last nutcracker for Keaton to decorate ;)

tree lighting

You know what can make Mosaic even better? Santa roaming around, live music, giant evergreen reindeer, and free Nando's chicken wings ;)  

meadowlark

Always a treat and somewhat of a tradition, we made it to Meadowlark Botanical Gardens for the light walk with my parents.  This year they had kaleidoscope glasses which were fun for the music show.  The s'mores at the end are a nice treat.