Noah's surprise visitors

For Noah's 5th birthday, Aaron's parents decided to come and surprise Noah. I gotta say, I really had a hard time keeping the surprise. But we managed to pull it off.

Noah was so excited to have them here...

and have their undivided attention:)

(This is how N always talks, with his hands. We have no idea where that Italian part of him came from:))

There is just so much to show Lolli and Poppi when they come, where to start?

We were playing a game and I was trying to take some pictures, but this is the only face B would make for me...such a silly boy

N was in school several of the morning they were here and B was having so much fun getting some undivided attention with Lolli and Poppi for the first time.

Noah also started a new adventure...Soccer! We found a great deal on Groupon and its proven to be a great way to get him some exercise and a place to run the wiggles out.

It may seem silly to say, but not very often do I get to observe his behavior when we aren't around. And I gotta say I was so excited to see how well he followed directions and listened to his teacher. (whew! All that hard work does have a reward!)

And then he'd show his non-athletic side and wave and blow kisses. Super sweet, but A couldn't understand why he wasn't always paying attention:) I do have to say that we have discovered that sports completely undermine all of what we as parents teach our kids-sharing, letting others go first, being nice, not hitting or shoving. N has been having a hard time understanding why the others won't let him take his turn at kicking the ball:)

B LOVES being N's cheerleader

And he loved having Lolli and Poppi to play with while N was having so much fun of his own.

We have had to re-organize our legos. Gone is the tacklebox, atleast for the time being. Maybe when they are older we'll bring it back out. But for now, multiple boxes with lids make a whole lot more sense and help Mama remain sane!

We started up our tradition again this year of unwrapping one book a night until Christmas and the boys love it.

And just for proof...Lolli and Poppi are helping decorate the tree.

(The first time they have ever done it together that they can remember!)

We also had our Christmas with them while they were here we all had fun playing with their gifts for the next couple of days.

How do the boys say Thank You? With a tackle hug!

And I think B is part acrobat. We were playing with his Legos and he suddenly started climbing the entertainment center to stand on his head:)