Christmas Day

Connor and Mahlon had to take their new bikes out for a test drive in the court despite the rain. They love them!!

Imagine their surprise when they walked in to new bikes left by Santa Claus!!

My mom sent them an iPod nano. That thing is too cool!! We got the transmitter so we downloaded a bunch of tunes and can move it from the home theater system in the family room, to mommy's alarm clock in her room to the car to... It is so amazing!! I'll be fighting them for that present I think!!

Sammy got a tetherball from Santa. He is the tetherball king at school!!

Connor being a goofball with his stocking.

And Sammy...

And Mahlon...

Don't you love Sammy's dinner? All that good food and he eats a banana! Gotta love that boy!!

Good dinner, good drink and good people! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Eve in San Francisco

I went into San Francisco's Union Square to meet my sister, Shannon, and her fiance, Logan, this year. It was a beautiful night and we just walked around and had an appetizer and drink before heading back to Dixon to get ready for Christmas morning.


The tree in the rotunda of Neiman Marcus was just amazing!!

Shan and I in front of the tree in Union Square.

Union Square was full of people admiring the tree and holiday lights and listening to carolers, etc. Very fun and festive!!

In Our 'Hood

These pictures came out kind of dark but I had promised all of the boys in the 'hood that I would blog their night. We have the greatest court. I don't know what I'd do without my fabulous neighbors and the boys would be truly bored without all of the boys and activities on the court.

Devon Stone, Justin Giardino, Connor and Angel Lara all waiting for Jake Giardino to throw the football.

Devon and Connor battling it out for the pass.

Justin and Jake Giardino. Those Giardino boys are so darn cute!!

The whole crew out playing football in the court. Notice how nice the Giardino's house looks in the background. Joe always does the best job putting their lights up!

And finally we have the mellow, videogame-addicted boys, Sammy, Miguel Lara and Mahlon. The boys so adore all their buds "in the 'hood!"

Gymnastics Camp

The boys did gymnastics camp at a local gym this week for Christmas vacation from school. They all had a blast! They ran and climbed around for 4 hours each day with a bunch of their friends and crashed when they came home.

Mary Beth doing her hand stand. She loves the gym!

Mahlon waiting patiently for his turn on the trampoline.

There were a ton of kids there today. It seemed rather chaotic to us parents but the instructors and kids seemed to have a great time.

Sammy and Joey with Jamie on the trampoline.

Even Connor had a great time.

Movie Time

We watched "Christmas With The Kranks" this afternoon with some of our neighborhood boys. Jake told me that I should put this picture up as "Random Picture of the Day." We've got from left to right: Mahlon, Devon Stone, Justin Giardino, Jake Giardino, Sammy and Connor on the floor. What a bunch of goofballs! Cute movie, though.

Tree Trimming

We finally got the tree decorated this morning. I guess better late than never!!


Mahlon looks almost angelic with the lighting to the left of him. Couldn't be farther from the truth, could it? Just joking!!

Nice pajamas, boys! What a bunch of hotties!!

T'dah! The final product! Just a little bit of bunching in some areas but not too bad on the whole. Good job, guys!!

The Lindenmuth Boys Will Not Be Outdone By The Giardino's!!

After a trip to Coldstone and Candy Cane and Lollipop Lane tonight, Mahlon and Connor simply couldn't resist getting into our friend's dog box in the back of his truck. They surely weren't going to be outdone by Joshy after seeing his picture in Cheetoh's kennel on Trina's blog!!

Connor barely fit so you can just see his face.

He looks rather comfortable behind those bars, doesn't he?!

Sammy's Christmas Performance

Sammy had his 1st Grade Winter Performance this past week. They sang a bunch of Christmas and Chanukah songs. Very cute! Everyone did a fabulous job and looked just darling in their reindeer antlers and bells!!

Waiting in the classroom for curtain call!

All three monkeys!

Just singin' away!!

Sam's whole class.

Happy Birthday To You!!

Happy 5th Birthday to our friend, Mary Beth! It seems like just yesterday!! Have a great birthday baby girl!

And Finally, The Tree!!

They all had to take turns sawing the tree down. Looks fun, huh?!

Sammy

Mahlon

Connor


Little Mahlon hauling that big old tree back down the hill.

And finally, Connor, Mahlon and our friend, Marissa, loading the tree into the truck. Time to head home. It was a fun-packed long day!

Fishing at Apple Hill

We found the farm that had the trout fishing pond. Very fun! The boys had a great time even though they didn't catch anything. They had fun just casting and pulling the line in. They all have the patience of a gnat and refused to let it sit out there too long. I'd say that I probably won't have any fishermen!

Apple Hill

We took a trip to Apple Hill yesterday to cut down our Christmas Tree. This was the first time that we've ever cut it down ourselves. It was very fun. We'll have to continue this on as a new holiday tradition. We fished in the trout pond, ate caramel and chocolate apples, rode the ponies, etc. The boys had a blast!

The three monkeys monkeying around. Poor Sammy!

The boys relaxing on the swings at one of the orchards. Looks comfy!

Dixon Christmas Tree Lighting

The tree lighting in town is always a great time. We always end up running into and visiting with old friends that we haven't seen in a while. The boys enjoy seeing all of their friend, munching on popcorn and candy cane, sipping hot cocoa and cider and visiting with Santa. Mahlon was the only one who wanted to sit on Santa's lap, Lord only knows what he asked for...Sammy couldn't figure out what he wanted (because he needs absolutely nothing) and Connor was too embarrassed because of his tooth.

Here are the boys with our good friends Joey and Mary Beth Baker. Everyone's munching away and having a good time.

And here they are with our friends Samantha, David and Katy Choy. I have a picture that I'll have to dig out and post of this crew from when Mahlon and David were at Early Learning Center which must have been from at least 4 years ago.

Our friend Mary Beth was supposed to dance with her ballet class but no one else showed up and she wasn't up for a solo performance. She looked so precious, though.

She was a little upset that she didn't get to dance so the boys and I brought her a rose. Nice look, huh? Maybe she should give up ballet and take up tango!

Every party must come to an end! Hopefully this is not a premonition of how my kids' nights will end, in the back of a cruiser! Lord help me in the coming 10 years!