Christmas Morning and Beyond

Looks like the jingle bell trick worked... Santa found us!

Stocking joy... flying the little owl finger puppets they found stashed inside... later they pigged out on the Swedish Fish they found in the toe.... one of Grandpa K's favorites they have inherited. 

In spite of the serious expression, Eli was excited about his baseball glove.  We have all been practicing a little catch in the house.  Baseball gloves take some getting used to!

Perfecting the paper tearing skills....

And finally, the BIG old box from SANTA!  Could it be?  Did he honor the desperate wish of two little boys?

YESSSSS!  Like magic I tell ya!

Thankfully Daddy is good at setting up tracks and installing batteries....

And this is what they did for the next six hours.  The C batteries were completely dead by the end of the day... the boys were sad that all the stores were "closed" because it was Christmas, and they had to wait until the next day for us to go get more. 

Owen's favorite part was running the controller.  He got it figured out really fast and could make the train go forward, back, come to a stop, blow it's whistle, and shout "All about the Polar Express!"

Eli's favorite part was watching the train chug on the tracks, really up close!

Owen took a train break to play "washing dishes" with his new dish set that he got.  What fun that's been!  Both boys have had a good time playing with them in the sink... they like washing them more than playing food with them.

Eli finally got a turn with the controller....

Brad had to work again Christmas night... so while we was gone we snuggled up in Christmas PJ's, had some snacks, and finished the night watching the Grinch. 

The day after Christmas we took a family trip to Target and the Mall (one in the same out here) - and yes, Daddy was home with us!  There is a carousel in the food court - a nice reward for boys who try hard to be good in Target. 

Back home, Daddy got the trampoline assembled.  This ended up being a joint gift from the grandparents on both sides... and oh the jumping joy we've had on it! 

We also busted out the "Cat in the Hat, I can Do That!" game that Eli got for Christmas.  It has all kinds of funny tricks in it that you have to do... it was especially funny to laugh at Daddy crab walking with items from the game on his head!

Overall, a super fun holiday.  In spite of Brad working some overtime shifts, it was nice and relaxed.  As much as we miss our families at the holidays, it was really wonderful this year to be able just to enjoy each other and our home, with no crazy packing/cross country driving/dealing with kids on vacation etc.  The gifts were well chosen, but fewer in number this year which was also nice... trying to keep the house from being over run when we have to pack and move in the spring.  And it reminds us to keep focused on the most important part of Christmas holiday - enjoying each other and making lasting memories!  I think 3 and 5 year olds at Christmas are the BEST!  They really made the magic for Brad and I this year!

Christmas Festivities

We had a lot of fun getting ready for Christmas this year.   We used our Family Home Evening Nights to talk about the real reason for Christmas.  One night we set up our little Nativity under the tree, and the boys had fun "playing away in a manger" as they called it.  The little figures were rearranged on a daily basis.  We also set up a "treasure box" under the tree and each  night (when we remembered) we would talk about kind things they had done for others that day, which is like giving a gift to Jesus.  They would then get coins to represent their good deeds and put them in the box. 

 
 

We also re-enacted the Nativity; a tradition from my childhood that I love carrying out with my kids!  They voted for me to be Mary, Eli was Joseph, Owen the Shepherd, and Brad got to be the donkey AND the angel.  Lucky guy!  The boys took their roles seriously and called me Mary for the rest of the night!  They took great care in watching over baby Jesus, making sure he was swaddled, and bringing him to me if they felt he was hungry or needed a snuggle. 

And of course we love to play along with the Santa Myth too.  He's definitely not the focus of our Christmas traditions, but we don't see any harm in pretending.  We tell the boys that the reason Santa does "good deeds" of bringing gifts to children is to remind us all of the most special gift of Christmas.  They seem to understand the concept just fine.  We had a fun time at Bass Pro shops visiting Santa this year.  Eli and Owen were both so brave and walked right on up to sit with him and request "A Polar Express that moves by itself!"  Santa was a little thrown since he'd already prepared their gifts for Christmas, so there were some last minute returns and quick Amazon orders to get it right, haha. 

A favorite at Bass Pro is watching the Christmas train they have set up every year.

Earlier in the month of December, just days before Eli's birthday, we ended up with a Winter Wonderland for a few days!  I was glad I actually bought snow gear this year, because the boys were finally able to get out and experience the magic of winter.  In fact, they like playing outside in the snow more than in nice weather I think!  The snow has since melted and we've had a lot of warmer sunny days, and it's like pulling teeth to get them outside!  Here they are catching snowflakes with their tongues.

We also got a basic sled this year - we have the perfect little bunny hill in our backyard for sledding.  I told the boys I wasn't going to be hauling it up and down the hill for them, so they could play with it however they choose.... well I was surprised and proud when they figured out how to hold it for each other and take turns pushing each other down the hill!  It was so fun!

Another of our FHE nights is a Columbia, MO tradition - a visit to the Magic Tree.  One man has taken it on himself to spread Christmas cheer by decorating this tree top to bottom every year... actually it used to be a tree at his home, but traffic got so heavy over the years that it is now a tree in a shopping area that he uses... the lights slowly morph and change color as you watch.  The kids LOVE running around under it and trying to touch the lights.

 Brad had to work all day Christmas Eve (even though it was Saturday), so the boys and I made sure to fill the day with fun.  The boys donned their hats and took their jingle bells outside... I told them they had to run around and ring the bells and sing as loud as they could so Santa would know how to find our house... they took this job very seriously!

Then we did some Yoga ABC's (really so fun - check it out from your library!) to re focus. 

Our house on Christmas Eve.... I made the stockings last year - they are burlap and muslin with distressed black wood letters for our initials... the tree is wrapped in burlap at the bottom with a burlap "garland" tucked in. 

Cookie making actually took place the day before Christmas Eve.  This is the first time I've really had the boys get down and dirty with cookies, and it was so much fun!  We made a modified ginger bread cookie recipe, and they got to help mix, and then roll it out and cut the shapes!  They really did a great job! It reminds me of so many fun Christmases from my childhood, making cookies with my mom and sister.  I think we usually got just as messy! 

A little dry-erase snowman art while the cookies were baking (these have been so fun - just print various mazes/drawing/writing activities from online and laminate them - dry erase is super fun with kids, especially perfectionistic ones who don't like to mess up!)

Finally, icing the cookies!  By far the boys' favorite part!  I got colored icing in little squeeze tubes which worked out perfectly for their little hands to be able to control and draw designs with. 

Santa was so lucky to get a plate of designer cookies this year!

When Brad got home Christmas Eve, we made sure to put out a plate of cookies for Santa (of course after the boys and Daddy had some too - poor Mommy is on a restricted gestational diabetes diet so NO COOKIES) and the boys insisted we put carrots out on the lawn for the reindeer.  We read some Christmas stories and put them to bed ... but funny enough they both had trouble falling asleep they were listening so hard for the reindeer to land on our roof.  Poor Santa had to pull a really late night to surprise these guys! 

Thanksgiving 2011

We celebrated Thanksgiving at home again this year.  This late in pregnancy, traveling 20+ hours in a car was not really feasible, and saving Brad's vacay time for the birth is top priority!  This year we were able to host 3 other families at our house - The Hamptons, The Daltons, and The Whitakers ... it turned out to be so much fun!  Here's the table... hard to see in the pic but my "fancy" table runner is a long strip of burlap, and the napkins are tied with twine.  It was nice to have an excuse to unpack the nice dishes I've had in boxes since we left AZ 31/2 years ago.

The boys were so excited about the day that they were bouncing off the walls.  Brad settled down to read with them to keep them from tearing up the house. 

 Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of everyone together, but I at least got all the kids!  We had four 4-5 year olds, three 2-3 year olds, and 3 babies 6-9 months.  It was the perfect party!  Thankfully we had a break from the cold and the weather was GORGEOUS.  The kids spent a couple hours between dinner and dessert playing outside.  We had SO MUCH good food and the best part was that I didn't have to do much cooking at all thanks to our talented guests =). 

 I at least remembered to have someone snap a picture of the four of us before everyone was gone.  And there must be some magic trick to this photo - you can hardly see my belly, but believe me it is HUGE.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

Happy October!

We were the "Gone Batty" family for Halloween!  I re-used the batwing idea from last year, but added straps so the boys could actually get them on and off themselves... and I made the hats from plain beanies.  Brad's has wings, the boys' just have eyes, ears and fangs since their wings are on their bodies.  They had a lot of fun playing bats this year, and wore their costumes for hours! Not to mention at the ward Trunk or Treat, Eli's school party, and even Gymnastics!  Trick or treating in our neighborhood was SO FUN.  Owen ran to every single house until he just couldn't move anymore, and made Brad carry him home.  Then we got to hand out candy to the later trick or treaters.  The weather was so GORGEOUS this year too!  We haven't had a warm Halloween since we left AZ!

Earlier in the month, in fact the DAY we had our ultrasound and found out baby#3 is a GIRL, we headed down to Hartsburg, MO for the annual pumpkin festival.  We enjoyed climbing around the big pumpkins, on the haybales, and through the haymaze.  The boys' got their first taste of cotton candy, and the hi-light of their day - a horseback ride!

 Eli has been enjoying pre-school SO MUCH this year.  For their first field trip this month, they went to Peachtree Farms just outside of Columbia.  Moms and little brothers got to come too, so that was nice.  We took a hayride, and each kiddo got to pick their very own pumpkin from the patch.  We fed goats, held baby bunnies, heard donkeys go "HE HAW," saw giant catfish and more!

 

                           
And I couldn't help snapping a pic of Eli and his best buddy Lydia... awwww aren't they cute?  Lydia's mom and I are good friends, and have been doing playgroup together for over two years.  Now these two get to go to pre-school together.  One day when I was picking Eli up from school, he was sad that they had to part from eachother.  He told me in his sad voice, "Mom, I MISS Lydia.  I LOVE Lydia.  I love the way she talks.  I love the way she sounds.  And........ I love the way she runs!"  Now if that's not true love... =)  Owen really likes her too, and even though he is nearly as tall as she is, she likes to be a cute little "Mom" to him.

All in all it was a great month, with great weather!  Gotta love October!