Christmas 2009

Our Christmas festivities started off at my Grandma's house for dinner. It was delicious as always. After dinner we opened a present that our Elf on a Shelf left us before he went back to the North Pole. Pajamas for everyone and a movie to watch before heading to church for Christmas Eve service. The movie held the kids attention for about 20 minutes. At church we took the kids to the playroom, but Natalie wasn't having that. She wanted to stay with the grownups. She was so good during the service. Near the end she fell asleep in my arms which NEVER happens. I was loving every minute of it. While people stood up to sing I just stayed seated and held her. I almost had a fit of the giggles when the man behind me started using my head as a book rest for his hymnal while he stood and sang. I don't think he had any idea he was doing it, so I tried to stay as still as possible so I wouldn't jiggle his book. After service we headed home, put 3 super sleepy kids to bed in their new jammies, and got to setting up the living room with a truckload of new toys from Santa.

Christmas morning was awesome. This was the 1st year that all 3 kids really "got it." Each one got the one thing they asked for from Santa. John - a remote controlled rocket Natalie - a baby doll and Rebecca - a baby doll bed. After playing for a little while my mom, grandma, sister, brother, and someday sister in law came over. We had a little to eat and set about opening the piles and piles of gifts. John had fun with the girls jewelry...as did my brother. For lunch we went to my Dad's house. More good food (I ate WAY too much) and more presents. I think my favorite part of the day was when my dad opened my gift to him. On top of his present I had attached a couple lottery tickets. One of them was fake. When he scratched it off it said he won $20,000. He was all nervous and excited. He was a very good sport when he found out he had not actually won. He was just disappointed because he already had it spent in his mind. :)

After lunch at my Dad's we headed to Mike's parents for our final stop of the day. Everyone was in town, so it was a full house but a lot of fun. The kids played with all their cousins and the adults had time to catch up with each other's lives. More presents, more presents. We actually had to leave a few at their house because they wouldn't fit in our overstuffed sleigh, I mean car.

John is 5!!!

December 19th my little boy turned 5! He is sweet, caring, crazy, and super sassy. One minute he will come up to me out of nowhere and tell me he loves me, and the next he is emptying his glass of milk into the dogs food bowl. For his birthday party this year we had it at his Tae Kwon Do studio. This was the 1st birthday party they had ever done, so we were a little nervous, but it went great. The boys all had so much fun. They started with a warm up which was comical, as most 4-5 year olds have not been through a stretching routine.After everybody was all warmed up they went through some of the regular punching and kicking drills that they do in class. Then they brought out the pads and the big bags which the kids had a ball trying to knock over.The highlight of the day was when each kid got to decorate a board and then break it. John won't be doing this in class for quite a while, so he was pumped to get to do it on his birthday. There was quite a bit of "help" from Master George as he bent the boards a bit as the kids hit them. They were all so proud and they got to take their broken boards home as a souvenir.Instead of a cake, we had a cupcake bar. Each child got a plain, unfrosted cupcake. Then they got to go over to the bar and choose their frosting and toppings. After eating they all ran an obstacle course. I'm not sure why they had to wear a helmet, as none of it was dangerous, but they all did.

Once we came home from the Tae Kwon Do party, we set up preparations for a birthday party at home with the family. Mike braved the cold and barbecued hamburgers and hotdogs and we had present time, cake, and ice cream. I usually love making John a cake with a theme, but this year he asked for a plain circle cake. I reluctantly obliged. I made it the night before, set it in the middle of the kitchen table, and locked the dog out of the kitchen. Unfortunately at some point in the night, Mike went into the kitchen and forgot to lock the gate behind him. Arthur got in and ate the sides out of the cake. A quick trip to the grocery store resulted in a very yummy bakery made cake with pieces of candy bar on the top.

Christmas Card

Just in case anyone didn't receive our Christmas card...here's yours! :)

Bells will be ringing

Today John had his Christmas concert at preschool. Before any singing began, Pastor Liz came in to tell the story of Christ's birth. She opened with a question, "Do you know who's birthday we are getting ready to celebrate. It's someone very important." John promptly raised his hand and replied, "MINE!" Yes John, your birthday is coming up, and yes, you are very important. She was looking for Jesus though. :)

After hearing the Christmas story the kids got down to singing. They all had jingle bells to ring throughout every song and there was excitement all around when the bucket of bells was passed to the kids. They all did very well, singing all the Christmas standards. John said his very favorite was Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. After singing the parents left and the kids got down to business with their Christmas Party.

Dear Santa...

Today the kids and I braved the mall for our trip to see Santa. The whole way there we talked about how nice Santa is and how there is no reason to be scared of him. This was all fine until John saw the jolly old elf. He said Santa looked weird and he refused to sit with him. This is the same Santa we see every year, so I don't know why he thought he looked different this year. Natalie was a little shy, but sat on his lap no problem. Rebecca I had to sit with for a moment and then make the handoff to Santa and bolt out of the picture. I'll have to scan the picture and post it later. Natalie is sitting nicely (with her fingers in her mouth) and Rebecca is wailing. John is nowhere to be found.

After that we went down to Macy's where they have a letter writing area and a mailbox to send a letter to Santa. John wrote "Rocketship" and explained that Santa will know that he means a rocketship with a remote control with no fire coming out of the back. Natalie drew a baby doll and Rebecca drew a baby doll bed. I am hoping Santa can make sense of their scribbles.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

Today was the church's Christmas Pageant. John had the role of the goat. He did a wonderful job of saying his line, "I am the goat. Baaa." :) The parents of the barnyard animals had been told to make ears for the kids, but John was the only one with them on that day. He may have looked a little out of place, but adorable none the less.

After dinner tonight I finally gave in and brought out the gingerbread house to decorate. I took the easy route and bought a pre-baked, pre-assembled house that came with pre-made frosting and candies for decorating. The kids had a great time decorating it, and trying to sneak the candies in their mouth without Mike or I noticing.

Once decorations were complete I decided to do a little decorating of my own.

Arthur helped with the clean-up

After baths to clean all the frosting off the little ones we sat down and watched a bunch of home movies. The kids were so confused asking who all the babies were.

Oh, and John had another belt test in Tae Kwon Do last week and he moved up to a red stripe. I don't have any pictures of him with it though. They are on holiday break until January, so he won't be in his uniform any time soon.

Seriously????

This is what I found when I got them up from their nap. The window shade was just put up yesterday because the previous one they had torn down and destroyed like wild animals, I mean toddlers.

The suspects - caught Sharpie handed