Christmas, Christmas Time Was Here

I love Christmas. What else can I say? Ours was great this year. We started off the festivities by unwrapping one gift on Christmas Eve.

Jackson had a hard time deciding. He wanted to make sure he opened a "fun" one. I helped steer him away from any clothing items, and he was happy with his choice (a toy ATV).

Megan has know for quite a while which present she was going to open. It was a present from Jackson, and here is her reaction when she realized what it was:

It was a new skateboard. It was the only thing she asked for for Christmas.

Sadie tried to unwrap her gift. But once she discovered the ribbon, she wrapped it around her neck and was content with that.

I received a really cute black shirt from my sister-in-law Krista. However, now I would like to talk a bit about the gift Eric received. I am sure many of you that have seen Sportscenter have seen the numerous commercials for FatHeads. If you haven't, they are GIANT vinyl stickers that you place on your wall. Just picture a life size football player of your choice on the wall in your home. I mentioned to Eric that he can pretty well count on never receiving one as a gift, but I failed to remember that he has a few single brothers left who think that it is the perfect gift. So now I have a huge (5 ft. by 4ft.) SeaHawks helmet to display somewhere. Yeah right. I told Eric maybe this would be motivation for cleaning the garage so he could enjoy it out there.

CHRISTMAS DAY

Like everyday, Megan woke up early. However, she didn't come and wake us up, she just turned on the cartoons, like everyday, and waited for everyone to get up. I thought for sure Jackson would come and get us up when he woke up, but no. He just hopped on the couch and watched cartoons with Megan.

Santa Came

My mom playing with the kids. She is the best pretend player I know. She plays with them continually and they love it.

We finished off the day by playing the Wii Eric's family gave us. It is 2 days later and I have to admit that I have some soreness in my legs today. Either I am quite out of shape, or am a very vigorous player.

Flaky

I am way behind on blogging. In fact I am way behind in every aspect of my life. I am not done Christmas shopping (not even close), I have not wrapped a thing, I have scads of gifts to send to send at the post office, and my laundry is out of control. But why am I so far behind? It is because I tend to take on too many new projects at the worst possible times. Projects that could wait, but because I am impatient, I cannot make them wait. One I am really excited about (piano restoration), that I will post about soon, and one that is time consuming (redoing the kids rooms), but will be excited about when it is finally finished.

Any who, How can we not talk about the snow, and an actual snow day in Las Vegas? It was very strange that the day the kids were actually out of school was the sunniest and nicest day of the week, and the 3 days previous were rainy, snowy, and cold, but that is neither here nor there. Here are some pictures of the few little flakes we got at our house.

Flashback-To Last Christmas

Megan Said-Flashback Friday Edition

Megan: "Mom is Santa real?"
Me: "Of course!"
Megan: "Well yeah! First, there is different wrapping paper, and second, there is no way parents could afford to buy that many toys."

Sadie Said

Sadie Said: "UP"

Up is Sadie's official first word. She has been saying Mama and Dada for a while, but not always in relation to us, so I do not count them. She actually uses the word up, when she wants up, so I am counting it!

Now for some pictures of her yesterday. The hat didn't last too long.

SPT

The SPT's for this month tells us to, "Take deep breaths. Channel your chi. Don't sacrifice the small, still moments. Enjoy them! And photograph them!"

Tuesday December 9th: Joy

When I hear the word joy the first thing that comes to my mind is the song Joy To The World. No, not the Christmas song, which would be more appropriate for this time of year, but rather the song by 3 Dog Night. So joy to the fishes in the deep blue see, and let heaven and nature sing. Which song do you think of first?

To learn more about SPT click here.

Too Cool For Winter

I have been wondering when Eric would forgo his summer work wardrobe for his winter one, and thought for sure today would be the day (since it is freezing outside), but no. His is still holding on to his shorts and short-sleeved shirts.


Also, my little Megan refuses to wear a coat. This is not a new occurrence. She wouldn't wear one last year either. I have given up trying to get her to wear a big coat to school, but do force her to bring a jacket. She will put it on, but will not zip it up, and as soon as she gets to school she takes it off and puts it in her backpack (that's right, I have spied on her). I'm sure she has somehow determined that it is not cool to wear a coat. But already? She is only a 3rd grader. I was at least in middle school before I was too cool for a coat. Maybe Eric also feels that he is way too cool for warm clothes.

Four on Friday

1. Uh-huh. That's right. I'm crafty. Look at these cute magnets Rachael and I made this week. I have to admit that it wasn't my idea, and Rachael actually did the painting, but putting the vinyl lettering on was all me. Pretty impressive. We also made some other stuff, but someone in my readership may be getting them for Christmas, so I must keep them a secret.


2. If you come to my house, you will now see entire cabinets emptied out, kitchen towels all over the floor, and paper fragments everywhere. There is a lot of cleaning involved in this stage of development.

3. This is what Megan and Jackson do practically every day. I had no idea how much air Megan got before I saw these pictures.

4. I really do have a great husband. I am sure all of your husbands are really great too, but I have the best. To see why, click here.

9

See those two people that look really far away? That's Eric and I getting married 9 years ago today. I would post a picture of us closer up, maybe longingly looking into each other's eyes, but I don't have one. That's right, I own no pictures of just the two of us on our wedding day. It is the one thing I would change. Well, that is not entirely true. I would also probably elope since I am not much for ceremony.
Our wedding was probably the closest thing you can get to eloping, without actually doing it. Thinking back I realize how little interest I took in it. It was very small, we had no reception, and I didn't pay much attention to the details. But neither did anyone else, hence a dress I didn't like and no pictures! Regardless, it was the day that changed my life forever.
I was so incredibly in love with Eric (still am, but I am focusing on my feelings 9 years ago). I thought he could do no wrong, was the most wonderful person on earth, and wanted to spend every minute I had with him. I just wanted to marry him. I didn't care how. I didn't care who was there. I didn't care what I was wearing. I didn't care how I looked. I didn't care where we were married or when. I just knew we had to be together. We got married pretty quickly. We were both sure, and wanted it done. Simply, I love him.

Fat..........Lip

Sadie has had her first physically noticeable injury, complete with blood. While trying to crawl out the back door, she slipped, scraped her nose and chin, and bit her lip. Her little lip swelled up quite a bit. But I am happy to report, she recovered quickly, had no trouble eating, and her lip is back to normal size today. Just scrapes on her nose and chin remain.

Checking herself out in the mirror.

SPT

The SPT's for this month tells us to, "Take deep breaths. Channel your chi. Don't sacrifice the small, still moments. Enjoy them! And photograph them!"

Tuesday, December 2nd : Love
Tuesday, December 9th : Joy
Tuesday, December 16th : Comfort
Tuesday, December 23rd : Joy
Tuesday, December 30th : Hope

Babies. I love them. They are so cuddly, hugable, kissable, lovable, squishy, and unintentionally hilarious. And their feet! I could go on and on about their feet! Right now I am watching my baby rub her little eyes because she is tired. I would like to remind her that I am also tired and she and I would be a lot less tired if she would just sleep in, but in typical baby fashion she would just look at me and smile while I lectured her. Babies are demanding, fussy, and incapable of reason, but in my opinion, still perfect.

Six On Sunday

1. Oh my, the weather. What else can I say. I just can't get over it. As we were heading out to church I noticed that we all looked like it was a spring or summer day. We were dressed in markedly summer ware, all short sleeved, with summer footwear to boot (not intended as a pun). You would never guess tomorrow was December first.


2. The kids had plenty of time this weekend to get the bikes out. I tried to convince Jackson to take off the training wheels, but he wouldn't have it.

I love to bike ride. Given the blurriness of the picture, you can imagine how fast I was going.:)

3. We got all of our Christmas decorating done. Since Thanksgiving seemed so late this year, I was having a hard time waiting. I have been wanting to put everything up for the last few weeks, but made myself wait until Thanksgiving day.

I have to admit that I am a bit of the Grinch in my family. Every year I tell Eric I really think we should skip putting lights on the house, but every year he disagrees and puts them up. And every year I am happy he didn't listen to me. He is just so much more festive than I am!

4. Speaking of Christmas decorations, Sadie paid absolutely no attention to the tree or the decorations for the last 3 days, but tonight she discovered the fun she could have with ornaments. I knew it wouldn't last.

5. And speaking of Sadie, she has finally started to use sign language to communicate! We taught Megan, and she used it all of the time, but I wondered if it impeded her speaking. We didn't teach Jackson and he talked really early, so I was unsure if I would teach Sadie or not. But as you can see, we did, and really it is much fun to see her communicate so well with us. Right now she uses, want, more, bath, drink, all done, up and out. She can also blow us kisses in her own way, shakes her head yes and no, and waves constantly.

Want

Bath

Out or Up: She uses them interchangeably.
The signs are not exact, but they are her interpretations of them.

6. Lastly, we had a great Thanksgiving. Two of Eric's brothers came to visit, and as always we all had a lot of fun with them. They all went golfing, and on Thanksgiving morning Eric and Derek played in the "Turkey Bowl." One of them was on the winning team, but I won't tell who.

Breaking In

Today my front door mysteriously would not unlock. But no reason to worry: I still have a 4 year old that can break into my house at any time. It makes me worry about any small criminals that are roaming the streets. Those of you with small children, don't get any ideas.

So today I am grateful for my little "turkey." He saved me so much money today by not having to call a locksmith.

This year Jackson is grateful for turkeys, macaroni and cheese, candy, church, his family, playing with cars, and elephants?. Here he is with his thankful feather from pre-school.

Jackson Said

While talking about why we celebrate Christmas, after Jackson said for the 100th time, he is so excited about Christmas because of all the toys he is going to get.

Megan: "Jackson, Christmas is also the time we celebrate Jesus' birthday."
Jackson: "Jesus sure has a lot of birthday's. Christmas and every Sunday."

The Cheese Stands Alone

Sadie is finally standing unassisted. No steps yet, but a little more confidence, and I am sure they will come. She will now stand if she is engrossed in something she deems exciting (like this paper, for instance). Remote controls, cell phones, scissors, and glasses are also things she deems exciting enough to stand with. We try to get her to play with broken remotes and broken phones, but instinctively she seems to know the difference. She is already enjoying the thrill of the forbidden!

Five For Friday

It seems like I haven't been doing much lately, even though it feels like I have been constantly busy. Do you have these weeks? I guess I should say, I have been doing a lot, just nothing blogworthy. Anyway, I haven't taken any pictures because my camera has been out of commission this week, so here is a post free of pictures (which I know is annoying to at least one of you: I won't name names).

1) I went to a birthday brunch on Tuesday and discovered that Jackson is even more shy than I realized. He has always been quiet around new people, but he wouldn't even play with the kids that were there. He stuck right to my side. I don't really mind this, I am just getting slightly worried that he might have a hard time in kindergarten next year. Pre-school has been fine, because he already knows so many kids, but being in a new environment may throw him off. I guess we will see.

2) I have finally finished reading, "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle". It took me forever. I think I am a pretty fast reader, but my gosh, I thought I would never finish this book. It was quite long, but more than that, I have to say I found it quite boring, which added to my slowness. It is the newest Oprah's BookClub selection. I generally read most of the books she recommends, but there have been quite a few that I have not liked, and one in particular that made my list for my most hated book ever (The House of Sand and Fog). I may have to rethink reading her recommendations.

3) I don't know how I am going to handle having multiple kids in school. Luckily this is a few years off for me, but thinking about how much time I spend with Megan on schoolwork and school projects, how will I have time to do this times three? And as they get older, the schoolwork and projects will just keep getting more time consuming. This is going to be a quandary for me.

4) Jackson has started leaving the toilet seat up. He has been potty trained for over 2 years and has never left it up before, but suddenly is. Whenever I walk into the bathroom and it is up I call him back in to put it down. You would think that me making him do this multiple times a day, would change his behavior, but it hasn't. Every time he just says, "Oops, Sorry Mom."

5) I have been trying to cook more. I am happy to report that last week I made dinner 5 times. This is a new record for me. This week I have not been as successful, but I like to think I am making baby steps.

Have a great weekend!