I Heart Christmas! Part 1

Now that it's actually 2012, I better catch up on the rest of 2011!  Last Wednesday (a whole stinkin' week and a half ago!), we started our day at our ortho doc, hoping to get a clean bill of recovery from the doc.  Unfortunately it wasn't quite so.  The bone has grown in the wrong direction, due to it not quite being lined up correctly.  It is one of those "coulda woulda shoulda" situations where we couldn't have known, but in retrospect probably should have done the more invasive surgery.  There is still time for it to correct itself - at least enough to not be bothersome, but we have a possibility of another surgery in the next year or so.  Boo.

Luckily, the very next thing we did was welcome my brother and his two girls to town!  (Katie and my nephew Connor would arrive a couple days later).  It was so great to see them!  Morgan and Ethan picked right up where they left off this summer - and now Lucas was definitely feeling old enough to tag along.  Maddie (2) is in her own world, but was hilarious!  That first night she wanted nothing to do with being awake, but she was all ready to go the next morning!
Thursday afternoon, Ethan had a party to go to for quizzing, so Morgan and I headed out to shop for the ingredients and bake a cake for her mom for Christmas.  She had informed my brother that a cake would be perfect for her mom, so we jumped on it.  We decided on a Christmas tree cake - but she was not happy with merely cutting out a Christmas tree shape.  No, just like her Auntie Katie, she had bigger ideas.  She wanted to create the cake out of concentric circles, building to the top.  We had a blast running around to get cake mix, fondant, frosting, candy melts, etc (including coffee and hot chocolate to fuel us).  She was a chatterbox and I loved it!  My favorite part was watching her crack the eggs.  She was so proud of herself - and I was impressed!  We baked the cakes (3) and made the various decorations that would go on it.

We ran a few more errands and then went to pick up E from his party - he was exhausted but had a whole lot of fun bowling.  He had apparently gotten 2nd place (how on earth?) and was very excited about that.
The next day we spent the morning at the Y - basketball - The "Broncos" vs. the "Sonics".

We loved having time to spend not only with the cousins, but with Brian - he worked on his skills at dunking (on an 8 ft. hoop...).

We swam (and Ethan can now swim for a few feet by himself- yippee!) and then went over to the climbing wall.  Ethan had been once, the day before, and Morgan had gone up one with a friend somewhere else.....

It was amazing to me how much improvement Ethan showed in a day.  No fear at all - just jumping for hand holds and swingin' around.  Luckily he wasn't on the auto-belay, or he would have crashed.

Morgan's first time she only went up a little ways and then announced she was done.  The next time she kept climbing and got way up there!

By the end of the trip, both kids made it up to the top of the Easy wall.  So proud!
Back at the park (my parents' house), Katie and Connor had arrived, and we got to spend some more time with Maddie!  She is a hoot-  such a little personality.  She never stops moving - or squealing!  We made pizzas in the shape of Christmas trees and ornaments, and let the kids decorate their own.

Here was Brian's, decorated by yours truly.  It was more exciting with the different peppers and tomatoes, but you can only do what he'll eat, right?

We headed out that night to Zoolights - leaving baby Connor with my parents to babysit.  The kids had fun riding together - Ethan and Morgan in our car and Lucas and Maddie in Kev and Katie's.

The lights there are magical - just gorgeous!  So much to see!  Kev and I went to this a lot growing up and it was fun to be together for it again!

Morgan and Ethan rode the camel together - Lucas solo.  We waited in line forever, but their smiles were worth it.  Maddie was terrified of the camel - especially when it turned to look at us during pictures.  Luckily it didn't spit!

We made it back and to bed - and not a moment too soon as they were all exhausted!  The next day was that magical day - Christmas Eve!!!  Morgan and I assembled her cake - it actually turned out very cute! - to give to her mom that night.

Connor and I got lots of snuggle and play time! - he is such a cutie!

Connor also got in some good Nana time.  She has a way with babies!  They absolutely love her.

Upa and Lucas entertained Connor with the musical toys - though I think Upa got tired of the songs quickly. Lucas not so much.

We got a house to decorate from Sluy's Bakery - YUM.  And it turned out interesting....

It seems we are not quite at the age of making it look "nice", but we're still having fun!

Next up was happy hour - and suprise!  Uma and Upa had bought us all special "Happy" hour glasses!

Lucas immediately went and got his drink and poured it in.  He got it.

We tried to keep the kids calm by watching Claymation - but then Ethan and Maddie were acting out all the scenes - not so calm, but the ice skating walruses were hilarious.

Lucas was self-appointed in charge of clean=up, and also accusing everyone of eating too much.  "Don't eat it ALL Auntie Katie!"  In her defense, I might have helped some with the guac.  That stuff is good.

We all exchanged gifts with Nana and the kids could not handle just watching her open.  They kept trying to crawl up in her lap and help.  We finally had to push them back and make them sit on the floor.

After we said goodnight to Nana, it was off the driveway to spread out "reindeer food", to make sure Santa would find us.

Turns out reindeer food left behind gets kind of mushy and sticky after a good rain - sorry Upa!  But for the moment, it was magical.

We went on a lights hike in the backyard - Uma and Upa put lights up all over their gardens - truly magical!!!  And even visited the tree my Grandad built so long ago.  Not that I could get anyone to stand still for a picture.

Next stop was caroling at the front door.  Very loud.  Very silly.  Lots of doorbell ringing.

And Lucas had his own way of caroling.......

Morgan presented her gift to her mama - and was so proud.  Her face was just awesome!  It was delicious too, by the way!

We all opened jammies from the U's and attempted to take some pictures.  The boys' jammies were pretty darn snug - but they definitely looked cute.

Everyone was all smiles.  Lucas seems to love organized pictures.  Though I can't get him to keep his eyes open on the really big smiles.

Ethan, Morgan, and Lucas took turns taking pictures and managed to get some good ones - especially this one of the U's.  Love it.  Love them.

Next we let each kid open one present.  I had one picked out for the boys, that I knew would be useful in their slumber party with the girls that night.

Pillow pets for both - and check out Lucas' face!  "It's just what I always wanted!!  A pillow pet a pillow pet a pillow pet!"

Connor was happy, in true baby fashion, to just play with the wrapping paper.

Morgan opened some cool headphones and had fun playing on my ipod while Ethan watched on, snuggled on his dino pillow pet.  Super Cool Cousins!

We left out the cookies and such for Santa - in hopes that he'd show up!

The kids all headed to bed (in the same room, except for Connor), and miraculously went right to sleep!
And Santa DID happen to arrive that night!  All the stockings were filled and toys were placed out - how exciting!

The one big present you can't see is the Nook Tablet that Santa left me.  It didn't get put out in time for pictures and I haven't put it down since - well I suppose that's not true....  Ethan got a big kid trickster bike, and Lucas got a microphone with amp.

The boys woke up first and had a blast snuggling with Auntie Katie while the girls slept on.  I couldn't believe how calm they were!  I think they were just as happy to have all this time with their Auntie and Uncle as they were to have Christmas!

And finally it was time - all were up, had their sip of hot cocoa and were ready!  Sleepy eyes, but don't let it fool you!

They looked for their stockings to know which stash was theirs....

Ethan was excited about the big kid bike, though he wasn't too sure he was ready for it...... He pulled everything out of his stocking and announced each item to the group - too funny!

Lucas loved looking through it all and especially loved talking through his mic.
The present opening began - and this was my favorite - Ethan had wrapped up a picture/story for the U's - something about getting blown out of a volcano and then eaten by dinosaurs.

The piles grew and we were all spoiled rotten.  At some point Connor went to bed, but we persevered until we were done.

So much fun!  And then the kids went out to try out some new gifts outside.  Lucas spent the afternoon reciting prayers from daycare and ordering us into circle time.

Kevin, Brian, Morgan, and Ethan enjoyed the new Nerf guns - very much.

At some point Kev and I took Morgan and Ethan to see the new Chipmunk movie while the others napped. It was ridiculous, but we laughed and the kids loved it.
We had one final present to open that evening - hats and scarves made by Uma!  They loved them and did NOT want to take them off - even though the house was rather warm as the turkey cooked - especially Morgan!

We had a fabulous turkey dinner - just the way I remember it - and all sat around in a food-induced coma.  So great to be together and such a great Christmas!  The festivities would continue the next day, but in the meantime, we all went to bed early - stuffed and happy!

Traditions Late at Night

 If you haven't figured me out by now, I love celebration and I love tradition.  Holidays must be done exponentially, and each part must have meaning and significance along the way.  Christmas is my favorite for all the traditions I remember from growing up and from having a family of my own these last 8 years....
Tonight was the night we decided to go tour the local lights.  Jammies were donned, hot cocoa was poured, and we headed down to the bus stop to pick up Daddy.  The boys were jazzed - they have definitely inherited my enthusiasm for all things holiday.  It probably helped that their "snowman soup" was pretty much gone by the time the bus got to us.

We saw the quaint, the elaborate, the impressively brilliant, and even the audio-synchronized.  We gasped in awe and shrieked in glee...  And even let out a few loud giggles at this house::

I hope you can see the boy with his tongue stuck to the flagpole.  And then I hope you can cite the movie reference being pictured here.  If you cannot, then you are not familiar with another one of my less favorite traditions of Christmas in our family....
Back to the lights - Ethan is quite the "Oooooooooh!" guy. And then all of a sudden Lucas says, "You better top saying dat.  You say dat, de aliens will come and take you!"  And he was dead serious.
My favorite of Ethan's exuberant exclamations of the night was "Wait till you see the amazing!"  as he looked ahead down the street.
I remember going around as a high-schooler with my friends, enforcing the same tradition.  Only, we enjoyed being critical and judging houses - our favorite adjective being "tacky".  We were very picky on how lights were to be done - which ones were to be used - how many should be used.
Not so now.  Once I had Ethan and saw his face absolutely light up at the gaudiest, craziest displays, all that judgement fell away.  Now I just see pure joy in people's decorations.  We sing Christmas carols at the top of our lungs and Ooooooh away, all the while watching out for the aliens.  It's a wonderful life.

On Display

Oooohhhhh the kids were excited!  We'd made it through the week - successfully delivered presents and made it through the crazy parties.  And then, after some frantic packing and designing our Christmas cards so we could use our "about to expire" coupon, we were off toward Stanwood and the WarmBeach Camp's Lights of Christmas.

We met up for an early dinner with out adventure-mates at Five Guys - Yum!  The kids started off the night by opening a couple of presents - which they no longer need any assistance doing....

Matching jammies make all pictures better, I've decided.  And then they opened a gift I threw together of a collage of all of my favorite pictures of them.  In a year and a half, there have been some really fun ones!

And then we were off - it wasn't as cold or wet as last year, so we actually enjoyed walking around and seeing the lights - so many gorgeous lights!  The whole place is lit up and mesmerizing.  Everyone is friendly and patient with all the crazed children weaving in and out of the crowds.

We tried to get some posed pictures outside, but those really were futile attempts.  When you have a 5,4, and 3 year old, someone is always going to be a punk.

Our first stop was to Santa.  No line and a very friendly, yet somewhat odd, jolly old fella'.  He called all three of them up there at the same time - which was great for Lucas - he didn't even fuss!

They each took a turn - Ethan wants a watch (really?  since when?).

Nadia wants a bike (which I do believe she already has :) ).

And Lucas wants a watch as well (now this one I knew).

They all left feeling satisfied that they had given Santa something to work with and relieved that he didn't mention their several transgressions of the month.  I think Lucas was pretty nervous, but alas his name was on the nice list they had posted on the wall - phew!

Next stop was the toy shoppe where they made wooden spin art toys.  The boys both made trains (with wheels) and Nadia made a couple of ornaments.  I like the old fashioned toys - and the old fashioned prices.

We made it just in time to get a hug from Frosty, though I missed the picture shot...  Lucas even managed a high-five for the giant snowman!  Progress I tell you!

The whole place is filled with various dress up characters and different photo-ops - These two made a good snowman pair!

And Lucas enjoyed waving his snowman arm at the world.

The other big, important thing to our kids was the Polar Express train.  We waited in line for over an hour, patiently at times, not so much at others.  They all started to break down when we were one train away from getting on. But, we made it....

Lucas was the most excited - pure magic for him.  The super excited (but in a very controlled way, as it is Lucas) face was making my heart so full.

It was a five or so minute ride (after an hour in line), but worth it for the kids.

After that, they just wanted to head back to the hotel to watch movies and eat snacks.  They put on their new jammies and I made an attempt to get a good pic of all three of them.....

I tried.....  They snuggled up on the bed and watched all sorts of different Christmas movies while we adults took turns going out to see more of the lights and get yummy treats - gourmet snack waffles (I was the only one digging these, but they were goooood!) and fresh mini-doughnuts (always a hit!)

While we were hangin' out in the room, we opened the curtains so we could see the lights.  Of course, we were staying right in the middle of the camp, and one of the walkways was right in front of our room.  We had a good time laughing at how the people reacted as they passed by.  Most would look, some longer than others, and one man tried to take a picture - until his wife yanked him away.  I guess we did kind of look like an advertised display for their overnight package.  Especially with the matching jammies!

At 9 we could see they were all getting sleepy, so we trekked down to watch the storyteller with her last story of the night.  Nadia and Ethan listened well - Lucas was rolling all over the place, just tired, and ended up running back to the room with Brian.

The night went well, though Lucas and Ethan were both reluctant to go to sleep.  Every time I looked over Lucas was staring straight at me..  The next morning was the big camp breakfast in the mess hall.  Yum and yum.  Ethan got himself a giant bowl of Raisin Bran....  I don't think he ate more than two spoonfuls though....
The kids put together their wooden puzzles they got in the breakfast line and played on their "talkie walkies"  that we had brought.  Nadia and Lucas spent the whole evening before shouting to each other on them.  I'm not sure they ever actually talked across the walkie-talkies, but they could hear each other, so they thought they did.
And then it was back for packing up and heading out....  We were all ready to go and Lucas needed one more trip to the bathroom - so Ethan and Nadia went outside with Craig to wait for the golf cart that would take us to our cars...  We came out and realized Ethan had driven off in the golf cart with some other family. Craig's comment:  "He'll bring him back."  Yep, give the guy 20 minutes and he'll definitely bring him back!  And he did and Ethan could not have been more excited about his new job as a chauffeur.
We said our goodbyes to our friends in the parking lot and headed out.  We stopped at the mall in Northgate for some running around and shopping.  But by the time lunchtime came around we were all exhausted and grumpy and knew it was time to head home for naps.  And Lucas did nap - about 3 and a half hours.  We finally woke him up around 5 and he still had no problem going to be around 7.  That's my boy!
What a fun weekend.  A fun Christmas tradition and memory for us.  Can't wait till next year!
And now it is the first official day of Christmas Break and my children are already driving me a bit nuts.  Time for a project - or maybe two!  And throw in an adventure or two and we'll be set.  'Cause that's how we roll......

'You Better Watch Out"

So Lucas got busted at school today - twice.  Two notes home in one day!  There were two instances where he refused to participate and instead pulled out all the toys in the room and piled them on the tables where other kids were working.  This never happens - he is perfect at school.  In fact, his teacher's comment was "Did hell freeze over by any chance today?"
We have had several discussions about this tonight, including the realization that he just might be on Santa's Naughty List.....  To which the boys both break out in "You better watch out! You better not cry"  Over and over.....
And then Ethan says this:  "Last year I think I was on the naughty list.  I might still be there.  Not sure if Santa erased it or not."
And then when Lucas was running around and refusing to get the PJs on....  "Well, I'm glad he's not my child.  I think you need some new children.  But you'll always be in my heart mom.  I love you."
Will we make it to Christmas?  I'm not sure.....

Holly Holidays!

I think we're all healthy - hallelujah!  And just in time for all sorts of holiday fun this weekend!
It started with Friday night's Girls Night Out in Seattle with a few buds of mine - including this one....

She flew in all the way from Idaho to spend the weekend with us and we had a fabulous night out.  Swanky hotel, too-cool restaurant, lots of laughs!  It was great to spend some time with friends feeling very non-mom like.
Meanwhile the boys were with Brian at a Christmas party at church - having a blast!  Brian took the day off to volunteer at school - the Watch DAWG program - and had a great time popping in and out of classes and helping out wherever he could.  No one let him hide behind the computers like he wanted, but he did a great job and the kids all loved him.  He also did a great job getting the boys (and all my last minute props) to the church for the party.  I wish he would have gotten some pictures, but I do know there was lots of sugar involved and a lot of laughing.
Saturday I ferried back over and we took over my parents' house for a Christmas party.  We invited some of the boys' closest friends (10 kiddos in all) and their families and had a whole bunch of fun!  The big event was the book exchange - think white elephant exchange without the opportunity to "steal".  The kids loved getting to go up and choose and all ended up with a book they were excited about.

 We did a bunch of crafts....  some of which ended up nice and some that were just a glittery, gluey mess....

 All the kids were great and played for a long time together downstairs.  There were lots of funny personalities and I loved getting to see all our friends interacting.  Only one really bad injury - Lucas' gave another boy a bloody nose...  He ran and hid under the bed covers after he did - feeling guilty!  And rightfully so!  Ethan had a bit of trouble sharing all his friends and his stuff - Dawn caught him making up rules to Clue that only benefited himself....  It was funny-  clever - but naughty!
We adults also had fun - ate way too much - and swapped parenting stories about our nutty kids.  We loved having it at our parents' house, but the problem was cleanup.  We couldn't just leave it for the next morning - blech!  It was exhausting!  But we managed and then we were off - as we had a busy day the next morning.
It was finally time for our church program!  We got there and costumed up.  We definitely had cute magi!

 We ran through rehearsal once  - which was very encouraging!  The kids were just awesome!

Ethan and his fellow magi practiced giving the gifts - which they took very very seriously.

They all looked so awesome in their costumes - but then were getting wound up as we got closer to showtime.  You could literally feel the excitement in the air.

Ethan saw the crowds and freaked out.  He had total fear in his eyes and told me, "I don't think I can do this."  I reassured him that he'd be great and it would be fun.  He took a deep deep breath and then put on his big smile.  I figured he probably wasn't the only one in the crowd panicking and so went and high-fived all the other kids.
And then we were off - and boy were they cute!  The nursery kids came in and did one song.  For which Lucas stood there absolutely frozen.  He did sing, but did not one of the movements.  Nor did he smile.  But he did it - he went up in front of all those people and sang!

 Ethan was not afraid of singing, or of the hand movements.  That boy sings just like his mama - lots of projection, not a lot of tune....  He was awesome - you could hear him from the back of the room!  The best part was that since he didn't know the verses too well, he just would sing the ends of all the lines.  I loved it. One proud mama.

 But the proudest moment was afterward when he told me how much fun it was and he can't wait to get on stage again.  That's my boy!

I also loved getting to work with a bunch of the kids at church.  I really didn't know a lot of them before and enjoyed working with them - there are some pretty darn cool kids there!
And then it was home to finish my report cards.  Brian took the boys to Happy Feet 2 - which according to Lucas was too scary.  Hmmm...  Dancing penguins are scary?  But I think I'm finally about done and ready to get ready for the actual week.  I'm exhausted - what a crazy weekend, but it's all worth it when I know the boys have had all sorts of memories burned into their brains.  And that, I think I have accomplished.

By the way - Ethan has learned to dribble the basketball!  We had all sorts of people work with him and it's there!  It actually comes back up to him - though control may still be a bit of an issue.....

'Tis the Season

 This time of year we are just super busy...  Add to that a stomach bug and a head cold/fluish thingamajig and my blogging has been sorely neglected.  So here's the last week and a half in a quick post of pics....
We ended our Thanksgiving weekend by watching our friend Nadia be the cutest baby mouse ever in the Nutcracker.  We went to the store to pick out flowers before and these are the ones he picked.  My heart swoons.  He sure looks good with 'em!

He really enjoyed the story of the ballet and said his favorite part was the "baby mouses".  He adores his buddy!

The next week the fevers hit....  First Ethan and then Lucas.  After Brian taking a day off to watch them and then Uma, they seemed much better.  I was a mess, but couldn't take a day off since my students were presenting and getting ready to perform at Barnes and Noble for the bookfair.  That is the hardest thing about being a teacher - there are times when you just feel awful, but it is just too hard to be gone.  Sometimes I dream of a job where you just call in sick and that's that....
We finally got our tree up and the boys had fun decorating it.  Lucas was the director and Ethan just had fun going through and trying to read the ornaments.

 Saturday we geared up to go and cut down a tree with Uma and Upa.  Since forever and ever we've gone to the same tree farm every year.  I love that my boys get to be part of that tradition too.  And now they are apparently old enough to carry the saw... Eek!  We do remember that this is the boy that has gotten hurt numerous times......

 Lucas makes a really good overseer - though he didn't want to actually touch the tree...  Ethan held on to a branch and told everyone "Don't worry.  I'll hold it up."

 The big guys took turns sawing... but ran into a bit of trouble since Brian's left handed....  Or as my father refers to it, "cursed".

The tree finally went down!

 And Uma found a nice branch to serve as a tree - Lucas wasn't buying it....

 We took the obligatory cider shot, though the boys refused to actually drink the cider.  Some things just don't change......

 And then it was back to Uma and Upa's to decorate.  We also made some cookie dough for a party next weekend.  Lucas actually managed to stir without dumping out the flour.  Ethan not so much.  But I'm sure they'll still be delicious.

Sunday we went to another showing of the Nutcracker, this time to see his friend Thomas (his teacher's son) play Fritz.  In the ballet, Fritz is naughty.  When he threw the stuffed mouse at the tree Ethan yelled, "Thom-AS!"  The people in front of us were friends of Thomas as well, so we all got a good laugh out of it.
That's where we are....  Back to the real world as I try to finish the family newsletter, enter grades in the gradebook, and get Ethan ready for basketball to start tomorrow.  We are sooooooo looking forward to Christmas break!