Hurray Christmas!

Christmas Eve pajamas. The tradition that I wanted to stop, but probably won't because the boys love the surprise. They know that they are getting PJ's, but they wonder what fabric I will choose for them.


Christmas Morning first peek. Christian was super excited to come down. At about 12:35 AM in the middle of our assembling process, Darin and I heard Christian's voice calling from upstairs. My heart jumped and Darin ran, it turns out that Christian decided that he'd slept long enough and was ready to come downstairs. Too bad Santa hadn't come yet and he had to go back to bed. By 6 AM he was frustrated by his 2 brothers that still wanted to sleep "forever." I allowed him to wake them by 7.



Jag had wanted dinosaur slippers with big claws. He loves the toenails on his slippers.


The boys were happy with everything that they got. Davis kept saying that this was the best Christmas. He got a CD with french horn music on it...it couldn't be better in his mind.


The Wii brought huge cheers from the boys. I didn't know it would be such a big hit.


Noah got a new bike. It is a Strider bike without pedals. He just runs to get it to go. Liked it the first day, not so sure the second day.

Traditions

Noah eating his train.
Noah has already undecorated his train. He loves having his own candy bowl.

This is the year that I have wanted to stop or change our traditions. Making pajama bottoms for 4 boys is getting me grouchy (only because I procrastinated) and making trains from graham crackers just plain messy. I didn't give up the traditions, but really wanted to. At least I am done for a year, maybe next year I will start earlier and enjoy them more. I would really like the tradition where we lay around and watch movies, while eating hot fudge peppermint sundaes.




I go through the Halloween candy and take out all the M & Ms, Skittles, Good 'n Plenty etc. to decorate the Christmas trains. What tastes better with frosting cement, but old hard candy?

All I Want For Christmas Is...

My 2 Front Teeth. (From here on out, Christian will not be allowed to smile in pictures until after braces.)

Waiting Games

As the packages arrived in the mail, Noah grew more anxious to open them. When I explained that we needed to wait until Christmas, he decided to sort them..."mine, Jag's, mine, mine" and play with them. At least he didn't open them, yet. This is the Christmas train that he made with pillows and the packages.

Let Me Clarify

I feel like I should clarify my last posting. I won't say anything yet, but I had tithing settlement earlier and the Bishop wants to talk callings with me... Let you know once I decide to say "Yes."

I Was Warned

I have complained for awhile now about having nothing to do with myself. I was warned by DeNae and Brooke that I was just begging for fate to bite me hard. I feel something coming and Mr. Fate, I am really sorry for all the complaining. I am fine sitting at home with Noah. We do just great filling up our day now. Please pass me by, life is just great as is.

I am afraid that I may be a bit too late. (This is where I would link to the earlier posts, if I could figure it out.)

I Was On The Computer

I have neglected Noah while I've been on the computer. I thought that Elmo was busy doing his/her job. Noah helped himself to the pudding. Opened it with his teeth and then smashed it to get it out. He found that his hands worked great as a spoon. At least it was contained to the table and I found him before he got something else to eat.

Name This Tune

Davis was thrilled to participate in the 5th grade band concert. He totally rocked the french horn! Go ahead try and guess the tune. It isn't one that is very familiar, but it does sound like it is supposed to .

We Love Santa!

Santa came to our ward party (which Darin declared was one of his favorites due to the tamales), and I couldn't wait to show Noah. He had talked of Santa, seen pictures of him, but has never really seen him. I told Noah that Santa would come to the party and that we would tell him what he wanted. He had to think about what to tell Santa. I listed off every present that he will be getting only to have him tell me NO he didn't want that. So much for fulfilling his dreams. He finally decided that he wanted Playdough (Hurray for the last minute stocking stuffer).

Santa walked into the party and circled the room with kids following him. Noah was right there. He kept yelling "Santa, Santa." He ran up to him and touched his belly..."Hi, Santa." Nothing but smiles. We waited in line and finally it was his turn....


I threw him on the Santa's lap and laughed while grabbing my camera. I don't know what changed, but this was too close for Noah's comfort! (FYI: Jag stood in line and told everyone that it wasn't a real Santa. Oh the wisdom of the kindergartner!)

Davis' Ode to the Christmas Season

Because of the King in a manger,
Because of the silent holy night,
Because of the shepherds keeping lambs from danger,
Because of the star at great height.
Because of the angels glorifying God,
Because of the virgin and a mother,
Because of the wise men coming through the fog,
Because of a carpenter and a father,
Because of the song that we are singing,
Because of the bells that are ringing,
Is the Reason that we have this giving, grateful,
jolly, happy, singing, Christmas Season.

Noah's Favorite Part

Noah can't wait for Jag to come home from school. It is his favorite part of everyday. This is how I found them yesterday.

Christmas Programs

Christian and Jag participated in their annual elementary Christmas programs. I state it that way because Jag complained and complained about the fact that the schools always have Christmas programs (as a kindergartner, he has participated in far too many). He hated participating. Christian reported that during the daytime school performance, Jag didn't sing and kept his fingers in his mouth the entire time. After some fighting and coaxing and forcing as well as some encouragement, Jag did fantastic and participated the entire program. He even went above and beyond by doing the hand actions.

Chrisitan is my only child who loves to fully participate in singing activities. He did great and of course knew all the words and actions.

This program, like most, wanted to include everyone so Jag was a fabulous Kwanzaa drummer and Christian was a great Hanukkah dancer. Although they sang about Santa, dreidel's, and kwanzaa celebrations, it was great to see that in Texas they weren't afraid to sing about Jesus too. Both the boys had full nativities acted out in their programs and it was introduced as the real reason for Christmas. I am glad that they were sensitive to other celebrations that go on in December, but that they didn't forget the biggest one that goes on. It isn't just Santa and Jingle bells here in Texas schools.

Kindergarten

Third Grade

(I have no idea where the boys are. They are just somewhere in the masses. If they hadn't refused and given me the "idiot mom" look, they would have been wearing cute little reindeer antlers and I could have found them easier.)

We Are Thankful

(Riverwalk)

We are so thankful that the Russell's were able to come and visit us! We had a wonderful week together. We all wish that they were able to stay longer, and that we were able to see each other more often. Great friends are priceless, and it was wonderful to reconnect. (I really loved having 2 extra helpers in the kitchen on Thursday.)

(Alamo)

(San Antonio zoo)

Bad Mom

I am diligent with sunscreen in March. Vigilant in April and May. Adamant in the summer months. But by November, I have forgotten the fight. I have either lost or run out of sunscreen. I just can't remember, in November, to grab the sunscreen before leaving the house. Therefore, I am a bad mom as evidenced by my constantly sunburned kids. Grrr. I hate the fact that I just can't remember, weekend after weekend.

Trying to redeem myself, when the boys cry for aloe, I am good enough to take care of the burn after the neglect of the day.

Soccer Is Over

Saturday marked the last day of our soccer season. Parties and games finally over. I don't know what we are going to do with ourselves and our extra time. But I will enjoy it while it lasts.


Charging Cheetahs
Blazers (Jag's coach looked away at the last minute.)
Talons
Noah enjoying soccer party cupcakes. That red frosting is horrible to get off. The bakers really think it is funny to do that to moms.

We Did Do Something

I often complain that we just don't "DO" anything anymore. Just regular life and nothing exciting or different. Soccer. Scouts. Life. We did go to the airshow, of course it isn't really a big deal being this close to the Air Force Base. BUT, we did something different and the boys thought it was super cool.

8 Years, 7 Months!

Finally! Christian lost his first top tooth. (Teeth take their sweet time falling out at this house.) This will be the last decent photo of Christian until he goes on his mission. His mouth is small, his teeth as really, really close together, he will need many years of braces. We now enter the scary mouth phase of life. Ugh.

Go Davis!

Davis was recognized by the Kiwanis Club as being a "Terrific Kid" (acronym for something I can't remember). I didn't need Kiwanis to tell me this. Davis is a terrific kid. In fact, I have 4 terrific kids. I am so lucky.

Trick-Or-Treat

Here they are, the wonderful Halloween costumes. Jag and Christian are wearing recycled costumes. Davis is a pirate (Mom, I am not a total loser. I made the pants and put the costume together!) and Noah is a ghost (A pillowcase would have been easy, but he wouldn't let me cover his face. Mom, I even made the hat!). Noah wore the lion to the library party only.
The weather was wonderful, in fact, the boys had sunburns from earlier. We went Truck or treating at the church and then the 3 boys went around with neighbors. They were hauled on a trailer behind a "rhino" ( like a really big 4 wheeler). Noah answered the door with a BOO to everyone who knocked. And I made and ate donuts with friends and neighbors. We now have enough candy to get us through until next October, and I really need to find a new dentist now that we have moved.

My Boys, My Life

This is what takes up all of my time. :)

Typical Pictures

Today was the "Storybook Parade" at the elementary school. They dress up as a book character and carry the book around. We don't call it a Halloween Parade because they didn't choose Halloween as one of the 3 parties allowed this year at school (Texas has rules). So the boys won't get to have all the wonderful, sugar filled cupcakes and activities that are typical at an elementary Halloween party. They will however get to do pumpkin math and read books about pumpkins. Whatever, I was telling the boys about the good ol' days when teachers hated Halloween because of all the chaos and candy in the classrooms. They listen longingly,but their dad said Halloween is kind of a stupid holiday anyway, so why should they celebrate...a scrooge with any holiday.

They did get to wear their costumes around the school and I got to wave and try to get their attention. The pictures were typical: the back of a head, half a wave, blurry and red eyed. Wouldn't be Halloween without scary pictures.


Sherlock Holmes:

Skeleton (without face make-up because I refused to paint it on for a 5 minute stroll around the school only to remove it right after):

Poor Davis, the Intermediate school didn't even get to do this much.

For Mom

Mom, don't scream, this is the year of recycled costumes! :) All the hard work of your past costumes will be appreciated once again! Thanks again Mom!

#4 finally enjoying the favorite costume of the first 3. Hurray for lion! He can only wear it for about 5 minutes before he says he is too sweaty. He thinks it is a shirt and wants to wear it all the time, for 5 minutes at a time.

Every Night

Noah has decided that he would prefer to spend his dinner time in timeout than at the table eating. It doesn't matter what I make, he won't even taste it. Instant hate and nastiness flows out of his mouth as he curses the dinnertime menu! So, Noah spends every meal asking for timeout instead of food. I give him what he wants, and put him on the stairs (timeout) instead of sitting through dinner with him constantly trying to throw his plate of food off the table or at my head. (I'm serious about that and it doesn't go over very well with me.)

Last night when we are rushing through dinner, trying to get to scouts and YW, Noah is in timeout. I watch as he slowly scoots off the stairs, and onto the floor. Then, stealthily spreads out and reaches a nearby toy gun and returns to sitting. As we are clearing the table, I hear the gun clicking a-way then I hear Noah mumble..."I'm pretending to shoot you mom." I think that some counseling and anger management classes may be in our future.

If given his way, Noah would eat cheese, bread, candy corn, and some juice for every dinner.

Nothing

I haven't been a non-blogger for any exciting reasons. I wish I had been off adventuring and exploring. Nothing. I have been a non-blogger because of nothing. Nothing new has been happening. Nothing but school and soccer and scouts and the usual. Nothing worth writing about. Also, nothing bad. I guess that is worth writing about. There, done.

Hopefully, something replaces nothing soon...it is more exciting to read (and write) about.

Loving It

Noah loves the new fridge. He loves the fact that he can open it and get whatever he wants. This morning he wanted to eat Pumpkin Crumble with his fingers and wash it down with a yogurt drink. I may have to remove the handles from this fridge, or just figure out a way to keep him out!

Darin, My Hero

Darin will spit if someone mentions the name Rohan refrigerator repairman, even once. After a lot of arguing and growling and major frustration, he got our money back and got rid of the worst fridge ever. Darin really did well. He is a level headed, reasonable person (unlike me) and really wouldn't argue with a stranger, but Rohan brings out the monster in even Darin. I don't remember a time when he was so frustrated with a person (objects are another thing). The language barrier was terrible and that man has had his head in a freezer for too long!

I got a brand new fridge with handles! (Davis wondered if we'd have handles this time) We did forgo any kind of water dispenser. I've had a bit too much water shooting from my fridge lately, and we decided that it wasn't worth the possibility of problems. So happy to have the coolers off my floor. After 3 days even they were starting to leak some.

BAD:


GOOD:
(Darin, the romantic, said that this was my anniversary and Christmas present. If that is the case, I don't know that I am going to share it with him. He can find a cooler and then hope someone puts some food into it.)

That's It!

Some people have road-rage, I currently have fridge-rage. If you have followed this blog much, you know I've had a few fridge issues since moving to TX. Now I have reached my bursting point and am waiting to hurl a few rotten gallons of milk at the nearest used appliance store. I had my "trusty" Rohan out to repair the leaking water on Tuesday...again. This time, he thinks he fixed the water, but what do you know, it now gets warm instead of cold! I am living in ice chests once again.
We ran to the store and bought a freezer last night, yeah I know a fridge may make more sense. I need to discuss things with the store owner a bit more (actually the lawyer does that) before buying a new fridge. Not that I'm not getting a NEW fridge, but rather I need someone to remove this junky one so that I have somewhere to put my new one. We bought a freezer so that I can spare myself the torture of cooking pounds and pounds of nearly frozen meat and storing it in baggies in yet another cooler.
Oh the pain! I love camping; I hate, hate, hate living in coolers in my house. I swear if I ever see Rohan again, I will have to be held back to prevent myself from stuffing him inside this "fantastic deal" of a fridge!

Enchanted Rock

Saturday we met up with Joe and Lisa at Enchanted Rock in Fredericksburg. It was really rainy and climbing on slick rock probably wasn't the smartest thing, but it was great slippery fun.


Noah climbed like this on the really steep parts. This kid is quite a climber; must be the cheetah in him.
Christian ran up the rock and tripped falling out of his shoes. I couldn't help laughing. I was below him and heard a cry only to see shoes sitting out, but no Christian to be found...he was in a small hole. Poor kid, after that everything hurt more and he slipped more than anyone.


At the top of the rock we found these pools all over filled with tadpoles. The boys stopped at everyone and tried to catch (or just pet) them.

Notice all the small black dots, tons of tadpoles.

We actually found a pool in which the tadpoles had turned into frogs, the smallest frogs we'd ever seen.