christmas is more fun with kids

I had so much fun this month. Anna was excited about everything that had to do with Christmas (except Santa Claus) and we had a blast decorating and baking and partying.

Anna pushing Levi in the wagon she got from Santa at Sam's work Christmas party

Chillin' with Daddy

Sam's parents gave us the ultimate gift by using their frequent flier miles to fly us to Dallas for Christmas.

We had a wonderful time! Anna loved jumping on the trampoline, blowing bubbles, making cookies and cinnamon rolls with Grandma, going to the zoo, eating enough candy to make her sick, watching Richard Scarry's ABCs about fifty times, and mostly just getting to play with Grandma Ruth and Papa Van.







Levi loved wrestling, growling, jumping, and laughing with his uncles, learning how to pull to a stand, snuggling with Grandma, rolling balls around the house, getting tastes of Nutella and other treats from Aunt Katrina, climbing stairs, getting his head rubbed by everyone, and knocking over Papa Van's towers of blocks.

Christmas Morning Pictures

After a few minutes of this...

...Levi looked like this.

Sam and I loved playing games (video-, board-, and trivia-) with the fam, running the inaugural JB (Jiggle Bum or Jingle Bell, depending on who asked) run and having Jacob school us all, watching football, going to the movies (True Grit and Tangled-- I loved them both), going shopping, eating at Joe T Garcias, eating Bluebell every night, cooking (Cubanos, mac and cheese, chocolate raspberry ganache cake), and most of all, letting other people entertain our children.

Can you tell which of us is an NCAA scholarship athlete?

We also enjoyed our Christmas Eve pageant with Anna and Levi acting as the angels; Sam and I as Mary and Joseph; Van, Gordon, and Joe as the wise men; Katrina and Gordon as inn keepers and shepherds; and Jacob as Samuel the Lamanite and the sheep.








Before we left, though, we had our own little Christmas here in MA to give the kids their presents from us and from my parents. Anna got a little laptop (to entertain her when she wants our computers), and a doll she can take in the bathtub and a set of clothes for it. Levi got some cars, trucks, and a ball. It was a fun little preview of years to come when we just have Christmas at our house.

Levi's toy from the work party. Sam is happy that he has a manly toy now.

And one of the best parts about our New Year? Before Anna got up on the 1st, we packed up a garbage bag full of old toys to be rid of, and so far, she hasn't even noticed. Now THAT is going to be a holiday tradition.

must have music

I got some credit for some free digital downloads at Amazon for something we bought there. Any recommendations on some must-have music?

$100

Here are some good recommendations for my NYC friends/family or their couch-crashing relatives.

a day to remember

Today was such a good day I just had to write about it.

I got ready before Sam left for work (the day goes so much better when I do that and I've been making an effort to do it), fed Levi, read my scriptures, and then got the kids dressed.

Anna ate breakfast while Levi napped and I prepped things for the day: making lunch, gathering packages to be sent and items to lend, packing cookies for visiting teaching, printing maps of where we were going. After breakfast Anna told me she needed to go potty and I left her sitting there with some books. She waddled out with her pants around her ankles and said, "I did it!!" And there was pee and poo in the potty. So she earned a candy. And with a little extra time I quickly googled a craft idea and made a painting with Anna to send to my parents with their Christmas gift. And best of all, she loved it and talked about it for the rest of the day.

Then, we were off. First, to playgroup, where Anna got to play with friends and I nursed and fed Levi. All the little girls took turns spooning mashed peas into Levi's mouth and they all loved it. Another mom complimented my kids on their cuteness and politeness.

Anna and I ate lunch in the car and then we drove to our first visiting teaching appointment. I got completely lost, but my wonderful husband spent his lunch break getting me to where I needed to go. While visiting teaching we got to talk about how wonderful the Christmas season is for seeing our children's testimonies of the Savior grow. Anna knew all the people in the nativity and told all about the gifts she's making for others. Levi, bless him, slept the whole appointment. Again, we left with my friend telling me how sweet my children were.

By this point it was nap time for Anna, and time to eat and have a diaper change for Levi, but we went to the store to pick out Christmas presents anyway, which of course took longer than expected since there were more options of some items than I expected and fewer of others. Still, Levi was quiet and Anna played with whatever she could reach on the shelf.

It was a quiet ride home while Anna sucked her thumb but every once in a while she'd burst into song with the primary songs that were playing. I can not describe how much I love her little voice singing, "He KNOWS I will follow Him, give all my life to Him. I feel my Saviors love, the love He freely gives me."

We got home and found a package from my mom waiting for us. Anna, begging to get into bed, fell asleep immediately. I fed Levi and then he played happily while I unwrapped the package. Inside was my Grandma Fawnie's Christmas table runner, ornaments from her tree, and presents for the kids. And at the very bottom were baggies of homemade Andes-ish mints and toffee. I nearly cried. My kids had been so wonderful being dragged around and then I got this taste of home of my dear mother and grandmother and the joy of family and Christmas just wrapped me up.

But, a short hour later, I had the kids back in the car to go to another visiting teaching appointment. We met this friend in her classroom where she's a 6th grade teacher. She had it filled with globes and books and flags and fun projects her class was doing. I could just feel the excitement for learning in her classroom. We talked and laughed and found Boston (where we live) and Tahiti (where Uncle Seth lives) on all the globes. She let Anna pick some prizes from her treasure chest-- pens and a notebook shaped like a purse. Anna nearly had a fit trying to get them open, but I asked her if I could help and all was well. My friend said, "That was amazing! I didn't learn how to do that till my kids were 10!" Again, I felt so grateful for my wonderful parents (and Sam's wonderful parents) who taught us well so that we can be on our way to being good parents. We shared our thoughts about the temple and what we can offer the Lord and marveled at the gifts and grace He gives us. And then she told me how well-behaved my children were and she was glad to see they weren't indulged.

Riding the high of Anna's good behavior, we drove to the library (it was now dinner time) where I had intended to feed Levi, but, bless him even more, he had fallen asleep. I found a book I'd been wanting to read and Anna read some picture books to the baby dolls and teddy bears. I called Sam who was just arriving home and told him to meet me at McDonalds.

Anna and I stopped in the post office where she pushed all the buttons on the package mailing machine and charmed the other mom and daughter waiting behind us in the lobby.

Then, off to McDonalds for a 7PM dinner where Anna was literally bouncing in her seat and nearly shouting with excitement over "chicken nuggets and chocolate milk with DADDY at OLD MCDONALDS!!!!!" So easy to make her happy after such a long day. I told her over and over how proud I was that she had been such a good and patient girl all day.

We came home and had baths and Anna didn't fight brushing her teeth. We sang songs and Anna recited to Daddy the 8th Article of Faith and then were hugs and kisses and Anna singing Mary's Lullabye into her microphone/flashlight. Levi snuggled and giggled and nursed to sleep all cozy and clean and pink and fleecy.

My heart is just bursting with love and joy in my family. I feel so rewarded today for all the hard days and hard work that have come before. It was a day engaged in good causes and I felt peace in that despite all the driving and going. I needed to write down this day so that on all those other days I can come back and read this and be reminded of what we're working for.

Merry Christmas! I hope you get a day filled with as much joy and love and peace this season as this one was.

we really did have a party

The kids are napping, exhausted from the super fun cookie decorating party we just had at our house. It was so much fun, in fact, that I completely forgot to take any pictures.

I'm kicking myself over that one, but it's pretty easy to imagine four wide-eyed 2-year-olds (and one big sister) slathering their cookies with frosting and dumping toppings on willy nilly.

Anna helped me cut out all the cookies yesterday. She was so patient to wait till all her little friends arrived to start decorating (and eating!) her cookies. She was still sitting at the table frosting and dumping and picking at things long after everyone else was done. Finally, she fell out of her chair and I made her go play with the other kids instead of frosting some more.

We have at least two dozen extra cookies which are going to the Littleton Community Supper tonight.

All in all, I count it as a success.

happy hanukkah

i made these

While my mom was here, I asked her to help me make a little outfit for Anna. Mom made the leggings (which unfortunately shrunk in the wash, so they're now capris) and then she walked me through making the shirt. I finally finished it last week.




I made this gorgeous hair too. What a wonderful genetic coincidence to get such beautiful hair.



And finally, my little bear cub. Every day I'm grateful we made his little growl-y self.

splooky

Anna has a new favorite adjective. It is splooky. This is the latest in a long string of made up words and mispronunciations like, kerrible (rhymes with terrible), boobiebobbie, yeshi, peetypete, tumma (meaning tummy), etc. They are her go-to words when she needs a word but doesn't know the right one.


We've always enjoyed her nonsense words and trying to divine their meaning, but we've really embraced splooky. It's fun to say, can mean anything, and is often used onomatopoeically. Here are a few things Anna has described as splooky:

• Levi's spit up
• Food on her hands
• Water used for painting with water colors
• How her stomach feels
• Being slippery and soapy in the bath
• When she can't do something (like do a button, or put a difficult toy together)
• Dirty diapers
• Pebbles at the shore of Walden Pond

It's so much fun to have a peek into that little creative brain of hers. She's feeling better from a week-long, whine-inducing illness and was all sunshine and singing and hugs and helpfulness today. We just laughed ourselves silly the whole day and it made me glad to be a mom, even during the splooky times.

i never thought it would start this young

Anna is into cosmetics. Here are some of her favorite products:

Lipgloss

Nail polish

dip the brush

wipe off the extra

and apply

the final product

Anna even did my nails

Mascara

I love this face. If you want to know Anna's personality, it's right there.

happy halloween

Our fun started on Thursday night with a party at our apartment complex. We had a pizza dinner with cider and fruit and veggies. Anna loved seeing all the other kids in costumes and was most excited about a little firefighter. We tried to stay for the BINGO game, but Anna didn't really get it and it was too noisy for Levi, so we left. Anna could not believe that she actually got to take candy home in her pumpkin bag! What a great holiday!

(A HUGE thank you to Anna Jo and Jeff for Anna's costume this year! They sent us the costume over 2.5 years ago when they found out we were having a girl and this is the first Halloween it has fit Anna. She LOVED it and put it on several times at home just to admire her cute self in it.)

The excitement was impossible to contain

After getting a little taste of Halloween fun, Anna was all geared up for our church Halloween party on Saturday night and kept talking about how she'd get to wear her costume and get more candy.

Anna's cousin Isabelle sent a little Halloween package with some treats and a craft foam jack-o-lantern to make, so on Saturday morning, we did that and Anna was screaming with excitement after lunch when she got to eat her Halloween fruit snacks (Thanks Belle!)

After lunch we went to the pumpkin patch down the road and picked out some pumpkins. Anna was a little surprised to find that all the pumpkins had dirt on them, so I was glad we got to show her how pumpkins grow on vines on the ground before she gets weird ideas that the magically show up at the grocery store in October.



We came home and gutted one little pumpkin. Anna enjoyed scooping out seeds and guts that I had pulled away from the sides, which I was pleased with. Sometimes I worry she's too sissy about getting dirty, so I'm pleased when she digs into a project like this. After the pumpkin was clean we showed her a few faces we could do but she wasn't really into it. Then Sam suggested we carve BOO ("Like on your bum!"-- see the pictures above) and she loved that idea. She colored while we quickly carved and then we went into a dark room to light a candle in the jack o lantern. She was amazed. There's nothing more fun than seeing kids delight in holiday traditions that are brand new to them.

While the kids napped, I made dinner in a pumpkin for our ward trunk-or-treat, and then we got the kids up to get them dressed so we could go finish setting up at the church. The whole evening went pretty well and Anna had a marvelous time trick or treating at all the cars. Her favorite was a car decked out in Christmas lights with Christmas trees and carols and stockings. She touched every single little colored light. I can't wait for Christmas decorating now! She'll love it!

Post Trunk or Treat pics

Sam tried to moderate Anna's candy consumption while I helped clean up after the activity and then we all went home, exhausted. Anna has been enjoying her halloween candy by sucking on the hard stuff for about 10 seconds before forgetting about it. I then sneak it into the trash. I think it's a good arrangement :)

Happy Halloween!