Our Christmas

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at home. It was really nice to start some of our own traditions.

On Christmas Eve, we baked cookies for Santa and made reindeer food (oats, sugar, and sprinkles). Mark and I worked on wrapping all the presents while watching Christmas movies. Neither one of us had seen "It's a Wonderful Life" so I DVRed it and we watched it after the kids went to bed. We went to Christmas Eve service and then tried to get take out afterwards, with no luck. First we went to get a hot-and-ready pizza, and they were closed, so we went to Steak-n-Shake, and waited in line for about 20 minutes, and then the manager came out and stood at the drive through speaker and told everyone that they closed at 7. We were pretty mad, so we went by the grocery store to grab a frozen pizza, but they were closed...there was a Chinese restaurant open, so I placed the order while Mark waited in the car, and when I pulled out my debit machine, they said their credit card machine was broken and they only took cash. So, we went home and scrounged around. Note to self...have something ready in the crock pot on Christmas Eve!!!!! After all that, it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cold outside, but we HAD to get the reindeer food out...Nathan said we could just throw the containers out on the yard, and Santa would open it up for the reindeer. I don't think he wanted to go back outside.

After a rough night with Nathan (between him trying to hear Santa, and a 2 hour coughing session) he woke up at around 8:30. He yelled, "MOMMY, DADDY LOOK AT ALL THE PRESENTS!!!" He was very patient while we got Becca up and while I put the yummy sticky buns in the oven. He tore through his first present, and as soon as he saw what it was, he started tearing faster and faster. Becca needed a little help with them, and she wanted all the stuff out of the box immediately. Nathan wanted to play with the presents as he opened them, and not wait until after he opened them all.

Nathan got: a Geotrax airport, a shake and go airplane, 2 games, and a couple of movies.
Becca got: a new doll, some play jewelry, and some movies.

We had so much fun, we stayed in our pajamas all day!!

My Favorite Things

Nathan's preschool Christmas program

The kids running to hug each other.


My favorite things so far about Christmas so far:

1. "Doing the numbers" Every day counting down to Christmas. We wake up and Nathan climbs on the piano bench and changes one of our countdowns and Becca dances to jingle bells that it plays. Every now and then I catch Becca climbing on top of the piano to do it again. Nathan refers time in the future as it relates to the "1" on the countdown. Santa comes after the 1. He's told his uncle Patrick that he'll see him after the 1, because we're going there the day after Christmas. Today he told a worker at Lowes that it's almost the "1." I had to explain the countdown.

2. Watching Christmas specials with the kids at night. I think I've DVRed every single one of them.

3. Reading Twas the Night before Christmas...Nathan said that when it's on the 1 he'll have a clatter...you know "When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter"...I think he's going to be listening for Santa.

4. Seeing everybody's Christmas cards and pictures and reading all the letters.

5. Having the kids "help" me make the goodies.

6. Becca pointing out all the "thanta" (Santas) and "Nomen" (Snowmen) that she sees.

7. Teaching them about giving to others.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, and I can't wait to read all your blogs!

Christmastime is Here!

We took the kids to Breakfast with Santa at Grandma's school. We didn't know how Becca would do with it..but she did great!! She would go up to him and hug him and let him hold her and everything. This is the first year that Nathan actually told Santa what he wanted (airplanes). They had students face painting as well...and Nathan of course wanted an airplane on his face.

It's been really fun getting ready for Christmas this year. Nathan's really getting into it. We're watching Christmas specials and listening to Christmas music. Every morning, we do our "numbers," by changing our advent countdowns.

We're working on the "gimmies" with Nathan by focussing on what other people want too. At first, I asked Nathan what we should get Daddy, and he said airplanes. Then I asked what to get Becca, and he said airplanes. He's getting better...now he says we should Daddy tools, and Becca a baby...and then I asked him what he should get me, and he said a puppy....I don't think so...Spike's enough for us.

Nathan's been in a few Christmas programs this year, and I'm working on getting the video up here. One thing I thought was hilarious: His preschool teacher Miss Carla told the kids the Christmas story today during their Christmas program and she asked if they knew what an inn was, and one kid said, "I know!! It's a letter!" He thought she meant "N."

This is from our church's Christmas program. The 3 and 4 year olds sang "Away in a Manger." Notice how he can either do the motions or sing, but not both =)

Say what??

The kids were both climbing on the back of the couch and looking out the window in our sun room. So I asked them what they could see, and Nathan said, snow, a tree, etc. Mark said he could see 2 monkeys (meaning the kids) and Becca looked at him with a very serious look on her face and said, "Where da monkeys go?" and looked back out the window for them.

Becca's also been copying everything I say. So one day, I looked at her and said, "Are you a copycat?" and she said, "meow."

I think I'm going to have to start her own set of quotes on here.

Eskimos??

We woke up Sunday morning to a blanket of snow. Nathan was so excited. Last year, he didn't care for the snow, because he fell a few times, and was afraid of falling on the ice. This year, though, he was so excited. I threw a few snowballs at him, and he threw some at me...and later, Mark took him and Becca out to play. I think Becca liked it a little, but she refused to put gloves on, so she didn't last long. It was great packing snow, so they made a snowman...and then Mark decided to make an igloo. He got about half-way done, and Nathan got bored with it, so Mark went back out after bedtime and finished it. The neighbors thought he was crazy for playing in the snow by himself at 11pm. I think he used most of the snow from the front yard.

Now I have a place for Mark to go when I'm mad at him...not the doghouse, but the igloo=)

Becca and Abbi on the sled.


Alex, Becca, and Nathan in front of the igloo.

HUGE update

I haven't updated with pics in a while, so here's a bunch. We got a chance to see the Caterpillar executive planes. We took Nathan, and he LOVED it, of course.

The pilot let him sit in the cockpit and play with the steering wheel. He didn't want to get out!

We went to Mark's parents' this weekend so that he could go hunting. Here's Mark with his dad and his brother getting ready to hunt (they got up at 3:30 AM to sit in the cold!!) Crazy, I know, but they had fun.

The kids and I didn't want to hunt, so we made a gingerbread house instead. I think the kids ate at least half the candy.
We hurried back, so that Mark could do some stuff before the countertop could be installed!! He had to stay up until 4 am this morning to finish it all, but it looks beautiful.

Here's the view from the dining room.




























So I think that was everything...and the kitchen sink.

My sister can beat you up.

We went out to eat with some other families in my mommies group, and we reserved a room, so that the kids could run around and the adults could visit without disturbing the other diners. So the kids were running around, and one of the girls, who is probably not quite 3, pushed Nathan, and so he turned and told her, "Don't push me!!" and walked off. So Becca walked up to the girl and pushed her. The girl turned and looked at her, and Becca went right up to her and stared her down. Hilarious, but I had to scold her.

A conversation on the way to school today:

Nathan: OH CRAP, we forgot my school bag.
Me: What did you say?
Nathan: We forgot my school bag.
Me: No, before that, what did you say?
Nathan: OH CRAP.

But when he said it, it sounded more like "CWAP."

The Gimmies

I took the kids to Toys R Us to try to get Halloween costumes for next year on clearance (no such luck) and discovered that Nathan's getting a bad case of the "Gimmies." I'm trying to explain that he has to ask Santa for these things, but he wants them and he wants them NOW. He isn't throwing fits, but he is saying, "But can I take it home today?" a thousand times in a row. He'll even look through the ads and tell me what he wants. I told him he can have FEW toys for Christmas, but we can't have everything =)

Kitchen progress!

The kids and I made cookies in my new oven today. It's wonderful to have a regular sized oven (my old one was 3 inches smaller than a normal one) I can finally put more than 1 cookie sheet at a time!!

The kitchen is still in disarray, but it's managable. I can't wait to get the new countertop...but right now, it's kinda nice to not have to worry about making scrapes and stains on the old one.

Oh...and totally off topic...

I was driving down War Memorial today, and running along side the road was a coyote. It was in the ditch right behind Michaels. I don't know that I've ever seen one so close.

Trick-or-Treat

The kids had fun at Halloween! This is the first year that Nathan understood a bit of what was going on. His preschool requested that the kids dress up as what they want to be when they grow up. Of course, for Nathan, it had to be a pilot. He's talked about airplanes since he began talking, and really he cares for nothing else. Becca LOVES Sesame Street, ever since our vacation at Sesame Place so she became Abby Cadabby, who is a newer character on Sesame Street.

My Mommy's group went Trick or Treating at a retirement home (pics above). On Halloween night, we went trick-or-treating with all the neighborhood kids (pic below). Nathan did pretty good on his own, but Becca needed a lot of help. After the first few houses, she got the idea. We had fun going out as a group. One of my college friends joined us with her little boy and we had a fun time with them.

Nathan with his preschool class.

We now have WAY too much candy at our house!

Serve Yourself

The new cabinets are in and I've already stocked them with food. The kids love to hide in the cabinets. Yesterday, Becca got a bowl from the drawer and pulled out a package of oatmeal from the new cabinet and handed them to Mark. She knows what she wants!

We're ordering countertops this week!! The stove should get installed this weekend. I'm anxious to have this finished!

Whew!

I'm exhausted. This has been a really busy week for me. My New Year's Resolution was to organize my house, specifically the closets. I'm moving really slowly with it, because I not only want to clean them out, but completely organize into clear bins or baskets or whatever so they don't get messy again. Ever. And if you've lived with me before, you know that this is a major task for me.

So far, I've completed my bathroom closet, 4 kitchen cabinets, and the kids' closets/dressers. I have a long way left to go, but I'm determined to get organized and get rid of the clutter monster!!!

St. Louis Fun

We went to St. Louis this weekend, because Mark had some extra vacation days and we wanted to try some of the 'free' stuff there. Mark and I had never been to Grant's Farm, so we went there first. Nathan loved riding the train, but he wasn't crazy about the Halloween decorations. This is the first year he's noticed them. We kept telling him they were only pretend and the giant spiders wouldn't really get him.

The next day we went to the Magic House. It was really neat. Nathan loved the 3 story slide the most. He also loved 'fishing.' There was a little pond that the kids could fish with a magnet and fishing poles, and then they could drop the fish back in in another spot in the house, and watch it come back to the pond in the 'river' with a current under some glass tile on the floor. It was really neat. Becca liked playing house and the water table.

Yesterday, we hit the zoo. We thought that it would be much more fun on a Monday when there was almost no people there. Nathan and Mark aren't really fond of zoos, but Becca loves looking at all the animals. She kept saying to the giraffes, "hi buddy." Nathan enjoyed a slide that went through the river otters' area. He could see the otters swimming around him. He also loved the hippo exhibit. We were really amazed at how close some of the animals came to us. The chimps and orangutans came right up to the glass. At one point, Becca opened her mouth really big, and the chimp imitated her. The hippos swam up to the glass as well, and Nathan loved to watch them swimming around. The giraffe came so close we could touch it, and the penguins were fun to watch, but we were afraid that they would jump into our stroller (it actually has happened, though not while we were there).

Our hotel's pool was outdoor, so on our down time, we headed to this giant outlet mall, St. Louis Mills. One of the stores had a bouncy room, so Mark and I took turns shopping while the kids went crazy going down the slides and climbing around. They had a blast!! There was also a playground with 'rocketship' to climb on, which was right up Nathan's alley. We bought a new stove/oven for our kitchen at the Sears Outlet and Mark loved walking around Cabela's.

Nathan loved being in St. Louis, but Becca didn't really. I think she's got an ear infection, but it's hard to tell. She had a lot of trouble sleeping and got overly tired. She refused to sit in a high chair, and would only eat meals on Mark's lap. She also protested the stoller frequently. She kept asking to go home (I think she was going through Elmo withdrawl). Hopefully she acts better today, but I might take her to the dr. just in case.

I would've loved to have pictures of all this, but my new camera didn't come in til we got back.

Special prayers for Mark's new baby cousin Jacob. Hopefully he continues to improve and can come home from the hospital this week. Congrats Brett and Beth!

Date Night!

Thanks to our wonderful neighbors, Mark and I actually got to have a date night last night. We thought we'd be all romantic and go ice skating. Instead, we were the oldest people there by at least 15 years. I've had 2 babies since the last time I went skating, and my body was completely off balance, and after only a few laps, our feet hurt too much to continue. So we decided to go out to eat and peruse Borders in peace. It was so nice to have some conversations sans kids. We don't do it enough.

Apple picking fun!

Becca on a big kid slide (left) and Daddy & Becca crash into Nathan on the huge slide (right)

We've been to the Apple Blossom Farm a couple of times this fall. There is a great playground with swings and climbing equipment, but my kids' favorites are the slides. Nathan loves the big slide and hardly pays attention to anything else. We picnicked, so that the kids could take their time and do whatever they wanted. We're on a time crunch with 2nd shift sometimes. We were there all day, and they didn't want to leave!

These will be my last pics for a while: Becca broke my camera. I didn't know she had it until I heard it drop. I'm bummed.

$55.79

That is how much CVS paid me to take items out of the store today. I "bought":

• Gillette Fusion Power Razor
• 2 Cover girl foundations
• Dawn dish soap
• 2 prescriptions filled

And paid...$1.11 for the stuff, $5 for 1 prescription (and received a $25.00 gift card), I put $5.49 for the other prescription on the new gift card and received an additional $25.00 gift card, + 11.79 Extra Care Bucks back (CVS cash).

So I spent 6.11 out of pocket, and received $55.79 in gift cards and extra care bucks.

Mark was so impressed with my savings that he bought himself an IPOD.

Goin' to the chapel...

We went to Mark's parents' for the weekend for his cousin's wedding.

Nathan LOVES weddings. I don't think he really understands anything about them at all, but he LOVES to dance at them. It's so funny to watch (he must take after his Grandpa John). We went to the ceremony at the church, and when we were leaving to go to the reception, he said, "BUT I WANTED TO DANCE!!!" and we had to explain to him that he could dance later. Once he got going, I don't think he stopped until the music did. He found a little boy that danced exactly like he did. (His favorite moves were the airplane, the windmill, and rolling all over the floor) He crashed on the way home.

Becca loved the dancing part as well. She loved watching the lights changing colors. And...like a woman, she got a horrible blister on her foot from all that dancing, and has refused to wear any shoes since then.

Look at what she can do: (push triangle for video).

She astounds me everyday.

Tuesdays

Tuesday is my cleaning day. We host Life Group on Tuesdays, mostly because if I don't host, I don't clean.

Tuesday is also the day that all h&%$ breaks loose here. So this week wasn't any different....

It started when Mark didn't put the gate up. We've found that if we don't gate Nathan in his room for naptime, he will sneak out of his room, and get into trouble (like when he decided to play with daddy's razor). I used to feel guilty about the gate, but I don't have to yell about staying in his room and he isn't dangering himself anymore.

Anyway....he didn't nap. So, of course, he went in his sister's room and woke her up. I told him to go back to his room, and tried to let her cry for a little bit, praying that she would go back to sleep. She screamed for a little while, then went immediately silent. I thought, wow, maybe I dodged that. A few minutes later, Nathan asked if he could come downstairs, so I let him, and he had a tootsie-pop that we had gotten at the pharmacy earlier. Hm...I thought, I thought I had left those in the van. I asked what Becca was doing, and Nathan said sleeping.

So a little later I went to check on her, she was facing away from me, I thought she was asleep, but she heard me, and turned to face me, and sure enough....she had a tootsie pop too. So not only did I have 2 very tired kids, but I had 2 very sticky kids with absolutely no time to bathe them.

At least he shared with her.

The Date is Set...

for Becca's mole surgery (Nov 11). Nearly a year after it appeared, it will be removed. Because it was a bit suspicious, and rather large, our pediatrician said that it needed to come off. We're a little nervous about how she'll react to the anesthesia and how the scar will look, but I think that she'll thank me when she's a teen.

Weldon Springs

I took the kids to my mom's house so that Mark could get some work done on our kitchen. On Sunday afternoon, my mom and I took them to Weldon Springs, a park that our idiot governor is closing. It's such a beautiful place, with a 1 room school house, several camp sites, a sledding hill, a lake, several playgrounds, dozens of trails, etc. So many people were there this weekend, that we could barely find anywhere to park. I can't imagine this place closing. Such beautiful land...enjoyed by so many. Click here for an online petition to stop this travesty!!

On another note...I showcased my new CVSing skills with my mom. I bought a body wash, toothpaste, cookies, and marshmallows for 57 cents. My mom was shocked when the cashier told me the total. I may not be as skilled as Jessica, Kate or Heather...but I'm getting there. So far, since I began doing this, I've spent $38 out of pocket, for $90 dollars of stuff.

Lake Rotramel

This is how our backyard looks after a couple days of downpours!! I'm praying our tomatoes survive this, as I can only see the tops of the plants. I can only wonder how our TX friends are coping with all of this!!



Of course, we HAD to let the kids play in the drizzle. Nathan loves to stand under our neighbor's downspout. Becca didn't quite know what to think of it all.


In other news.....(push triangle for video)

See Grandma, he is learning stuff in preschool...we didn't work with him on this at all!!

LEAVE A COMMENT! (please)

Growing up =(

The bath seat, the high chair, the gate for the stairs. What do these things have in common? They are all going up to the attic, because my baby has grown out of them. When Nathan was this age, I was pregnant with her, so I kept everything out...but now, I don't have any reason to have to keep walking around all of it.

I guess now it's time for big girl toys.

How we spent our summer...

The boys: Sean Franklin, 2; Jordan Clay, 7; Nathan, 3;

The Girls (sitting): Becca, 1; Lauren May, 1; Abbi Russell, 2; Alex Russell, 4, holding Kara May, born in July; Hannah May, 2;

We spent almost every day of our summer playing with the kids of the neighborhood, mostly on our driveway, because it's away from the street. They played with the tractor (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa) and the sand table (thanx Kate) the most. We went through a lot of freezie pops =) I don't know what I would do without my wonderful neighbors.

1st Day of School!!!

Today was Nathan's first official day of preschool. He goes on Wednesdays and Fridays from 9am-11:30am. Last week, we had a parents' meeting, and an "open house" when he could go and play in the classroom with us there, but today, he went on his own.

Today he woke up at 6:30, which is extremely early at our house. He went and got a Popsicle in the fridge and ate in the kitchen. Mark staggered out of bed and turned Sesame Street on, and we all tried to go back to sleep. By the time that we got out of bed at 8, Nathan was asking, is it time for preschool yet??

His teachers are Miss Carla and Miss Robin. Nathan thinks the name Robin is funny because of the Red Robin commercial (which he calls Big Robin). When we went to the open house, he played with a washing machine that he could put the clothes in, and then stir it like a real washing machine. He thought it was hilarious, when he put a pretend apple in the washing machine. We had to take Spike with us, because he had a vet appointment. Here's the kids on the way to preschool:

He did great when we dropped him off. He went right in the door and didn't look back. I teared up a bit, but I didn't cry. I can't believe he's old enough to go to school. We put Becca in the car seat when we were leaving and Becca looked at his car seat, and cried a bit for her "nay nay." It was really sweet.

We went to pick him up, but we were a bit early (so were all the other parents, I bet it's not like that every day), and we watched the kids come in from playing at the playground. The preschool has a wooded trail behind the parking lot, and in a clearing, there's a little playground. Nathan loved the slide the most. He said that this time, he put pretend cheese in the washing machine. He told us all about his day, and he seems really excited to go back on Friday!!

Singing

I was singing "You Are My Sunshine" to the kids as they got out of the bath, and Becca shocked my by filling in the words "happy" and "gray" at the appropriate times. She's really getting good at imitating right now, which is hilarious.

Nathan finally learned to jump over things, and now he's jumping on the couch (not off yet). Be careful what you wish for...

"Brothers"

Carson helping Becca on the tractor

We picked up my cousin's son on the way back from Mark's parents and he got to spend a few days with us playing "big brother." He helped out a lot, and loved playing with the kids. The first day, we took the kids to this giant play structure that looks like a big castle. The boys had fun chasing each other all over the place. The second day, we took them to Wildlife Prairie Park.

The boys slept on the air mattress on Nathan's floor. At first, I didn't think that they'd sleep much, but they did. Nathan was really sad to see Carson go. He loved having a "big brother" for awhile. I hope that Carson can come again next summer.

Carson and Nathan playing in the sandpit at Glen Oak Park.

Becca watching the chickens at Wildlife Prairie Park. She loves animals and isn't scared of them at all (even dogs bigger than she is)!!

Over the river & through the woods...

to Grandmother's house we go. We spent the weekend with Mark's parents. The weather was beautiful and the kids got to play outside on the swing set. Nathan and Daddy spent their first night in the tent. Fortunately, Nathan was so incredibly tired, that he crashed right away. We went to the zoo in Evansville, which is a million times better than Peoria's lame zoo. The animals were so much closer to us, and we could really see the tiger, rhino, hippo, and leopard. Mark and I went to his 10-year reunion, while Grandma and Grandpa babysat. It was nice to see the family! Here's a few pics of the weekend:

Becca, 17 months, sitting on the steps to the roof of Grandma & Grandpa's house

Nathan "sleeping" in the tent (posing for pic)

Conversation with a 17 month old....

One of Becca's first 'real' conversations:

Cast of Characters: Mommy holding baby Kara (neighbor's brand new baby), Becca

Becca: BABY
Me: yes, mommy's holding a baby.
Becca, trying to remove Kara's sock: shoe
Me: no, that's baby's sock
Becca: mine
Me: no, it's Kara's, her toes are in there
Becca, lifting up her foot: Toes
Me. That's right, there's your toes
Becca: Up

Mommy picks up Becca, and is now holding Becca and Kara

Becca: baby
Me: yes, that's baby Kara.
Becca makes Kissing sounds
Me: Aw, are you giving baby kisses?
Becca, pointing to her nose: Nose
Me: good girl, that's your nose.
Becca, touching Kara's nose: Nose
Me: that's right, Kara has a nose too.
Becca points to my nose: Nose.
Me: Mommy has a nose too.

This is repeated with eyes, ears, hair, and then later when Kara yawns, tongue.

Becca stands up on me and holds her hands way up high: Big
Me: That's right you're bigger than the baby. You're a big girl, and baby is little.

I thought it was amazing how she was trying to communicate that she was bigger than Kara, and that Kara had all the same body parts that she did.

And the wall came tumbling down...

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Eat in kitchen no more!!!! Mark did such a good job. The kitchen seems so much bigger now. We taped on the floor where we want our peninsula. Tomorrow we are going shopping for cabinets and countertops. The kids are going to the neighbors' (YAY) and Mark and I are getting the whole morning to shop and go out. We (ok, so I mean Mark) still have a lot of work to do, but phase 1 of the kitchen is now complete.

Vote on the new kitchen colors. I fixed it now so anyone should be able to leave a comment, so PLEASE let me know you're reading!