Christmas!

The much anticipated Christmas eve finally arrived. We spent the morning at my mom's work for a Christmas Party - odd day to have it I know, but it worked out perfect! Santa was really good to them, and all of the kids had a blast. We then spent the evening with my family which was a little sparse this year. In fact, it is the only year (besides Eric's Mission) that all of my siblings were not there, and we were down by 2. Skyler was about bouncing out of his skin with excitement, and I think Ethan was getting a little sad that in the gifts that Santa had given him so far (at the various Christmas Parties) none of them had been his beloved Nintendo ds that he so desperately wanted. He had no interest in opening presents, then the ds was opened and he still had no interest in opening presents and was just sad that he couldn't be playing with it now. It really was sad because when he woke up on boxing day he came downstairs and told me that he was ready to open his presents. Ryley had fun carrying presents around, but not a ton of interest in opening them, although she was thrilled with a baby and stroller that she was given. We did all of our gift exchanges with my family on Christmas Eve since we would be spending Christmas Day with Jordan's family. * My mom had a hard time when Christmas dinner came around and there was only 2 0f her 5 children there - she describes it as quiet.

Christmas morning we opened out stockings as soon as we woke up, and Skyler lined all of it's contents in a row. The kids got their Santa gift which Jordan built - I LOVE IT! The kids have already put it to good use as well. We went over to my inlaws and opened the remainder of our gifts, we went tobogganing, had Christmas dinner, and just really enjoyed time with family!

Gingerbread Houses

Jordan was gone for a week this month for work. I always hate it when he is gone. I don't sleep - I know it is totally in my head, but I check the doors a million times, I check the alarm a million times, and then I wake up randomly because I heard something. Then there is of course the horrible hours of 4-6pm, when my children chose to fight and scream, and I am trying to get dinner done, and if possible, the worst of all is after the kids are all in bed, and I am left to sit by myself. I do know that some people deal with this all of the time, and I feel for them, I really do - I have not had to get used to this thankfully Jordan does not travel often, but when he does - I DON"T LIKE IT. Anyways, Jocelyn and Jeff invited the kids and I over to make gingerbread houses, and it was soo nice to have someone to talk to in the evening, and have something for the kids to look forward to. I must say, we did make a pretty nice gingerbread house, but it didn't fare well on the drive home ;(Ryley was with us, but I chose not to document her quietly sitting on a chair eating a bag full of candy that I didn't think was open!

Hairstyles from The Grinch

so, this is how Ryley woke up from her nap - I kind of think that she looks like the Mayer in the Jim Carey version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Ethan!

This boy is soo loved, and always make certain that you know that He loves You, but he is also the one who has tried my ability to parent with love more than either of my other 2. He is now 3 1/2 years old, and doesn't eat. If you read back, you can find some of the drastic measures that were taken, but for now I am done fighting with him. He did go about a week this month where he was not able to stay awake through sitting at the table watching the rest of us eat dinner, and watching his food get cold before it is cleared away. It was soo funny to watch his little head bob night after night. Alas things have changed, and he is back to staying awake, and whining through dinner.

What a fun month!

So, I haven't posted in a month, and have a lot to catch up on, especially since it was December - a month filled with Christmas activities, fun, and lots of laughter. I pulled out all of the decorations, and the family grabbed up the Santa hats, which made frequent appearances throughout the month.


The first saturday we made the trip out to find the prefect tree, and we were super happy to be joined by Jordan's sister Jocelyn, and her family. Alise slept through it all, and Holli was a trooper for most of it.

Skyler had to do a 3-5 minute presentation at school about a tradition, and this is the one we chose, so we have lots of pictures because we had to document it and make a big poster to help him with his presentation. (which he did fantastic - I went in to help him, if he needed it, but he just kept on talking)

Skyler really loved it. Ethan had a good time, but made me drag him through the snow, and Ryley could not understand why every time we put her down she was up to her waist in snow.

Our trees always remind me of a Charlie Brown Christmas, but they make me smile all month long!