All I want for Christmas...

17 December 2015

Brie, it was SO fun for the whole fam to come watch your first grade Christmas concert.  You looked beautiful and did a great job singing, especially, "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth".  Your teeth cooperated in November and December so you truthfully could sing it :0) We love you sweet song bird of ours!

Our early Celebrations.

12-13 December 2015

As always we did our own family's Christmas celebrations before we left for Utah.  After our typical dinner I wanted to do some sort of nativity dress up experience (with the beautiful clothes that our Saudi friends gave us while living in St. Louis).  We ended up going around to our various nativities and singing songs.  Unfortunately I hadn't thought out the details and it felt disjointed and wasn't super meaningful.  Better luck next year.  Afterwards we watched the claymation movie about how Santa Claus came to be.  It was the most relaxed and laid back moment I'd had all holiday season and was very welcomed and enjoyed!  Once it was over you kids had a sleepover in the giant nest that Alex helped to make :0)  The next morning we did presents, had some sugar cereal while waiting for our breakfast casserole to bake and enjoyed our time together.  Alex, you gave the gingerbread people that you had helped sew for Brie, Lij and Aimee.  You kids got rolling backpacks for our travels.  Dad gave me a gift card to go get a manicure and pedicure before our trip.  That was a special treat!  I'd never had a manicure and it was nice to have some pampering in the midst of such a BUSY season  And it was fun to have nice nails during the holidays :0)  I hung up the stockings that Grauntie Elaine had given me last year.  It makes me happy to think that we'll be reminded of her each Christmas as we hang our stockings.  The best part of this Christmas was having Aimee!  I bought her some cute outfits for her presents (I couldn't resist!) and Bompa & Mémé sent you a fun popup ball toy.  (You were at a sitting-up-but-not-yet-crawling phase, so it was perfect for setting you by the tree with your presents without worrying about you pulling down the tree or getting in to potential choking hazards.)

Do you know what...?

Tonight Elijah, you were having a hard time staying at the dinner table and were getting grumpy.  You were standing over by me so you could watch as I was spooning puréed bananas into Aimee's cute little mouth.  In an effort to distract you from being grumpy and encourage a happier mood...

Mom: Do you know what your arms say?  HUG    ME (I proceeded to wrap your arms around my neck in a big hug)
Mom: Do you know what your cheeks say?  KISS   ME (I then gave each of your cheeks a big kiss)
Mom: Do you know what your hand says?   HOLD   ME (I picked up your sweet warm little hand and held it for a moment)
Mom: Do you know what your hair says?  SNUGGLE   ME (I leaned my face against your soft head and gave you a little snuggle)

You smiled and contently went along with each question and response.  It was a sweet little interchange, one that I want to remember :0)

ABC, XYZ...

Elijah, you recently potty-trained yourself....well you took the initiative and we ran with it.  We taught you to sing your ABCs while scrubbing your hands before you rinse them with water.  Tonight at 9:30 after coming out of your room for the 100th time and using the potty at least 4 times, Dad was out of patience (rare for him) so I came in to help you finish up and get your hands washed.  You leaned over the sink, pumped some soap in to your hands and sang a very quick and apparently modified version of the song, "ABC, XYZ, next time won't you sing with me? Rinse!"  Oh man.  That'll do for tonight, but we may need to review hand washing 101 tomorrow ;0)  P.S. Please STAY in bed and GO TO SLEEP little man!!

Paris Poodle Party.

Brie, I'm not sure how the scheming of this birthday theme came about, but it was fun that we were both so excited about it.  We spent many of our waiting-for-the-opthmoalagist times looking at pinterest, pinning different favorites and dreaming up your special birthday dinner.  I loved what you dreamed up for your cake! (white cake with touches of pink peppermint throughout and a light pink (candy cane) frosting.  We served it with a seasonal peppermint moose tracks, YUM!)  I thoroughly enjoyed putting all the final touches on dinner and decorations.  For dinner we had rotisserie chicken, golden potatoes, green beans, baguettes and pink lemonade.  

Afterwards we played pin the poof on the poodle :0) then opened gifts.  Dad & I got you a stuffed pink poodle and special "paris" fabrics for future sewing and crafting projects for the two of us to work on together.  Quelle belle soirée!

Santa's Helper.

I don't think I've fully documented our Points, Prizes and Puff balls incentive program, but in conjunction with that system we've been doing Santa's Helper points.  Basically once you've earned a prize you can "donate" your prize to a Santa's Helper chart as a tally mark and each tally mark will be counted up as currency to use for Christmas presents.  However, if one of you goes above and beyond in helping someone you instantly get a Santa's Helper tally on the chart.  In any case, this morning, without being asked, Brie got up and did each of your morning jobs--opened the curtains for Elijah, set the breakfast table for Alex and cleared out the dishwasher (and even straightened up the kitchen) as usual.  Dad and I were really touched Brie by your thoughtfulness in doing this.  We awarded you two Santa's Helper tally marks (which would be the equivalent of you earning 12 points).  Aside from points, prizes...tally marks and all, I hope you know how much we appreciate your willingness to serve others.  We love you, sweet Brie!

My brain...

Alex: We've never gone to Disney World.  Can we go sometime?
Me: That's true, we should go sometime.  What gave you that idea?
Alex: My brain.  It's really smart.