A Merry Day

 Merry Christmas everyone!  Our holiday started out on Christmas Eve with Chad's side of the family.  The kids were thrilled to get to presents.  I remember as it kid it seemed like a lifetime before we got to Christmas!

 The cousins.

 Ghee reading a story about Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.  I had never heard the background story before.  If you haven't heard it before, look it up. 

 Most of the crew.

 Cody got these gems.  I don't even remember why, but I think they are hysterical!  We were all spoiled.  It was a really nice night with great company and food.

 The next morning Santa had left his mark.  Micah got his Mega Blitz Garage and Brooklyn got her pink and purple dress up!

 They attacked their stockings.

 Silly putty anyone?

 Getting into all of it.

 Daddy helping B with her new book.

 The alarm clock radio he had been wanting.  You know it was a good Christmas when your kid says "This is the best day ever!"

 Next we got dressed up for church.

 Looking handsome.

 Trying to get a picture of these two with normal smiles is a challenge!

 Next we went to my parents house and enjoyed brunch and more presents. 

 My beautiful niece.

I think Gavin had had enough.  We were all spoiled and tired by the end of the day and as much as I LOVE Christmas, I dread the clean up afterwards.  We had a lot of new fun things to play with and find room for.  Thanks to our families!  They are fantastic!

Could we be more festive?

 I don't think we could be cramming more joy, merry and fa la la in!  We have the tree trimmed, presents wrapped, stocking hung, fire lit and we are ready.

 We have visited Santa several times now.  He should have the kids gifts memorized by now!

 We have visited gingerbread displays.  Yum!

 Some little hands just can't keep to themselves!

 Can you believe the masts on this boat are all made of white chocolate?

 We visited the massive tree at Fashion Island.

 With Shelby, Grandma and Grandpa.

We also insisted on watching Elf with Joseph from our nativity set. 

As much as I wish I could say that I am just enjoying the heck out of all of this, I have to admit I feel like I am scrambling to find activities.  I feel like I am really good at taking care of the day to day stuff (meals, cleaning, errands, getting kids from place to place), but when there is a holiday, I am out of my element.  It could be the extra lack of sleep and increase of sugar intake, but I am feeling a little stressed.  I'm hoping I can let go and just get that fun tingle of the Christmas spirit before it is all over!  Oh to be a kid again.  Who wouldn't love that?  In the meantime, I am going to be taking the kids to the movies and ice skating and sending myself to bed early.  Goodnight!

Cookie time & Funnies

 Keeping the Christmas traditions rolling, we made sugar cookies today!  I actually bought my very first (and probably last) rolling pin today just for this!

 Brooklyn helped cut out the cookies.

 We kept it simple with a few chocolate chips and M&M's.

 Delish!

Yum!

Today as I was picking Micah up from school we were driving home and I pointed out how all the dark clouds were moving in.
Me:  Looks cold to me.
Micah:  Not to me.  Do you see there is a hole in the clouds?  I think Jesus is going to pop out of there.
Me:  OK, well probably not today, but maybe one day.
Micah:  Are Jesus and Santa the same guy?
Me:  No.
Micah:  You know, Jesus has a beard and Santa has a beard too.
Me:  Yep, you are right.
How do you explain things like that?  Sorry Micah, our culture dictates that I lie to you about Santa until you are old enough to handle it.  I am thinking it is better that I let you believe a lie than to let you be THAT kid at school that spills the beans and shatters childhood dreams for kindergarteners.  One day there will be a manual for this parenting stuff, right?

A Chaotic Christmas

Is it just me or does Christmas time feel a little frantic?  I know, I should simplify and all that, but sometimes things just happen.  We are trying to figure out things with Micah.  I guess it really isn't all that big of a deal, but to me anything that has to do with my baby makes my stress level go up.  So I decided to take a mommy's night out with a friend to get away when I get a phone call from Micah.  He said daddy's ear was hurt.  Well, in the hour or so since I left the house, Chad and the kids were playing on the floor and Brooklyn got Q tips out for some reason.  Micah grabbed one and shoved it into Chad's ear.  Well, I headed home and convinced him to go to Urgent Care.  Again, I think that term is used to loosely because they were closed at 5 on a Friday.  Anyways, the next morning he went in and it turns out his ear drum is punctured.  He is literally deaf in that ear (he says he can hear about 30%).  The doctor told him that he needs to be seen by an ENT.  He said that they will likely see how well it heals on his own, but most likely he will need surgery.  Bummer.  The timing isn't great, but it will work out OK.  I don't want to let things like this stress me out or take away from the joy of this season...it's just a bump in the road, right?

Just too funny!

My kids were regular comedians today.  Here are a few things that happened.

1.  When Brooklyn and I went to get into the car today, she was running to the car and looked the other way.  She turned her head just in time for her face to meet the bumper and get clothes lined.  She was flat on her back and I have a streak of her face on the back of my car.  OK, it was sad at first and then I thought, man I wish I had that on camera!

2.  When we were driving home from dinner, Brooklyn let out a huge burp followed by, "That was my quesadilla.  I think that was a monster burp!"

3.  As we were talking about a person and I said her name is Tammy.  Micah: "It's a girl?"  Me:  "Yeah, Tammy is a girl name."  Micah:  "I'm not a big fan of girls."  So matter of fact.

4.  Micah has been learning Spanish and we were talking about foods in Spanish.  Micah:  "I would like a pickle too.  How do you say that?"  Me to Chad:  "I don't know how to say pickle, do you?"  Chad to me:  "No."  Brooklyn:  "I do.  Pickle!"

Days like today remind me of how dull life would be without them! 

All the little stuff

I love Christmas!  Yes, it can be stressful getting things bought, wrapped, and so on, but I love it.  What I love the most are all the little parties and all the activities that make Christmas special.  On Saturday, we went to two ward Christmas parties.  We went to our ward breakfast, but then Santa wasn't there.  How dare they make Christmas about Christ at a church event!  Ha ha  We decided to head to my parents ward party and luckily, they had Santa at the very end.

 The kids looked pretty unsure of him, but then got comfortable and told him what he wanted.  For the record, Micah wants a Hot Wheels Mega Blitz Garage and Brooklyn wants a purple princess dress up.

 Sunday we got together for our normal Sunday dinner with the family.  My mom got a gingerbread village kit and we all got to work.

 Chad helped Brooklyn with construction.

 Micah decided he was better at making cookies than gingerbread houses.

 Brooklyn holding the sides of the house.

 Troy taking his art very seriously.  He made an outhouse.

 Shelby and her bf made a cottage.

 Taura working on her roof.

Our A frame all finished with a little tootsie roll man to boot!  Yes, it was a shirtless activity.  Just be grateful I wasn't in this picture!  Ha ha

Letting Go

 Last night we decorated our Christmas tree.  From these cute pictures, I could lie and say that it was just so heart warming, we all sang Christmas carols and sipped hot cocoa.

 I could tell you that I have fond memories of this night and it was like living out a Hallmark movie.

That would be a lie.  It seems like every year that we do this, it is chaotic.  We were snipping at each other, trying to keep B from breaking the ornaments, Micah was whining about having to eat more dinner to earn dessert and Chad and I were bickering over lost ornaments.  How is that for a loving family moment?  No hot cocoa sipping.  No warm fuzzies.

Here is the deal:  I am a perfectionist.  Type A all the way.  I have been for a long time.  In school I was on the honor roll.  In the work force, I have been asked to come back to every company I left after I moved on.  It has always worked out well for me to be this way.  Now, I'm a mom.

Being a perfectionist and a mom DO NOT mix.  I'll tell you why.  I have a way of creating expectation in my mind of what I want things to be like.  Well, kids hardly ever live up to those expectations.  They don't eat without making messes, they don't fit into your schedule, they can't even get out the door on time without a fit over a toy or certain shoes they want.  They don't go to bed without balking, they do not play together peacefully, talk quietly or listen intently to directions, and they do not care how much effort you put into making them look cute in the morning, that mud puddle was just too enticing!  Basically, as a perfectionist, I have set myself up for frustration over and over again.  I can't keep living life in such a tight little box.  I know I can sour the mood in my house really quick or I can keep the fun going by laughing.  I know it isn't New Years yet, but I am going to make this a new goal of mine.  I am working on letting go.  I'm letting go of these silly ideas of perfection and expectations that fit in a certain mold.  Life just doesn't go that way for anyone.  I'm going to try and take things as they come and get better at rolling with the punches. 

So here is what I think.  Last night could have been full of warm fuzzies if I had surrendered to the chaos and embraced it and loved it for the 20 or 30 minutes it took to fill the tree with our old memories.  So that is what I am going to try to do from now on.  That should make for a much merrier Christmas!