Merry Christmas

Ready to head out to church on Christmas Eve

Zoo lights

We went to the zoo last Saturday night to look at the lights. Here are Joe and the kids ready to head in.
Saying hi to the camel.
Getting ready to watch the light/music show at the big fountain.
Joe informed me I needed a new hat for Christmas - I think this one is lovely.....
The kids got to "ride" the polar bear that was pulling the sleigh.
All snuggled in under blankets for the ride home. We were hoping they would just drift off to sleep and we'd get to just carry them in to bed when we got home. No such luck.

This is what we do for fun when it's really cold outside

Cookies...and frosting!

We decorated cookies last week with the neighbors.
The kids were a bit excited about the prospect of having a plate full of frosting at their disposal.

They even managed to get some of it on the cookies.

Sign him up to be a SAHM

Joe and I had to be at the hospital at 6:30 a.m. for his latest round of kidney stone blasting, so my dad was kind enough to come so he could stay with the kids while we were gone.

I thought he'd have an easy day - I was planning on having Sam skip preschool so all they would have to do is play at home all day. But then Sam's preschool Christmas party (where they are supposed to have a parent or other special adult come along) got rescheduled to today and he was a bit disappointed that some of us couldn't come (telling me "But I told Miss Caryn to write Mom and Dad and Grandma and Papa on the invitation - you won't all be there?") so I informed my dad he'd have to psych himself up for a trip out with the two of them.

I was a bit concerned they would even make it to preschool - most days we slide in there with about 30 seconds to spare after having left the kitchen a big mess of dirty breakfast dishes and piles of pajamas that were shed on the floor because I didn't have enough time to run them upstairs to the hamper. The days that there aren't dirty dishes is because we didn't have enough time to eat at home and my kids are stuck with some Ritz crackers and juice boxes I grab on my way out the door to eat on the way.

But my dad showed me up impressively. Not only did they have a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, yogurt, and cereal, he also managed to get the dishwasher unloaded of the clean dishes and reloaded with the dirty ones. The kids' pajamas were not in piles on the floor, but rather up in their bedrooms. When I called him at 8:42 - a full 18 minutes before preschool starts - they were sitting in the parking lot just waiting to go inside. And there was no screaming in the background (which is usually a given when I am talking on my cell phone in the car - especially if we are not even moving!)

He got Sadie dropped off upstairs, remembered to take in a baby gift for a friend (that I had forgotten to bring in on Sunday), and had a great time with Sam at the party. They made a craft, had a snack, and he watched the kids sing their songs. He even managed to take some pictures for us (though he doesn't know how to get them off his phone...if my brother can figure out how to email them to me I'll add them to this post later).

And then he had enough energy left to take them to McDonalds playland for lunch.

I seriously underestimated him.

I think he should quit his day job and come be my nanny.

His own version of the Christmas story

One of Sam's favorite things to play with lately is our nativity. It's not really intended to be a set of action figures, but I hate to discourage his interest the Bible.
His account of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus, however, doesn't really seem to match up with that of Matthew or Luke.

For example, one night I overheard him saying, "And the wise man knocks Mary off a cliff, but here comes Joseph to the rescue!"

Another day I found him using the little drummer boys sticks and the horn of the ox as weapons. I informed him that he could only play with them if everybody was good guys - no bad guys and no fighting allowed. After an initial response of "But Mommy, the wise man's present just turned into a cannonball," he did come to see it my way. He lined everybody up and told me, " Mom - there's a really big crowd waiting to see Jesus."

Every figure was upright and didn't appear to be using any of their accessories (or body parts) to knock off the person lined up next to them.

I think I'll enjoy the peace for the moment and wait until next year to tell him about King Herod.

O happy day!

This morning Sam came to a halt at the top of the steps and started screaming.

Thankfully, screaming for joy.

"There's enough snow to play in!"

Repeat that exclamation about 20 times, combine it with lots of jumping up and down, and throw in a little sister doing the same, and you have a good picture of 7:48 a.m. at our house today.

And no more than 3 minutes after having left their beds, this is what my two little kiddos were dressed in.
Think they'll like to shovel this much when they're teenagers?
I suspect he may have accidentally sent a little snow in his sister's direction.
Sadie was busy shoveling the grass (very useful) as Sam was clearing off the picnic table (also, very useful). Perhaps they thought I was going to be up for a game of soccer and breakfast outside?
Hi Mom - aren't you going to get your boots on too?
And so I did.

However, I neglected to take any pictures of myself with coat, hat, gloves, boots, and hot pink flannel pajamas on.

I need to buy myself some snowpants, so I can cover up those pjs like my kids did.

But - the news I am officially allowed to share today is that we will be spending most of January through April in the southern hemisphere.

Tasmania, to be exact.
(That's in Australia.)

So maybe I'll just wait to get those snowpants until next year.

'Cause it's summer down there!