Nada, Nothing, Not a thing!

That's how much is going on around here. I had very different plans for this week, this week off of school. But, like best laid plans, something usually gets in the way. In this case, it's Aaron. He has a cold. And croup along with it. Good times! :(  But we've been making the best of it and are hopeful he'll feel much better by the time we get to the festivities in KC this weekend.

A few pics and then a couple of stories. See, I can always find something to say... even if NOTHING is going on! :)

The kids and I decorated cookies on Christmas day. I think it's quite clear who decorated which cookies. It makes me laugh.

I hope this made you laugh too! :)

This has been a common scene around the house this week. Not so much the iPad time, but the puppy on the bed time. This is totally new, and something Allison is loving! She really, really wants Zoey to sleep with her at night, but we're drawing the line there. Zoey is still very much a puppy (just turned one today!), and I highly doubt she'd stay in bed all night. Thinking about the disaster that might be Allison's room in the morning is keeping Zoey in her kennel at night for now! 

This kid cracks me up! He comes to me and asks me for a bowl and spoon. Figuring that couldn't cause much damage, I gave it to him without asking what he was going to do with it. A couple minutes later he comes up to me and says, "Would you like to try some of my state soup?" He was so proud of himself for being so creative with his new states game. 

No, we don't let our kids stand on chairs! And yes, I made him stand back up on it after I reminded him of the rules, so I could take a picture. :) I just loved how he was using his new "toy" to take pictures of his favorite things. Just too cute! Oh, and no, I do NOT like those curtains. They were in the house when we moved in, 5 years ago, and I've never replaced them. Looking at them close up right now, in this picture, makes me want to do some shopping VERY soon!! Not my taste at ALL!! No offense if you have rose curtains. I'm sure yours are lovely! :) 

Aaron asks every few days when we're going to go back to New York. Uh, not anytime soon, son! I found this little "drawing" on the art table this week. Guess he really IS dreaming of a return trip! 

STORIES:

Aaron:

The other day Aaron got in trouble for talking back to me. This is a new thing for him. And boy, when he talks back, he talks BACK! It's ugly! When Scott came home he had a little talk with Aaron about this behavior. He said, "Why did you have to go to time out today?" and Aaron said, "Cause I was talking back and forth to Mommy." :)

Allison:

Perhaps she was in the giving spirit with Christmas just passing, but the day after, Allison asked if she could donate some of her toys to children who were sick in the hospital. I had NO idea if there even was such a program, so I called a local hospital and asked. I talked to the sweetest lady who said they didn't really have a donation program, but they did have a room where sick kiddos could go play, and we could bring things to add to the room if we'd like. Allison was so happy they said yes! She collected several items and put them in a Christmas bag. 

We headed out to run some errands, the hospital being the first stop. Once we arrived on the correct floor, I asked to speak to Casey, who had been so sweet on the phone. All the nurses gathered around and I said to Allison, "Go ahead and tell Casey why you came today." I could not believe how mature my little girl was. She did all the talking. She told them what she'd collected, showing them all the items, and told them she wanted sick kids to feel better. I didn't think to document it with a picture, and really, it didn't seem appropriate to do so, but I did want to write about it so I wouldn't forget. The cutest part? She had donated several little tiny dolls, that she had personally outfitted with little slings and such, since they were "sick". Is that darling or what? :)

Merry Christmas!

Scott and I declared this "the best Christmas yet!" with our kiddos. At 4 and 6 they are at such fun ages when it comes to all the magic that is Christmas, and they are also old enough to understand what it's really about and to think about such things during the holiday season.

I was up early enough to get ready before anyone else awoke, but by 6:40 the kids were stirring. We held them off until a little after 7:00, and then they just HAD to check and see if Santa came! They both loved everything in their stockings and their Santa gifts. Honestly, we could stop there and they'd be fine. It's us silly parents that love buying more, just to watch their little faces light up!

Checking out the last goodies in the advent calendar. 

He probably would have been happy if this is ALL he received. Ha! 

He loved his little track. We all did. The only one not loving it? Zoey! She wanted nothing to do with it!

I won a super hero cape in an online contest. :) 

I'm sure someday they'll build amazing things, but for today, it made an awesome drum!

Allison is getting into horses these days, so she got a book where you can decorate your own horses. Cool!

Aaron really needed things to PLAY with. I think he'll have a lot of fun with this!

And Science Girl will no doubt get lots of use out of this!

Daddy made a trip to Toys R Us a week or so ago.... a trip where he filled up his truck with things every 4 year old boy "needs". An Army mat and accessories was at the top of the list. :) 

Silly kids!

On her short list of wants this year was a diary with a lock and key. Daddy suggested she give us the extra key to keep for her in case she lost the main key. She agreed. For being so smart, sometimes she's a bit clueless! :)

The hit of the day! Thanks to my online buddy, Jodie, who suggested this for Aaron. He played with it for HOURS, no joke! 

The final gifts... electronics, of course! Scott and I upgraded phones and iPads, so the kids got our old ones. We put new covers on them, loaded them up with only kid apps, and they are none the wiser! :) 

He was told he could have an itouch when he was 5, so he was pleasantly surprised to get one early! 

I think her face says it all. She was one happy little girl! Now, STOP BORROWING MINE!! :)

An hour of peace and quiet was enjoyed by all! 

Until it was time to PLAY with new toys! Allison is having a ball with her "girl legos", and Aaron? Well, he's still playing with his new electronic USA map. :)

Scott and I exchanged gifts too, and as always, he was VERY thoughtful and gave me things that made me cry. He's good that way. I'm boring and stick to his list. He didn't cry at his new socks OR his new pen, dang it! Maybe next year! 

I tried out something that I hope will become a new tradition with us, and that is to have a final gift for the family. I took baby Jesus from the nativity, wrapped him up, and hid him on the fireplace in a bag. Then when all was settled down I gave a talk about the greatest gift of all. Allison knew exactly where I was going with the talk, and she guessed Jesus was in the package. :) Last night at church, as she listened to the message, she leaned over to me and said, "It's kind of like he's saying Jesus is a GIFT!" That's when I knew she'd appreciate the new tradition. Even though they'll know what that last gift is every year, I still think it's important to emphasize it. How if every gift went away, or for some reason we couldn't buy anything for them, we would still be so blessed because Jesus will always be a gift to us. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY! Happy Birthday, Jesus! 

Merry Christmas! 

Christmas Eve- the house of lights video

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Couldn't get this to show up on my Christmas Eve post, but figured it probably deserved its own post anyway! Enjoy! And don't forget to scroll down to read about all of our Christmas Eve fun! :)

Merry Christmas Eve!

You know I can't put Christmas Eve and Christmas together in one post, right? I mean, that's just too many pictures!! Christmas Eve was so much fun! We had a fun, relaxing day, and then in the evening we went to church, which was amazing, as usual (and the kids loved being in the "big church" with us!). Then we drove by a site we'd heard about but had never checked out.. one of those houses that is decorated with lights that blink to music that's on the radio- WAY COOL!! Then home to complete all our usual traditions (preparing food for the reindeer, preparing treats for Santa, opening a new pair of pajamas, reading The Night Before Christmas, etc.) It was a really fun night, and we all went to bed greatly anticipating the big day!

Oh, the best part, next to the traditions and church, of course, was having our friends come deliver a HUGE pan of pulled pork with some insanely good BBQ sauce. The hubs enters this stuff in BBQ contests, so you can imagine how good it is! Scott and I enjoyed a late night sandwich snack and we appreciated it again this afternoon for lunch. Tonight Scott is preparing his famous spaghetti and meatballs (it's crazy good!). This weekend, it's all about the food. Next week, it's all about, well, NOT the food! :)

Preparing reindeer food. Aaron brought home a bag of reindeer food from school, and Allison decided to add sugar and cinnamon to spice it up a bit. :)

Daddy's just a great photographer! Look at those oats fly! 

My kids don't write letters to Santa, but they do leave him a note with his goodies. :)

Stinkin' good at cursive too! 

Lots of reject shots before a decent one came up. They were done posing! 

Bringing over their new jammies. Allison remembered from years past what the gift would be, but Aaron had no idea. 

She loved her pink monkey pajamas.

Just like a boy.. ripping the whole box!!

Giving her daddy a wink!

Trying to copy Allison's pose!

Our Night Before Christmas book is 48 years old. And no, it was not bought when I was born, but when my very older brother (okay, 2 years but STILL!) was born. It's falling apart, and that makes it all the more special! Daddy used to read it, but now Daddy and the kids take turns. 

The scene when we finally went to bed at midnight. It wasn't anything near as fancy as last year, but we knew the kids would love their Santa gifts. Aaron got that cool car track you always see at the mall, right by the carousel, and Allison had Santa bring her a lava lamp. :)

Let the Decorating (cookie, that is) begin!

We were invited to attend a little cookie decorating party from a mom at A's school, so of course we said YES!! Aaron had his last morning of school, so it was a perfect time for Allison and I have to have some Mommy/daughter time. :) She really got into it and enjoyed the making of cookies, the cutting out of shapes, the decorating, and of course some play time when cookies were baking. A good time was had by all! Now we have some cookies for Santa, so that can be checked off the list!

Someone must have said something funny! :)

The kids loved seeing the flour poured out all over the island! 

Taking turns cutting some Christmas shapes. 

I love this view! 

After awhile, Allison decided to free hand some shapes. Fun!

Time to wash all the dough off our hands before decorating? :) 

She loved decorating the cookies, but what she really wanted to do was just eat all the goodies instead! 

I had to throw this one in... Allison received this neat little tangrams puzzle from one of her teachers. I spent about 15 minutes figuring out how to do it (I thought there was only one way), and then I showed Allison, kind of proud of myself. She immediately took it, and within 5 minutes brought it back to me, done a completely different way. Aaron wanted to try, but I was worried he's become really frustrated. Nope. Within 10 minutes he brought it to me and said, "Look! I did it a different way than you AND Allison did it!" And he had. I was no longer proud of myself. But I was proud of the kids! :) 

Gingerbread House fun with Aaron!

Today was celebration day at Aaron's school. Parents were invited to come decorate a gingerbread house with their child. What FUN! But uh oh.... I totally forgot that Allison was out of school. It's way too crowded in his classroom to have siblings there..... SO, it was off to work with Daddy she went! As soon as I was finished in Aaron's classroom I called Scott to see if he wanted to do a drop off somewhere in the middle, but he said Allison was having too much fun and wanted to stay longer. :)

Aaron and I had a BLAST!! He is such a fun little kid! We sat at the table with all girls (I think he likes it this way!) and right next to his "buddy", Reece. He smiled big when he saw we were next to her and her mom. Tee Hee! The difference in watching a boy decorate a house and a girl is, well, humorous! Glad I've had the girl experience so I know all about these differences or I'd have felt very strange. The girls are "painting" the house with perfection. My son is glopping frosting on. The girls are lining up their decorations. My son is placing them haphazardly on the house. The girls are putting finishing touches on their houses and building pathways up to the door. My son is placing letter stickers (that he asked me to bring for him) on his frosting globs. The parents of the girls are helping them, evening things out and making it look "just perfect". I don't touch my son's house. I want it to be "just his".

Getting started... and just SO happy!

Can you see why he likes Reece? What a cutie! 

His "masterpiece" is coming together!

He did concentrate like crazy. It was adorable! 

Just for fun, here's a shot of Aaron frosting a little cone at last year's party. My how he's grown!! 

So proud of his finished product! 

After decorating, he wanted to show me around the room a bit. He LOVES it when it's his day to have "a job", and this is where it all happens. :) Before we left, the kids sang a few Christmas songs to us. Just a sweet, sweet morning!