The Holidays

I LOVE this time of year.  Right in the middle of all the holidays.  Halloween and Thanksgiving have come and gone.  We got to dress up and have fun.  We had the chance to think about all our many blessings.  What better way to start the Christmas season than with thinking of everything we are thankful for and blessed with.  Black Friday....don't get me started on black Friday.  The sermon on how much I actually hate the whole thing could go on for days.  Let's just say, I wish we could have a day to actually think about our blessings instead of stores opening earlier and earlier, focusing on what we "need."  Enough said.  Zip my lips (or typing fingers).

The first snow of the season--kids can't wait to break out the sleds and snow gear.  This picture was taken before the biggest storms really hit....but they just couldn't wait.  It is getting so much easier to take the kids sledding now that Calla is a little older.  I love watching the smile on her face as she speeds down the big hill on her sled. 

 

After Thanksgiving dinner.  The kids all enjoying dessert.  There's is something about Nana and Grandpa's house and ice cream.  No matter what dessert is out there, they all have to pull out the ice cream cones.  There is never a shortage of ice cream flavor choices.

 

Playing some minute to win it games.

Every year Grandpa Ray goes all out with Christmas lights on the house and trees....and fence, lawn, etc.  He even hires a guy with a cherry picker to help him get the lights high up in the trees.  After all these years I finally learned why.  Being the oldest, he always went out and helped his dad put up the lights on their house.  He has some fond memories of this, so he has continued it on.  His dad died a long time ago, and I never really got to know him.  But I'm glad to learn this little bit of information about him, as well as my dad.  He never talks a whole lot about his childhood.  I think I'll have to pursue that a little further.  Anyway....each year he has his "lighting ceremony" on Thanksgiving evening.  Everyone goes out in the freezing cold and waits as he turns on all the lights.

 

 

Each year our kids fight over who gets to put the star on the tree.  We have to take a picture of the kid actually doing it, so the next year we can go back to see who's turn it was the year before and who gets the turn this year.  You can't fight when the proof is staring you in the face.  Tanner was the lucky kid this year.  The kids had a great time looking back at the ornament they picked out in years past.  Tanner always picks the most random things--things that really interest him.  For example, he has a collection of a huge glittery snowflake, a lizard with a santa hat, a lime green disco ball, and a seashell with a wreath.  Just another reason why we call him Captain Random.  Nathan has been picking out big crystal ornaments, Anika is into anything pretty and glittery, and Calla really loves bells--which is good because they can't break, and she is always grabbing her bell ornament and throwing it.

 

Anika's dance in her recital this Christmas was to the song "We are Santa's Elf's" from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, hence the elf costume.  Calla walked around the house all Christmas season singing the song. 

Calla has started having problems staying in her bed at night. We tried everything-including putting the child proof doorknob on the inside of the room so she couldn't open the door. She quickly learned how to rip it in half, pull it off the door, and make her escape. I think the next step is to install a doorknob with a lock on the hall side. Jon found the one and only way to keep her in bed. Go lay down with her and the three of them (Anika included) would sing Christmas songs.  It was kind of funny to hear my 2 year old singing Deck the Halls and knowing all the words.

We decided to go down to Provo and check out the toy store in the Riverwoods called Blickenstaffs.  What a fun place.  Pricy, but fun.  Calla LOVED the coin operated horse.  It kept her entertained while the rest of us looked around.  My favorite part:  They carry British chocolate bars!  I don't have to wait for someone to go to England and bring me back a Dairy Milk bar or Galaxy bar.

Calla started showing signs of wanting to potty train just after Halloween.  I reallly didn't want to spend all my holiday shopping time stopping with her to go to the bathroom at every store (at least once, if not twice).  So I tried to hold it off.  But she started pulling her diaper off and trying to get on the toilet herself.  Soooo...I would be a horrible parent to let the opportunity pass.  She was potty trained in one day, without a single accident.  So worth it!

 

Grandpa Ray decided to go to Temple Square with us this year.  Nana wasn't feeling up to it.  It was freezing cold, wet, and windy.  But the kids didn't mind--except for Calla. They all had smiles on their faces.  We always go out to Denny's to eat when we go to Temple Square.  It is the only place, including home, where they devour their food and beg for more.  Nathan can pack in at least ten chocolate chip pancakes, and still look around to see who isn't going to finish their dinner, and what he can take from their plate.  Calla polished off everyone's sausage and kept begging for more.  I swear the waiter thought we never feed our kids.

Now that we have stopped the tradition of Temple Square with all the cousins, my parents have found an alternative.  They reserve a trolley at Thanksgiving Point to take us around to see all the lights.  The kids were all happy sucking on their candy canes and playing with cousins.

Yes, Spanky has an ice cream cone during a blizzard. 

Anika and Brooklyn had to sit together.  Calla joined Taylor whom she has fallen in love with ever since Taylor taught her to do a summersault.

This year I tried to prepare Calla for Santa.  For weeks we talked about how nice Santa is.  She decided very early on that she was going to ask Santa for a Furby (pronounced "Fuby" by her) for Christmas...probably because Anika was too.  We explained what it would be like sitting on his lap.  No preparation could have made a difference.  The tears started before she even got near him.  Anika was VERY worried about her answer when he asked if she was good this year....and for good reasons.  She resolved "I don't have to be perfect, just good."  Well, she still should have been worried!  Tanner would still sit on his lap, but Nathan just felt way too old for that kind of thing.

Anika and Calla ended up getting Furby's for Christmas.  After a day Anika's sat in her closet.  I asked her why and she didn't answer me.  One day the boys pulled it out, and she freaked out.  It turns out she has a problem with the texture of Furby's ears.  She has a fear of balloons when they aren't blown up, sticky hands, etc.  The textures really get to her for some reason.  Furby's ears are kind of a rubbery plastic.  And sure enough, when she got too close to the Furby she gagged and ended up throwing up.  Calla's has been loved to no end.  He even ended up having a "bath" in the sink and surviving.

 

This year I decided to make each kid a gingerbread house, since I have just been buying a Costco one for them to share the last few years.  Now I remember why I just buy the Costco one.  The recipe I used ended up tasting really good...but the cookie ended up staying too soft.  The roof just wasn't going to stay on.  Luckily, I saw on pinterest that you can use graham crackers.  So after all the work, I remade the roofs with graham cracker.  It worked great.  Jon informed me that he absolutely hates the tradition of gingerbread houses--not a good thing to tell me after all that work!  The kids told me they really love the tradition.  What to do?  Probably go back to making a Costco one.

Anika has been wanting a nightgown for years.  The girls were thrilled to open their new nightgowns on Christmas Eve.  Calla now refuses to wear any other PJ's.  I even have a hard time getting her to take it off and get dressed in the mornings.  Tanner got his long awaited robe, which he wears constantly.  And Nathan ended up with a big soft blanket.  Something I never thought I would give an 11 year old boy, but he really wanted one.  Not the typical Christmas Eve PJ's, but all 4 kids were very happy.

 

The boys spent a lot of their snowy Christmas break playing basketball.  I can't count how many times I took them and their friends over to the church to get out all their pent up energy.  We also ended up going ice skating again over the break, which the kids all loved.  Anika ended up learning to ice skate without holding on to anything.  She was so proud.  Tanner is now a pro.  Nathan can skate, but not nearly as fast as he wants.  So he spent his time trying to catch Tanner.  Tanner, being a faster skater, could usually get away.  A nice incentive for Nathan to try to speed things up which was great until he actually caught him.

 

And this sums up how I felt at the end of it all.