Christmas Prep and Suspense

I took Noah to pick out and purchase gifts for his brothers at the school's Christmas shop. They even wrap the gifts there and make tags so the gifts can be a surprise for parents too. While we were having Noah's gift choices wrapped, we talked about the presents being a surprise for Christmas. I thought it all went well.

Then we went downstairs to wait for Josiah and Nathan's dismissal. When Nathan joined us Noah proclaimed, "I bought you a gift, Nathan!" Of course, Nathan asked, "What is it?" I told him, "He isn't going to tell you." at the exact moment Noah blurted, "BUBBLES!"

Oh well.

Surprise. You still have to wait 'til Christmas, Kid.

Christmas Prep Step by Step

Our Christmas tree went up in stages this week.


First, John brought the tree out of the basement and put it together. He also brought down the boxes of ornaments. (Yes, down. We don't store the tree and the ornaments together. *rolls eyes* That might make too much sense. Actually there is a very logical explanation for this. I think.)


Secondly, (or is that thirdly or fourthly if I count all the steps John did and whether I give him credit for two steps with both the carrying up and the putting together?) I "fluffed" the tree, you know, put the branches in the proper positions to look like a real tree but without the weathered imperfections. And I strung the lights. All the while Noah, the youngest little gentlemen, was telling me not to forget about the tree. (What can I say? I'm a multitasker and he was getting a bit worried that I wouldn't finish in time.) After the lights came the angel and ribbons. What? Ornaments? No, that would be the next step undertaken by the boys.


Sixthly, (That's giving myself credit for the entailed tasks within my step, of course.) the boys adorned the tree with ornaments. Red, gold, old and new, store-bought and homemade, they all went on the tree. I thought there may be clusters of ornaments but Josiah actually directed them to spread things out. And they did it! They did a fabulous job on the bottom 2/3 of the tree.

P.S. Nathan later led the mission to cover the treetop by throwing little red and gold bows as high as he and Noah could so that they would land in the tree. I left them where they stuck. For now.

Enjoy this Christmas season!

Because I'm Sure You Want to Know...

I am aware that lately I've left some things hanging. You're probably just barely restraining yourself from asking me what's up. Shh. I can have my delusions and feed them too.

Tatatatata DAH!

Last week my dad had a showdown with Tim. Yeah... Tim didn't stand a chance and has been banished NEVER TO BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.

In December I asked Santa for a few highly reasonable items for Christmas.

1. Vacuum- preferably one that would recognize Legos and spit them into a separate compartment so that I can rescue them without all the bending and crawling currently needed to avoid sucking them up.

2. Carpet Cleaner-
Is there a super fast model? One that dries as it goes too? Or maybe one that
vacuums, saves Legos, cleans, AND dries? That would be good. Then you could skip
#1.

I didn't receive either of the models I asked for but I did get some new vacuum bags.

Oh well. At least my vacuum still sucks.

In other news...
After being missing in action for nine days, Cai showed up and was instantly welcomed back into Noah's arms. And there was much rejoicing. The dog, also called Cai, who filled in for Cai may need counseling due to feelings of abandonment. But don't worry; we have a Woody doll and everyone knows that Woody takes good care of all the toys.
Note: No one received the promised reward since it was Noah himself who found his Cai.

Speaking of dogs...
Miss Hepburn, my fabulous seasoned citizen client, moved and DID get to take her dog with her. And there was much rejoicing.

Regarding the boobies discussion...
Apparently Josiah is correct. It seems that John may have what can be categorized as "man boobs". I felt obligated to tell you this since it is ... uh... well ... just HILARIOUS to me!

That about wraps it up. In the words of Paul Harvey, Now you know... the rest of the story.

Clearing the Air

Since it's the last day of the year I thought about making resolutions but I like to save those for my birthday since that's my personal new year. (Then at my birthday I can just leave it to New Year's if I still can't come up with anything resolution worthy.) Actually, I tend to make resolutions throughout the year and get started on them right then and there while the motivation level is high.

Then I thought about sharing my favorite posts but that would take a lot of time and consideration because should I choose a favorite funny, a favorite goofy, a favorite reflective, or a favorite rambling post? Hm... Or a favorite post about each member of my family? One funny and one more on the serious side? OR I could re-post a dud as my favorite so that the bar would be reset at a super low level and I could only write better posts from there!

So instead I'm going to tell on John.

It was Christmas Eve and we were getting ready to go to his side of the family for our Christmas celebration when I suggested that he call Belinda and get her recipe for sausage rolls so we could make them and bring an appetizer with us. (John LOVES these sausage rolls!) He calls and tells me that Belinda is going to email the recipe to us. So far, so good.

The email arrives and we look at the recipe. We have all the ingredients and there are still two hours until we need to leave. As I'm preparing to leave the house for that last minute stocking stuffer I say, "Okay. Let's make those." John looks at me and says, "I don't think we have time to make that." I remind him that we don't have to leave for two hours. Then he says the rolls have to be refrigerated for one hour. "Yeah....? There's enough time."

At that moment he says, "But you're leaving." and then in response to the look on my face he quickly adds a lame, "And I don't know how to make it." OH. MY. COW. "You know how to brown meat. You've got the instructions right here in front of you! You can't claim you don't know how!" I could hardly believe my ears that this excuse was coming out of my husband, the same man who likes to claim that he is "a master chef". I ended the conversation with The Look.

Knowing the wise thing to do, John made the sausage rolls while I went from store to store searching for the stocking stuffer which everyone else thought would be perfect too. After finding it at the fourth store that I checked, I returned home in time to help get everyone ready (out of their stained, ripped clothes and into something clean) and into the car. John brought his sausage rolls which were a BIG hit and, of course, claimed to be a master chef. It was a wonderful time.

The end.

Red Faced and Loving It

There's nothing quite like a good embarrassment. This must be the reason why we pull out all the stops on Christmas.

LET THE EMBARRASSMENTS BEGIN!

Preliminaries:
Admit your size to the entire family when letting your Christmas list be known.

The events:
1. Trivia games. Play that 2-second trivia game with super easy questions and show everyone how quickly your brain can freeze.

2. Wii. A new dancing video game? Fun! or... Act like Elaine when attempting to follow the dance moves on the TV screen! I admit there were way too many cameras and video recorders around for me to participate in this particular event. Just think... I could have been the next YouTube star! Oh well.

3. Open all those presents and then test your memory skills by thanking each person for the specific gift received. Watch their face closely for clues as to whether you are getting it right. "Thank you so much for the b... uh... swea.... uh... GIFT. I love it!" Then dig diligently through the packaging to find the labels.

4. See how many desserts you can eat while rationalizing the healthiness of them. Oh wait. That wasn't an official event. I just did that on my own. See? Fruit! Fruit is so good for you.

5. Be sure to leave the Christmas wrappings where they lay so you can frantically clean up just before company arrives. This is great fun! Then when you open the door to welcome your guests you have that fresh out-of-breath, red-faced look... kind of like Santa which is very holiday-like. Oh. And just tell them that you haven't cleaned up after the big day yet (since you only had time to stuff the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and pick up the laundry strewn about the house).

Seriously? How do that many presents leave so much wrapping paper behind? It's a miracle.

I'm probably leaving out some really good embarrassing moments. Do you have any to share?

Our Christmas was truly wonderful. We're blessed with great family and had treasured time together. And if you can't be yourself with family... where else can you do it, huh?

Christmas Cheer

There is an apparent lack of Christmas cheer around here. I know this because I overheard myself telling John that I don't feel very Christmassy. Therefore, the first order of business is to review my favorite humorous Christmas card:

Feeling better already.

Next I will be playing Christmas music and singing along loudly because everyone knows that "The best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear." Thanks for the tip, Buddy.

And throughout the day I will review my Far Side comics in order to keep the laughs coming.

Oh yes! It's going to be a good day and a great Christmas because more than anything else, God has already given me and you the best gift ever: redemption through His only begotten Son, Jesus.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Little Did I Know

The boys asked me if they could listen to some Christmas music yesterday. "Oh sure! The music is already in there; you just need to turn it on."

Later I began to think that Christmas Cd's should come with a warning label. They could make it a festive label if they want to. I don't mind.

OR ELSE THIS COULD HAPPEN:

I don't know how you are when you see a child bleeding but I DON'T LIKE IT. First I heard a bump, a cry, then the other boys saying, "Mooomm...." At the initial glance I thought Noah must have broken his nose or something; there was a LOT of blood. Relief flooded over me when I saw his forehead wound. "Okay. That's probably the source of it all..."

We brought the camera out after the bleeding was stopped because, well, there was bleeding and crying and I don't like pausing during an emergency for whatever reason.

Noah cleaned up real nice. I was hoping we could maybe do a butterfly bandage and be done with it but John declared that it would need stitches. "No, no, it will be fine..." I HATE the thought of causing more pain to my little one even when it is to help him. Besides, what did they do in the old days when.... Fine. "Take him to get looked at."

Apparently, if you were going to get injured, yesterday was the day to do it. The emergency room was virtually empty. (Maybe there WAS a warning label and everyone ELSE had heeded it!) They were ushered in to Fast Track, then to a room, and it wasn't very long before he was seen. Thankfully, the cut was able to be glued, not stitched. JOY!

The entire time I waited at home with the other boys wondering. What's happening at the ER? Will there be stitches? Is my baby okay?

Then it hit me. There could be a market for a sort of emergency-waiting kit. It would include coffee, of course, and a soothing voice of reassurance saying things like, "It will be okay... You'll hear from them soon... The doctor knows what he's doing... Don't worry." And other such rot. Hm. What would else should this waiting kit include?

Here are his mug shots. All that's missing is the name and number plaque; they put that on his wrist. Now he's on record as NOT heeding the warning on the Christmas Cd's.

All I Want For Christmas

When we are young and carefree, we never think we'll become that person.

Today I'm thinking of the list of items my young, single self would never have imagined I would ever want for Christmas. Who am kidding? I wouldn't have thought this even five years ago!

Here goes.

Dear Santa,

I know there are lots of fun toys available for the asking but there are a few things I need/want that I'm too cheap to buy on my own.

1. Vacuum- preferrably one that would recognize Legos and spit them into a separate compartment so that I can rescue them without all the bending and crawling currently needed to avoid sucking them up.

2. Carpet Cleaner- Is there a super fast model? One that dries as it goes too? Or maybe one that vacuums, saves Legos, cleans, AND dries? That would be good. Then you could skip #1.

3. Kitchen chair- More like a bar stool with a back. Not too high but not too low. Maybe an adjustable one. And a cushion. Could I get that with a back massager included?

4. Couch cushions- Or my current couch cushions recovered. I mean, I already have to turn them so the backs face outward... I'm running out of ways to hide the holes. Could the new cushions or covers have an anti-picking device installed. I don't want to name names per se but JOHN and the rest of the boys keep making the holes bigger. (I so told on them!)

5. Snow pants- preferrably ones that include motivation, endurance, and energy to keep up with my snow loving boys.

6. Lesley Sansoane's Walk off your Waist DVD (it comes with a weight belt) - Yeah, I don't want to talk about it. Well, maybe you and I could work on our waistlines together, Santa? Oh. Right. Yes, I know how it is when you have a bunch of little people underfoot....

7. A new front door- I would like one that is pretty, secure, easy to open and close, and the color of my bricks. You can stop by for a color sample if you need to.

8. Organizational Stuff- Office supplies. Toy organizing equipment. I know! Some extra storage closets would be wonderful! OR.... could I just have one of those red bags you've got? They seem to hold a lot of stuff. Maybe you have an old one just laying around somewhere? Yes? No?

Anyway, that about does it for my run of the mill items that I really, really want for Christmas this year. Thank you in advance for the special modifications I know that you can pull off. *fingers crossed*

Sincerely,
Sarah

Preparing for Christmas

We rearranged the living room and decorated for Christmas last weekend. It took longer for me to get into the Christmas spirit this year. I'm not sure why but I blame the mild weather because I like to have a scapegoat.

Here is a strangely aimed picture of the boys digging into the ornaments. From the looks of Nathan, it was just after Nathan was doing some digging into his raviolis. That would explain any strange stains I find on the ornaments...

After the tree was decorated, the younger boys took a nap and Josiah went outside to play while I set up our Playmobil nativity set. When Josiah came inside, he was amazed that I had set that up all by myself and had done it so quickly. "Wow! Did you do this all by yourself, Mommy? How did you do it so fast?" It's a superpower I have... kind of like being able to open jars.

I had the presence of mind to take a picture of the nativity since I kind of figured that it wouldn't remain intact throughout the Christmas season. At this point, I'm just hoping all the parts can be found when it's time to put things away.

The tree itself has remained decorated and unscathed. We may even be able to put the glass ornaments back on the tree by next year! Woohoo! I love a loaded tree.

Merry Christmas!

Naughty or Nice

I asked Nathan this morning what he wants for Christmas.

He told me, "I need a car. And a gun."

Dang! What's my three year old planning? Is there a heist planned? Are there co-conspirators? Where did I go wrong!?

On the other hand, he asks for so little....

Bwahahaha!

Snapshots Celebrating Christmas Eve and Christmas

Christmas seemed to come and go quickly this year. We had a wonderful time with family and friends celebrating Jesus' birth, the greatest gift of all!

We spent an evening with Marcie, Jason, Randy and Becky.

We spent Christmas Eve at Nona and Papa's house. Josiah always seems to remember what gifts he received on Christmas Eve and which ones he received on Christmas.

Christmas morning at our house.

We read the Christmas Story, raided the stockings and opened gifts.

After spending the morning together, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house and spent a great time with all the cousins, aunts and uncles, and, of course, Grandma and Grandpa.