Christmas (And Why We Are Freaks)

This Christmas we had Grandma here for two whole weeks! It was so nice, except that she got sick and we missed a few days of Grandma time. Jeff was able to take off two whole weeks so we have been enjoying having him home. Each year, Christmas becomes more and more fun for the kids. They understand it a little bit more each year. They are beginning to understand the significance of Christmas, and also the joy of giving. (More on that next time)


Next year, I think I am going to make myself a shirt with "We do not do Santa!!!" written across the front in flashing lights. It is amazing how many people ask the kids 'What is Santa bringing you?' or 'Is Santa coming to your house?' or 'You better be good so Santa will come.' We chose NOT to do Santa because we want to focus on celebrating the birth of Christ. We feel like Santa can easily become a distraction from the real reason we are celebrating. Also, if we spend the first eight years of our kids lives telling them about Santa, only to confess that he is not real, how are they going to feel about God? If Santa is fake, is Jesus fake too? Should they believe us? Those are a few of the reasons we have decided that Santa is not for us. I have to laugh when people ask my kids the Santa questions, and the kids give them the blank stare. If I say 'We don't do Santa,' I usually get a look that says something like this: 'What are you, communists?! Freaks?! You are denying your children the basic human right of believing that some rotund and jolly man who squeezes down the chimney with presents!! How evil of you!!!' I really need to come up with some witty answer that I can just spout off whenever I get 'the look'.

10 Years Today!

(Jeff in his festive 'Christmas' shirt**)

Today is our 10 year anniversary!

**His sister got it for him a few years ago as a joke. He figured it was red, green and obnoxious so why not wear it for Christmas.

Christmas Tradition

Watching the train

Tunnel of Presents

Last Christmas, Jeff's coworker gave us an awesome train set. (Thanks, Michael and Jenine!) Last year, we waited til the kids were asleep and then set it up on Christmas eve. All year, James has been asking if he could help set it up this time. He and Jeff set it up (well, mostly Jeff) while the other two looked on. James and Katie were about to blow a gasket with all the excitement. Once it was set up, the kids sat (even Tyler) and watched the train go round and round. We have actually had the train up for several days now without incident, which is amazing. After Christmas, James decided to 'decorate' the train scene by adding a cabin and animals. That boy is pretty clever if I do say so myself. :) Jeff also taught James how to control the train so James thinks he is hot stuff now.

Snow!

We had a white day-after-Christmas! Its hard telling how much snow we got due to the high winds we had. There are 3 and 4 foot drifts, and also bare grass showing in places. The kids have had a lot of fun playing in it, and this morning James and I had a great big snowball fight. It was so much fun. I'll be back to regular posting soon, and that means lots of pictures! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Fun With (Great) Grandma

Christmas Finery

I made Tyler a little bow tie for Christmas. Frankly, its so darn cute on him (in my humble opinion) that I don't care if he only wears it a few times. I just love it! Now I want to make a bunch more for both boys.

James Made My Week

In the car today, James said 'Mom, I know what things need to work.' I asked what he meant, and he said 'The sea, and trees and plants need water. Trains need coal. Cows need grass.' Fully thinking he would answer 'food,' I asked him what little boys need. And you know what he said? He said 'They need lots and lots of kisses from their mamas.' I melted right then and there. I think I need to go give him a kiss or two right now.

Pictures

Tyler sporting a 'faux-hawk'

'Gwammy taught me this!'

Amanda, Emma and Katie playing dress up

'Take our picture!!'



And here are a few pictures of the strange places my kids fell asleep while they were sick:

Kaite fell asleep literally face down on the kitchen floor :(

James fell asleep on Jeff's feet

Katie fell asleep leaning against the dishwasher before she could even think about eating the oatmeal she had wanted

Before the Sickness Struck....

Farmer James is the proud owner of a set of mini-oxen and is half way to owning a pair of larger (toy) oxen. He has purchased one so far and is saving for the next one. He requested covered wagons for each pair, in the appropriate sizes. We made a wagon a few months ago, but it finally bit the dust. At this point in the game, the big wagon is going to have to wait til after Christmas. However, I was able to make this small one for his mini-oxen.

We're Still Alive

We're finally on the upswing, for real this time. I think. I hope. It all started last Wednesday, where we went from being fine to not being able to keep a single thing down, all within approximately one hour, literally. My parents also succumbed to the plague of doom and despair. Whatever it was...it was AWFUL!! I'll spare you the details, but I am now in the midst of cleaning and mopping every single room of the house. I also have mountains of laundry to wash. Despite running 3-4 loads per day for the last several days, my pile to fold is pretty darn small due to the constant turnover of laundry. I project that I will be done sometime in Spring of 2034. Maybe I'll even get some sleep one of these nights. Here's hoping.

Sickness

We are all in various stages of the worst sickness ever to hit our house. I probably won't blog til next week. We're a mess....

Funny Picture

I am at a loss right now, but there must be some clever caption for this picture. It makes me laugh.

Christmas Festivities

(Katie carrying on in the tradition of Auntie Rachel: dancing with the Christmas tree skirt)

Last night we bundled up the kids, cookies in hand, and went out into the finally-frigid weather to go look at the lights. Jeff gave us the supreme driving tour of lights, meandering all around L-town looking for dressed up yards. Let me tell you, some people really go nuts. We saw one house that was completely, and I do mean completely, covered in lights. Even the front of the house. Every square inch of the yard was covered. They even had a sign saying when Santa was making his next appearance at their house. Of course, being grown-ups who pay our own electric bills, Jeff and I immediately wondered how much their bill will be. Yikes! We had so much fun and the kids were just mesmerized by the lights. I look forward to doing this every year!

Tough Questions

Yesterday James was playing alone in his room. He yelled out to me, "Mom, I never want to die for a funeral." Next thing you know he is in tears, asking me "If you and Daddy died and Katie and Tyler and I were still alive, who would be our Mommy and Daddy?" I told him that if that happened, Auntie Rachel and Uncle Phil or Grammy and Chappy would take care of them. He was very upset and it took a long time to calm him down. How do you respond to something like that? I mean, I would love to say we won't die and we'll always be with you, but no one really knows what lies ahead. On the other hand, I didn't think that telling him that there was a small possibility of that happening. I just tried to reassure him and let him know that we love him and that we will do everything we possibly can to provide for him. I told him that someday I wanted to meet all my grandchildren, too. These kids and their tough questions.

WWBD?

My kids are into watching Man Vs. Wild with Bear Grylls. He is a survivalist who shows you all the tricks you never want to actually use to survive. For example, did you know that pound for pound, insects pack more protein that beef or chicken? They are the perfect survival food!!! I'll take Bear's word for it. The kids will sit memorized while Bear Grylls chokes down live lizards, drinks yak blood, roasts turtles in the shell, and dives for sea cucumbers to eat. James has started building lean-to's in the garage and outside. He 'repels' down the swing set ropes. He wants to build a raft. He and Katie tell me all sorts of things you can actually eat if you need to. James even knows that before eating a poisonous snake, you must first cut off its head and bury it so it's venom doesn't come into contact with you or anything else. I am a little worried about when he starts Kindergarten. Other kids will be saying 'Oh, yeah, I got to the secret level of this video game,' and James will say 'What are video games? Oh, did I mention that you can survive for a week in the Sahara by squeezing the liquid out of elephant dung to quench your thirst?' After watching several seasons of Man Vs. Wild, we now ask each other: WWBD? What would Bear do? The other night Jeff was complaining about being cold, and I helpfully reminded him that he could make himself a hot-water bottle of sorts, using his own...er....urine. He wasn't too excited by that idea. But in fact, there are multiple uses for this handy liquid byproduct. In addition to using it as a heat source, you can use it to dampen a head scarf to keep you cool or use it as a questionably refreshing beverage. Now that's one thing I hope I never have to try!!!

Just Coming Out Of A Turkey Coma.....

Hello, and welcome to today's episode of Newspapers and Broccoli, where Megan rambles on about her long Thanksgiving weekend. We begin today's post with a brief recap of the food that we all made. There was roasted turkey, smoked turkey (muy bien!!), mashed potatoes and stuffing, zweiback (German rolls), and a whole variety of delicious pies. It sure was good, and I couldn't help but think of how much (like...over-the-top much) we have. I heard someone say on the radio that if someone in a third world country could sit down to an American feast, they wouldn't be able to fathom it. He said that they would not be able to comprehend that all that food was to be eaten in the same day, on the same meal. So sad. I would invite them all over if I could. That would be a full house! And speaking of full houses, there were a lot of people at our Thanksgiving soiree. Aunt Sal made her debut at the Thanksgiving table, and Con-Rachel made a late appearance as well. My sister-in-law's family also came toting marshmallow guns, new and improved. Moving on to the marshmallow fight, I have made a few observations as a participant in the epic battle of puffy white balls of corn syrup. It has been determined that the guys have an advantage in lung capacity. My marshmallows could be seeing lazily floating along, stopping to make a daisy chain or two before descending to their targets (which sounds oddly reminiscent of my short-lived softball career). The men launched one punishing marshmallow after another. Ouch!!! I was the unlucky recipient of three to the face. Let me tell you, marshmallows really sting! I thought that I was going to have a welt, but fortunately I didn't. Another thing that I established is that your fingers will cease to have the capacity to load marshmallows once frozen. It is at that point that it is best to bow out gracefully, and go warm up inside.Tyler spent half the day napping in Jeff's arms. Jeff has the magic touch. Its quite amazing and handy. Once awake, Tyler spend the afternoon mooching chocolate off of Grammy, who is known to be a sucker when it comes to those sorts of things. A few times I spotted Tyler with the dead giveaway: a chocolate goatee! :) James and Katie made little pumpkin pies with Grammy, and otherwise remained relatively quiet. Thursday we Skyped Jeff's sister and were surprised to end up talking to Jeff's Mom. That was the first time in 2 1/2 years, and it was awkward, strange and very sad. We did get to see all my nieces and nephews (via skype) and that was very nice! My two youngest nephews both have lost their front teeth, leaving a big and adorable gap in their smiles. I wanted to hug them through the screen, but it didn't work out very well. ;) Ah, well, I think I have pretty much exhausted what little brain power I have left after my Turkey Coma, not to mention your attention span. Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh, and I almost forgot!! Jeff has some tips to add for how to make sure no one comes back for seconds. I asked him to crack some eggs for me. He decided that the most efficient way was to crack them all, then pick out the shells. Let me say that eggs should not crunch. I fed the leftovers to Jeff this morning and he realized that he may have left a 'few' egg shells in the eggs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

1000th Post?!?!

Its my 1000th post! Should that make me happy? Embarrassed? Confused? Well, I really don't know how I have managed to spout off that many blog posts, or how y'all have managed to keep reading! 1000 posts is a whole lot of drivel. :) That being said, here are links to a few random favorites:

My First Blog Post Ever (Almost as interesting as reading 'The Pocket Guide to Earwigs)

Horns In A Bag (Great Idea for Christmas Gift Giving!)

The Tragic Frozen Steer Incident (In which Jeff and I romantically ice skate around some frozen beef)

The Lady In The Tuna Boat (The saga of finding a suitable renter)

Our Rental, Before and After (Don't view while eating)

Jeff's Antenna Of Doom Part One and Part Two

Jeffrey's Capers: Doing the Devil's Work for Mormon Missionaries


And I feel the need to share this with you, if for no other reason but for you to laugh at me. I made a big batch of Zweiback yesterday (German rolls...a family tradition). I was feeling all industrious and stuff, making my Thanksgiving stuff ahead of time. I put the bowl in the oven to rise, like I always do. My friend Erin called (!!!) and we chatted away for an obscene amount of time. While we were talking, I made pumpkin bars, and when I went to put them in the oven, I realized that yes, I had preheated my oven with the dough inside. It was partially baked, and while I did salvage enough for couple pans of rolls, I will be making another batch tomorrow. Nevertheless I had fun talking to Erin about all manner of things, the likes of which include pickles, mammograms, and relatives.

Why Ask Why?

Jeff is an engineer. That being said, sometimes he clings too dearly to logic. He tries to make sense of it all, because after all, there is a logical reason for everything. Right? Wrong. At least not when you are dealing with a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and a 1 year old. He asks questions like 'Why is there a petrified apple core in your houseplant? Why are there Lincoln Logs in our bed? Why is my cell phone out of place?' And what am I supposed to say? Um...the kids did it. That should explain it. The other night he took a look inside James' piggy bank and asked, fully expecting a logical answer, 'Why is there a Butterfinger wrapper in here?' In response he got a blank stare from James, and a helpful 'Well, I'm thinking one of the kids put it in there because they could' from me. Poor Jeff. Sometimes you just can't win. Now if only someone could tell me why I just found the TV remote floating in the toilet?

My Baby Bird

The other day Tyler woke up with 'bed head.' His hair was sticking out all over the place and he reminded me of a little baby bird with its soft fluff. I know I am biased but I think he's darn cute! My friend Jenni and her kids came over last night and we were talking about how adorable our kids are and how we look at them and can't believe how stinkin' cute they are.