Christmas

Sorry it has been so long since we posted! I have not been home very much, and things have been pretty hectic around the house.

We have had a fun month getting ready for Christmas. The kids knew that after Thanksgiving was Christmas, so almost everyday was filled with the question, "Is it Christmas yet?" This was really the first year that Austin and Caitlin knew that Santa was going to come and leave them presents. They were so excited to go to the mall and see him. Both did great, in fact Austin wouldn't stop talking to him. He told him a few times that he wanted a black guitar and headphones. Caitlin followed that up with her request for a pink guitar and headphones.

We went to church on Christmas eve. Caitlin wanted to get all dressed up in her "fancy dress" and we even got Austin to wear a decent shirt and some cords. He requested a bulldozer shirt, but I luckily talked him out of it! After church we drove through this enormous light display that a local John Deere dealership puts up every year. It is really undescribable, it is so big.

After we got home, we sprinkled (dumped) some "magic reindeer food" on the lawn that the kids had made at school. The kids went to bed around 9, which is way late for them, and other than Austin getting up to look out the window for Santa, they went to sleep pretty quickly.

Amazingly, they slept pretty late. They didn't get up until about 7:30 or so. That is about a 1/2 hour later than normal lately. They came downstairs to see all that Santa had left them. They were really excited, and really cute. Austin got a new hoop, a black guitar, a kid's mp3 player, some pajamas, and some other little things like hot wheels and a soccer ball. Caitlin got her pink guitar, a kid's mp3 player, a doll house, a hula hoop, some pajamas and some other smaller stuff.

We opened the other presents after a little while, and they did pretty good. They said, "Thank you" and took turns opening, which Kim and I were happy with. Everyone that sent them or gave them anything, thank you. They have played some with everything that they got, and just go from toy to toy. They are a little overwhelmed, I think.

And one last note...Last Satuday, as I left for a trip, Kim undertook potty training both kids. Caitlin has toyed with it off and on, while Austin had shown no desire whatsoever. Well, she did a great job, and the kids have been great. Since I got home late Monday night, we have only had 1 accident, so they are doing great. We are really proud of them, and I am looking forward to the reduced expenses of diapers!!!

That is about it. Below are some Christmas pictures I thought everyone might like to see...Some are from Christmas Eve and the rest are from Christmas morning.

Today was nice!

Yesterday Ryan came home for less than 24 hours...unfortunately I don't think he got to enjoy it too much because (1) he was sick and mostly slept and (2) the kids were grouchy as all get out! He left for sunny Florida again this morning... :(

The kids were in a MUCH better mood today. They came into our room at around 8:30 so we enjoyed some snuggles while watching cartoons. The kids drank some milk, I had some coffee. It was very laid back and relaxing. Then we headed downstairs for breakfast. Last night I assembled an "art basket" that they shared...it had various things in it...glue sticks, stickers, colored popsicle sticks, tissue paper, paint pens, colored pencils, scissors...they did "art projects" for about an hour! Austin declared he was giving his to Aunt Bubbles and she was going to "blove it!" Caitlin always says she's giving her stuff to Gramma. Caitlin managed to use an entire glue stick without gluing one thing! You figure that one out!!! After that we headed to the basement. They played soooo nicely until naptime at around 1pm. Then we all took a little snooze until 4pm (I only fell asleep around 3pm so don't be too jealous...no 3 hour nap for mommy!). After a little snack I gave them a bath and put their pj's on because we had an exciting night ahead of us!

Their special treat was a car ride in their jammies to look at Christmas lights. And that's what we did!!! We stopped at Wendy's and the kids ate jr. cheeseburgers while we drove around town. We drove past the town hall, through some neighborhoods, and through this huge display at Reynolds (a John Deere place). We probably drove around for about an hour and 20 minutes listening to Christmas music and chatting about everything we saw. Caitlin saw some light up reindeer and said, "I wish Daddy would set up my reindeer." I told her I would tell him she said that and that it would probably melt his heart. She said, "No! Then his heart would be broken!" She was cracking me up. Austin was kind of being a stinker today but he was so sweet too...while we were at a stop light I turned around to smile at him and he gave me the biggest grin like he was having the time of his life! Then when we got home he wanted me to carry him and dance! He loves that!

At bedtime I read them a Mary Engelbreit edition of "The Night Before Christmas". That particular book gets me all teary eyed because I bought it at a book fair at Montwood (where I taught) shortly after Ryan and I married, with the intention of reading it to our children someday soon after that. There were a lot of discouraging Christmases where I thought I would never get the chance to do that. So every time I read them that book, it is special. They are our miracles & that book reminds me that God fulfilled the deepest desire of my heart.

Well, suppose I should go straighten up...busy day tomorrow...speech and eye dr. - woo hoo!