Reminiscing

We spent some time looking through old videos today.   We found this one, it is one of my most favorite videos ever.  It was taken almost exactly 6 years ago.  We laughed for a good 30 minutes watching this clip.  Ethan memorized the first part of the transformer movie and would walk around the house saying it often.  Cole is his cute little side kick.

And just for fun, here is one of Liv from about 3 years ago.  Enjoy!

Wow, I can't believe how fast my kids have grown up.  This seems like yesterday.

something different

Christmas Eve day the kids let Shawn and I sleep in until 8am.  It was lovely.  Liv decided that it would be a special day so she wanted to dress up "fancy".  She put on a nice skirt and then wanted to choose me an outfit.  I convinced her that the nice pencil skirt she chose for me wouldn't be that easy to wear around the house.  So she chose another "fancy" outfit for me to wear and we set off on our day.  We ran errands and hung around the house all morning.  We baked and wrapped and got ready for Christmas Day.  In the afternoon we dropped off our sub for santa gifts and then headed to a friends house for appetizers, dinner and a movie.  We left early because  we wanted to do our own little Christmas Eve celebration.

Christmas morning is usually very exciting at our house.  They kids are happy and buzzing with excitement!  The first thing we open are all the gifts from Santa.  Then we move on to the family gifts.  Each year the kids draw names for gifts.  They spend hours deciding on what to get their sibling.  Shawn and I also spend hours trying to decide the perfect gift for our kids.  These gifts come with lots of thought and love and I wanted them to to get all the attention they deserve.  Don't get me wrong, the kids love the presents from family and are grateful, but part of the excitement has worn off after opening all the other Santa gifts on Christmas morning.

So, this year I did something different.  Christmas Eve the kids always beg to open presents.  This year I let them.  All the presents under our tree are from loved ones.  Sibling gifts, gifts to the kids from Shawn and I, and gifts form our wonderful grandparents and relatives.  These gifts are special and so to give them the perfect attention they deserve, we let the kids open most of the gifts under the tree the night before Christmas.

The kids loves every second and the excitement of these gifts got all the attention I hoped for....and these cute faces!

The boys were so excited that this embrace of thanks turned into a choke.

Next, up Christmas morning!!

Sub for Santa

This year we had a special opportunity to do a sub for Santa for a family that I know personally.  A co-worker to be exact.  She has three kids, all the same ages as my kids, and has been living in an abusive home environment.  This past month she finally got the courage to take her three children and leave.  She went first to a women's shelter, then to a friends for a while, and now she is back at home.  She has filed for divorce, is going to school full time and working full time, so the she can someday provide a better home for her kids.  She doesn't have much, and mostly lives off government welfare.  I knew she would be a perfect candidate for our sub for Santa this year.

It was an honor to help give some Christmas gifts to her and her children.  Thanks to the help of my in-laws and my mom, we were able to provide some great gifts.  We delivered the gifts Christmas Eve.  As we approached the apartment it looked okay from the outside, but as soon as we stepped inside there was an instant change.  The stench of smoke mixed with smelly stale air hit first.  The kids instantly stopped and had to be encouraged through the door.  Next I noticed all the holes in the walls and the graffiti.  The kids and I made it up to the top floor where the apartment was.  We stacked the gifts by the door and then knocked and ran.  I stayed back to make sure the door was answered and heard, "Oh, wow!  Mom, come and look."  Then I walked back to the car.  The ride home was quiet for the first few minutes.  Ethan finally spoke, "Mom, I never realized how blessed we are."  He went on to say how he didn't realize people lived in those kind of houses and that he never understood how much we had.  Ethan finished by saying that he felt good about making those kids happy, and providing them with a good Christmas.

Ethan's response was exactly what I was hoping for.  I knew that this family was in desperate need and hoped that my kids would be touched as they sacrificed to gift them gifts.  My boys chose several of their older PS, DSI, and Wii games and traded them in for money so they could buy the family some new games earlier in the month.  They each carefully thought about what would be great gifts and came with Shawn and I as we purchased everything.  It was a neat experience!

Christmas Activities

We finished off the week before Christmas with class parties

Christmas shopping and lunch dates

And, last minute christmas crafts and treats.

Merry Christmas

Random Pics

The kids can't believe Christmas is in just a few days.  Cole made a calendar and taped it to his bedroom wall to keep track of how many days he is "good".  He says this way Santa will know if he should leave presents.  We made gingerbread cookies after church on Sunday in preparation for Christmas.

We have also been having a Harry Potter movie marathon.  The kids love these movies around the holidays and the other day we made these fun HP wands.  Shawn has the Voldermort spell casting down perfect.

We also spent time these past few days talking with the kids about the school shooting in Conneticut.  We wanted to be the ones to talk with them about what happened and answer their questions, rather than find out from kids at school who were talking about it.  We wanted them to know that they were ok, that they are safe at school, and that people make bad choices, but that we need to continue to be kind, loving, and find ways to reach out to those struggling.  We wanted them to know that they have a loving Heavenly Father who is mindful and taking care of those children.

Lately, Ethan is obsessed with shovels.  He talks about them non-stop, dreams about them, and reads about them.  Ethan has spent hours researching shovels online and has chosen, the German Entrenching Shovel/Axe.

Except, he can't find it anywhere to buy.  So, we went to the camping store the other day and he purchase (with his own savings) this cool camping shovel.  He literally takes it everywhere.  He took it with us last night to Liv's gymnastics.

Last, it is finally snowing.  The kids are loving it, but my floors are now covered with wet snow.

Night in Bethlehem

Our ward Christmas Party was this weekend.  It was different then usual and the gym was decorated like the olden days of Bethlehem.  We had to wear Bethlehem clothing and we ate on blankets on the floor.  Each family received a bag of coins when they entered and had to pay taxes and for food.   The primary was in charge of doing the Nativity story.  Ethan was a shepherd, Cole a townsman coming to see baby Jesus, and Liv a sheep in the stable.  It was a fun night.

lately...

Life has been busy lately.  Getting ready for the holidays, school, work, and running kids around everywhere.  The boys are currently taking Taekwando a couple times a week.  They are having a great time.  Last week the earned their first belt.

I am still running Liv around to dance and gymnastics.

This week the kids participated in their school's annual Christmas Choir Concert.

Cole and Liv's concert was held during the day.  Cole was very nervous and fidgeted and laughed most of the time.  Liv also was nervous, but seemed to enjoy singing with her class.

Ethan's concert was the follow evening.  Because he is in 4th grade he gets a separate concert with the band and orchestra.  Ethan was NOT excited about this, and threw a fit about having to get dressed up and go back to school to sing.  Not his favorite thing to do.  Don't let the smile in the picture fool you, he was not having fun.  Although I think he liked playing the recorder, until he started messing around with it and dropped on the ground.

Tesla Lives

We went to a fun show this weekend called Tesla Lives, held at the Discovery World.  Tesla was the inventor of alternating current and lots of other important things involving magnetics and electricity.  The show had an age limit of 6, and even though Liv isn't yet six, they agreed to let her in.  It was a fun interactive show taught by a professor.  Ethan even got chosen to come up and be an assistant for one of his experiments.  We saw lots of loud, real life lightening bolts and electricity.  You couldn't take pictures inside the theatre, but it looked similar to this experiment.

It was a fun afternoon and the kids had lots of fun things to say about the show.