Officially on Christmas Break

Today is the last day of school for the boys.  We had class parties all morning and now I need to get my house cleaned and food made for our visitors.

Here is our family Christmas Card....actually it's not a real card since I didn't print it out, but rather our digital Holiday Greetings.  I promise I'll send out actual Christmas cards next year (someone hold me to that so I don't forget).  Nonetheless, here is our family wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!!

Ice Skating

Not really, but it sure felt like it.  Behind the boys school the big field is filled with ice.  I guess this happens every year and the Principal told me the other day they used to turn it into an actual ice skating rink.  Every day after school the boys beg me to let them go play, but considering that it is usually 10 degrees outside I politely say no.  So they thought I was way cool when I took them over Saturday morning to play on the ice.

    

  

We didn't do much skating, rather more sliding and skidding.  It's actually pretty dangerous and I'm sure sooner or later someone is going to really hurt themselves, but until then we will enjoy our homemade ice skating rink across the street.

Every morning as I drop the boys off for school Ethan always leans over and says, "I think I like Las Vegas better."  It always makes me laugh.  Really, it's sooo cold here.  I shoveled the snow at 6:30 this morning and I froze.  We live on a corner, so we have lots of sidewalk to shovel :)  I wonder if I can make it here three years without a snowblower??

Highlights of the past few days:
-I got my first KEEP OUT note from Ethan.

-Is is bad that my kids all want diet coke with their Happy Meals??
What happened to chocolate milk or root beer??

-While getting a redbox movie the other day Liv saw one that she wanted to get.  It was "Sex in the City".  I think she just liked the pretty, flashy girls on the cover.  She overheard me telling Shawn what the name of the movie was and when we walked away without her movie selection she dramatically fell down to the floor and started screaming, "I want sex in the city, sex in the city....." I picked her up and carried her through the store screaming "I want sex in the city."  It was funny, I laughed the whole way!

-Caught my first official mouse.  Nasty!!  Since being married we have lived in so many different climates (tropical, hot/desert, winter/woods) and we've experienced every kind of rodent, spider, etc. that exists.   This might have topped the list, even compared to the 5 inch cockroach that I saw in the Caribbean outside my front door.

Now we are just busy baking and waiting for Santa to come!

  

Christmas Fun!

This image is so grainy, but I thought it was so fun I had to share.

Christmas Concert

We are busy enjoying the Christmas season.

Yesterday the boys had their School Winter Concert.  Their classes each sang two songs.  I did my best to record videos of the performance so Grandparents could watch.  I attached it below, but if you get motion sick you probably should skip this video.  I did my best to hold still, but it's hard while standing on bleachers.  And it's kind of a long video and a not very clear, but my kids are cute so it's worth it if you have time.   Cole's class sang first and he is front and center in the green shirt and Ethan's videos are next while he is also front and center in the green shirt.  No I didn't plan it.  In fact they were supposed to dress up nicely, but my boys said no.  We arrived about 20 minutes early thinking that would be plenty time to get a good seat, but we were wrong.   We were all the way in the back of the Gym.  Next year I'll come earlier!  After the concert they had a cookie and milk party for all the kids and their families.

 

The kids are having a great time at school, but are anxiously looking forward to Christmas break.  Because it is so COLD here the kids have to wear full snow gear to school everyday, or else they are not aloud to go out to recess.  It takes us about ten minutes every morning to get snow pants, coats, hat, gloves, scarves, and boots on.  I laugh everything I pick the boys up at school because I pick up two little snowman.

This year we are having company for Christmas.  It's our first time ever and I am so excited.  My sister, Brooke and her husband Max live in DC.  They are coming Christmas Eve to spend the Holiday's with us, and my mom and Dave are flying out on the 27th.  Can't wait!!

Snow

We finally had our first big snow storm Friday night, only it wasn't that big, just a few inches.  

The kids were so excited!

We also made a gingerbread house on Saturday morning, but it was kind of a bust.  The boys did their part and then quickly lost interest, so this became Liv's project and I let her go for it.  It is her own little masterpiece.  Shawn just laughed and was reminded why his mom made their gingerbread house while he was away at school.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a nice relaxing weekend.  Shawn worked on Thanksgiving so we didn't really celebrate until Friday.  I brined the turkey (which I highly recommend if you haven't done before) and we've been feasting on leftover since.  We don't usually get our Christmas Tree and decorations out this early, but because Shawn had a "golden" weekend (he only gets one weekend a month were he doesn't have to work Saturday or Sunday so we call it a golden weekend) we decided to get the tree out.  Here is the result.

and all the decorations

We also went and got our 2010 family ornaments.  Here are this years picks:

Ethan: Christmas Vacation House. I actually think Shawn had a lot of influence in helping Ethan pick this one because he loves this movie, but the ornament is really cool, it plays music and the whole house lights up (just like on the movie).
Liv:  Barbie.  Pink, pretty, princess.  Enough said.
Cole: The Abominable Snow Monster.  Cole liked ALL the ornaments and changed his mind every second, but he finally settled on this one.  It is cute and fuzzy.
Shawn:  Shawn always gets the stupid/sarcastic ornament and he definetly didn't disappoint this year.  Remember the Christmas story where Ralphy sticks his tongue to the pole.  This ornament has a button you push and you can here him screaming.
Jenn:  Snoopy.  I'm not really sure why I chose this, maybe because Snoopy dances to the Charlie Brown music and that always makes me think of Christmas.

We signed up to do a sub-for-santa this year.  We have a 3 year old boy and 4 year old girl.  I am so excited to give my kids an opportunity to think about someone else this holiday season.  It seems like all kids do is think about what they want for Christmas and I really wanted to find something to help my kids think about someone else.  So I'm really excited to go shopping tomorrow night for FHE for our sub-for-santa.

Another fun family tradition is that each year we exchange scrapbook pages with my mom's whole family (aunt/uncles, cousins, grandma etc.)  Every family makes a scrap page and then we make lots of copies and exchange.  Every year I add all the pages to a book and it is fun to look back over the years and see how each family has changed.  Here is mine for this year.

Last night I made Liv this cute little christmas apron.  She LOVEs it.  I think she would wear it to bed if I would let her.

Last, the kids really think it is funny to try and hide from Shawn when he comes home from work. It is a game every day.  The other day the kids left him this note on the back door.

The turkey's are ready!

I made 24 little turkeys yesterday for Ethan's class party today.

I get to spend the afternoon in Cole's classroom for his class party while Liv plays with a friend.

I've done all the grocery shopping and I'm ready for Thanksgiving.  My turkey is thawing and my fridge is full (we are feeding the missionaries tomorrow night for dinner also).

The kids officially made their Christmas Wish lists.

Ethan:  pet lizard, notebook and pens, remote control truck, flash light, world map, lego universe, air soft gun, small TV, $20, back pack.

Cole:  sword, dynamite, Lego's, Bakagun's, dinosaurs, gun.

Liv: castle, clock, crayons, princess, dolls, a girly space ship, mask, fairy teddy bear, and a picture of me when I'm married. She recently came across my wedding picture so she talks a lot about when she gets married : )

We will have to see how Santa does this year, but I have a feeling he is already missing a few things!

In other news,  Shawn and I just got called to be the Nursery Leaders in our ward.  I'm very excited, considering that earlier that week the bishop called to inquire about my musical abilities and I was sure I was going to be the new music leader (I am NOT musically talented).  So I'm thrilled and can't wait for the nursery!

Last week was Parent Teacher Conference.  Both the boys are doing great.  Ethan's teacher said how much he loves to talk and tell stories.  He is often found entertaining a group of kids telling a story.  He loves writers workshops and drawing.  He is a little bit of an artist, which is so foreign to Shawn and I.  Ethan is also a perfectionist in his work, which sometimes causes him to get behind because he won't move on until it is just right.  Shawn and I actually learned some new thing about how they teach math.  It is totally different than when we learned and his teacher sent us home with a reference guide book to help us understand it better.  It was a little embarrassing.  Ethan's teacher has been wonderful.  We've worked a lot together over the past few weeks and I can tell she genuinely cares for Ethan.

Cole's teacher said he is doing great and is adjusting to all day Kindergarten perfectly.  He completes all his work and always helps with clean-up (wow).  His one struggle is nap/quiet time.  To be honest I was surprised she could even get him to lay down.  Cole was horrible at taking naps when he was a baby and hasn't been napping for a long time.  Cole's teacher is amazing.  She is one of those people who was born to teach Kindergarten and we couldn't be luckier.  She takes everything and turns it into a learning opportunity.

I always thought that all school districts were the same, but I have been blown away at the difference between the schools here and the previous schools my kids have attended.  The kids school is wonderful, soo much parent/community involvement.  It is like running for mayor to try and be the room mom or in the PTSA.  But I love that my kids attend such a great school.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!  Hope your holiday is filled with lots of food, family, and gratitude!!