These two were star students at our recent Selfish/Selfless Family Night. They are constantly “thinking of others”, and always trying to do little nice things for each other. It is so sweet to see, and they have gained new titles “The Queen of Nice” and “The King of Nice”. Whenever I refer to them with their new names, Scout grins ear to ear, and Navy bites in her cheeks to refrain from showing how much she enjoys the new name. (But there is always a mini smile with it, so she isn’t as sly as she thinks.)
Just yesterday, Navy wrapped up a bunch of little things (we had just purchased) in crepe paper, and put them in her pocket. While we were out shopping, she handed them out to people that she came in contact with. So while we were at the Fashion Island Christmas Tree, there was another girl playing around her. When her parents called her to leave, she said. “WAIT!” Then she reached in her pocket to get one of her treasures to give. When the girl opened it, it was a Silly Band, and she was so excited. But not nearly as excited as my cheek-biting girl. Scout did something similar the day before. He got a bunch of things out of a surprise ball Britni gave him. The next morning before school, he grabbed two of his treasures out and took them to school to give to one boy and one girl. The girl’s mother caught me and told me that Julliana was so thrilled with her Lego Scout gave her, that it made her day. It made mine too.
They seriously have turned over a new leaf. And I am SO happy about it. But I am aware that new leafs start to shrivel and die eventually, so I will just try to enjoy it as much as I can before it falls off that tree.
Navy’s school performance didn’t disappoint.
Santa Clause was thoroughly entertained.
And these last-minute spectators were amused.
We eventually snatched off the beard so we could see her belt the songs out.
And she was definitely the loudest.
Of course I loved that!
My favorite was “Oh Christmas Tree”.
After the singing, they brought us all gifts, and I got this amazing ornament.
From Nvay.
And the show was capped off by an amazing Christmas meal.
Love Miss Dianne.
Love my girl.
This boy is to die for.
I love to be with him every single second of the day.
But I do like nap time so I can get a few things done!
His latest is impressing us with his gum-chewing skills.
He will chew on it for hours.
It is really impressive.
Unless you consider that everything he puts in his mouth never makes it down the hatch — because he is like Uncle Seth — he likes to save some of his food in his cheeks for later. But when he began playing with his gum, I made a strict rule that put him in sync with all other one-year-olds of “no gum”.
Brit has really outdone herself this time.
Each of my kids got a “Surprise Ball” for Christmas, and they were total hits!
Navy got hers at school, and was the only “girl” snowman.
And Scout and Dash got theirs as special deliveries.
Loving the baby surprise ball.
It is amazing what she managed to get into these little bundles of joy.
In Scout’s ball alone, check out the loot!
Brit, my kids loved them so much, they actually exclaimed, “I want one of these every year!”
So you’re on!
We would like thee-leveled snowmen next year.
My little muscle man was front and center for his Christmas program.
Ms. Shih has always told me he is the best singer in the class.
But she never said anything about his stick clinking skills.
I’d give him an A for Effort, but maybe a B- for staying on the beat.
But the entertainment value was worth the low grade.
It was a good show, but I wanted him to be louder so I could single out his voice. But Mr. Heely, the music teacher insists that they “sing” and not “scream”. When they are this little, I love the scream-sing.
My favorite part of the performance was when they were singing, and Navy turned to me and said, “He isn’t singing loud enough” and then started helping them out. Her notes went longer than the entire Kindergarten clan, and she was quite possibly the loudest little kid of all.
I told Scout and Navy that we were going to go to the “Ultimate Jackpot” for family night.
We got in the car, and the kids, Nonnie and I headed up the freeway.
(Micah was out of town for this little adventure.)
When we first got to the Trinity Church across from South Coast Plaza, Scout announced that at most it was a mini jackpot because they didn’t have any colorful lights.
I kind of get that, but I told him that he was going to change his mind.
And once we turned the corner, he laid his eyes on hundreds of thousands of white lights, and was swaying.
We drove around the whole place, and I let my kids get out and walk (although they kind of ran) the course.
And when they stopped here:
I loved to see them calm down for a quick second and look at the baby Jesus.
We kept on going, while the kids cruised through it.
And then towards the end, Scout came next the car and said, “Mom, this is the best jackpot. Because this is what Christmas is for.”
I couldn’t agree more — although the place is a bit garish, it really is magical.
And really hits home as to why we even celebrate it in the first place.
Navy came to me and showed me a picture she had just drawn.
“Mom, it’s a banana, a plum and some pieces of poo!”
The odd part — I didn’t know she knew what a plum looked like.
We called the Seastrands over for one of our very favorite Christmas time activities.
But first, we ate some amazing corn chowder from yours truly.
And then it was into the world’s greatest car — my mini van!
(Sidenote: I don’t know why people hate on the minivan — it is mom luxury at its finest!)
We put the seats down, and loaded it up with blankets and down comforters.
And then stuck Jason in the back to be the crowd pleaser.
Look at all of those happy reindeer.
Because of the lack of safety in this whole picture, we only headed to a few very nearby Jackpots.
Denison Dictionary
(jak-pot: 1. A house decorated for Christmas that almost makes you want to go buy out all of Target’s light section. 2. When you get a shelled peanut/soybean that has three peanuts/soybeans inside.
Our favorite jackpot this year (and almost every year) has this “indoor” fireplace to keep us all warm from all of the ice fishing we were doing.
Every single year, they come up with some new cool trick or tactic to keep the kids (and adults) in awe.
And this year, my kids were beyond excited to “ice fish” for candy canes.
Everything at our favorite jackpot looked like it came straight from the North Pole.
Including this “North Pole Snail” that Scout let take a little jaunt down his face.
(Why do I love that he is just like me! There is documentation of me sticking a lizard in my mouth to entertain the Samuelians when I was in high school.)
We hit up a few more jackpots, and then called it a night.
So back to home it was, where hot chocolate waited — and more corn chowder for those who loved the parsley and candied jalepeno add ins.
Britni.
As we were just about to leave for Megan’s house (for their Annual Christmas Service Project), my kids were beyond excited.
So excited, that when I told Icka if she didn’t hurry up and let me do her hair she wouldn’t be going, Scout grabbed a brush and bow, and started doing it himself.
It was beyond sweet.
Dash was totally happy also. I didn’t catch it on the camera, but he was just directing music or biting the end of his Ugg boot the whole way down.
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The service project was a hit.
When we got there, Britni and Jay were there already helping out.
When they left, I convinced them to let me take their kids for a few more hours.
All of the kids were great.
But our drive home was pretty entertaining.
Little Grey was bobbing his head all over the place as he was in dreamland from minute five.
And this little guy was hungry/tired/teething, and wanted us all to know it.
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Navy took a week to be back to normal, but I was so happy we finally got there. So when I was too hot while I slept, I decided to catch up on this blog. After catching up, I decided to take Icka on one of Scout and my favorite special dates. So at 4:35 am, I went into where she was sleeping, got her out of bed, stuck a sweatshirt over her head, and off we went to get hot, fresh out of the oven donuts!
At first, when I asked her if she wanted to go, she told me she wanted to go back to bed. But being her mom, I knew she would have a good time. So we braved the rain, got in the car, and drove down the hill.
Even though I knew it would be open, I acted surprised that we were “SO lucky” to get there when it was open.
And after she picked one out for several people, she held the box very carefully until we got home.
She was SO darling.
By the time we were pulling into the driveway, she was telling me all about the rain outside, and the moon, and everything else.
So we headed inside, put the donuts aside (she wasn’t into eating one just yet), and headed back to my bed to coozie.
Once morning hit, guess who was up and at ‘em, as she served everyone their very own breakfast in bed.
I am so glad that a little undivided attention has this girl back on track.
And that a little donut date in the wee hours of the morning, has been talked about ever since it took place.
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