Scout and I were in the bathroom when he gasped and said, “Come here Mom….I have something SO special for you!” I went to look and found a bright rainbow directly out our window. I told him I couldn’t believe that he found such a great rainbow, and that we needed to go downstairs to get a picture of it.
Here Scout is showing it to Icka. It didn’t show up in the photo, but it was certainly there.
When I asked Scout to point at it for me (for photo purposes), he looked at me like I was crazy, like hey you numskull — just open your eyes! (See above.)
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Later in the evening, as we sat down for family night, he cuddled up to me and said, “Hey Mom, wasn’t that so cool that I found that rainbow…just for you.” It was so sweet. It was exactly something I would say to him, but he turned it my way. So sweet.
OUr church time just got pushed up to 9:00 am for the year, so we have some fun afternoons on the horizon. Today’s entailed long naps by Micah and both kids (all three are now sick). Scout was the first to wake up, and he came in and asked if I would play games with him. I did for a bit, but we were being too loud with Icka sleeping in the next room, so we tabled it while he watched movies about Helaman and George Washington. When Icka finally woke up, and after we ate dinner, BKaNayNay, the kids and I all settled down to play some fun games.
Scout’s first pick was “Ring Around The Nosey”. NayNay and Ka were dying over their get ups, but tried to contain themselves for the picture.
Scout was pretty talented at getting the rings on his nose — and we declared him the winner.
Icka had a few attempts in there — but the nose was just too big for her face.
We then moved on to “Make Me Laugh”. Scout got this for his birthday party last year, and he LOVES it. But how couldn’t he — the little comedian has an engaged audience the entire time!
Here he is acting out “skateboard moves”. It took us a while — and maybe a peak at the card — but we finally got it.
Ickity Dickity Dock loved the rolling and moving parts.
Props to B. I remember Sunday afternoons while her kids were little — she always played games with them. I am glad they can now be part of our Sunday afternoons.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I am not too hot at the whole goal thing.
But this year, I thought about my goals throughout the month of December, and came up with two that I will publicly share.
#1
BE MORE CONSISTENT
(I always think about why I loved my childhood so much, and one of the things my mom was SO good at, was being consistent. Dinner was on the table EVERY night. Her parenting was always the same. She never had a bad day. Therefore, in an effort to being the best wife/mother, I am going to be more consistent!)
#2
WATCH LESS, READ MORE
(I am a huge proponent of my kids reading. I don’t let them have the television on during the day (unless it is December and I am trying to get private things done), and I have always been really good at reading to them. But I have noticed that when I get those kids in their covers at night, I plop on the couch and zone out. There is a time and a place for all things…..but this year, I am going to make those times and places fewer and further between. I would WAY rather lay in my bed — next to the Shmickity Dickity — and read alongside him than watch TV any day. Then, right when he’s in a really good part, I like to interject my thoughts and philosophies on life to him.)
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So consistency and watching less are this year in a nutshell!
Sounds fabby dabby to me!
Micah, the sickies and I rang in an exhausting New Year. We started by meeting the Denisons at Macaroni Grill where Scout took my camera and photographed everything he saw. I have a bunch of half faced pictures — and most are a bit on the blurry side.
See what I mean!
Then we headed home to have ice cream and watch our annual video that shows the pictures from throughout the year. We got about half way through when I knew it was time for our little sick kids to hit the hay. So we headed upstairs to the DVR to “catch” the ball drop and bang some pots and pans.
Poor Scout was hesitant at first because he thought he was being naughty. But when he realized I approved, he really got into the swing of things!
Superwoman never hesitated, and banged away.
The kids went down before ten, and I was down seconds after they were. And it was a good thing, because I was up from 12:30 on with sick kids. So Micah was solo this year. Talk about anti-climactic! Oh well. If that is a sign of things to come — I would love an “anti-climactic” year!
CHEERS
to 2011!!!
Micah has wanted to go to Disneyland for a long time. But he wanted to go nostalgic style — Micah and me solely. So we had Trey, Chloe and Bella babysit our kids, and off we went. We had reservations at Club 33 for 12:45.
We checked the weather the day before, and it was 100% chance of rain.
SWEET!
Right before we left, Trilby saw the news and saw that Disneyland had been shut down the day before because they hit their capacity of people allowed in.
SWEET!
Trilby had been a few weeks ago while it was raining, and she had a poncho with Mickey Mouse on it — that I got to borrow.
SWEET!
It rained the whole way there, and there was traffic galore.
SWEET!
So we got there, we parked, and got out. Luckily the rain cleared up in time for us to get to the restaurant. We sat down to a delicious meal.
Amongst other things — the king crab claws were some of my favorites. Micah and I both ate plentifully from the appetizer bar, got the Chateaubriand, and loaded up on the dessert bar. We had so much fun.
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After we got out, and I put my poncho back on — but it was dry from that moment on. We had dry skies all day, the crowd weren’t bad at all, and Micah and I had some good times. I particularly liked when he thought he was a comedian all day long, and did anything to make me laugh. I’ll admit, it wasn’t that hard, because I did think he was hilarious. But the “I’m not going to be scared this time” followed by the most ludicrous yell throughout the ride was utterly annoying!
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In the meantime, the kids were being properly taken care of. Bella sent us a picture message of our kids down at the tide pools.
Nice outfit she picked for Icka. At least she was warm!
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Somebody asked me why I had my poncho on (seven hours after it had rained), and I didn’t even realize I had it on all day. but by that time, I wasn’t going to take it off — I was in it for the long haul!
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We were about to leave, but before we did, we got some warm soup in a bread bowl. Micah left me alone to buy it, so I obviously added a few things into the purchase. Gifts for the kids!
Micah just laughed, and I said — “Isn’t it better to get sourdough bread that we’ll eat, than some sort of Mickey Mouse crap?!”
He was in full agreement.
And so were the kids the next morning!
SWEET!
(Not sarcastic this time.)
Scout has been quite the deviant lately.
Scout got this safe for Christmas. He pushes buttons and gets in. Can you believe how surprised I was when I pushed the buttons, and this is what I found. This weasel had my ring and watch in with all of his other goodies! Micah was not impressed. (But I was — he definitely knows quality when he sees it.)
Later the same morning, I saw Scout peaking into the bookshelves. Wondering what would be so interesting, I went to take a look myself.
Look at the loot I found! Here is his church belt I have been looking for, a skateboard, and forty bucks!
WHAT?!
I confiscated.
He laughed.
I asked him why he was laughing.
He told me he was just going to find a new hiding place.
Scout asked Santa all season for an activity table. We really needed somewhere to do all of the messy stuff. So Santa came through and got Scout a table in his favorite color — yellow!
Yesterday, Scout and Navy did play dough for hours.
I’ll take it — it is like my very own babysitter!
(Random pic — but she’s cute.)
On to the story:
Scout and Icka were wrestling.
Scout must have put her in something amazing like the choke hold.
(Or he was being nice, and the terror did her thing.)
She bit him.
Scout came crying to me.
I sent him to his dad who was near Icka.
Micah reprimanded.
Amongst the reprimand, he sternly said, “Icka….No No….we don’t bite”.
Icka melted down, and came crying to me.
I picked her up and asked her what was wrong.
She said, “He ‘no no’d’ me!”
I said, “who no no’d you?
She clear it all up and said, “Daddy….he no no’d me!”
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
Seriously!
I love Christmas. I love that Micah loves it as much as I do. I love that my kids are really starting to get it. I love the presents, the service, the music, the family and especially the 1,440 minutes I get to spend celebrating the actual day. And get this — we do Micah’s family’s Christmas on Christmas Eve day — so we get to double our pleasure. It works so well for us so that we don’t feel rushed back and forth, and can just sit and relax with both of our families.
This year, I had a realization. I am blown away at what my mom does for Christmas. Talk about a lot of hard work — and some serious organization. This year, she sent boxes to Seth, Shem, Nathan, Ashley, and David (plus respective families). Those boxes included presents galore that all had to be bought, wrapped, organized and shipped. Then she started in on the Christmas in California. Then there are the meals she prepares. The rolls she makes. The countless nights of wrapping. The thought that goes into what each person would really enjoy. It is mind blowing. It is no small fete, and yet she handles it with grace year after year. And yet — she never disappoints.
So our Christmas started at the Denisons where Navy showed up with a beautiful big red bow that was camouflaging a wad of gum in her hair. Apparently, she went to sleep with gum in her mouth, and when we were running late — I definitely didn’t have time for gum removal. We had delicious food that Micah and his mom prepared. We then did our annual gift exchange and gift giving. The kids were excited to get their presents, and Scout got in the “where is my next present” mode. (We had a little talk about that one later.) At about 7:00 the kids were running on fumes, and we headed back to our house for our Christmas Eve festivities.
It started with P.J.’s. How cute are these two in their matching striped pajamas. And amazingly enough — My mom got these outfits from two different places about two months apart.
My mom changed it up a bit for the girls this year, and got us all matching robes. Tristen turned for the picture — because she didn’t listen to my mom and get ready for the evening. Thank goodness she painted her nails a few days back.
We then did the cousin’s gift exchange. Scout got tons of cute things from Trey - but the cutest was his homemade memory game that Trey did completely on his own. He is the nicest boy you will ever meet — and Scout adores him!
We then put the kids to bed and did the sibling’s gift exchange. I had Brook, and I went practical this year and gave him what he wants most — a shirt, a fan and a pterodactyl. (All folding work was done solely by me.)
Tree gifts.
Translation — they are usually great things in small packages, and they are highly coveted amongst the family.
Then the boys brought in all of the presents, worked on a few things that needed to be put together, and headed off to Harbor House for their annual Christmas Eve shakes. (How cute is it that Shem started the same tradition with Landon this year in Colorado, and Seth made them at home for him and his boys.) While they were gone, all of the girls sit and watch me as I perfect the above masterpiece. I had three trees to work around this year, but I was up to the challenge. (Obviously — look above!) Afterward, Tristen picks out a gift for all of the girls to open before the boys get home. Once they got home, they hung out for a while and then hit the sack — but not Micah. Micah was a trooper, and stayed awake for his comedy hour. He demanded that I open my gifts, so Tristen, Megan and my mom stayed up with us as I did.
TALK ABOUT SPOILED!
You should have seen my loot this year. He went to heaven on earth — AKA the business Costco in Vegas and loaded up on restaurant supply stuff for me. So if anyone is looking for 500 mini umbrellas to put in your drinks — I’m your girl! Or does anyone have a chill and need a hand warmer? Guess who has her very own entire box of them. Eat your heart out everyone who reads this! I was seriously SO stoked when I got it all, and my mom, Megan and Tristen were dying over how excited I was. Or they were dying at Micah who literally became the most hilarious person you have ever heard for that hour in the wee hours of the night. We finally headed off to bed at about 2:00, and hit the sack hard!
The next morning, the kids got to open their stalkings. Notice they look more like overstuffed sausages than stalkings. Now you might remember that I had nothing to do with these. In fact, not only did Megan bring extra loot…..this year, she actually shopped for them and what they would want. I told you she was my secret elf! The kids were in love! But not as in love as I am! Thanks sister.
As fun as everything is on Christmas…..the thing that is at the top of the list is the COUSINS! Scout and Navy are infatuated with them!
Can you believe that Micah wasn’t done the night before? My main man surprised me with exactly what I asked for — poster paints! I told him I wanted the same kind I used in high school…and lucky me! (Let’s be honest — I actually sent him the link and list of colors I would prefer.)
I came across this Lladro a few months ago, and I knew it would be the perfect gift for my mom who is impossible to buy for. It was from Scout — our future missionary. And great things must think alike because what did I open this year — two Lladros from my mom!
What would Christmas be without a few joke gifts. My mom has no part in these, but Tristen and Seth and I love this stuff. This year, I got to open Tristen’s nasty hair, (black hair being my phobia) and I literally threw up in my mouth when I saw it. How nasty is this. I can barely type as I know this is on my computer screen.
Scout got a load of movies this year. I got him this set of famous Americans movies that are awesome. I have already read to him about some of these guys, and he loves him a little history.
The kids loaded up on Ski stuff this year because we have a big ski vacation planned in January.
Tristen was the hair dresser of the day. She woke up to get Sissy’s gum out of her hair. Then, she went and washed her hair and brought her down as Cindy Loo Who. Then she took Scout and did his hair as Mr. Loo Who. After my mom couldn’t take it anymore, Tristen went in to wash Scout’s out and fix Icka’s hair again. This time she came out as a Utah native. I was dying! And so every single picture this year (minus the ones where she had gum in her hair) are hideous of my girl. But who cares — it’s not the hair the makes the person! Right?
We took a break for dinner, and Sissy took turns eating off of everyone’s plates. Don’t you love this girl who has been told a thousand times to not get on the table — and she does it without flinching. At least Scout would look around to make sure nobody was watching. Sissy is unapologetic. Merry Christmas Siss — this time you don’t get in trouble.
It had been a long few days for my kids, and Scout broke at about 6:00. I talked to him and said that he was tired and might need a rest. He immediately got it together and said, “Mom, I am ready to play with my cousins” in the happiest voice he could muster. I sent him on his way, and he was happy the rest of the night.
Icka got her very first tree gift this year.
She finally is in sync with her aunts and cousins and has her necklace. She loves it, and is “soft” with it. And when I took it off of her, she came to say, “Where my necklace” as she pointed to mine.
And finally — Micah asked where his tree gift was all day long. So he finally got his at the end of the night. WOW — what a gift. He just might have gotten the best gift of the day. At least Bryan Brockbank thinks so!
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Merry Christmas.
Thanks everyone who made our year great!
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Oh — and did I mention that I got a sweet new real-deal camera this year?
I’m sure you already knew — based on my fabby pictures!
So I went to Megan’s the other day, and like usual….she had a car full of things for me and my kids. This time it was an entire advent calendar and its fillings. Now when I say “fillings”, I am not talking a half way job. That girl had something for me to put in every single day — bouncy calls, jingle bells, candy, etc. But not only that, she then said, “And I printed these up for you so you can roll them up and put them in random days.” She then showed me about 6 coupons she had printed that said things like “Make a Gingerbread House” and “Bake and decorate sugar cookies” and “Go look at Christmas Lights”. But she didn’t stop there. Then she brought in an entire sugar cookie baking set and a gingerbread house set. (She knew I wouldn’t have them on hand — and she was right.) Talk about awesome! I swear that she has more hours in her days than I do. Anyway — my kids are in love!
My mom isn’t — since the best place I found to hang it is right over the kitchen sink!
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In honor of this post, I should relay a conversation I had with Micah last night:
L: DO you think it is bad that I don’t get anything for the stalkings because I know Megan will just bring extra stuff.
M: Yeah — that’s pretty messed up.
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And on that note…
M E R R Y
C H R I S T M A S ! ! ! !
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