O Holy night, Batman!

Every nativity needs a few superheros, don't you think?

The Christmas Spirit

Tristen still believes!! (see previous post)


The Christmas Spirit

I'm Gettin Nuttin for...

Do you Believe in Santa?

I do. In fact for the past five years I have worked closely with the man as one of his helpers (aka:personal shoppers). This year we got things done early, no waiting till the last minute. I sat the boys down before Thanksgiving and helped them make lists. Then we narrowed it down to one gift each and they wrote beautiful letters to Santa with drawings and all. The one thing Tristen wanted:

Wolverine Claws!!!

Being the great helper that I am, I found a great deal on Black Friday and purchased them right away. Next, we had to come up with the perfect hiding place. Josh thought of it first, and at the time it seemed perfect, but this morning all my hopes of a Christmas Day surprise were dashed. The boys came rushing into my room screaming "Mommy, we found Tristen's Wolverine claws!!"
What!?.. How!?.. Who?...
It took me a minute to even remember were we hid them, then the boys led me to the spot. Josh's guitar case lay open with the Wolverine box snuggly inside.

What do I do now? Please tell me. How do I fix this?

Santa is going to kick my butt when he finds out.

Thanksgiving Past

Thanksgiving is my holiday. For some reason Thanksgiving dinner ends up at my house more years than not. It seems to be centrally located for my family and was an easy place for Josh's family to gather while Robert was in Law School. Last year we had nearly twenty people stay with us. This year it will only be Josh's parents, but I'm still looking forward to having family in our home. Here's a few things I may or may not miss:

-Anjuli's pumpkin drink and cranberry sauce, she really is one of the most creative cooks I know.
-Rob and Janette cooking the Turkey, I never have to worry about the main dish when they are invited.
-My oven on fire, OK so it wasn't that bad but I'm glad Aaron and Rob figured it out before I ruined dinner with the fire extinguisher.
-Cousins!!!
-Naked babies rolling on my floor, I know Phen's an old man now but last year he had the cutest naked bum.
-Auntie Drea, she is this calm laid back presence in the midst of chaos.
-20 people, one bathroom ...no need to elaborate.
-Being Thankful for warm socks.

Happy Thanksgiving, I Love and miss you all.

One of the boys favorite hikes is to the Lake Lenore Caves. We probably do it once a month. When I was in the hospital after Porters birth my mom and mother-in-law took the boys up to the caves, so now they call it the grandma hike. It really is that easy.

It's 3:30 in the morning and I can't sleep. My options are to sit down and eat the delicious pumpkin bars Robert sent for Thanksgiving or blog. What's keeping me up at night?..you might ask. Well, a week ago Wednesday Everett had surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoid. He is still very uncomfortable and wakes up at least once a night. We usually give him pain medicine and he falls right back to sleep, but not tonight. Poor kid. Thanksgiving is not going to be fun for him.

Remember that Brady Bunch episode when Jan (or was it Bobby?) got her tonsils out. She slept in her parents bed, got ice cream delivered on a tray, had tons of friendly visitors, ate more ice cream, slept some more...oh how I wanted my tonsils to act up just so I could do the same. I hate to burst any ones bubble who wished the mismo, but guess what .... sleep is the enemy and ice cream is prohibited. Yeah...I couldn't believe it myself when the doctor said no dairy. So here's what Everett has been living on:

Trick-or-treat

We finally took some pictures after an hour of tricks and treats on our friends porch. It seems to be a tradition now. Meet at the Okamotos, run around Coullee City collecting goods, someone always tuckers out early, the boys always want to go all night, don't forget to stop at that scary house (this year decorated with bloody body parts) and back to the Okamotos to take inventory. As we left the Okamotos a group of goulish treaters told us the best place in town...the local grocery store. They let you pick out anything you want for under .89 cents. What a great tip!!! Here's a few other tips I wish I would have known.

Tip #1: Face Painting Doesn't get better the more you practice.

For some reason the first time is so new and exciting the child listens and sits paitienly waiting for the big reaveal. By the third (or was it the fourth) time you find your self skipping all the details just to get it over with.


Tip #2: Hold the screen door

On our way home we decided to stop at one more house. We knocked, a gentle elderly woman opened the door, we squealled trick or treat , she turned to gather her candy bowl with delight, then it happened... like slow motion... she opened the screen door and a gust of wind took it from her grasp hittting Tristen in the head, hurling him into Everett the two of them on to the ground. In the mean time she reached for the door falling off her step into my arms, there I stood with a senior citizen in one arm and a baby cattapillar in the other. JOSH GET OUT OF THE CAR!!!


Tip #3: The later the better..makes bedtime easy.