Christmas Overview.

I am still in a bit of a state of disbelief that today is actually Christmas day. Other than the presents we have opened, the traditional dinner prepared and eaten and the Christmas tree up, it doesn't feel like it should be Christmas. But, alas, it is indeed December 25.

Last night we opened our presents. It was wonderful chaos, and also really gave Rob and I glimpses the distinct differences between our boys' personalities. When it comes to unwrapping presents, David wants to jump in and help to open everybody's presents (in a hurried fashion). Aidan, on the other hand, will open one present and want to go play with it awhile before coming back to open more. I almost think he was a little bit overwhelmed at all of the excitement, the presents and chaos since he sat back for a little while quietly playing. The train table that we bought with their Christmas $$ from Grandma Kris and Grandpa Mark has been played with pretty constantly over the last couple of days. The table has allowed us to set up track that can actually stay set up (not like when it had been set up on the family room floor and I would make them tear it down and put it away each time). They got a wooden castle from their Uncle Dunny that has been a huge hit as well. :)

After we finished opening presents and let the boys play awhile longer, we put them to bed and went downstairs to watch Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, the movie I got Rob for Christmas. Aidan went right to sleep, but David was wound up tight--too excited to even think about falling asleep. At one point in the evening, I went upstairs to check on him (because I heard a suspicious noise) only to find him playing with his plastic Revolutionary War figures and canons upstairs in the bathroom! He had a little battlefield set up on the counter next to the sink, next to the crust from the piece of pizza he had pilfered to snack on while playing out the big battle.

This morning was fun. Aidan woke up first, of course, and wanted to go downstairs to watch "Bob" (which means, I want to watch VeggieTales). Rob coaxed me to get out of the warm comfort of our bed so I could see Aidan's reaction to his "Santa" gift, a Little Tikes car. Well, Aidan didn't even care that there was a car sitting in our living room. The first place he went was to the train table to go play with the trains again. Rob worked pretty hard to get him excited about the car and about the filled stocking inside. David woke up more than an hour later, so we got to see his excitement over everything later (after he had dumped everything out onto the couch to inspect).

Overall, today was really relaxing. The boys played and watched their new movies. Rob finally got the present I gave him to start working, and I fixed prime rib for dinner...yum! Sydney thought the prime rib tasted good too. While I was upstairs giving Aidan cuddles , and Rob and David were downstairs playing and watching TV, she jumped up onto the counter and pulled what was left off of the cutting board and carried it into the living room. I came downstairs to see her lying in the middle of the floor gnawing on it--as soon as she saw me, she knew that she was in trouble. Rob had to throw the rest of the meat away (I'm so sad...no stew or French dip sandwiches now), and I had to clean up the garlic cloves that were strewn across the floor. Syd's punishment was banishment out into the rain and she will have to sleep in her kennel out in the garage tonight (well, that's also in case she ends up getting sick again like she did when she dug the ham out of the outside garbage can earlier this year). Bad princess!!!

Well, I need to go give a certain 4-year-old some night-night cuddles. Hoping you and yours are having a very Merry Christmas and that you all are experiencing the joy of Jesus this holiday season.

You know it's time...

...to potty train when your 2-year-old takes off his diaper immediately after he goes #1 or #2 and tries to parade around the house. Yeah...that would be Aidan. We never had anything like this happen with David. Frankly, when it was time to potty train that child, we had to convince him that it was his idea. Otherwise, he wanted nothing to do with the venture. Maybe Aidan will potty train more easily? We can only hope and pray! :)

Music Makers.

David standing between his buddies Noah (left) and Mason (right) during their Sunday morning performance.

David's digging for bats in his cave...

David in front of our tree before heading out for this evening's performance.

Music Makers is the name our church has given its preschool choir, which just by chance, happens to be an all-boys choir. 9-15 boys between the ages of 3 and 5. As you can imagine, they must be angels and really easy to handle. From what I have been told, they can be chaotic, but they're cute and have been doing well at learning their songs. The children's music program was held this evening at the BCM (Baptist Campus Ministries) building on campus. The Music Makers choir started things off and the Praise Kidz (elementary choir) performed their musical immediately following.

Rob took David this evening since he had not yet seen our little man perform. I stayed at home with the sick boy (Aidan) and frosted cookies until he finally awoke from his nap. He woke up this morning with a little stomach bug but seems to be doing much better since waking from his nap--yay!!! Rob said that David did a very good job tonight and that he was tapping his toes and bopping his head to the beat of the music.

Sunday morning, when he performed at church, he walked out onto the stage digging for bats in his cave (aka his nose) and ended up eating it! YUCK!!! After they were finished singing the second song, David told someone sitting just below the stage (while holding out just one finger), "We have one more song left!" He said this quite loudly and ended up getting the audience to chuckle quietly. He was also fascinated with the microphone and tried to stay behind to talk for a bit: "Okay, okay, okay..." he said before being coaxed off the stage by one of his leaders. One of my favorite parts Sunday morning was when Noah put his hands in his pockets and yawned (audibly) as soon as the last word of one of the songs was sung. It was done in perfect time with the music!

I'm looking forward to their spring performance!

So sad...

I think I'm allergic to my Christmas tree. :( Last night I noticed that my sinuses were getting plugged up, I felt really sleepy (like I do when I have other pollen allergies "hit" me) and felt like I was just getting a nasty cold. Well, I took a cold and sinus med earlier today that really helped clear my nose and got rid of the headache; however, when I was decorating that beautiful 7' tall holiday house visitor, my eyes started to burn and my nose started to run.

This is the first year that I have ever noticed an allergy to any sort of Christmas tree that I have been in contact with. It makes me so sad to feel miserable when I love getting a real tree. I love driving out to the tree farm. I love walking (or running like I do when I chase the boys) through the rows of trees looking for that perfect one. I love taking pictures of Rob and the boys cutting it down (and then having to pause to hold it up so it doesn't fall over on any of them). I love bringing it home and having to work over a period of 2+ days to make sure that it is not leaning in one direction or another. I love taking out all of the ornaments and reveling in the memories that surround each one--ones I have gotten as a child, ones we have bought for the boys or for each other, ones I or others have made...it is such a sentimental moment. Lastly, I love the smell of a fresh evergreen permeating through my house. However, that beautiful specimen (it's a type of fir--a frasier maybe? Reminds me a bit of a noble) just doesn't agree with me. Oh well. I'll enjoy the beauty of it while it is here. Next year, we'll probably break down and get a fake tree. I shouldn't be allergic to that. ;-)