Christmas Gifts

After weeks of discussion, list making, and fighting the crowds at the mall for the "perfect" gifts for each child, THIS is what made our little ones happiest on Christmas morn...

Yep, Slim Jims and bandaids... go figure. (Jason is happy, he's just busy chewing!) I'm really not surprised that these gifts were such a hit!

And I think a big cardboard box would have rounded out their gift list nicely. ;)

Note to self: Santa should have saved some of those big boxes that the toys came in.

We had a great Christmas with five very happy kids! We were also happy to have both sets of grandparents visit us on Christmas Day. Sarah was in her element, especially since she loves teasing and playing with her Grandpas.

Taking turns with the dinosaur blanket and playing "scary dinosaur" with Grandad. I should have gotten video of this, they were having such a fun time!

A quiet moment at the end of a great Christmas day!

Christmas Eve

Some "reindeer cousins" visited us on Christmas Eve!

Let the sugar rush begin! (uh, on second thought, I think the sugar rush began several weeks ago!) I cheated this year and bought sugar cookies, ready to frost. It was a good thing. (Not to be confused with a Martha Stewart "good thing." :)

OK, so I'm not trying to plug products on my blog, but seriously... this frosting in a can stuff was awesome.

Some of the finished products!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Kids say the darndest things...

(Photo caption: Jason recently found his brother's "thing" hands that I conveniently misplaced several months ago. )

I am convinced that every parent could write a book about the funny things their kids say (especially from the ages of two to six years). Here are just a few "funnies":

Last week I took Jason and Sarah to the pediatrician for check ups and they were both due for some shots. It wasn't a happy experience for any of us (obviously) but they were both pretty brave.
When Daddy got home later that evening, Jason said, "Daddy! The doctor put spikes in my legs!" Well, no wonder it was a bad experience! :)

I was opening some crackers for Sarah and said, "Here you go, Bud." We usually call the boys "Bud"-- I didn't even realize I had called Sarah the boys' nickname. She gave me an indignant look and said, "I not Bud! I a girl!" (You go, girl!)

During a game of Candyland this afternoon, Jason pointed to one of the shortcuts and said, "Look, Mom, there's the haircut!"

What's wrong with this picture?

Halloween costumes are the perfect attire for trimming the Christmas tree...or for pretty much any occasion! Sarah loves to dress up, and her very favorite outfit is her Halloween costume...
My suggestion to take off the costume temporarily while we decorated the tree (and took photos) met with firm opposition. ;)

Here she is, on another day... I have the hardest time getting photos of our little firecracker-- she moves so fast I get lots of blurry shots, so Daddy is "baby wrangling" for this photo.
Ah, G*mboree... dangerous territory (read: "budget buster") for a mama who is relatively new to the world of cute girl clothes... there are just so many accessories (tights, shoes, hair bows, etc.) to consider and coordinate. A whole new world... in so many ways. :)

Birthday season!

The fall and winter are known as "birthday season" around our house. We have birthdays in October, November and December, plus Sarah's Gotcha Day, plus a few holidays as well! It's interesting that we have so many fall/winter birthdays since I had always "planned" on having spring and summer babies. The best laid plans... (really, babies are a blessing whenever they arrive!)

So Jason is the birthday boy this month and just turned FOUR! When I went to my first doctor's appointment during his pregnancy, my doctor just chuckled and said, "Guess when your due date is?

I already had a pretty good idea, and sure enough, I was due on Christmas Day!

But Jason decided to come three weeks early, and weighed in at a healthy 8lbs, 4 oz!! So I'm relieved that he decided to give us an early Christmas present! I can't imagine how big he would have been if he had been "full term!"

Jason is my cuddly, snuggly boy. He loves to read books on my lap and play games. He is also very interested in letters and numbers and points them out wherever we go. Jason has had big changes in his little life this past year, and I can honestly say that now he enjoys being a big brother most of the time!

Jason loves the old Tom and Jerry cartoons, so this is the cake he chose.

We went to a Chuck E. Cheese type restaurant to celebrate!

A blast from the past! Jason's older brothers thought it was hilarious to give him licorice mustaches and take pictures! (I have many of these licorice photos, some with red and some with chocolate. Never a dull moment at our house!)

Sarah's ABC's

Yes, we finally have some video to post of Miss Sarah in all her glory... belting out her ABC's. :)

Big brother Jason makes a guest appearance, too. But Sarah quickly decided she didn't want to share the spotlight.

My "interview" with Sarah gets cut off at the end...(long story, basically the DVD converter we were using didn't download the entire chapter) but I'm sure you'll get the gist!