RC/KM Christmas

Friday morning was busy, as I tried to get us organized for an overnight trip in time to celebrate with my coworkers for lunch and be the mystery reader at Seth's class (For the record, the kindergarteners want me to bring a longer book next time).  I came home, we loaded up the car, and picked Seth up from school.  We ran into a little bit of traffic, and made it to Nathan's parents' house in time to unload the car, finish cooking my casserole in the oven, and get dressed up.  Then we were back in the car...destination, Rutherford County, NC.  I love driving through downtown Forest City:

The last time we went to the Mayse Christmas party, Seth was 18 months old.  There were a lot of new little ones in the group!  Nathan's dad showed me a picture he has in his wallet of his grandparents.  Everyone at the party was related to them (or married in).  It was a BIG group.  My camera didn't like the lighting in the building, and it was having a hard time focusing on Elise escaping from the picture at last minute, but here is the latest picture of the six grandkids:

I put Amelia in her pajamas for the ride back, but Evan rode home with us, so there was a whole lot of giggling, singing, "Pinky Dinky Doo"-ing, and ABC game playing...the kids had a blast.  Amelia still loves her Evan.  In fact, the kids paired up this time:  Evan and Amelia, the kindergarteners, and Will and Brian.  Any other babies have to come in pairs, ha!  They slept fast and were up early, ready to open presents (and disappointed that EVERYONE had to be awake and EVERYONE had to eat breakfast before we would do Christmas).  Festive Will:

We opened presents in our pj's.  We do a name drawing for the adults, so the kids get to open presents much longer than the adults.  This year was the year of board games.  No one should be complaining their bored any time soon!  Later in the morning, we had a surprise snow!  The kids went out just long enough to get a picture, I promise!

One of Seth's gifts was Guess Who?  Nathan loves this game.  I came around the corner once to see him playing against Eric.  Hilarious!

Today was just a normal Sunday around here...Sunday School, errands, Christmas shows, Guess Who and more Guess Who...let the holiday break begin!

brrr

I will try not to whine too much, as my Minnesota cousins experienced one heck of a blizzard about the time in started to get ridiculously cold here.  As in "this is the coldest December we have had in almost 100 years" cold.  I can't remember the last time the kids got to play outside at school.  Seth wears a hat and gloves every day to school, and they don't even let the kids sit outside during dismissal.  I think I took this picture Wednesday morning: 

BBRRR.  Our first "wintry mix" came Thursday morning.  There is always a lot of drama with "wintry mixes".  It could be bad; it could be nothing.  I was a little annoyed when they cancelled school at 9pm the night before.  It wasn't supposed to start raining/snowing/sleeting/whatever until 3am!  It was a yucky day, and I'm sure it was probably safer that they cancelled school, but they could have waited until Thursday morning to do so.  Anyways, the kids and I enjoyed our morning watching cartoons, baking cookies, playing board games, and reading books.  Nathan has been working half days for the past week, and he said the roads weren't bad on his way to/from work.  I didn't want to cook, so we went to IHOP.  You should see Seth eat pancakes at IHOP.  It's impressive!  Friday school was on a 2-hour delay, which was probably smart.  Our driveway was a little slick, but that's it.  And it was our last day of school, so I'm glad we got it in!

Wild Thing, Part 2

There was a reason Seth had Wild Things on the brain earlier in the year.  He has art class every Monday, and for several weeks straight, the kindergarteners worked on their Wild Things.  They have been on display all over the school, and Seth brought his home this week. 



2's Christmas party

Tuesday morning Amelia's class had their Christmas party (and good thing, too, since school was cancelled today!).  In the 2's class, they keep parties simple, and two other moms and I were responsible for snack.  I'm pretty sure none of the kids needed lunch, because we had cookies, cheese, fruit, pretzels, and juice boxes!  Amelia wore her cute reindeer dress and insisted on wearing her reindeer antlers in the car.  I was sure her teachers would make her take them off.  Nope.  She wore them all morning.  If you look closely, you can see her hairbow attached to her right antler.  It was fun!  Wish the parents could come to every party, but there just isn't room!



supporting the ladies

Sunday afternoon, Lewisville held its annual Christmas parade.  We have never gone before, but we had a few little reasons to go this year.  The weather was yucky that morning, but the rain stopped, and it was comfortable enough in coats to watch a parade.

Most of the participants were local churches or civic groups.  Almost everyone threw candy!  We came home with a bag full of candy, a pair of gloves, a puzzle, two teddy bears, and two plastic footballs.  Here is a pig from our vet's group...

 ...some very festive-looking sheep...

 ...and the little reasons we came to the parade!  Most of Seth's little girlfriends have started Girl Scouts this fall.  This was their float.  I love these girls!

 And last but not least, Santa! 

I forgot to mention in the last post...when we left the theater Sunday night it was snowing!  Two snows so far with no accumulation or delays or school closings, I'll take it!  More weather coming our way soon, hopefully it won't mess up any of our holiday plans!

our overzealous angel

Sunday was our Children's Christmas Play.  Our church hasn't had one in several years, so it was kept simple...a handful of older kids narrating from a script, the younger kids singing the first verse of hymns throughout.  Before the play, the kids played two songs with the handchimes.  Seth was REALLY into it.  AFV, here we come!

Other things to note:

• This is our 700th post.  Thanks for stickin' around with us.
• Seth had an ear infection last week, and weighed in at 40.6 lbs at the doctor's office.  He immediately told me it was time to remove the back off his booster.
• Sunday was the 10th anniversary of the night Nathan proposed.  Saturday we called one of our sitters and she was able to come over Sunday night so we could go see Harry Potter.  That's about as impromptu of a date as we'll ever get!

snuggles with Santa and Mrs. Claus

Here is our 2010 picture with Santa, from the holiday bazaar at Seth's school last month!  Seth told Santa he wanted ZhuZhu pets, Transformers, and a checkboard.  Amelia asked for ZhuZhu pets and a dollhouse.

we'll try again next year...

I thought it would be fun to make a gingerbread house this year.  Then I started hearing horror stories about other friends' attempts.  Amelia was watching a movie with Nathan last night, and Seth needed something to do (his teacher is out of town, and I can tell his brain hasn't been stimulated as much as usual).  I cracked out the gingerbread house kit.  Four walls up?  Piece of cake.

Roof added?  Check.  We put on some reindeer antlers and took silly pictures while we waited for the house to set.

And then we started decorating.  Amelia can smell out candy a mile away, and suddenly we had another helper.  She was in charge of decorating the tree and people, and she did a really good job.

Seth got bored of decorating, but there was still candy left, so Amelia wanted to keep decorating.  It wasn't perfect, but the kids had made it, and it was a fun change to our evening routine.  I went upstairs to get one thing.  I don't even remember what it was.  I didn't go on the computer.  I didn't switch out a load of laundry.  I was gone 30 seconds, tops.  Someone had started eating her handiwork.  There was about an inch space between the two sections of roof.  It was probably salvagable.  And then...

I gave up.  I didn't even try to fix it, because I decided it would just be a constant struggle trying to keep Amelia from eating stale icing and candy.  It is in the trash.  We will try again next year. 

First Snow!

Saturday morning we headed into town to run in the Mistletoe 5k.  I had been asked to be a run volunteer for Girls on the Run, which at the time seemed like a really good idea, since I haven't been running and I had bumped my knee Friday night.  I was asked to run with a 5th grader who supposedly could run the whole thing.  She started out to fast and the cold got to her lungs.  We finished in 40:30.  We'll just call it my good deed for the weekend.  Nathan had an awesome run and placed 23rd overall (out of 1425!). 

We came home, warmed up, and I made my grocery list.  Both kids wanted to go with me to make sure I bought chocolate for our Advent houses (see our mantle in the last post).  All of the sudden, the grocery store got nuts.  Want to know why?  It was snowing!  We were supposed to just get some flurries, but it actually started to stick, at least enough for the kids to test out their boots on the deck!

Winston got more snow than we did, so church cancelled play rehearsal.  Amelia didn't nap, so it was a LONG evening.  Sunday was a much better day!  We went to church, made sausage balls, and the boys put up the outside decorations while Amelia and I braved Target for a good deal we saw in the sale flyer.  I am so spoiled that I normally get to go to Target on weekday mornings!  What chaos!

Advent

We are waiting...and enjoying the holiday season as we wait.  Ms. Trena gave us a Jacquie Lawson Advent calendar that we installed on the computer, and the kids eagerly await when I let them click on their ornament for the day.  Seth's class went on a field trip to the Children's Theatre Friday to see A Christmas Carol.  They rode the school bus all the way into town.  It was Seth's first time on a bus.  Agh!  (He did fine.  Mommy, on the other hand, was a huge worrywart all day.  First time on the bus and on the interstate to boot!)  Friday afternoon, we bought our Christmas tree.  This picture was a misfire, but I think it turned out kind of neat.

I hadn't planned on bringing my camera, but Seth asked me to, so I could take their pictures in front of all the inflatables:

Here is the finished product.  We have upgraded to LED lights on the tree.  I am actually going to recycle our old lights as soon as I finish this post.  Nathan added garland to the mantle this year.  If you look very closely, you can see Cricket, our elf, in front of one of the houses:

Seth made this bell at school.  Each night he is to tear off a ring, and when he reaches the top, it will be Christmas Eve!

I haven't started cards, or baking, but I have made a good dent in the shopping!  :)

Turkey Time!

I am not a good patient.  By Tuesday night, I was ready for stronger antibiotics.  I ended up settling for the strongest behind-the-counter generic Sudafed they had in stock, and an old school Minnesota remedy.  I woke up without a fever for the first time in four days, and mid-morning we made our way down to Kings Mountain, with a detour in Charlotte to pick up race packets. 

Seth continued his tradition of making placecards...this year he decided to rainbow write them and make a pseudo-graph based on the number of letters in each name.  He was tickled that his group was the biggest!

The guys ran the Turkey Trot in the rain...this turkey was more than happy to sit on the couch and watch the children.  Nathan's grandparents joined us again this year, and it was great to see them again.  Here is a picture of our celebration, from Grandma Sarah's end of the table:

Elise asked me to take some pictures for her.  Brian has learned how to wink and thought it was hilarious to do it every time I picked up the camera.  What a ham!

The natives were a little restless, so we had some outside time.  There were several boisterous games of jump the creek.  Seth would monopolize the rope swing when he got out of the game:

The oldest and the youngest:  best buds.  Amelia even tried to sleep in the tent with Evan Thursday night.  Since I was getting up at 4am to go shopping, I didn't want to test it out that night. 

one little...two little...

Tuesday morning, I dropped the kids off at school and spent the rest of the day on the couch.  While I was resting, the kids enjoyed their class Thanksgiving feasts.  Seth's class made Native American garb out of old pillowcases:

My two little noisy Indians!

Holiday Bazaar

The PTA hosted a holiday bazaar last Saturday.  I bought the cutest reindeer hairbow for Amelia.  Anyways, Nathan volunteered to spend an hour bagging up popcorn for the movie room.  I don't think he'll eat popcorn again any time soon.  While he was doing that, I took the kids to storytime with Santa and Mrs. Claus.  Santa is actually one of the teachers...Seth talked to him while he was still in street clothes, but didn't make the connection once he was dressed up! 

The kids had their pictures taken with the couple by a photographer there...I'm very hopeful that this year we have a fantastic Santa picture!

Turkey Olympics

I'm back!  For those who don't know, I was knocked down last weekend with a double whammy of strep throat and an upper respiratory infection.  I hit the bed mid-morning Saturday and only got out when necessary until Tuesday night.  It was bad news.  Now I'm playing a major game of catch-up.   Last Friday, while I was still feeling human, Seth's teacher invited Amelia and I to help with the first ever Turkey Olympics.  Two classes combined to make four teams competing in four activities.  I was in charge of "stuff the turkey", where the teams tried to toss as many socks as they could into the turkey.  It was a math lesson disguised as fun...the teams then drew grafts of their results. 

 There was a storytime at the end of the program...can you spot the honorary kindergartener?

I've missed my lunch buddy!

Over the summer, the thing that struck me the most about Seth going off to kindergarten was that he wouldn't be home for lunch.  For five years, he had been my lunch buddy every day, minus a few lunch bunches.  Eating with only Amelia just isn't the same, but I have slowly gotten used to the post-lunch routine.  Seth's class went to the book fair right before lunch today.  I made arrangements for Amelia to go home with a buddy, so I could help Seth shop (although it might have been better if I had just sent him $20, sheesh!  Mommy was a sucker!).  And then I stayed for lunch.  I brought us sandwiches from Panera, and Seth bought us drinks from the cafeteria (he usually only buys lunch once a week, but the lunch ladies know him by name, I'm impressed!)  We had a nice little lunch date, my buddy and me!

my newest faves

I love going through the kids' folders, because I never know what kind of gems I might find.  Wednesday, I found this, Seth's art by me fundraiser magnet.  It makes me smile every time I look at it:

 Amelia brought home this last week, her apple tree.  I love it!

fuzzy pajamas

Amelia's feet don't fit into her 2T fuzzy pajamas anymore, but we have some 3T hand-me-downs.  They're a little big...

 ...but perfect for transporting all her stuffed animals!

un-photo-worthy week

Sorry, people.  No pictures this week. Just a run-of-the-mill week around here.   Seth DID get his first report card and we are very proud of him.  We went against the grain in our area and decided to send him at (gasp!) five to kindergarten, and he is holding his own.  His two best buddies are six and a half, and are both about a head taller than him.  You're off to a great start, Seth!

Amelia had a rough week.  Monday we ran a ton of errands, and she only got a short nap in the car.  Tuesday she got a nice shiner at preschool.  Wednesday she crashed into Seth on a slide and got a slight bloody nose, then fell while Seth was at handbell practice and split her lip.  Thursday it took us three tries to find a bathroom at the outlet mall when SHEHADTOGO, bless her heart, she was biting her lip by the time someone let us cut in line (at the third place).  Then she got an upset stomach from ice cream, but thankfully it wasn't the tummy bug that is going around! 

Another quiet Saturday around here...

cupcake

We've spent the first part of November recovering from our busy, busy October.  I made some November resolutions, because I just can't wait until January.  1-YMCA.  No excuses.  8k is two weeks.  2-a better bedtime routine, mainly TAKE OUT MY CONTACTS, which in conjunction with the future purchase of a larger numeral alarm clock is a cheaper alternative to Lasik.  3-Tackle our closets!  So far the toy box in the basement and Seth's room have gotten overhauls.  And I mean business.  Broken?  Trash.  Prize box material?  Out of circulation.  Never play with anymore?  Attic, consignment shop, or Goodwill box.  I'm just working on it when the mood strikes me, but at least it's a step in the right direction!

Last Wednesday we had a brief visit from Bryan's girlfriend after lunch.  Amelia just HAD to make her cupcakes.  Luckily, I had a 12 count cupcake mix in the cabinet.  A regular-sized mix would have been a little ridiculous.  Chef-approved:

We went from unseasonably warm to unseasonably cool, so we stayed home Saturday morning and made pumpkin pancakes and other messes while Nathan ran the Mercy 5k.  He got to meet some of his daily mile running buddies and had a really good race, placing third again in his age group.  Sunday afternoon we split up for awhile;  Amelia and I went to a bridal shower for a coworker, Nathan and Seth went to see Megamind.  For the first time ever, the kids have done really well with the time change.  Of course I don't like it being dark on my way into work, but it sure is nice to see the sun driving Seth to school in the morning!

our Halloween

Everybody got a good night's sleep, because we knew we had a busy day ahead of us!  First, we had to carve our pumpkins.  Well, Nathan carved them.  We just assisted with the guts removal.

Our neighborhood chose to trick-or-treat Sunday night.  We left Nathan at home to distribute candy, and we walked about half a mile to meet our buddies.

Here is our little group, minus Amelia the ladybug and Nickolas the dinosaur.  Carly the pony is hidden behind the bat.

Seth lasted about a hour and a half, that's a lot of walking for a 5-year-old.  Amelia went to about six houses and was content to sit in the stroller and play with the flashlight the rest of the time.

Here are our 2010 jack-o-lanterns:

And Monday?  Monday after school we took three pounds of candy to a local dentist, who donated it to Operation Gratitude.  Seth has never been big on candy, and Amelia would eat it non-stop until it was gone.  So...no point in having a ton in the house.  We kept a small bucket of our favorites, and hopefully the troops will soon be eating our extra candy.  Win-win situation!

poor Colette

Her life is terrible.  For the first time ever, we bought her a Halloween costume.  She was not a fan.  In fact, she hid it under my dresser when we took it off the first time.

Sometimes I think she could use some puppy prozac.  She gets a little neurotic when you start packing up suitcases.  I don't know why she has issues at my or Nathan's parents' houses, because she loves to be both places without us.  But back to the bags.  Normally, she will sneak into the car at the first opportunity, and stake out her spot until it is time to go.  I loaded the car before we went out to lunch, so I didn't let her in the car.  I went to get another load and came back to find this:

Seriously, Colette?  I'm not going to forget you!

Green Acres

...Cary style.  Last week was a crazy week.  I had car trouble.  We had 36 hours of on-and-off tornado warnings.  In fact, the schools in our county were locked-down Wednesday, and I had to wait an extra hour to go pick Seth up.  We slept in the basement two nights in a row.  Wednesday night, Nathan left for his annual golf trip.  Thursday was the last day of Seth's first quarter of school.  After I picked him up, we headed to Cary, because why stay home if we don't have to?  We had a quiet morning Friday, saving up our energy for this:

There is a 1.5 acre corn maze minutes from my parents' house.  We had to check it out. 

 The maze had ten card-punch stations, and lots of dead ends to tease us:

The website said to allow for an hour in the maze.  We are awesome.  We did it in just over 30 minutes.  Well, we didn't find the stations in order, but we did find all ten stations, and we did it before the kids got bored, double success!

There were lots of other things to do.  I let the kids ride the ponies, they "milked" a wooden cow, tested their strength with sledgehammers, and bounced away in a bounce house.  Here we are at the top of a stack of haybales.  I give up trying to get them to look at the camera.

I think this will have to become an annual trip!