A tale of my stinker

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon.  I went for a short run to try out my new running shoes, showered and was immediately called back outside to play.  It was just too nice to stay inside, so I threw on some clothes (and super cool compression sleeves) and joined the kids for a round of soccer.  The boys have been unable to stay out of pj's and Colin was even wearing his slippers!  I should have been embarrassed, but it's Christmas break and in the 70's, so I think it's the weather that should be embarrassed.

We came inside for dinner and then put the kids to bed.  It wasn't until everyone was asleep that I realized I hadn't put my wedding ring back on after that quick shower.  I went back to the bathroom and it.was.gone.  Ben and I tore apart the bathroom...we took out the sink drains and emptied the pipes into a bucket and dug through the trash.  Alison had taken a shower in there, so we decided to wait until the morning to ask if she knew where it was.  Let's just say, there were tears.  I thought I was losing my mind...how do you lose something you wear all the time, except for in the shower?  The next morning, none of the kids knew a thing about the ring.  I asked them to please help me look for it and the person who found it would get 20 pompoms.  I started this "helping jar"...the kids earn a pompom by doing something helpful (picking up is a big one) without being asked; when their jar is full, they get a date of their choice with mommy or daddy.

Alison genuinely helped me look, but it came with questions of "Are you and daddy still married?" and "Can you not buy a new one?".  When Ben got home from work, he was on a mission to find the ring and knew exactly which source to start with.  Colin.  He asked him point blank where he put my ring..."My closet" was his answer.  Stinker had sat quietly all day.  Ben marched him up to his room and had him show him where he hid my ring.  Sure enough, it was stashed on top of some clothes boxes.  When we asked him why he took my ring, he said he snuck it for his treasure.  Apparently his closet had turned into a pirate ship and he needed treasure (as I'm typing this, he's playing 'Jake and the Neverland Pirates' which I might just ban him from watching).  We also found my computer mouse in his dresser and I can only imagine what else will be uncovered in his room when we move.  So, Ben earned the 20 pompoms and distributed his loot between Alison and Eli and is taking them out on their dates this week.  Keeping me on my toes to the max this week.



Another thing about this stinker...he says 'grandparents' and 'last year' and e-cause (because) all.the.time.  He'll randomly say things like this:
"My grandparents live in California." He would usually add in "last year they came to visit and flew on an airplane." Any reference to time is "last year", even if it was yesterday that he's talking about.

Christmas Day

Hold on to your hats, I have way too many pictures.  This Christmas was epic.  We savored the day, knowing the kids are the absolute perfect age for Christmas.

We set up a little Christmas tree up stairs and put the stockings under it.  We told the kids that when the tree lit up at 7am, they could come jump on our bed with their stockings.  6:45 Colin came and climbed on Ben and whispered, "Daddy, do you want a present?" it was too cute to resist and we broke the rules and opened stockings just a few minutes later (sorry, stocking pictures were all blurry).

We were downstairs, with tea pastries in the oven and coffee in hand, by 7:05.  The most fun thing this year was the kids each had presents in mind they wanted to give each other.  So one day, I called them up one by one and they picked out gifts for all the other family members on Amazon and then when they came, they got to help me wrap the presents they picked.  Colin, however, stunk at keeping his secrets and immediately told everyone what he ordered.  Then Christmas morning he tried to claim glory for each present.

Ben opened a book from Eli and Colin ran over and said, "Your welcome daddy!"

I loved this stage with Alison; she still wanted Barbie and baby doll stuff, but also wanted some jewelry and books.  I wonder what next year will look like...

 

Colin was equally happy she got new baby stuff. 

Alison giving Ben her gift, a 'brew your own beer' kit, which I think may have been his favorite. 

The boys got several new dress up items and kept switching gifts.

 

Colin had a Spiderman themed Christmas 

My superheros. 

Alison opening her spy book, also a big hit.  

Colin got his first little set of legos. 

 The kids all got new underwear, which Eli decided he needed to put on right then.  He stopped mid-change to open his next present...I think it was worth the pause.

He looks so much older here...

 

 

The aftermath:

 

Ben assembling the hotwheels track, Alison playing with her new Barbie/pony and Eli constructing his Minecraft legos...it looks like Ben is telling Colin not to touch something out of the picture, but that's just a guess :)

Eli put this thing together entirely by himself!

Finished product, with his new sippy cup.  The boys fight every morning over the 1 sippy cup we have left in the house, so they each got a new cup in their stockings and were so excited.  I love how the little things are so fun to them!

Eli kept saying, "This is the best day of my life!!!"

His favorite present were the pj's, which he refuses to take off

 

Another great thing about this Christmas is all the kids loved all of the presents.  They all shared what they got and played with each other and it was awesome.

Colin playing with Alison's new Barbie stuff, plus Spiderman.

Batman/Superman daddy brewing beer while Eli works on his legos.

I finished the puzzle, only to discover that the most important part of the puzzle was missing...Santa's face!!!  I thought about taking it back to the store, but I don't have any way to prove that Colin didn't take the pieces.

 

Oh the games these boys played.  Guns and crocodiles in the stroller...and the face/stance Colin gives when he is not getting his way.

"I need a gun too!"

Alison was happy watching way too much Little House.

 

While Ben cooked dinner (I made dessert) we made gingerbread cookies.

For some reason I was the only one who got dressed that day...maybe it's because it was 75 outside and I went for a short run and came home completely drenched in sweat and had to clean up.

P.S. it was hotter here in Virginia than in Yuma, AZ! 

Right before dinner, Colin randomly started dishing out giant hugs with a "MERRY CHRISTMAS!!"

 

Eli was decorating his cookie and got of a pat on the bottom, but he tried.

Alison decorated the table for dinner:

Prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, roasted green beans and braised red potatoes. 

We ended the day with some hot chocolate and peppermint sticks.

I felt like we had a BIG Christmas, at least the biggest we've had with our little family.  I don't know if it was going through a deployment this year or the anticipation of a cross country move, but this year was different.  Ben would often come home from work with a new toy he picked up to put under the tree or a decoration for the house.  His extra excitement complimented my extra relaxed-ness and our kids were extra thoughtful and gracious and it made a wonderful Christmas season. 

Christmas Eve

I finally found a Christmas puzzle after a long search and we were able to use our new puzzle board that Nonny and Papa sent us.  What's great about the board is you can put the puzzle away when you need the space on the table and it stores little pieces so kids can't run off with them...or so we  thought.

We went to a matinee movie of 'The Good Dinosaur'.  It was a really fun way to break up the day of waiting for Christmas, although Eli was a little disappointed that we weren't watching 'Star Wars' in the next room.

Then we got ready for church, which sounds easy but it was in the 70's and matching sweaters went out the door.

This is how we felt about a hot Christmas:

 

 

We got to St. Luke's right as service was beginning and the place was already packed.  A gentleman from  St. Luke's told us we could sit up in the balcony with the photographer.  We sat next to the organ, had 2 cushiony seats and got the best view of the service.  Plus, we had a little extra room for mister squirmy pants to move around.

We came home for a soup and grilled cheese dinner and then tried to get excited kids to bed.

Zoo and more

riding the train

We took our last trip to the zoo before moving. Although, it's been so warm that we might be able to go again.  We had a beautiful day and the place all to ourselves.

Eli is super proud of holding on with just one hand

 Best part of the day was Eli's big smiles.

p.s. he's wearing all black because he's pretending to be a ninja.

And this is what happens when there's a random stage at the zoo and no one around.
 

I took these pictures for my friend Lydia.  She just had a baby boy and I was telling her of my constant challenge to keep the boys' rooms clean.  The problem isn't so much that they don't pick up, it's that their play involves a different piece from every single group of toys.

Clean room + naked boy in the morning:

by dinner time: 

Nana sent the kids clothes from India.  She was there for business and sent us pictures and a little info about the country each day and we did a little study on it during school.

  

The boys were not super excited about trying on the clothes and Eli decided that all would be fine as long as he had his eyes closed.  Alison, however, was ready to get decked out.

Ben and I celebrated our 12 year anniversary!  We mixed things up this year and ran a 5 mile race and then went to a 'hole-in-the-wall' Mediterranean place for dinner.  I laughed when we pulled into the parking lot, but it was SO yummy and I'm so thankful we did something different.

 We finished up school in our pj's, munching on peppernuts.  Thanks Grandma for the treat!

We're on Christmas break now and the boys are loving having all day to play.

A completely funny oxymoron; I told the boys to go clean up their rooms last night and I heard them start to sing.  Eli made up this little song, "Jesus loves you all day long", which sounds really sweet, but as he's singing it, he's whacking Colin and destroying his toys.