Month of Christmas!

 Whew-wee!  What a month.  December is always busy, and this one was probably one of the busiest but funnest we've had.  Both boys had events with school, then of course there's church stuff, family stuff, trying to hit all the fun local things, baking, building snowmen, gifts for everyone and, oh, you know, a little renovation project to begin.  Didn't want to miss a thing!

Beck had a fantastic Christmas program at his preschool and looked so so cute in his poncho and hat.  He sang and danced away and we were so proud of him and how well he performed (so was he).  Asher had a special Christmas 'dinner' lunch at school.  All the kids dressed up and sat at special candlelit tables in the classroom, done up with tablecloths and place cards.  A few parent helpers, (myself included) came in to help serve the kids all the fun foods.  Asher had a great time, looked handsome all dressed up and even had a little speaking part in a mini-program they did in class. Beck came along with me and sat at his own table at the back, eating up the fun foods.
Also, because Asher's birthday is always during Christmas break, he brought in some doughnuts for his class and was pretty excited about that, as was I since I didn't need to come up with any fancy cupcakes instead (love to do them, but timing would've been tough!).

Ash was also able to be a part of a presentation and recognition program put on by Ms Warrick, his awesome Kindergarten teacher from a couple of years back. She has taken on a special project for years to collect baby food for the local storehouse for needy babies in the area.  This particular event had news teams present for a special slide show, songs by the kids ("Together We Can Change the World") and donations of toys for Christmas for the storehouse as well.  It was awesome!  She brought together kids from her past classes for the whole thing.  Ash was happy to be a part of it, as were several of his buddies from that class.  Those boys are all getting so big already, sheesh.

We did get a little snow and whipped up a mandatory snowman one day while Ash was at school.  We thought the bean tree pieces were a nice touch for some crazy hair!  One afternoon right before Christmas, the boys and I made up some gingerbread too and had fun decorating and eating them. We did leave a few for Santa though.  And it was a family/group effort to construct our Gingerbread house...it was a box set one and we had a crazy hard time getting those walls to stay up, ahhh!  In the end, all was well and it stayed put and the boys were very proud of their little home.

In early December, I decided it was time to be sure that our little flooring project actually happened, so I thought that destroying the really outdated and ugly entryway tile might be the way to get things going. Since it was a spur of the moment decision to start doing it and I couldn't find the legitimate protective eyewear, I borrowed Beck's toy kids construction goggles and made it work, hehe.  Me and the mallet were exhausted and sore by the time I was finished, but also triumphant!  Now the new flooring has to happen, and soon! Yay!  (Note to self...removing tile is harder than it looks.)  In Corey's defense, he did want to help do it, but I was too impatient to wait for things to get rolling.

Christmas Eve was here in no time!  We had a fun and mellow Christmas Eve with our boys, they opened up their jammies, we read the Christmas Nativity Story, Corey opened up the special garden tile made by Beck, we drank cocoa and set out all the goods for Santa (egg nog, and gingerbread cookies) and his reindeer (carrots of course!) and were off to sleep!

 Christmas morning was magical.  The first bit of magic started out with a note from Santa in response to the sweet message Asher had left him on his chalkboard before he went to sleep.  The pic isn't the best, but it was just so cute that I had to post it.  The boys excitedly ransacked their stockings and gifts, while Cor and I took a few minutes to catch it all with cameras, then sat back and enjoyed.  I especially love what the boys gave each other.  Asher painted up a special little treasure box for Beckett (Ash received one last year from Beck and has wanted one of his own ever since; he was so thrilled), and Beckett painted Asher a little wooden lizard.  It was a wonderful Christmas morning.  That evening, everyone (Corey's parents were in town also!) came to our house for dinner.  The boys were happy to top off their special day with some fun cousin time and some chocolate cream cake.  

What a wonderful Christmas season!  It always goes too fast, but I sure do love my little family and all the fun times we get to share. 

 

Asher Antics

I also kept track of some funnies from Asher.  I love fun kid stories, and there is just no way I'd remember them all, if any of them, if I didn't write them down.  SO, here are a few from Asher from the past while...

•  October 6, 2009:  We took Asher(3) with us to the polls tonight as we were very last minute voters.  Asher, in a very loud voice, says to us,"I need to go to the bathroom...my pee is coming out!!"  Oh, lovely.

• September 17, 2010:  I asked Asher(4) where he thought we should go and get dinner. He said,"McDonald's!"  I said, "Nah.  I don't think so."   His reply, "But, mom...they have the famous food!"

•  November 13,  2011:  I offered Asher some cocoa today.  His reply:  "Oh, you're such a LOVELY mom."  Hahaha.  I told him he was a lovely child!

•  November 22, 2011:  Last night, Asher (5) informed us all that English was his first language.  Funny, I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a second.

• June 6, 2012:  Asher told me he really likes doing KA-BOBS today at swimming.  Fun!

• June 2012:  Asher loves loves loves to watch football and baseball and imitates the sports casters passionately and surprisingly well.  He is hilarious to listen to! It is crazy how detailed his recaps get, and he already understands football ten times better than I do.  Sad but true.  When he's pretending to play baseball in our front room (ahem, no bats or real balls allowed!), he plays all the positions and does the announcer's part..., with a  NY accent out the side of his mouth.  It's pretty good, but I have no idea where this stuff comes from!

• April 2012:  During an opening exercises in Primary on reverence, the kids were asked, "When we are at church, how should we act?"  Asher's hand shot up, and he was called on for an answer.  His reply?  "Normal."

•  October 18, 2012:  I found a paper in Asher's (6) backpack that has a picture of a 'love bee' on it.  I asked him who gave it to him.  He said, "Avery.  And she gave me her number on the back."  Sure enough.  Oh boy, he's in the first grade! 

• January 2013:  Again, Asher is a huge Sport's fan.  For his 7th birthday, one of his gifts was a simple clock radio.  Almost every night, he listens to the sports channels after the lights are out and he's supposed to be going to sleep.  One night, around 10:15 (we thought he was surely fast asleep), Asher came bounding down the stairs, and ran to Corey..."Daddy, we won!   The Lobos won!!"  He had been listening to the rest of the basketball game on the radio and wanted to share the news.  Not a great habit for a school night, but we'll let it slide this once.  I have to admit, I don't know anybody under the age of 50 that enthusiastically chooses to listen to sports on the radio.  Love it!

• February 2013:  Asher came into our room and snuggled into our bed this morning.  He was talking with Corey and said that when he grows up he doesn't want to work on computers.  He wants to play basketball instead.

• March 17, 2013:  Asher said the closing prayer in Primary today.  He said, "Please help us to get out on time and please help us to find our parents."  My friend Pamela shared that with me right after church.  Sounds like he was ready to get home asap!

•  March 25, 2013:  We had an F.H.E. on The Easter story and watched one of those awesome church movies...the one where Christ comes in after Mary is looking for the Savior.  It was turned up pretty loud, and He says, "Woman, why weepest thou, whom seekest thou?"  Asher then blurted out, "Why are they speaking Spanish?!"

• August 9, 2013:  Tonight we decided to watch  'The Neverending Story' with the boys.  It's one I remember watching a bunch as a kid.  They were glued to the screen and loved it.  But, they couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that Atrayew was a boy.  Both Asher and Beck were asking questions like, "Mom, why is she falling in the mud?" or "Mom, why is she so sad."  I'd correct them and say 'he', but it just didn't stick.  The strange name and long shiny hair was too much for them to overcome I guess!

Beckett Bits

 

Oh, this boy.  He keeps us on our toes, keeps us guessing, and keeps us laughing.  This past couple of years, I've kept little notes on my phone or facebook.of some of the things he's said and done so I'd remember to get them down on the blog sooner or later.  Sadly, it's later, but here they are!

• August 6, 2010:  My Beck (1) is such a crack up. Our favorite new trick is to ask him, "Beck, what does a crow say?" to which we get a VERY jubilant,"CAW,.....CAW!"  Yes, an unusual choice of animal, but we LOVE it:)
•  December 11, 2010:  Beck just tried to feed Elmo some bread. "Eat it!", he said, and shoved the bread into Elmo's mouth.  Elmo is on his shirt:)

• July 21, 2011:  I tried using reverse psychology on Beckett (2) last night to get him to eat his dinner. Here's exactly how it went.....Me: "Beck, I'm going to eat your pizza!" Beck: "Okay, that's fine." Ugh.  I don't have any other tricks.
• August 2, 2011:  I love that Beck (2 year old) calls his Batman swimsuit his "fatman" swimsuit. Priceless.
• Oct. 30, 2011:  Carving pumpkins tonite...we cut the top off of 2 year old Beck's pumpkin and he was SO sad. He thought there would be candy inside! 

• January 11, 2012:  Prayers tonight by Beck (2 yrs old): "Bless ours house to be safe and warm, bless ours house to be safe from a wolf blowing it down, and bless ours house to be safe from dinosaurs running into it". Amen:).
• June 25, 2012:  While Eating at Tucanos today, Beckett decidedly accepted one of those cute little chicken hearts. Ew. Not sure I should be letting him make such important decisions yet. He said it tasted like....chicken:)
•  August 16, 2012:  Beck just told me that 'his cheeks are playing catch with the candy' that he's eating:)
•  October 16, 2012:  I let 3 year old Beckett feed the dog. I spied from the window as he overfilled an already full dog dish, and then proceeded stomp it down with his flip flop to flatten it off. Lovely.
• For a while, in Winter/Spring of 2012 (age 3), Beckett loved to say, "What are ya talkin' about?" to just about anything.
• Some Beck-isms (same time frame as above):  fruitons = croutons, watterfoddle = waterfall (this one continues on!)                             
• He loves to use sign language for 'I love you.'  He'll do the sign with his little hands then give you something akin to a high five with it, after which your fingers fold over his and vice versa.  Sweet.
• We've put some original spins on getting the kids to go to bed that have somehow become nightly rituals.  Both boys like to get in on these.  First off, running hugs.  This is when the boys (one at a time) go into the hallway outside their room, sometimes WAY down the hall and run at either Corey or myself (we are kneeling, preparing ourselves for the impact) and give us a big hug.  I admit, that as they get bigger, Corey is better at these than I am.  After a few turns each we have to shut it down so they can actually get into bed!    Next, we blow kisses to them from the doorway.  They are in bed for this one at least.  These are not your typical kisses though...these are Angry Bird kisses, blueberry kisses, strawberry kisses, etc.  I don't know how the kids came up with them, but they are a huge hit.  We blow them an angry bird kiss and have to say what kind it is (ie spinning, bomb-bird, shooting, etc) and then have to make the sounds that would go with it.  Then they blow them back and we are supposed to react by crashing to the ground at the doorway.  It goes on for a few minutes, until we are "serious" that it's the last one.  They like to do blueberry, etc. kisses sometimes thrown in...these are sweet ones we catch and don't have to fall down.  Nice.
• October 31, 2012:  After looking outside and examining the skyline and sun coming up, Beckett asked me,"Mom...where are all the REAL bats?"  
• December 13, 2012:  He told me that all the animals are in line to hold the baby Jesus...
  
   
• February 3, 2013 (Age almost 4):  Beck went to a birthday party and had been given a little sword he'd been playing ninja with.   I had a headache and wasn't feeling great and was snuggling him for a minute telling him he was my baby...my youngest and smallest son.  He replied, "Yep.  AND I'm a ninja!"  Then he hopped off and ran off with his sword.
• A few days after the above story he'd had his fourth birthday...ninja themed, he mentioned to me, rather seriously, that "he knows everything about ninjas because he has a ninjago shirt."  Well, of course.
• February 10, 2013:  Beck loves to have the humidifier in his room at night.  Every night he says, "Mom, I need the 'communitiafier' in my room!"  I tried calling it that for fun and he then told me that only he could call it that.
• February 21, 2013:  Tonight when Beckett laid down in his bed, he told me he wasn't "going to let me down" and that he'd stay in bed.  Nice.  I don't know where he gets this stuff, but I'm glad he won't let me down!
• March 21, 2013:  Beck said to me, "Mom, I don't understand why Heavenly Father created someone like Darth Vader."  Hehehe.

• April 1, 2013:  Beckett saw a bug outside while coming in from picking Asher up from school.  He proudly stomped on it (ok, it was a roach, EWWWW) and yelled to me that he'd killed the buy!  I went to check it out and then told Asher and Beckett both that they would need to be the brave ones because Mommy is afraid of roaches.   We walked up to the porch and I told him he did a good job killing that bug.  He looked at me, folded his arms, stood tall, and held his head high and said seriously, "It's because I'm a ninja."  Yes, this ninja business is no joke.
• May 10, 2013:  It started raining suddenly and hard today and it's been SO parched and dry lately.  Beck looked out the sliding glass doors in my bedroom and exclaimed, "It's incredible!  The sky decided to rain.  Buckets.  Buckets of rain."  Very sweet.  His words are bigger than he is sometimes.  He just sat and watched it pour for a minute.
• August 9, 2013:  Beck, upon seeing an undercover cop car drive by says, "Mom, look. That police car is hiding his stickers."
• October 22, 2013:  We were driving to pick up Asher from school today and Beckett said to me, "You take such good of care of me, Mom."  Ah, I'm certain he doesn't feel that way all the time, but I'll definitely take it!
•  October 29, 2013:  We had some roofers come by this morning.  Beck said, "Mom, one of the guys looked like a pirate, and one didn't."  Argh.  It must be the week of Halloween!
• December 12, 2013:  Christmas according to Beckett:  "Mommy, I'm going to pray for your voice to come back (I'd been sick).  Then that will make Santa happy.  Do you know that if you're good, you're presents will grow at night?  At the North Pole.  And Santa carries coal in his bag.  But coal is not real, it's fake.  If you be bad, you get presents.  You still do." 

Thanksgiving 2013

 Thanksgiving weekend!  The beginning of the holiday season is always so looked forward to and I can't believe it's here already.  Corey's parents were in town to celebrate too, which meant that all of Corey's fam was here except for his sister's (we missed you!). 

We started off our Turkey day with what is becoming a Turkey Day tradition for our little family...a 5k.  This year's was The Turkey Trot up on the East Side.  Besides being a little chilly, it was perfect weather.  Corey manned the stroller, while Asher and I ran together (at my very slow pace as this is basically my one run a year, don't judge).  My little running buddy did awesome!  He was getting a little discouraged near the end but pulled through and finished like a champ.  He came home with his ribbon, which was all he really wanted out of the morning.  Corey's parents joined us too and we cheered them on as they finished.  A great start to a great day.  Funny thing:  every year afterwards, Corey is hungry and wants a breakfast burrito or something really yummy, but alas, on Thanksgiving morning, they are nowhere to be found.  He gets so sad.  Then we go home for cocoa with lots of whip cream.

 Aaron and Meagan hosted Thanksgiving dinner this year and with all the great food everyone helped with it was delicious and fun.  The cousins had a riot running around playing, as always.  They're such cute buddies.

Black Friday arrived in all it's insane glory, and we slept in (sort of) and stayed home as usual. Adam and Kayla were generous enough to snag us a couple of items in their brave wee-hours shopping.  Wasn't that nice?  We did get a new tree this year because we had given away our gigantic one when we almost moved a few months back...it was really too big anyway and such a pain to store.  Up went to new tree and we all enjoyed going through all the ornaments and decorating it.  Such a great weekend and so nice to spend time with family.  We are thankful for them all!  Happy Thanksgiving!