Letter From Santa

One last Christmas post.  Ben wrote a letter to Santa, and guess what?  He wrote back.  Just loved Ben's reaction when I handed him the envelope.  He was all smiles throughout the letter.  His first comment: "I can't believe I'm on the nice list!"  Phew.  I guess he was pretty worried.  I told him Santa is a very forgiving guy.  Not that Ben is ever bad or anything.  Ha.  Wink.

Christmas

This is a long post.  Well because Christmas was a long day for us.  We are not the types to just sit at home on Christmas and miss out.  We hate missing out.  We love our families.  SO we see them all again and again during the holidays.  On Christmas this year I think we reached a new records on places visited.  Three to be exact.  Here's how the day went.  Christmas morning started when James woke up Ben at around 7:30.  Yes we had to wake him up!  He was excited sure.  But we aren't the earliest of birds in this house, thanks goodness.  So James got to see the wonder that is children spotting their gifts from Santa.  He said that Ben was jumping with excitement over his "batman" bike.  I keep putting parenthesis around batman because it's just a black and yellow-ish bike with a batman sticker on it.  But hey it did the job.  They then came and woke me up and we all went into Jackson's nursery to wake him up and introduce him to Christmas.  He was funny just crawling all over the place while we opened up presents.  We take turns opening up presents around here, which worked for Ben because he got to open up Jackson's presents too, and he was also very excited for Daddy to open up his presents- as he was in on the secrets with me.  We all got a good laugh over the soda can toppers I got him.  He's always leaving unfinished sodas in the fridge and as an attempt to save the carbonation he would shove down a paper towel in the opening.  These work much better.  James was very excited to give the boys their special Daddy present.  Since I do most of the shopping for Christmas and birthdays, James gets one special present for the boys.  He picked out super soft pillow pets from Lovesac.  They come with a blanket inside too.  He gave Ben a fox and told him its because "he's as smart and clever as a fox," and he gave Jackson an ox because "he's big and strong like an ox" (he's 96% in height so James calls him his big boy!)  By far "Foxy" is Ben's favorite present from Christmas.  He takes him everywhere with him and tells Jackson not to touch him because "he is very, very special."  When I asked him why, he said its because his daddy gave it to him.

OC seasons one and two baby.  We're fans! 

The boys with their Daddy presents. 

The aftermath and the kids watching A Christmas Story. 

By nine o'clock we were on our way to the Greene's, pjs and all.  We opened up our Eve presents (jammies and books), changed into said jammies, and then did our kids (the youngest of which is now 17) secret Santa swap presents.  We took a break to enjoy a yummy breakfast of crepes and egg & sausage casserole.  Afterwards we began to open presents, one by one, so we were there for a while. I think it was one by the time we left.

We quickly went home and got dressed, while the kids slept in the care- still in their pjs.  Twenty minutes later we were at my aunt and uncles for a few more presents and some cousin fun.  We stayed for about an hour and then headed to our last stop of the day- Sausalito at James' aunt and uncles' house. 

We ate a yummy dinner right upon arrival, which luckily finally knocked out my migraine I had been having all day.  The rest of the night we spent chatting with good friends and family.  I was in charge of the minute-to-win it games this year, which has become a tradition, and was a little stressed about it.  I pulled together about six games but was worried how they would all play out.  The crowd was much larger this year, about twenty-seven people, and we never even got around to the games.  Darn. : )  The kids were exhausted by the time we got home and so were we, but it was a great day.  I think one day I'll want the day to revolve more around just our little family, but for now I love to have our extended families be such a large part of our Christmas.  We love them and they love our kids so much!  Till next year.

We just put the tree out on the curb for the garbage man and after an hour of sweeping and vacuuming all evidence of its existence is gone.  Christmas is officially over.

Christmas Eve

We hosted a Christmas Eve brunch for my side of the family because we wouldn't be seeing my sister and her family on Christmas.  I made pancakes and sausage and everyone else brought stuff to contribute.  It was a yummy start to the day and a relaxing way to celebrate- no one was rushing off to any other event, which is usually the case for us.  We just bought for the kids this year besides a few homemade sentimental things for the grandparents.  The three of them took turns opening their presents, which of course Ben primarily opened up presents for all three of them.

I think that Ashlynn is pouting in the background because she had to wait her turn. : ) 

We then had a little downtime in between so Jackson got to nap and I got to shower; yeah didn't quite get that in before the brunch.  I was a little stressed out about how we were going to have time to make and decorate sugar cookies for Santa when Ben walked into my bathroom holding the tin of cookies from my grandma and said, "I've got a good idea.  We could just use these cookies for Santa!"  What a brilliant idea; gotta love that kid.  Although at eight o'clock that night he did pitch a small fit about wanting to make and decorate our own cookies.  But it passed quickly.  Phew.  He was pleased as punch to leave Santa a few of Nana's cookies, a bundlet from GG's Nothing Bundt Cakes, and a plate-full of carrots ("to be healthy").  Aside Santa's plate we left a small bowl with some reindeer food, which he made at preschool consisting of oats and glitter (it really confused him why reindeer's would want to eat glitter!) 

After a couple quiet hours at home we headed to meet up with the Greenes for dinner and temple lights.  This is a tradition that I love as it helps me to reflect on Christ and his birth right before the madness that can be Christmas day.  It was freezing but we all snuggled up tight for a few family pics, oohed and aahed at the lights and then headed home.

Matchy shirts- totally unplanned. 

No we are not all ghostly pale- it was the flash. 

Still trying to figure out which camera setting to use.  

Finally I got a good one of the newlyweds. 

  After getting the kids into bed I headed to CVS for a few last stocking stuffers, while James put together Ben's "batman" bike while watching A Christmas Story.  Then we all settled in for a long winter's nap!

Hannah Hyder Gets Hitched

The gorgeous bride and bridesmaids. 

A few days before Christmas, on Thursday the 20th the kids, James, and I road-tripped it down to sunny Newport Beach for a wedding.  Our dear family friends, the Hyder's, of who's home we are currently living in while they are working abroad in Japan, youngest and only daughter, Hannah was married on the 21st.  The sealing took place at the LDS Newport Temple, and then we partied down aboard a beautiful yacht in Newport Harbor.  It was very warm out and the setting was gorgeous.  Ben was disappointed that the boat was moving so slow though.  Guess he thought it would be like a speed boat.

Can you spot Jackson?! 

BIL Jeff, SIL Amanda, and Amanda's boyfriend, Andrew. 

New SIL Kaitlin, BIL Jayson, and MIL Alisa. 

It was a day time cruise, which was over by five so we decided to just pack up and head home instead of stay another night.  The kids were good on the drive down but both of them only slept for a couple hours each and Jackson especially got really restless by the end.  We got on the road by six and both kids fell asleep within minutes.  They each woke up to eat some dinner but then fell back asleep and slept until we got home at 12:30.  It was a whirlwind of a trip but a fun little get away.  We were so glad that we could be there to celebrate with Hannah and the Hyder family.  Ben loved going to a hotel and both boys enjoyed the bath there (Jackson's first bath without his little safety chair- kinda a nightmare, he was trying to crawl all over the place).  We had a king bed so we let Ben just sleep with us instead of pulling out the sleeper sofa.  The hotel brought up Jackson a little crib that looked like a little hospital bed.  He wasn't much of a fan and woke up crying twice, so we all ended up in the bed together.  Love snuggling with my kiddos, but did not get a good night's sleep.  We were all glad to be back in our beds by the next night.

Love this little family of mine! 

These Were a Few of My Favorite Things . . .

Before I get to the big days themselves, I just wanted to write about a few of my favorite things about our December.  While I had so many things on my iCal that we never ended up doing, I feel like we struck a good balance of doing festive things throughout the month, without over doing it.  Just a few of my favorite things were, besides late nights by our Christmas tree, included catching up with some great friends.  As I mentioned in an earlier post I was able to see both my old high school girlfriends and my old college roomie, Brook.  It was so great to see them all, and I REALLY hope that this year I will see them all again before next Christmas.  Fingers crossed.

I also enjoyed shopping.  I did it all fairly early and avoided most of the crowds.  I got to do some solo in the evenings, some with both boys in tote (Ben had to close his eyes at Old Navy a couple times while I shoved things into my bag), and some shopping was done with my best little shopping buddy, Jackson.  I kept things very simple for the kids this year and got them mainly things they needed (some snow stuff for our Tahoe trip, pjs, slippers, etc.), and tried to be very thoughtful with the rest.  I ordered Ben a custom made super hero cape with a big "B" in the back, made him a "super" brother photo book on Shutterfly, and got his some plastic drawers filled to the brim with crafting stuff.  Jackson got a couple small toys for fun, a 3 pack of his favorite snacks, and a special placemat with suction bowls for my table feeder.

 I also had a lot of fun with my gift giving this year for others.  I have the fun job of class rep for Ben's preschool this year, and part of that job is collecting money for and shopping for our great teachers for the holidays, their birthdays, and teacher appreciation week.  I ended up getting all three teachers an hour long massage, a box of sees chocolate, a $50 gift card to a great little restaurant here in town, and a candle from Bath & Body Works.  The day before the kids and I went and visited their GG (Grandma Greene) at her cake shop AKA Nothing Bundt Cakes for a bundtini tower.  Ben loved wrapping it up with GG for his teachers.  

Ben wanted to give just a few of his good friends/classmates a little something for Christmas.  So while we were at Bath & Body Works he got to pick out some holiday hand santa-tizers, packaged them up cute, and then hand delivered them to his friends.  Ben assigned the different sanitizers to each friend and when we delivered them he remembered just which one he wanted to give everyone.  

Oh Christmas Tree

My favorite part about Christmas, as far as decor, is the christmas tree.  I love to have it in the room where we spend the most time, and all month long I feel happy just to be laying near it.  And it has to be real.  At least for now.  Although this hasn't been hassle free for us.  Last year our 10 foot live tree fell over twice, once with all the ornaments on it.  And this year we had to hack away at the base of the tree for nearly an hour, only to discover it still didn't fit in the base.  So Ben and I went back to Home Depot for a new base.  At almost 10 pm.  Ben was in his jammies.  But I don't care.  I love the smell.  And I love going to pick one out as a family.

We went to good ol' Home Depot this year.  They are so nice.  Gave me two free wreaths.  Our tree was actually a surprise as we kept it all wrapped up for easy transport.  When we got it home and cut it open it was perfect.  And we went with a smaller one this year to ensure no falling down mishaps again.  

My biggest shock was that Jackson never bothered the tree.  He is super curious and gets into everything so this was a big worry of mine.  Ben had to drag him away from it about three times the first day and then he never went near it.  I was even able to wrap and leave presents out in my large baskets, which he didn't bother either.  Phew.  

Last year I established the gold and silver theme for the tree, and I love the look.  I decided though that in the future I'll need a smaller tree to set up somewhere else with all the sentimental and photo ornaments on it.  Throughout the month there have been many naps tree side, including Ben.  It's still up but I know it has to go next garbage day.  Bummer.  I'm going to miss that smell.  I think it grows even stronger as the tree dries out.  

Amateur Photographer

Since getting my Canon Rebel for my birthday this February I have been trying to teach myself a few things about photography.  Mostly I have loved having a great camera to capture nice pictures of my boys.  However I have also enjoyed taking photos of my niece for my sister.  I'm definitely not a professional when it comes to knowing how to use my camera or how on earth to use photoshop (seriously so complex), but every now and again I turn out a good pic.  Here is a sample of photos I've taken of my niece and a friend's little baby girl, Payton.