Christmas fun

We got to do a lot of fun things this December. Ryan constructed a gingerbread house, which the kids decorated. Well, G decorated it. Scout couldn't stop stuffing her mouth long enough to actually put anything on the house.

We went to Home Depot again this year to get our tree. It was freezing the night that we went, but we managed to have fun.



The kids got some cute Christmas pj's. It's so hard finding matching ones for a boy and a girl!


Garrett got to play Joseph in his school Christmas program. His friend Emma was Mary, and Scout's friend Brooklyn was one of the sheep. They were all so cute!



Ryan's parents came to visit. His dad brought two projects to put together for Scout - a rocking chair, and a cradle for her baby. Garrett helped a little. She absolutely loved them! Thanks, Pop. We roasted chesnuts together, went to the Galleria and saw Santa, and went to a Christmas laser light show. The kids had a lot of fun with their grandparents, and it was a fun visit.

Roasting toes and chesnuts

G doing his signature dance move to the Christmas music

Nonni, look at the lights!

Dancing to the music with Nonni

Snow in central Texas!

Let it fall!

Mommy even got some in her hair

Looking at the lights with the special glasses Nonni brought (it makes the lights look like Santa or a snowman)

Enjoying hot chocolate and popcorn after the show

We baked, decorated and delivered Christmas cookies to our neighbors. It's one of our traditions that just keeps getting better as the kids are more able to be involved and understand what we're doing. The kids even got something in return. The sweet neighbors across the street gave the kids a Christmas cookie cookbook and cookie plate, and they gave Garrett a bike that they bought for their youngest grandson when he came to visit this summer. So sweet!

Christmas Eve was fun. Our kids had spent a few nights at my parents' house, so we were happy to have them back. We let the kids open a couple of presents. G loved his new fire truck that makes noises and lights up, and Scout served us tea all evening with her new tea set that makes noise when you pour it. The kids sprinkled reindeer dust on the yard to attract Santa's reindeer, and then we set out for the Christmas Eve program at our church. It was a family-friendly service, and the kids got to go on stage and sing Christmas carols. Scout got really into it and raised her arms in the air at the end of the last song, then clapped for herself. It was a miracle that we didn't set ourselves or the church on fire with the candles. We came home, set out cookies for Santa and carrots for Rudolph, and went to bed. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Merry Christmas!

We hope that your Christmas was as nice as ours. It was a fun weekend of family, food, giving and receiving. We decided to start the day right, by giving to others before we received for ourselves. I recently heard about another family doing this on Christmas morning, from a book a lot of our friends have read recently, and decided it made sense and would be easy for us to do. We decided to go downtown and serve a hot breakfast to the homeless. I was really proud of Garrett for not complaining even once about having to wait to open his presents, even though he could see toys sticking out of his stocking. He was excited to give people food, saying, "I want to give them even more food than we have" and "I want to build them a house". Maybe Habitat for Humanity is in our future. Anyway, we made a ton of pancakes, bacon and coffee and headed downtown, praying in the car that God would lead us where we should go. We stopped at a corner where we saw a little huddle of people, asked if they needed a hot breakfast, and the Lord kept bringing people from there, until we'd completely run out. By the end, all I had for one guy, was a bottle of water and a hug. He seemed content with that. Garrett loved handing the plates to the people, and fishing out the bags of underwear, socks and food that we'd brought, as well. We got to hear a lot of stories and expand our prayer lists. I cannot think of a better Christmas morning than this one, and we plan to do it again next year. We'd love some help!

When we got back home, Ryan made a fire, and we all started opening, in Ryan's family tradition of oldest to youngest. We all got so many wonderful gifts, and the kids had a really fun time. Scout was a little sick, but she was still able to enjoy the festivities. Some of the big hits were Scout's tricycle, Garrett's scooter, Scout's puppy (a toy that barks, not the real thing), Garrett's castle (complete with dragon to eat anyone trying to enter), and, of course, all of the guns. G, Ryan, my sister, and my dad all joined in a big gun fight. It was hilarious. We wrapped up with a Christmas lunch together and calling all of our family members who weren't with us. It was a really great day!

Cold, but ready to serve!

Visiting over a hot breakfast


Scout sees the stockings!


Scout with her new bling

New castle


New puppy

A gun!

Scout trying to cheat with two hippos

Take cover!

Attack!

Trying out the new trike

Cruisin' on the new scooter

Kid talk

Scout has been talking a lot more lately. She's putting phrases together much more easily, and her vocabulary is growing everyday. Some of her favorite phrases are "Kickle me" (tickle me), "Daddy home!", "No Daddy go", and "G care me" (G scared me, which is never true). She recently came to me whining, "G ra me". I couldn't figure it out until G said casually, "I growled at her. I said 'ra'." Silly girl. I am a little concerned, though, that several of her phrases sound like Yoda. For example, "I'm cold" comes out as "Cold me", and "I fell" is "Fall me". Maybe I should have read to her more....

Garrett's conversations are becoming much more clever, and he makes an effort to be funny, although I don't think that's always his goal.

He saw me drinking a glass of wine and asked if he could have some, knowing what the answer would be. I wanted him to know that it wasn't like coke or something sugary, so I said, "No. Wine isn't good for your growing body." To which he responded, "But it's good for your getting old body?" Thanks, G.

He recently told me an elaborate story about how there are little people living inside his body. He explained that sometimes they start throwing buckets of water out of him, and that's when he pees. Random.

Today, I caught Scout unrolling the toilet paper. When I told her not to do that, Garrett piped up, "Yeah, because if she wastes it all, then the man who makes toilet paper will have to cut down all the trees!" My little conservationist. He's also the one who cries if I throw away a jar of peanut butter instead of washing it out and recycling it, because I'm not "taking care of God's earth". I never claimed to be totally green, just mint green.

Before their bath one night, Scout starting screaming about a "bee", which ended up being a silverfish. I did the logical thing and rinsed it down the drain. Again, my lover of all of God's creatures started crying (real tears) about how it's too dark in the drain for the silverfish, and that they were starting to be friends. Then, he uttered a sentence I never thought I'd hear my child say, "I can't believe you rinsed my friend down the drain!"

Out of the blue in the car last week, "I love corporations."

And, at my parents' house, after asking if the reason he kept requesting that someone accompany him to the bathroom was because he was scared, "No, I just need someone to entertain me. I never like being unentertained." So true.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house again this year. They gave us a special gift by keeping our kids at their house for three days before Ryan and I got there. It was the first time G and Scout have stayed overnight anywhere without us, and, though we were a little concerned, they did great! They didn't ask about us once, and everyone had a great time. Here are some pictures from our Thanksgiving dinner, with headgear provided by Garrett. He made a "turkey leg hat" at preschool, and we each took turns wearing it and saying what we were thankful for. Garrett was quick to reprimand us if we didn't "but most of all, for God."