Christmas Carols

 

Christmas isn't Christmas without the music!  Life isn't as enriching without music, for that matter!  Anyone who knows me, realizes how important music is to me. This year to help celebrate Christmas and share our love for the season, my 3 little piano students put on a fabulous recital. 

 

 These kids worked hard and it showed!  They have grown a lot in the past year and even pulled off some awesome duets.  I, of course, got teary as I began the recital as I shared the way music moves me and how special those kids are to me.  And, I cried at another seasonal song this year...'Santa Claus is Coming to Town.' 

I kid you not, we got to take our kids to this fabulous breakfast with Santa and when I heard the jingle bells down the hall, the whole room busting out in the song to welcome the Jolly Elf, my eyes were watering...lets just say embarrassing.  Who does that?!  I love the magic of the season, I love seeing my kids experience the joys of childood and apparently, I just love the Claus family.  After the delicious morsels were consumed, we met up with S.C. and wife.  Brenna wasn't having it with Santa, but she did enjoy Mrs. Claus.  The kids loved talking with him, have enjoyed getting messages on the email as well, unfortunately Dave got a message from Santa and he is not currently on the nice list.  So, he has a couple of days to work on that.  We will see how it goes!


We have our special Christmas program in church tomorrow, with music that fills me with the true spirit of Christmas.  I hope we are enstilling a love for giving in our children as we think of all the gifts we have. 

Snow, Sun and Stitches

 

 

A few weeks ago we had a great snow storm come our way.  I know a lot of people despise the freezing temperatures and frosty accumulation, but not Mr. Grant. 

This kid lives for winter weather.  I have to shove him out the door in the heat, but come cold, I can't get him back inside.  He spent 7 hours out in the snow on one day of this storm.   I love it.  Katelee, while she too enjoys snow play, I think she just does it so she can come in and ask...

"Will you make me some hot chocolate, mom?!"

 

Just two weeks after a blizzard, we were on our way to sunny Arizona for Thanksgiving with Dave's brother Brian.  We stopped in Vegas and the Hoover Dam on the way. 

 

 

There's nothing like hearing your two year old yelling Hoover Dam (minus the Hoover part) over and over.  Oh, Brenna.  It was thoroughly enjoyed, much more than her screams of "I want to get out of this car!!!"  at the top of her lungs after a 6 hour stretch.  Overall, the kids did great on the road trip.  We had to pull off the side of the road for some pit stops-not easy with little girls- and we left a string of gas stations with locked stalls along Utah to Arizona because Brenna refused to let me in a stall to help her and then she would crawl out when she was finished.  I formally apologize to Chevron, Texaco, Shell, Holiday, circle K and any other fueling stations I missed. 

We got to go on a hike Thanksgiving morning- it was 84 degrees, people.  The kids loved the cactus all over. 

And Wonka Brian (as affectionately referred to by Brenna) was so nice to take us out on his boat the day after Thanksgiving.  Everyone loved it.  It was killing Grant not to be able to jump in the water, but we had a great time.  Brenna was dancing and hopping about making me a nervous wreck for most of the excursion.  And, of course, she didn't want anyone to touch her and secure her. 

We stopped by the Grand Canyon on our drive home.  I had never been there.  It's awesome.  Someday we will have to go back, explore, hike and wonder at a wonder of the world!

Thanksgiving over, on to Christmas!  We started setting out our Christmas decor this week and in preparation, I took all our regular home decor off the counters.  Katelee didn't notice where I had placed these items and while dancing/jumping about sat right down on this little beauty:

Can you imagine begin stabbed by the Eiffel Tower?  Katelee can, because she was.  She came down on it just below her little bum cheek and the point went right through her clothes and through her leg.  We inspected it and noticed there was fat sticking out of a deep hole in her leg. While holding down a dry heave, I carried her to the car and whisked her away to the hospital.  She had a couple stitches.  I would show pics of the injury, but it's in a very delicate area!  Poor girl.  She was so worried Grant, Brenna and Dave would decorate without her.  They held off, of course, and Grant made her the sweetest card with money taped inside.  She came home from the hospital and he asked her if she had looked on her bed (where the card was located).  She told him no and she asked him if he had something 'sweet' for her there.  He nodded and she extended her arms to him, cocked her head to the side and said, "Oh, Grant, come here."  It was adorable.  Then, Grant, disgusted by the thought of affection screamed as he laughed and ran away.  They did end up hugging and I thought, by golly, they do love each other after all! 

Arrrrrr Halloween

 

Arrrrr Halloween was full of spooky sights.  Like this 'ere Pirate captain. 

 Witches were spotted

 

and fought, of course.

 

Spiders eggs, swamp water

                                        and earthworms were consumed.

 And a zombie wandered through our halls...not just any zombie-a "church zombie" as described by Katelee.  What could be more distubing than that?!

 

Surprises were around every corner...like what the pirate lass on the right was going to wear.  We didn't know to the very last minute if she would decide to be a hula girl, cheerleader, or lion.  All she talked about was being a princess, but she found her true calling as a master of the seven seas.  A scurvy crew indeed....

Pumpkins Scream in the Dead of Night

Name that tune!!!  We have been loving our Halloween soundtracks in the car.  We checked a couple of CDs out from the Library and are loving the Nightmare Before Christmas.  We had the Muppets new movie soundtrack serenading our every venture.  Dave may have gone batty if he heard "Manamana" one more time! But, really, the Muppets Barbershop quartet performing "Smells Like Teen Spirit,"  what gets better than that?

 
Anyway, we picked out our pumpkins from our favorite local pumpkin patch a couple weeks ago.  They have been sittin on our porch in the dead of night, and the middle of the day for that matter. It is a bit bumpy and lumpy trudging through the dirt.  Brenna kept getting twisted up.  I asked her to hold my hand so she wouldn't fall and she replied, "I did fall.  I so so sorry punkins."
 

 From what I could tell, the pumpkins held no grudges. The kids love pushing the mini wheel barrows, taking a hay ride, running through the tiny corn maze and
 climbing the tractors...as do I, lets be honest. 

The dead of night is not so quiet around here.  Brenna gets up nightly (multiple times)to use the commode, which is wierd to me, but I guess better than wetting, right? Its a toss up, really.  The biggest change in our night routines is that we have now moved the girls together in the bunk beds and Grant has been moved to his own room.  Katelee chose some perfectly pink decor for their place, it's very fitting!  She was not happy about the move and cried unconsolably at first.  Not because she wanted her own room, but because she would miss Grant and was concerned about what she would do in the middle of the night when she is scared?  She told me Grant took care of her.  Grant was so nice and had a sit down chat with her and her roles as the big sibling now. 


Brenna, well, she of course was a bit of a mess with the switch up.  She refused her bed.  I threatened her that she would be locked in her carseat in the dark garage for bed then, which she gladly accepted.  That plan obviously backfired when I found her snoozing happily in the car.  But, I think she is getting the hang of her bed now.  When we told Grant we would move him when we got some new furniture for him, he lit up.  He asked, "a TV?"  A head shake from his mom was the answer.  "A Wii?"  Another head shake.  "A phone?"  Head shake number three with the words- A BED!  He loves his new digs.



  And yes, this pic he is sleeping in Katelee's bed.  They thought they would try and trick me one night.  Why he has a kangaroo snuggled in his shirt, I do not know.  Nor does he.  He denies placing it there, I have my doubts! 

Sisters in Seattle...and life on the homefront

Last weekend, the lovely Paige turned 30.  We decided to celebrate the milestone by taking a sisters (and mom) trip to Seattle.  It was so fun!!  I made everyone taking a deep thought picture on our Harbor tour.  Shannon succeeded, my mom had no problem...

 

                                     
                                        

 but Paige couldn't stop giggling. 

Finally, the moment was captured!

We had to see Pike's Place  in the market.  They let Paige catch a fish for her birthday. 

 We ate delish seafood, went to the EMP museum, where I could learn to scratch...baby steps towards my lucrative DJing career.  The space needle was a must see, and we fit in some time for the gorgeous outdoors in the area. 

                                                         Snoqualmie Falls

 

 Mt Ranier is amazing.  Once we got to Paradise on the mountain, it was misty and foggy.  We couldn't see more than 20 feet in front of us.  It was eerie and awesome.  But we had just seen a horror film exhibit at the EMP museum, so we were a bit squealy!
                                       
It was a quick, fun trip, full of laughs and belting out of showtunes in the car.  My sisters are so great and they think my craziness is fun, so it works out for all of us!!! 
                                     

Dave said he and the kids had a great time at home.  I realized I haven't posted Katelee's new do:  She was so worried people wouldn't recognize her...so I better put it up, so you can know who this little face with the bob is.  We had it cut before Kindergarten one day and she was uncertain if Grant would know it was her when he came to grab her from her class.  She also ran up to a neighbor boy and said, "It's me...Katelee, do you recognize me?" 

 

Even with a short do, she can still ride her bike with her floaty in her mismatched pj's.  What?  You do don't do that?

 

And, Brenna...well, she is becoming the mean kid in the hood...or I am now becoming aware she is the mean kid on the street.  I have witnessed her biting of her sister, but now recently I have seen her push, pull, grab and bully other toddlers.  She thinks she is a sweetheart, who do you believe?