Home for the Holidays

So here we are at my parents' house for this week. It was no easy thing to get here! Packing to leave the day after Christmas is kind of nuts. Thankfully we persevered, and God got us here safely. Neither illness, nor dense fog, nor car wrecks could keep us from coming! My brother had quite a scare with his health last week, and we weren't sure if he and his wife would be able to make the trip. Just giving him a hug and looking him in the eyes made all the craziness to get here worth it. From Des Moines to Northern Illinois we drove through the thickest fog I've ever seen. We crawled along at 45 mph and were very thankful for DVD players for the kids and books on CD for us. :) Braylen and Kaleb even figured out how to play their Nintendo DS games together wirelessly. To them our trip was a fun adventure. We heard lots of "This fog is so cool! I can't even see out my window! Don't you think it makes it extra cozy in here Dad?" At the I-80 truck stop Derek spotted someone he knew through law enforcement training. This man is someone Derek really respects, and I think it's pretty neat we all got to meet him and his wife. When we were 45 minutes from Mom and Dad's house there was a wreck in front of us. We sat there and waited for the police and ambulance to come. The boys oooed and ahhhed at the car in the field and the other car crunched in the road. Derek and I said a prayer of thanks that neither of those cars were ours...

We opened gifts here with family, and the boys' biggest gift is the Wii. I think they are going to turn into little wiis by the end of the week. I'm learning what a "wii me" is and having fun learning how to play. :) We're eating out at fun restaurants and meeting up with old friends. Derek's doing handyman projects for my parents and doing lots of playing with the boys too. Tomorrow we plan on going to Legoland Discovery Center, our "fun outing" of the week. I love seeing grandparents and aunt/uncle get so much time with the kids, and enjoy the break that comes along with that. :) When we went out to run errands today we told Aaron we needed to stop at Walmart. He said, "Walmart? We're going all the way to Walmart?" He didn't know there are Walmarts all over the country. :) At the shoe store Kaleb walked around to the mannequins and hiked up their shorts before I put a stop to that. That boy does that kind of thing to those mannequins every time we're in that store.

I'm looking forward to ringing in the New Year here. The boys are making party hats with Aunt Amber and Grammy. I'll help too, but it was their idea. :) I wonder how late they will be up? I hope all of my family and friends reading this have a Happy New Year too. 2008 has been quite a year, hasn't it? Happy 2009!

Silly Old Bear...

Tonight I did something I've been wanting to do for a long time. Now that our boys are 9, 7, and 4, it is high time I do something with their baby and toddler toys. Our play room has too many toys in it! Just the thought of adding new things to it on Christmas Day drove me to action! I removed 54 AA batteries, 6 C batteries, 2 D batteries, and 2 AAA batteries. I sorted toys into the goodwill pile, the give-away-to-friends pile, the keep-in-the-attic pile, and the trash pile! But as I did all this, I had quite a trip down memory lane. Some of those toys we got 9 years ago for Braylen's first Christmas. Ironically enough, while I did all of this, my boys watched a Winne the Pooh DVD. Not usually what they choose to watch! In this video, Pooh can't find Christopher Robin because he has gone off to school. He misses him terribly. When Christopher tries to tell Pooh how to get along without him he says it this way: "You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." So as I packed up the toys my growing boys no longer want, I heard them laugh and giggle at Pooh. I remembered them toddling around with the once-beloved toys in my hands. I packed away Little People, shape-sorters, and alphabet toys. I put away this time of our lives. And even though it seems silly to be emotional over toys, I was. But I heard the wisdom of Christopher Robin and Pooh ringing in my ears. As I leave behind the familiar and venture into new territory, I'm braver than I believe, stronger than I seem, and smarter than I think.

Deep Freeze

We are in the middle of a deep freeze--temps way below zero and wind chills at -30. Today it warmed up to all of 8 degrees, but this mom thinks that's warm enough for 3 boys to play outside! Ahhhhhh! Right now, when we have snow pants and all the other winter gear scattered about, it's hard for me to remember the kids running out the door in swim trunks. School is turning into one big party this week, since Friday's the last day before Christmas break. Not that the school calls it that. To them it's "Winter Break." Puh-lease. Anyway, the boys are enjoying sweets, games, assemblies, scooters in the halls, and anything else you can imagine. Elementary school really is the best, isn't it? Our preschooler has his program tomorrow, and we are pulling our older boys out from their party school for an hour to attend. Aaron will have his favorite fans watching. :)

Speaking of Aaron...on Sunday I made jello in fancy little dessert cups. On top of each jello cup I plopped a spoonful of Cool Whip. I hadn't put one on Aaron's cup yet, and he was freaking out saying, "I want a kleenex too! I want a kleenex too!" Since he was standing in the living room, and could not really see what I was doing, he saw white blobs on top of everyone's jello and assumed it was a while kleenex. Now we all know how often I treat my family to cool whip and individual jello cups! :) Aaron turned his "kleenex" into "cool cweem", and eventually "cool whip."

Last night we had our Cub Scouts Christmas Party. The race track for the Pinewood Derby races was set up so the boys could race last year's cars for practice. (The derby is in January). Aaron LOVES the pinewood derby race, and hopes that every meeting we go to is the one he's waiting for. Last night was a false alarm, but he was delighted anyway. He couldn't get his words of excitement out fast enough! He said, "The penguin demolition derby cars!" This boy is a delight to my soul. :) His words, expressions, personality...we laugh when we're folding laundry and when we're playing dart guns. It doesn't matter what we do--he's so much fun and he finds new ways to capture my heart. To him I'm the best girl he loves in the whole world. What more could I ask for?

Hark & Herald

We've been listening to lots of Christmas music at our house. As our boys get older, I enjoy hearing them sing along. Each year they remember more of the words. Aaron isn't quite where the others are at--his version of each song is uniquely his. "Deck the Halls" is called "That Jolly Song." At lunch one day he asked me if all angels were named Hark and Herald. :) Tonight at supper he tried to sing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and it sounded like "O Little Town of Special Ham." Aaron can sure make us laugh--just by being himself. :)

Braylen, on the other hand, has been pretty moody lately. He'll be throwing snowballs at a friend and laughing it up after school, but the second he climbs in the van he's all gloom and doom. Yesterday I sat with him through his piano practice (at his request) and all I can do is wonder why in the world did we spend all that money on such a nice new piano and continue to pay for lessons and all I get in return is griping and more griping!!! Something doesn't go his way, or something takes effort to do, and this boy cries like a 2 year old. I swear he's going through his terrible 2's at age 9. Aaaggghhh! Tonight he rang the bell for the Salvation Army red kettle drive in front of Kmart. At the end of his "shift" I arrived to pick him up. Until he saw me he was smiling and the second I appeared he scowled and whined about having to leave. He saves all of his grumpiness for me and I don't like it one bit!

My parents are both having surgeries within 6 days of each other, so last night I asked Aaron to pray for them. He wanted to know what was wrong with them, so I tried to explain their ailments to him. (knee scope and hernia repair) He asked how they got hurt, and I told him I didn't know. He said, "Maybe they ran into each other Mom. You have to ask them that!" And with that I'll end this rambling post. :)