Merry Christmas!

So Christmas got off to a rather weird start. As normal, Joshua and Clara woke up first, so we went downstairs. This was what our living room looked like. They had no reaction. So I was like, "Oh why do you think there are presents?" And they looked at me like I was a moron and said, "Because it's Christmas. Can we have breakfast?" Uhm okay. 

Jason took quite some time to get up and get ready, so they actually had a long time to build anticipation. After they had their granola bars, they did get really excited and rode the rocking horse (Sorry, Hannah. You snooze, you lose. Literally.) and Clara's new bike since those things weren't wrapped. I didn't really plan on getting her a bike for Christmas, but I found this one of Craigslist for cheap and it had been ridden only a handful of times, so it just worked out. Finally Jason and Hannah came down and we did stockings. They were super excited about the musical instruments they got.

Next we took a break and ate our breakfast. But then it was time to open presents. I never really know if the kids will like what I choose or not, but this year they really did. Clara got a Calico Critters dollhouse and some of the actual Critters (bunnies, in her case).

Hannah got a new cash register and also some panda Calico Critters. The cash register is already a favorite item though it has yet to have batteries. Most toys come with batteries nowadays, but this one did not and it takes C Batteries. I literally didn't even know C batteries existed, so we don't have any, but she still really likes it so far and I predict her enjoyment will greatly increase once we get those weird batteries for it.

I got a few different things for Joshua. He is by far the easiest kid to shop for right now because he is a great age for toys. The girls I really struggle to think of things to buy and I never have gift ideas when people ask, but Joshua I could think of a ton more things to get him if I needed to. His big gift is an Imaginext castle. He has been kind of into soldiers and knights lately, so I thought he would enjoy it, and so far he loves it. It combines things that shoot, buttons, noise, and warfare. Seriously, what boy would not love this?

One other thing that Joshua loves right now is dressing up. So I got him a police uniform and also a tiny notebook and a marker. If there's one thing that kid-cop loves, it's writing "driving tickets". You can see several of the approximately 100 he wrote today on the floor.

Books aren't a very glamorous Christmas gift for a kid compared to a shiny new toy. However, they probably get more use than any of the toys because they generally last a long time and are used daily. After all the gifts were open, Clara got a little bit tired and wanted to read some of her new books. Michelle and Sam got the kids personalized story books. Clara's was about Clara the Fairy and she seemed to really like it and asked Jason to read it twice before declaring, "I think I'm tired". Of course this in no way means she wants to take a nap, but we did require her to take one, as well as the other two.

Jason took advantage of the momentary quiet and tried out his new coffee-maker. We had talked about maybe getting a Keurig for Christmas, but I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money because Jason travels a great deal and he also sleeps until the last possible second a great deal of the time he isn't traveling so I wasn't sure he would use it all that much and I do not like hot drinks unless it is snowing or I am sick so I doubt I would use it more than five times a year. However, he found a really great deal on this one, so it made it a little more reasonable for the occasional use it is likely to get. It seems to work well and Jason was happy with the coffee he made.

After the kids woke up, we had a nice dinner of saeurbraten and watched Elf. It was a super slow and luxurious day that was a lot of fun.

Polar Express Day and Christmas Lights Night

Today Halie had a Polar Express-themed day for the kids.  She made her own hot chocolate at home and brought in a crock pot of it for everyone to share.  She also made train tickets for the kids just like the ones in the movie.  We own a copy of the movie, and they then watched it together.  Meghan and I are appreciative of the effort she puts into her job by coming up with creative ideas such as these for her days here with the kids, and the kids certainly like it too.

They had breakfast for lunch, and she had the kids help her make the pancakes.

She also brought her and Tyler's presents for the kids.  Joshua got a Buzz Lightyear and a Woody, Clara got a plush Lambie (from Doc McStuffins), and Hannah got a plush Minnie Mouse (she really likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse).  

After dinner, we went out to look at lights.  In previous years we always tried to see Christmas Card Lane, and then we pretty much randomly drove around hoping to see good lights.  But this year I wanted to have more of a concrete plan to make better use of our time, so I found some information online of good places in Olathe, and we drove to seven or eight specific places, including Christmas Card Lane, of course.  It went well, so we will probably do that again in future years.

Making Good Progress

Reading is really important to me (maybe not as much to Natalie, but she is my favorite reading companion). I think reading books makes me a better person than I otherwise would be and I also find it very enjoyable. The past few years, I have met my reading goals, but only because I set very realistic ones. I definitely didn't have the time to read as much as I wanted. In 2011 and 2012, I was only in the single digits, which I was not happy with. Last year I was able to do a bit more, but still very modest. This year I doubled my goal from last year, which was kind of ambitious. I am only one book from reaching that goal. I really think I am going to do it. It is a really long book and I have been reading it since August because fall is so insanely busy for our family. At least the kids are in gymnastics though because that gives me guaranteed reading time every week. I planned my books knowing I would have very little time starting in September and I am glad I realized that. But I am really excited that I am very close to meeting my goal. I don't really think I can increase it again until the kids are in school, but I feel like for now I am happy with it and I am glad to have that time for personal improvement.

Bedtime Books

After we brush teeth at bedtime, we read a book.  Sometimes the kids also get an additional one-on-one book time, but when I put the kids to bed, we always at least do one book with everyone.  We read on the couch in Clara's room now that we have that.  Previously we read on the white plush rocking chair that we got when Joshua was born, but we soon outgrew that, although there was a time where I would squeeze in it with all three kids.  But Natalie likes to join us too, so we really needed the extra space that the couch now provides.

We've collected an array of books over the past few years.  Sometimes I will let the kids choose, but usually that doesn't work because now that Hannah is opinionated, it's hard to get a consensus.  So usually I'll make a suggestion and can get them to go with it.  Sometimes I choose one of my favorites, and sometimes I'll choose one that we haven't read in awhile.  One of my favorites is Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, and the kids like it a lot too.  For a long time Everywhere Babies was a staple, but they don't choose it as much now.  Other ones that have been or currently are favorites include Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, No, David!, The Crown on Your Head, Once, I Ate a Pie, Baby Dance, How I Became a Pirate, Bad Kitty, Leaf Hunt, "The Grandpa Williams Book" as they call it, Tikki Tikki Tembo, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, "The Big Jesus Book" (one of Joshua's Bibles), The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and from way back in the day: Fuzzy Bee and Friends.  They like their books, and I enjoy reading to them.

A Pumpkin Patch Fourth Birthday for Joshua

Today is Joshua's birthday.  As we've done in the past, we decorated his door.  He was surprised to see it and thought if was fun to try to find a way to get out.

We went to the early church service so we could go to "the pumpkin patch".  This is not really something I'd heard of until a few years ago, but it seems every family in KC with small kids goes to "the pumpkin patch".  Apparently most are not actually pumpkin patches, but are more like festivals with all sort of activities that also offer the ability to buy some pumpkins.  Some actually have an actual pumpkin patch where you can pick them off the vine or whatever (I've only ever seen the one from Charlie Brown, so I'm not sure what it's like in a non-animated world), but many don't.  Anyway, the one we decided to go to was at Faulkner's Ranch in Lee's Summit.
 
This particular one had a petting zoo of uncommon animals.  They had alpacas, a camel, burros, miniature horses, and miniature brahma bulls, in addition to the standard goats.

But the highlight was definitely this white alpaca, whom I can only assume bit his handler or pooped on his handler's shoes or did something to cause them to give him this terrible haircut.  He seemed humiliated.  Poor guy.
After the animals, we went out to the main activity area.  Hannah found a slide, which always makes her happy.  She went down it over and over again.  Joshua found a digger, which we've seen at other parks in the past, and it's always one of this favorite things.  If only he had one of his own to play with at home... (That's called foreshadowing, kids!)

There was a magician named Reggie Regg performing.  He was really good.  At first the kids just watched, but soon Clara wanted to be in on it and wanted to sit "with the kids".  I found a chair for her, and soon Joshua wanted to join.  They sat and watched the show and laughed, especially Clara.  Afterward, they got to hold the bird and pet Randy the Rabbit.  Randy is either the laziest, most indifferent rabbit ever, or he's just resigned himself to having to sit on that box forever while a million kids take their turns petting him.

We then went home and did presents.  Joshua got some stomp rockets and a related book, and he was excited (apparently he had seen rockets in one of his cartoons) and insisted I go with him right away to play rockets, but that will have to wait for another day.  He then opened his construction worker outfit that we got him, and this was more of a hit than we expected.  He was really excited to dress up as a construction guy.  He then noticed that there were a lot of those bagged air packets lying around, so he put on my shoes and tried to stomp them, with no real success, much to his disappointment.

But then he opened his construction worker outfit and found that it included a hammer.  He was elated about this, and while admiring how sharp it was (it's not all that sharp), he realized this was the solution to his air packet problem and immediately proceeded to hammer (with the claw) every single air packet, popping each one to his delight.

He modeled his outfit for us, with both his beloved hammer and saw (here he attempts to saw his own helmet, which is not a productive task).  But then he got his last gift, which was his own digger!  I think it's actually an excavator, and that's what he calls it (well, "escavator").  He drove it around the house pretending to dig and scoop dirt before he realized that's dumb because there's actual dirt outside, so why are we wasting time inside?

So I took him outside to let go to work in the mulch around the trees.  Thankfully I'm not picky about my landscaping.  He insisted on wearing the full outfit, including the goggles, and he spent a lot of time out there until it was time to go to AWANA.  After AWANA and the girls' naps, we had his birthday dinner, which was, of course, McDonald's per his request.

We then finished with his birthday cake.  Meghan made it, complete with the multiple colored layers.  It looked great and tasted wonderful.  And finally Joshua shows off his new age with four fingers.  It was a packed day, but it was great fun.

Delighted about Dolls

Today Matt and Abby stopped by to give us some of Abby's old dolls that are still in good condition. This was so sweet of them and I think Clara is especially going to love them. Hannah probably will as well, but so far she seems a little confused about them. This one is Clara's favorite one so far and I think she really likes it because the baby has a baby of her own.

Stupid Storms

I have never liked storms, though I wouldn't say they really bother me unless the threat of a tornado is involved. However, having kids has made me hate storms. Clara is overall a very light sleeper and thunderstorms pretty much always wake her up and sometimes just heavy rain wakes her up. She also is very fearful of thunder so it pretty much results in a kid in my bed every time. Tonight Jason was playing soccer and the kids went to bed on the early side since they were worn out from a day at Grandma's. I was very much looking forward to finishing my current book when storms struck and resulted in the pictured scenario. On the plus side, she is totally comforted by being with me so she went right back to sleep and I did actually finish my book as planned. I just did so next to a kicking little girl who likes to sleep close, which makes me super hot.