Reflections on Christmas: Chrstmas Day

So I realize that Christmas Day was two weeks ago. But we celebrated all through last week. So bare with me as I slowly get my reflections written down. I want to document this year celebrations. And as seems normal with me, written is not on my top priority so I'm alittle slow getting everything posted :)

After we had all eaten and gotten dressed, we piled into the van and drove an hour north to my aunt's house to celebrate with her family. My folks, grandparents, little brother and younger stepbrother were all there as well. I love visiting my aunt. And despite the fact it was cold, windy and snowing, I was very glad we made the drive up. She made a wonderful ham dinner. And because there were so many of us Grandma and Ian sat at the coffee table to eat. Of course with three large labs running around there was lots of longing looks from the dogs. Really they are all really well behaved. And don't really beg. But it sure is funny to watch them look at you with those big sad eyes.
My aunt also has three boys, now grown. Her youngest and my brother graduated the same year.With my uncle being a High School football coach, it was natural for them all to be athletic and play football along with a slew of other sports. Ian has been into football this fall. Probably due to the fact that Mark watches it with him on the weekend. So this Christmas my aunt gave Ian his very own football helmet and football. It was a big hit.
Ian thought it was very cool. And Cai loved it just a much. Although it's so heavy that Cai can hardly hold his head up with it on. Something tells me there will be football in our future. Even if it is only in our yard. Because my brother lives in the same town as my aunt, we just decided to do our family gift exchange at my aunts house. I was very excited to get dish towels and mini muffin tins. Yes I know I'm silly. But I really really wanted dish towels and mini muffin tins. I'm so turning into my mother and enjoying cooking and baking (well I've always enjoyed baking). A running joke in our family is the difficulty of opening gifts wrapped by my stepdad and my brother. Some years are worse then others. One time my brother got a gift completely wrapped in duck tape. This year was mild in comparison. But that doesn't mean my stepdad went easy on him. It makes me smile every year. And although I know Josh gets frustrated in the process, you always see him smile.
I'm so glad we went and celebrated with all of them. And I know my aunt loved dotting on my children. She always does.

Reflections on Christmas: Christmas morning

This Christmas was really fun, especially since Ian had a better understanding of what was happening. He got excited about helping wrap the gifts for various family members and such. And he was of course very excited about the gifts that started to appear for him. So I was alittle worried about how early he would wake up Christmas morning. And as expected he did indeed wake up very early. Thankfully though he climbed into bed with us and everyone slept till about 7-7:30am. Not bad if you ask me :). Once it was clear that boys were not going to sleep any longer we all got up and quickly put cinnamon rolls into the oven and coffee and water for tea started before sitting down in front of the tree. Ian's excitement caused Cai's excitement (who had very little idea of what was about to happen but was excited none the less).
First came the stocking, which were filled with dark chocolate earth balls, a honey stick, raspberry yogurt covered pretzels, a candy cane and a wooden toy boat for the bath. The boats we found at this nice little toy store Imagine That Toys in Wichita. I was so thrilled to find them, as I've been wanting some nice boats for bath time. The pretzels were throughly enjoyed during the rest of our gift exchange. As seems so true with little ones, unwrapping the gifts was just as fun as the gifts themselves I love watching Cai get all excited about bows, boxes and wrapping paper. :)The train table was a big hit. We had covered it with a blanket and once every other gift had been opened by everyone we told the boys to stay in front of the tree and play with their new barn (Thank you Grandpa Keith and Grandma Janet). Mark and I then quickly uncovered the table and made sure everything was in place. Then we told the boys they could come see. Ian quickly ran over and as soon as he saw the table his eyes light up.
Cai, who had only decided the day before that walking would become his main form of travel, took alittle more time. But was just as excited. It was a major hit and we had a hard time getting them to come to the table for breakfast after. In fact, I don't think Ian ate much of his cinnamon roll.
We finished our morning around the table with fresh, hot cinnamon roll, hot tea, and coffee. It was a very nice morning.
Mark's shirt says "DAD" in binary. It was part of his new Christmas pjs. :) Got to love ThinkGeek for those computer nerds.

Reflections On Christmas: Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve at our house was filled with both rush and excitement along with relaxation and a weekend feel. We slept in late (or as late as a house with 3 boys under 4 can). Had a big breakfast of apple pancakes, milk, coffee and hot tea. Which both Cai and Ian helped prepare. And then went about trying to ready ourselves for the rest of the days preparations for Christmas. Ian helped me finish wrapping gifts. Dad disappeared to the basement to work of the big surprise for the boys. We started the hot apple cider in the crock pot for Christmas Day, along with making dough for cinnamon rolls. We did lots of laundry, because we needed to be ready to pack to leave on the 27th for Indiana. The day felt both rushed and relaxed in the busyness of preparations. Both filled with the slowness often found on the weekends, with the extra hands of Mark around, but the craziness of a full house anticipating the excitement of Christmas morning. Looking back I smile. Although that just could be the fact that I'm now a whole week past the craziness. :) As we have had the pleasure for the second time in two years, we attending our church's Christmas Eve service. Prier to last year we were always away from our home on Christmas Eve. Usually spending it with Mark's folks. But I must admit home much I enjoy being in my own home for Christmas Even and Christmas morning. I love the opportunity to enjoy the Lessons and Carols service surrounded by my own church family. Sure, I can embrace the miracle of the night in a varity of other churches. But there is something special about celebrating with one's own community. And I'm grateful when I get to celebrate in my own congregation. As a child, my family had the tradition that we opened on gift on Christmas Eve. Mark and I have carried this tradition over to our family. So after braving the snow and strong winds that we encountered on our trip both to and from church, I put on milk for hot chocolate and we all gathered around our tree to open our gift.
Everyone got a new pair of pjs. :) Unfortunately, only the boys got to wear theirs. Mark's pants were two big. And mine is a sleeveless nursing nightgown. Which I might add, I'm very excited about and will love come this spring when the weather warms up. I should also add, that Mark did exchange his pants for a smaller size and now has very warm fleece lounge pants which he is very excited about. So after the excitement and now dressed in warm new pjs, we got the boys off to bed. Leaving us to finish the craziness of wrapping the last of the boys' gifts. I felt like such the secret elf, which is sorta funny considering we don't really emphasize Santa around our house. After finishing up cinnamon rolls, putting together a train table (which Mark did almost all the work on), and making sure everything was wrapped, we finally made it to bed ourselves. And only alittle after midnight. Not too bad, I think. Looking back I feel we had a wonderful Christmas eve, the first of many with our three wonderful boys.

Happy New Year!

Just wanting to wish everyone a Happy New Year! It's hard for me to believe that this year is done. I hope to have a more reflective post about 2009 later. But right now I'm absorbed in family. We are currently in Indiana with my in-laws celebrating Christmas. It is so fun to watch my boys and my nephew interact and play. They are so full of life and wonder. It's been a joy amidst all the chaos that is visiting family. I hope that this Christmas season has brought you joy. And may the next year bring a fresh wave of love and laughter.

Happy New Year everyone!

I believe in Miracles

Last night a beautiful miracle occurred. Mark and I got to dinner together without kids. I had gone to see my mother yesterday. And the boys, having had a long day with no naps, both fell asleep on the way home. We got them both the older two into their beds without waking them up. And Aiden sleep all though dinner in his car seat. It was so nice to enjoy a meal with my husband without worrying about kids. And even nicer that neither he nor I had to make the meal. We just baked some lasagna rolls my mother made and put in my freezer awhile back :). Add some leftover peas and garlic bread from earlier in the week when we had spaghetti and we had a meal that didn't take hardly any work.
All the boys slept, leaving us to enjoy the whole meal undisturbed. Aiden did wake up as soon as I was finished with my last bit. But as I was done, I'm not complaining. Both Ian and Cai woke up later in the night. Ian woke and scared by the noise of our movie (Mark rented the new Star Trek movie). Cai woke up at about 10 but then went to bed with us, with no fight, at 11pm. So it was a nice quite night. So very much appreciated. Even Aiden's quiet crying didn't ruin the mood. The whole night was a such blessing.

Snow Day!!!

We woke up this morning to the first real snow of the season. Ian started bouncing off the walls as soon as he realized it had snowed. He wanted to go play so badly that the excitement just could not be contained. And once we heard the preschool had been canceled it seemed that his dream would come true. We ate a warm breakfast of oatmeal and then bundled up face the cold.
The boys were thrilled with the winter wonderland we walked into. They dug in the snow. Made snow balls (or at least attempted to). Made tracks. And slide down a mountain.Ian has the book A Pocket for Corduroy by Don Freeman. And in the book Corduroy knocks over a box of soap flakes at the laundry mat. He then slides down them off the counter and exclaims "I always wanted to ski down a mountain." Well that is exactly what Ian told me after he slid down the snow covered slide. :) He then spent several minutes trying to cover the slide with more snow so he could "ski down the mountain" again. Soon everyone and everything was covered in snow. And getting cold.
So we ended our snow filled morning with hot chocolate and Christmas cookies.

Oh how I love snow days! Now I get to enjoy the beauty of the snow inside the warmth of my home :)

Baby Aiden

Aiden Michael is here! Born the 5th of November at 12:43pm. It's hard to believe that was already over 2 weeks ago. Where did the days go? Oh right, endless nursing, rocking and holding him and his brothers. Things are going pretty good around here considering we have a new baby at home. Ian and Cai are both fascinated by Aiden. Especially Cai. I smile every time I watch Cai peer over Aiden, gently rub his head and/or poke his nose. The look on Cai face reveals awe and wonder that I'm sure matches my own. It warms me to see the very same emotions playing on my 15 month olds face.
I've been blessed with wonderful family and friends, and reminded of it daily these past weeks. My mother came in one day that 1st week so Mark could go into the office because the other two guys in his sub-department of IT were out for the day. My father was here for a week and a half, doing dishes, laundry, cooking and playing with the older two boys. Friends and members of our church have been bringing meals a couple of time a week (which should continue after Thanksgiving for a little while. Yay!). And then tomorrow my in-laws come in to help for a week. Having family around can be alittle overwhelming at times. But the extra hands and help are really appreciated. And needed. If it weren't for the extra help I would definetly be dong too much. As it is I feel tired and overworked most days. Mostly though, we are doing ok. And hopefully will slowly learn the ropes of three kids. I'm both dreading and looking forward to Dec, as I learn to care for and establish routine here without out the extra help (besides Mark of course). I'll try to keep updated. But I'm sure post will be slim (or at least slimmer than normal, I know I'm not always good at posting) for awhile.

If you want to see more of the boys and family check out our Picasa Albums.