Christmas Traditions - Part 3

Dec 13 - The kids love decorating the Gingerbread House every year. I know they eat more candy than goes on the house, but that's what it is all about, right? Enoch and Gavin each took a side to decorate. Enoch put a number 4 on his side and Gavin wrote about BYU in frosting, then covered it in candy. The kids have been picking at it all week and now most of the candy is gone.

Dec 14 - Tonight for Family Home Evening we talked about British Christmas traditions. Greg served his mission in Great Britain and we both have many ancestors from England and Wales. Greg talked to the kids about what happens at Christmas (mostly like things are done here) and then Mom had a special surprise. I had made some Christmas crackers. Mine weren't fancy or elaborate, but the kids had such an amazing time ripping them open and then playing with the toys. Each person had 1 mini Twix and 2 small sticky hands in their crackers. I can't believe how much sticky hands entertain boys! We will definitely do this again.

Dec 15 - Today we delivered our teacher treats. I made some yummy caramel apple butter in the fall and dressed the jars up with some fabric and ribbon. We got most of them out, but we still have a few more to deliver.

Dec 16 - Delicious! We decorated sugar cookies with lots of frosting and sprinkles. Kate took over the red and green mix of sprinkles and she wouldn't let anyone else use them. We love this tradition and the frosted cookies went very, very fast.

Dec 17 - Enoch performed in his Christmas preschool program tonight. It was adorable and Enoch did a great job.

Dec 18 - We took the night off.

Dec 19 - We are, as I type, watching Elf. The kids and I (Greg is working again) cleaned out the toys to make room for our new Christmas goodies and we are rewarding ourselves with a very, very funny movie.

One day of outfilts for Kate

Kate has too many clothes. I know, this is my fault! She just looks so cute in everything! I'm posting a few outfit changes from one day, because we just can't wear the same thing all day!

Sunday morning she helped her Dad shovel the driveway. I pulled out her snowsuit from last year and it still fits ( the size is 12 month!). I guess they make them big. She looks like a giant pink marshmallow - I could just eat her up!
This is my favorite church outfit of Kate's. I found the sweater last year on clearance at Target and snatched it up. I love Kate in this color. I took the sweater to the fabric store hoping to find some cute material and I found the perfect match. The plaid just yelled, "pleat me, pleat me, pleat me!" I love her in this outfit.
This is our last outfit of the day and the one that I see most of the time. Kate wearing only her pink BYU hat (she wears it constantly!), a shirt and her panties. Yes, you read right - her panties. We are in the middle of potty-training and loving every minute of it! Yeah, right. She is doing pretty well, with good days and bad days.
She gets a small handful of chocolate chips for a treat after being successful. Enoch now thinks he needs a treat as well for using the potty. I love this picture of Kate with her chocolately chip smile!

Enoch's Preschool Christmas Program

We have been looking forward to this night for a long time. Enoch has been practicing his Christmas songs around the house and singing them at the top of his lungs. His favorite is Frosty, the Snowman. He even has Kate singing it. She babbles nonsensical words to the tune. When Enoch sings it he says, "Frosty, the Snow..." and then Kate will say, "man!" It's quite cute.
Enoch was so adorable during the program. He did a great job singing and knew all the words to the songs and the poems. The kids sang six songs and recited three poems. They have worked hard to learn everything.

This video is so funny. Sorry it is so shaky; I couldn't stop laughing! Watch out for flying jingle bells and make sure you're using both hands for balance!
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Neighborhood Snow Hill

This last weekend, we were dumped on with snow. We all drove through it, the snow melted to slush, we drove through it some more and then it froze. We had a mini snow maze of tire tracks in our cul-de-sac. It was getting really hard to drive through and I was wondering if it would be like this until spring (the snow plows rarely come into our cul-de-sac.)
Steve James to the rescue. He cleared our entire cul-de-sac with his Bobcat and then built a snow hill for the kids. That makes him the favorite neighbor!
The kids have had so much fun playing with the snow hill. Enoch spend 2 hours out there yesterday and threw a huge fit when it was time to come inside (it was dark and all the other kids had left). He loves the snow! It doesn't matter how cold he is, he wants to play more and more. Gavin also had fun on the hill for a little while. Kate watched at the window and laughed and clapped when the kids went down. They have had so much fun with it!

Enoch Thoughts

A few random thought about Enoch lately:

1. I keep losing him. He is never lost, it's Mom who is lost. Enoch always knows exactly where he is. Even scarier, Enoch has no problem being lost; he doesn't worry, freak out or cry. He just wanders. Lucky me!
Last night we decided to Redbox a movie. Kate and I stayed in the warm car, while Greg and Enoch ran inside Smith's to grab a movie. Greg came out about 15 minutes later searching for Enoch. I ran inside just as they were paging Mr. or Mrs. Fowler to the service desk. A kindly gentleman found Enoch wandering in the parking lot and took him back inside. Enoch was sitting at the service desk charming all the girls working there. They gave him hugs good-bye and told him to come back to see them. Good grief! Let's just give this kid a lollipop for running away!
If I had a dollar for every time I lost Enoch, I'd have enough money to hire a nanny to keep track of him!

2. Enoch asked me the other day if Heavenly Father could fly. I really didn't know how to answer. Of course, Heavenly Father could fly if he choose to, but I'm really not sure if he does or not. Enoch was wondering because his helium balloon floated away a few months ago and he wanted Heavenly Father to go get it up in the sky and bring it to him. Enoch was quite serious about this.

Christmas Traditions - Part 2

Dec 6 - For Fowler Family Home Evening (with Greg's siblings, nieces and nephews) we watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional at Grandma and Grandpas Fowler's home. I heard it was good; I was in the sewing room with Kate and Enoch since they couldn't be quiet.

Dec 7 - We celebrated Grandpa Dee's birthday tonight. Every year Grandpa Dee reserves the Thanksgiving Point Trolley for the entire family and we drive through the lights. It is great fun and the kids love riding the 'bus' with their cousins.
Afterward, we visited the reindeer. Kate, of course, loved them. She kept saying, "cow, cow, cow." Yeah, teeny cows. Not quite, but that's okay. Every year I'm surprised at how small reindeer actually are.
We finished off the evening with cake and ice cream at the Fowler's. It was a really fun night. Happy Birthday, Grandpa Dee!

Dec 8 - Tonight we remembered our favorite Christmas memories. Gavin said his best Christmas was when we got the 4-wheelers. Enoch seconded that.

Dec 9 - Our family played a great game tonight, "The Present Game." I read about this in a magazine and thought it would be good for us. Everyone gets a gift bag and then are assigned a family member they are to 'shop' for during that round. We gave everyone about one minute to search the house and come up with a gift. Then, we gathered in the family room and exchanged gifts. The tricky part of the game is that the recipient of the gift has to express genuine appreciation and then say one nice thing about the gift.
We started out pretty tame - gits were books, favorite stuffed animals, etc. By the last round, we were having to say kind things about receiving smelly shoes, a cotton ball and a fork. It was very fun and funny and I'm hoping the kids learned something about giving and receiving gifts.

Dec 10 - Gavin's favorite holiday treat - Hot Chocolate Cream. It's quite good, actually. Homemade hot chocolate with frozen whipped cream dollops floating on top. We have it every year.

Dec 11 - Tonight we watched the holiday classic, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Great movie and a fun low-key night.

Dec 12 - Today we were suppose to go to Temple Square, but the thought of getting everyone bundled up, driving up there in the snow and then trying to keep track of everyone (I keep losing Enoch) by myself was too overwhelming (Greg was working, of course). We settled on staying home and being lazy. I've had a headache for about a month now, the kids are grumpy and missing Dad and we are pretty much in survival mode in our family. We had plans with friends, but they called this morning saying their kids were up all night with fevers, so we canceled our plans and stayed home. We needed a down day.
I had my Christmas epiphany today. I have it every year about the same time in December. Maybe it's because I'm extra stressed with Greg gone all the time, Gavin (and me!) working so hard in school and Kate and Enoch being pills, but this year, it really hit me hard and I'm determined to do something about it. I realized how stressed our family is by trying to do everything we think we should be doing, especially our daily traditions calendar. This isn't how I want Christmas in our home. I'm teaching my kids that Christmas is all about doing things, fun things. And while, all of those fun things have their place at Christmas, I don't want that to be our focus. Next year, we are doing things different and I'm going to try very hard not to feel guilty about cutting out some of the fun and replacing it with quiet time and service. Wish me luck and let me know how you balance the holiday fun with the true meaning of Christmas.

Christmas Traditions - Part 1

For lack of a better title, that is what I'm calling this post. Every morning our family 'discovers' what fun Christmas activity we get to do that night. (I'll post about our advent calendars later). Most of the time, the activity is something small; we can't be doing big things every day in December! Rather that post everyday and wear me out, I'll probably just post once a week.

Dec 1 - Address and Mail Christmas Cards. You can imagine how excited the kids were to do this. Enoch actually enjoyed putting on the stamps and I'm glad they are out. PS - If you didn't get one (and I only send them to people I don't see weekly!), please leave your address. I lost my addresses when we switched files over to our new computer. We didn't forget you, just lost your address.

Dec 2 - Nothing. We skipped this day. Greg got home after bedtime and Mom had a meltdown.

Dec 3 - Drink Eggnog. My boys love eggnog. It is Greg's favorite treat to make during the holidays and Gavin and Enoch can't get enough of it. Kate likes it, but not as much as the boys. I'm sure we will all die from raw eggs, but we will go happy.

Dec 4 - Get a Tree. I'm so ready for a fake, pre-lit tree. I hate putting on lights and it seems like by the time we get home from Smith's with our tree, tensions are a bit high. But, Greg loves a live tree and since he doesn't ask for much, I'm happy to do it every year for him.
This year, Kate and I went to get more lights and we let the boys pick out the tree. Yikes, it doesn't quite fit. I guess that's what happens when you let the menfolk chose the tree!

Dec 5 - Catch up (decorate the tree, Festival of Trees, sleep under the tree). We got a bit behind with our activities because of Mom's tantrum and Greg working late. On Friday, Greg didn't get home until about 7:30, so by the time we got the tree, got it up, ate dinner (at 8:30), it was too late to decorate it or for me to let the kids sleep under it. So, on Saturday, we did a lot.
Greg had to go into work again Saturday morning, so it was up to Mom and the kids to decorate the tree. I hate putting on lights; I do a terrible job. Since, the tree was ginormous, it took more lights than we thought and Kate and I had to make a Target run for more lights. Once, the tree was lit, things went a bit more smoothly. The kids decorated the tree, while I sat back and watched. We missed Greg during this tradition, but the tree looks great.
After lunch and Kate's nap, we headed to Sandy for Festival of Trees. What were we thinking? We pulled (eventually and gradually) into the parking lot, drove through it and left. It was beyond crowded. Next year, we will plan better. We still wanted to do something fun with the kids, but were coming up blank. Enoch wanted the aquarium, Gavin didn't. Greg wanted a movie, there was nothing good playing. Kate and I were tired. We eventually went to the library, ate at Carl's Jr., redboxed 'Up', and I made peanut butter bars. Not too Christmasy, but we still had fun together.
One of my favorite traditions is sleeping under the tree the night we decorate it. We pile pillows, blankets and sleeping bags in the living room and we read Christmas books under the tree. (Okay, next to the tree. Enoch was very insistent about that since last year he was very disappointed that we weren't sleeping right, exactly under the tree.) We read four books, talked, laughed and enjoyed the tree.
Kate and I went to bed, Enoch eventually stumbled into his bed, Greg ended up in bed, too. Gavin was the only one to brave the floor and made it through the entire night in the living room. It was so much fun!