Christmas Parties

We had both family Christmas parties this weekend. Saturday night was the Phelps'.

Phelps Party: Pizza, Talent Program, Santa, opening family gifts to each other, giving Jared's parents their gift from all of us. Their gift was a journal book. We all keep an online journal and then print it out in book form to give to them to enjoy all year long. :) Each of the families has another family (it just rotates down the line - so in 9 years we will have each of the 9 other families once). All of the gifts this year were so thoughtful and nice.
It's fun to be together and see the talents and just be together in the spirit of Christmas. I was truly amazed by the talents this year. OH! I almost forgot. The most long-standing tradition of all. Singing Christmas carols around the piano while Jared's dad plays. I think he knows every single Christmas song by heart. I'm not exaggerating either. You can just say any Christmas song you want and he just starts playing it. It's so fun!
My kids were so good with Santa. Kincade wasn't scared at all. Bridger and Kellen both spoke up and told him exactly what they wanted. Most of the other mothers were horrified when their kids asked Santa for things that had never been mentioned before...kind of late for Santa to start making stuff within a week of Christmas.

Bridger: A football (first I've heard of it)
Santa: Anything else?
Bridger: A mom (uhm....wha...ok...apparently this kid is looking for a mom...anyone interested?)

Kellen: I want a spy kit and a spy watch and a dragon castle (good boy - doesn't deviate from his original list)
Santa: Anything else?
Kellen: A spy set and spy watch and the spy kit has a ....... and.... and....something. (he explained the whole thing to Santa)
Here are some pictures:

My Son, The Inventor

This is a conversation with Bridger:

Bridger: Where are we going?
Me: Home and then to Grammy and Papa's to see Gene and Braden and Riley and Mara will be there (cousins)
Bridger: And Parker will be there
Me: No, Parker will be at school.
...me not listening...
Bridger: Is that a great idea?
Me: ...uhm...what was the great idea?
Bridger: The great idea was Parker will be at school AND at Grammy and Papa's. Is that a great idea?
Me: That IS a great idea.
Bridger: *nods, satisfied*

I didn't bother to mention that it is a great idea, but not exactly possible with current technology. Maybe some day he'll invent the "Be-In-Two-Places-At-Once Machine." I can see it now...

Gingerbread Man

I have wanted to buy the jumbo gingerbread man-pan for a while. I finally broke down and bought it, intending it for a gift...but I guess I loved it too much and I ended up unwrapping it to make a gingerbread man for my kids. They were so excited by the prospect, so I'm glad I did! The kids anxiously awaited the big man to be done and then excitedly decorated it before bedtime.
{My post could end here...and in the final telling of my life, it will. For those interested in the nitty gritty details, read on...)





I wish I could say that it was all smiles and a lovely perfect family moment. Unfortunately, I was cranky with their "helping" and ready to be done with it by the time I put it in the oven. Then I left it in too long (new oven - hard to gauge) and then realized I was supposed to soften butter for the icing. ARGGGH My kids were so anxious, I thought they would burst while the butter softened. It was bedtime by the time they actually got to decorate it, so I played Mrs. Grinch and didn't even get out all of the candy or decorations I had planned. I let them have a few gumdrops, hurried them to finish it so they could have their piece and go to bed. The thing was so hard, I don't even know how they ate any of it. I wish I could also say this was the exception, not the rule. (The burnt food and the cranky mother. Unfortunately, they both happen more often than I'd like to admit.) If only it was just like in the movies...

Fun-Filled Saturday

We had a busy Saturday this weekend. We had our niece Elly's baptism in the morning.

Then we had the Ferrin Christmas Party (Jared's Mom's family). This has been a tradition for decades. Of course, as the group has grown to hundreds of people, the traditions have slightly changed. We no longer fit in the basement and it's too crazy to try to do a gift exchange. This year, we had desserts and hot chocolate, cotton candy, balloon animals, bounce house, Christmas train, zip line, talent show, chatting and playing. I think this was the best one yet! Of course, I wasn't around for the original ones, so I can't compare those ones.

I had to wake Kincade up for the party, which resulted in these photos (you know I can't resist a sleeping child):




















After the party, we headed to Jared's Uncle Russell's to paint the Christmas ceramics. He actually molds the ceramics for us and we scraped them last week. Then he fired them and we came back this week to paint them and spray them and take them home. He made dinner for all of us (crazy guy) and homemade ice cream and we all had a great time. Unfortunately, I was so busy painting my Santa and stuffing my face that I only took a few pictures, and they were all of Kincade holding his 3 suckers. I don't even want to think about how many more he had. Oh well, here are some pictures of our ceramics after they dried and we took them home. My Santa, Jared's Nativity, Kincade's tree, Bridger's Santa, and Kellen's snowman.





We have lots more holiday activities in the next 2 weeks. I can't wait!

Our Toy Room

Our new house has wonderful giant game room. We are using it for the toys, kids computer, and kids TV. Just last night, we were finally able to semi-organize it. The boys helped me all afternoon. It's not permanent organization, but it's nice to have all of the open space and for the boys to be able to see all of their toys. They're going to have so much fun in there!

The yellow color is the "after" color. The brown/white section will be magnetic/chalkboard if I can swing it. It's not done by any means, but it's getting there! Story of my life these days! We're not ready for Christmas...but we're getting there. We're not all unpacked...but we're getting there. The painting isn't done...but it's SLOWLY getting there. The wiring and networking and TVs aren't done...but they're getting there.

This is the junk pile that's left: I should just throw it all away, but I don't. I'm worried that all of those unrecognized pieces will be missed when we figure out what they're for.







After we were done cleaning the game room, I thought we deserved a nice treat, so we all went out to Village Inn for dinner and pie. Bridger picked chocolate, Kellen picked Christmas pie (chocolate mint), and I chose banana cream. Kincade and Jared shared ours. If anyone's wondering, the Christmas pie was the best, and not just because of red and green mints on top! It was really tasty! Then we went to Wal-Mart to browse the toy section to try to get an idea what the kids are most interested in. And a Christmas Miracle happened - we walked out of Wal-Mart without buying ANYTHING.

Christmas 'jamas

We have always carried on the Phillips tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve (always pajamas). But this year, I decided that I wanted my kids to be able to wear seasonal pajamas all month long. So we updated the tradition to open one present the night we set up our Christmas tree. We set up our tree yesterday and we all got new 'jamas and here are all the boys sporting theirs!



Kellen's turn trying to put the angel atop the tree.


Bridger's turn trying to put the angel atop the tree.


Jared fluffing said angel.





Jared's turn trying to put the angel atop the tree.

Success at last:

This was actually our first year being able to use our 8-year old angel because our old house had 8-foot ceilings and our new house has 9-foot ceilings. Too bad it's so difficult to get her to stay up there... (Excuse the half-painted living room. I figured we better just get the tree up, or Christmas will be past if we wait for the paint to be done!)


This is Bridger's section of ornaments. Every single ornament I handed him went right here.

Translating for Kincade

ush = toothbrush
ite = light, bite, right
er = shower, diaper
Mama = mama :)
ar = car
off = off
out = out
ea = eat
eal = oatmeal
no = no
ursh = purse
are = more, ear
ee = silky
i = hi, bye
wlo = hello (you'd have to hear it to understand that spelling)
oshe = nose
awje = garage
ush = push
ow = ow
bownk = bonk
sss = dressed
wha = what

The trick is to listen to what he says and then look around for something with that sound as the last syllable. That's the only way to figure out why he's saying "errrr" as he tries to rip his clothes off (because he wants to get in the shower, duh!).