Christmas events and activities

Happy New Year!  We are getting back into the normal schedule and swing of things, but I've been looking back through pictures from Christmas and thinking fondly of all the events and activities.  

Before Christmas, we spent some time decorating gingerbread houses, decorating cookies, wrapping presents and baking cookies.  Mario had the week before Christmas off and his parents were in town, and we had a lot of fun doing Christmas activities.  The kids, especially, enjoyed decorating gingerbread houses and decorating cookies.  Miriam went grocery shopping with me to pick out candy for the gingerbread houses, and we came home with some interesting picks: candy corn, glitter icing, chocolate covered raisins, and licorice bites.  Luckily we weren't planning on having anyone eat the gingerbread houses, because Miriam would put on a piece of candy, lick off her fingers, then put on another piece of candy.  And she covered every inch of every side of her gingerbread house, so she went through a lot of candy.  After two sides, Mathias abandoned actually putting candy on his gingerbread house, and instead starting scraping icing off with his finger and eating it.  

When we were decorating cookies, they both loved to spread frosting on the cookies and then cover the entire cookie in sprinkles.  Mathias always put a huge glob of frosting in the middle, while Miriam spreads frosting all the way to the edges of each cookie.  It is so much fun to see them enjoying Christmas traditions and having fun with them! 

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were both busy but fun days.  On Christmas Eve, Mathias had a run in with a stocking hanger and ended up at the doctor's office.  Thankfully, he was ok, but we took it easy after that.  The night of Christmas eve, we dressed up in our nice clothes to take pictures, and snacked on appetizers and cookies.  The kids got to open several (pre-determined) presents, including slippers, Christmas PJs, and sleeping bags.  Before bed, they left out cookies and milk for Santa (with a reminder from Miriam "last year, Santa left a cookie for me to eat!")

On Christmas Day, we had a late breakfast while we opened stockings and presents.  Our family and friends are all very generous, and we got some wonderful gifts this year.  The rest of the day was spent playing with presents, watching Christmas movies, and getting ready for Christmas dinner.  The kids had a blast, but were definitely tired and a bit cranky by the end of the day.  However, we had a couple days to rest and relax after Christmas, so the kids had some time to play with presents, rest up and catch up on attention from us.  Christmas was a lot of fun this year, with the kids being old enough to really enjoy it and take part in Christmas activities, and the chance to decorate and celebrate in our new house.   

Here are pictures of our Christmas:

Stirring the brine for Mario's smoked turkey

Happy December, and Merry Christmas!

We've been having a lot of fun decorating the house for Christmas!  We had some major car problems on our trip to and from Washington over Thanksgiving, which caused the beginning of December to be a bit stressful while we were car shopping.  Now that I've joined the ranks of "soccer moms" everywhere and gotten a van, the car stress has gone away and we are fully in the Christmas spirit.

When we first got out the tree and ornaments, Miriam and Mathias were both very excited and wanted to put ALL the ornaments on the tree.  That lasted about 15 minutes before they decided they just wanted to sort through all the ornament boxes and pull out their favorites, but never put them on the tree.  Then, they both got excited about helping Mario put up lights outside...so while Mario was putting up lights, they were both climbing up and down small ladders to "match Daddy".  Mario has been very excited to have a fresh canvas for his lights this year.  Luckily, we live in a neighborhood where people use a lot of lights to decorate their houses, so Mario feels right at home!

We've been doing a lot of fun Christmas activities that the kids are really enjoying.  They have an Advent calendar they open each morning (filled with small treats), they open an Advent calendar each night (small chocolates), we open a "25 days of Christmas" book each night, and we have a paper chain that counts down the days until Christmas.  Miriam is happy to rip a link off that chain every morning.  :)  In addition, they've been helping me bake Christmas cookies and do some Christmas arts and crafts; they even decorated paper trees that we use as decoration on our mantle!

Surprisingly, Mathias has been very good about leaving all of the Christmas decorations alone.  He really loves the Christmas tree but only likes it on colored lights (we have an artificial tree that has both options).  He has figured out how to change the lights and will always change it to colored if they are on white lights or if they are turned off.  He also loves to sit and look at the Christmas tree; sometimes, the house will be quiet (which always worries me, because it usually means he's getting into something), and I'll find him lying on the floor in front of the Christmas tree, just staring at the lights and the presents.

We went and visited Santa the other day at Mario's work, and neither Miriam or Mathias wanted to sit on his lap or have anything to do with him.  (I told Mario I was thankful that we hadn't waited in line at the mall to meet Santa!)  Miriam did consent to stand next to him and take a picture, but Mathias wouldn't go within 10 feet of him.  He kept saying "scare me, scare me!"

Miriam had her Christmas performance earlier this week.  It was only about 15 minutes long, but she happily stood up with her class and sang a couple songs.  Mathias was enthralled (he seems to love singing and dance performances!) and was happily waving to her the whole time.

Here are a couple pictures of our December so far...hopefully you are having a wonderful holiday season and no matter how or where you celebrate Christmas, we wish you a blessed day and time with loved ones!

Funny kid sayings, and Mathias' first haircut!!

Now that Mathias is talking all the time and competing with Miriam for airtime, we've had a lot of funny kid sayings around the house lately.  Here are a few that I'd like to share and record for posterity.

Miriam:

-She still calls animals "aminals", which cracks me up.

-We've been playing card games recently and she sets the cards out and then asks me if I'm ready to "scuffle them."

Mathias:

-Anytime we are holding his hand or holding him in our arms (and he wants to be free), he claims he has an "owwie" and we are "hurting me."  But he says it all squished together really fast, so it sounds like "owwieowwiehurtme."  It always makes me laugh.

And they both love to play knock knock jokes, so here's what that sounds like:

Miriam:  Knock Knock
Me:  Who's there?
Miriam:  Car
Me:  Car who?
Miriam:  Have you ever seen a car climb up a tree and eat leaves?  (She doesn't quite "get" knock knock jokes yet.)

OR

Mathias:  Knock Knock
Miriam:  Who's there?
Mathias:  I don't know
Miriam:  I don't know who?
Mathias:  Basketball hoop!
And then they both giggle like crazy.  And repeat it again and again.

In other news, Mathias finally got a haircut a couple weeks ago.  His hair was very long and always in his eyes, so we (Mario) decided it was time.  At first I was going to cut Mathias' hair in our kitchen, but after some hesitation on my part (and Mario's - he kept asking "have you watched any Youtube videos about how to cut hair or anything?"), I decided to have a hairdresser friend cut it when we were in Washington.  I let Boo watch some nursery rhymes on my phone and he sat almost perfectly still for 15 minutes.  I loved his long hair, so I'm still adjusting to his shorter haircut.  But he definitely looks older and more like a little boy.  I may have to let him grow his hair out again next summer so he can pull off the beach/surfer boy look, complete with some board shorts.  And because I like his long hair.  :)

Here are some pictures from recent weeks, including a couple before and afters of Mathias' hair.

My attempt at cutting his hair (although I didn't actually cut anything!)

I am blessed, and I am thankful

During this busy season of holidays and travel, I always try to take time to stop and think about how blessed and thankful I am.

I am blessed with an amazing husband, who, after almost 10 years of marriage, still makes me laugh and smile every day.  He works hard for our family and comes home with a smile on his face, ready to spend time with us.  He absolutely adores our children and has created amazing relationships with them.  I'm lucky that there's nothing he'd rather do than spend time with me and the kids, and I appreciate him more than I can ever express.  I knew when I married him that he was a good man, but I've gotten luckier than I ever imagined...he's a wonderful husband and father, and there's no one else I'd rather spend my life or ride the parenthood roller coaster with.

I am blessed with two incredible children.  Miriam, while growing more and more independent each day, is still a very loving, sweet girl, who tells us "I love you" multiple times a day, and is always taking care of her friends and family.  Mathias is a little ball of energy, who delights in playing jokes and games and being included in anything the bigger kids/people are doing.  They have both brought so much joy and light into our lives; we are blessed to have such loving, caring, amazing, funny, delightful children.

I am blessed to have a wonderful family. They are loving, supportive, and there whenever I need or want them.  I feel blessed that no matter how near or far they are, or how often we talk, I can always find a loving word, a listening ear, a supportive shoulder, or even someone to laugh at my jokes.

I am blessed to have fantastic friends.  Whether we are laughing while out to dinner, commiserating about our children not sleeping, or baking cookies together, I appreciate each and every one of them and their friendship.  Regardless of if we talk once a day or once a season, I'm lucky to have such supportive, funny, loving friends.

I am thankful to be so blessed.

I am thankful that I am healthy, that Mario is healthy, that my children are healthy, and that our families are healthy.

I am thankful for the opportunity to stay home with our children this year, because they are growing up way too fast, and I'm trying to soak in every minute that I can.

I am thankful for Mario's job opportunity that moved us to Eugene, because we've met some incredible people and are really enjoying the area.

I'm thankful for our house, our heat, and our running water...while I often take them for granted, I realize they are luxuries in many other parts of the world and indeed, in our own cities as well.

I am thankful to live in a place where my children can go to school and where there are so many opportunities for them.

I'm thankful for the Internet, because it allows us to Skype with family and friends far away, and gives the kids opportunities to maintain relationships with relatives and friends we may not get to see often.

And, in closing, I am thankful for each and every one of you.  If you are reading this, know that I am blessed to have you as a part of my life, whether or not I get (or take) the opportunity to tell you.  Happy Thanksgiving!