A new year is definitely a good time to get back into good habits. My mother gave me a book for Christmas that challenges you to remember something each day that changed you for the better and to write it down. That way you see what you have become. A good idea that helped me remember I like to write and remember the good stuff in life, so here I sit, back to my blogging.
December went by in a whir. It was wonderful to stay home for the holidays and start some of our own traditions. The kiddos loved going caroling and having friends carol to us. Good old Micky Music (a CD with the Micky Mouse gang singing 10 wonderful Christmas tunes) has turned my children into very knowledgeable little singers. My favorite and theirs is We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Tate's rendition includes "a happy new ear" and "oh bring us some piggy gourning."
The boys have also decorated every possible inch of their play room with homemade Christmas decor. Tate has has become hooked on coloring, cutting, taping, glueing, and posting his creations for all the world to see. It may crush him when he finds out that I don't intend for all of his artistic masterpieces to survive our move this summer. Nor do I intend to adorn all of our future homes walls with such loveliness; he'll have to settle for one. The holidays have been wonderful. Tate's reckoning of the year is by the holidays so we have succeeded in making them special. The highlight of this year being Halloween. He has already gone through 3 or 4 costume ideas for next year and created paper versions for me so when we make it I will get it right. His favorite right now is Spud the Scarecrow from Bob the Builder because he is always silly. Tate has bouts of the same problem.
We went and spent the night in Nauvoo. They have a weekend event for Christmas in Nauvoo with lighted horse carriage rides, carol singing, a live nativity, and a bunch of shops you can visit to learn the history or Christmas hymns. When we were learning about the hymn Silent Night Ian started singing to provide the background music. It was so sweet. After we shared a condo with good friends and stayed up playing games, a rare occurrence since we both have kids. We hit the temple in the morning to complete a wonderful weekend and a year of visiting the temple monthly - a first for us since we got married but something I hope to continue!
A friend of ours has a tradition of having a gingerbread house decorating party. She pre-makes about 30 houses and then invites around that many kiddos to her house (inviting each to bring something to adorn it with) to decorate a house with sticky frosting. There are three tables covered with children decorating, eating, and enjoying the holidays. I can not even imagine the places she finds frosting during the upcoming weeks... The kids love it though and I may have to start something like it next year for Tate because it truly is so much fun. I should have taken a before and after of Tate's. After covering every inch he added a fence all the way around, "Look at all the candy mom." Wise beyond his years.
Our Christmas Eve was wonderful. We spent the morning with friends eating brunch and chatting. We had a quiet evening with just our family. We ate leftovers at odd hours, acted out the nativity, opened pajamas, and watched Micky's Once Upon a Christmas with special snacks. It was simple and perfect. Christmas is more magical when you are living it through the eyes of your kids.
Christmas morning started with pancakes that were happy to see us and acting as the snow that every Christmas needs. Our weather wasn't quite cooperating. Tate made me get him a snowman chocolate free.. He didn't get that from me. We made the boys eat breakfast before any opening could commence. I wish I had the same incentive for every meal. Some of ours stretch on way tooo loooong. But this one quickly disappeared.
They let me take one picture before we began. They both look thrilled.. But the morning was so fun. They experienced stockings for the first time and LOVED their pez dispensers so much they ate through all three packages of treats that came with it within an hour and a half. This led to a crankier afternoon but the morning excitement and sugar buzz was worth it. My Christmas fail was the fact that I thought we had chicken we didn't so our grand plans of homemade Chick-fil-a in our new fryer were a bust. We did utilize it on New Years Eve though and aside from the failed mozzarella sticks I think the fryer and I have a very delicious future ahead of us.
*So Silly side note: One of my all time favorite memories growing up was lying under the Christmas tree, crossing my eyes, and looking up at the blurred lights I considered Christmas magic. This year all I had to do was walk out in the morning without my contacts in and I got to experience the blurred magic every day, I didn't even have to cross my eyes... I'm getting old...
*So Silly side note: One of my all time favorite memories growing up was lying under the Christmas tree, crossing my eyes, and looking up at the blurred lights I considered Christmas magic. This year all I had to do was walk out in the morning without my contacts in and I got to experience the blurred magic every day, I didn't even have to cross my eyes... I'm getting old...
