Christmas Day

Christmas eve was a fun and busy day! My mom and my brother arrived to visit for the rest of the week and we had the missionaries over for dinner. James helped me pick out little presents for them so they would have something to open when he and Rett opened their presents from Elfie James 3 (Christmas pajamas). They gave us a little lesson on the Restoration and then we had a huge feast of Chinese takeout. Yum! After the boys fell asleep, Santa came!

 Christmas morning James came into our room around 7:45 am (which is his usual wake-up time now). His eyebrows were at the top of his forehead and he whispered, "Santa came and brought presents!". He insisted on showing us the presents, but then he agreed to watch Curious George until Rett woke up so we could open presents together.

After I made breakfast, Rett woke up!

 James loved his candy in his stocking, and his new candle tea light. Rett got one too, but James says his is brighter :)

 James was our official present passer this year. He would pick out each one and bring it to us to read the label for him. Then he would bring it to who it belonged to. He was very good about being patient and watching while someone else opened their presents. He also loved to help ripping off the wrapping paper! He informed us that Rett is too little to open his own presents, so he will have to show him. We decided to compromise and have Daddy help so all three of them could open Rett's presents together:

 James really wanted to ride in an airplane for Christmas, so Santa left an envelope with a small toy airplane and a note. The note said that there were no airplanes available from the north pole, so he got him train tickets to ride a real train instead!

James got a school bus from Rett:

He also got a rocket book, which he instantly turned into a toy rocket and was blasting it off across the room:

Rett got this ball popper toy that I just knew he would love! You put the balls in, they bounce around and then come out of the dinosaur's mouth. Rett sits there and puts the balls back in over and over again.

He also likes to watch the balls come out of the dinosaur's mouth, so he will lay down right in front of it. It is so cute!

 James' sunbeam class made presents for all of their family members, so I got to open mine. It was a note that said "I love you Mom" that he colored and a basket of seashells. Anthony got a note and some lotion and Rett got a tub of play-doh.

Rett got an airplane push toy that pops out little balls, so James helped me put it together. So far Rett has been a little scared of it, so James has taken over the responsibility of playing with it :)

James got a new toy lawn mower that comes with a pretend gas tank for filling up his gas. This is important because a few months ago he got into our shed in the backyard and filled up his other toy lawn mower with real gas. After we talked about how dangerous it was that he did that, his response was, "Well, I need pretend gas!"

He loves that you can actually pull a cord to start it up, instead of just pretending with his old lawn mower. It is really loud though, so it might not have been the smartest purchase for the grown ups to endure.

The very last present to open was a large package from Santa to James and Rett: a toy kitchen! James has been very interested in helping me cook lately and is actually getting pretty good. Now he can make us food all day long! Rett loves taking everything out and opening and closing all the doors.

Of course, it wasn't just the kids opening presents, we got to open some too! I got some great gifts this year: a Harry Potter scarf and blanket from my brother, an activity tracker bracelet (that tracks your steps and sleep, etc...) from Anthony, and funny enough a different brand activity bracelet from my mom! After a good laugh about how great minds think alike, I spent some time comparing the two bracelets and picked one to return. Choices, choices!

Anthony got boat wax, a new foam pressure washer for cleaning the boat, and cash towards his new rod and reel he wants to buy. You can't go wrong with anything boat related and money!

My brother started this funny tradition of getting cards to go with presents that are obviously wrong (different language, different occasion, etc...). So this year, when we went shopping for my brother's present I couldn't resist getting him a card that sings to you in Spanish when you open it! It was the best one so far, if I do say so myself. To go with the card, we got him a special mitt for cleaning his car and a 3D printed bobble-head Daniel to go on his desk at work:

My mom got a grandmother necklace with crystal birthstone rings on it for each of her grandchildren, a new 2015 James and Rett photo calendar, and this funky poster from Daniel. The back story of this poster is that it hung in our family's dining room growing up and everybody who came over to our house commented on it. It got lost years ago and I've bought her posters from the same artist, but Daniel finally got the exact one we used to have.

 After presents, we cleaned up a little bit and everyone got on their Christmas t-shirts. It was a tough choice deciding who had the best one this year! None of us could decide, so we put all the pictures on Facebook and left it to a vote.

Daniel:

 My mom:

 Anthony:

 Rett:

 Me:

I got James a Grinch shirt, but he didn't want to get out of his pajama's and put it on. Daniel was sure he was going to win, but by the end of the night the score was: my mom: 10, Me: 5, Daniel: 4, Rett: 3, and Anthony: 0. She won the Christmas chocolate, but she shared it with everyone so we were all winners :)

The rest of the evening we ate lots of ham, rolls, green beans, apple pie, and ice cream while watching Christmas movies. We watched the original Home Alone and James sat through the entire thing for the first time. He loved Kevin McCalister. We told him that the little boy was him in 5 years and he really took that to heart. He kept saying, "Oh yeah, he is me but older". I guess we should start watching out for booby traps at our house!

Our little Sunbeam

The day has finally come! After 2 years and 5 months of nursery, James has finally graduated to the Sunbeam class at church! I thought he would have a hard time transitioning from playing with toys most of the time to actually sitting down in a classroom and then more sitting for sharing time and singing time. In fact, I think he was more than ready to leave nursery! Literally everyone in nursery is almost a year younger than him and for over a month he has been making up excuses to come be with me during church (in primary). So when I gave him the choice of staying in nursery or going to class with his best buddy Carter in primary, he gladly chose going to class! They had the best time, with the most wonderful and patient Sunbeam teacher who has a great structure for their class. James fit right in! I couldn't resist, I had to get a few pictures during singing time of him sitting with the big kids.

 For singing time, the kids got to take turns finding "shepherd's crooks" (candy canes) around the room with Christmas songs on them. When it was James' turn he got so excited, jumped up and said "Oh yeah!". He raced to the piano and grabbed a green one, he said he picked it because it is his favorite color.

A few weeks ago Anthony's parents came over with a ladder to help us put up our Christmas lights. I had a tiny cold, so I wasn't feeling too well. While Rett and I took a nap, James helped climb the ladder and put on lights. Really he just climbed up and down the ladder, but he was very proud to be helping :)

I have to add a few pictures of my chunk. I bought him this onesie at Walmart because I couldn't resist it. It says "Girls dig chubby dudes". The first day he wore it, we went the park and at least two little girls followed him around the entire time, they thought he was so cute. I guess it is true!

Library luncheon, Christmas Parade and Ward Christmas Party

Last Friday was the annual Christmas luncheon for all the library volunteers. I missed it last year, but in past years I have gone with James. I took both boys with me this time and I was impressed by how well they did! The food and entertainment didn't even start until 30 minutes after we got there, but they just played and walked around the room saying hi to everyone. I had a talk with James before we got there about how he wouldn't be able to run around the room while we were there. I told him that if he needed to run around, he should tell me that he needed a break and that we would go outside so that he could run around. After about 15 minutes, he turned to me and said, "Mommy, I need to go outside now". We went right outside and after some running back and forth he was ready to back inside to eat. The entertainment was this fun volunteer singing group that raises money for the local hospital. They sang a bunch of oldies and danced along with silly props and costumes. James loved it!

I tried to get Rett to make it all the way through their performance, but after an hour and 15 minutes they were still going! It was way past Rett's nap time, so we tiptoed out a few songs before they were done. I went prepared to leave almost immediately depending on how the boys were, so I was so happy that I was able to stay for almost 2 hours!

The next day was our town's Christmas parade. Last year I discovered how much candy is involved with going to a parade, so I mentally prepared myself for James on sugar overload. I wasn't sure how patient Rett was going to be either. He can't stand sitting still for very long now that he can walk around. He wants to do what the big kids are doing! Luckily, they both did really well. James really wanted to be in the stroller, so I moved Rett to James' chair. They both looked so cute sitting there.

I've never noticed so many cars with reindeer antlers and Rudolph noses until this year. James points them out all the time and he was really excited to see a police car with one!

The marching bands were so fun to watch. James loved the drums and the trumpets.

A man from one of the floats walked up to James and gave him this dartboard toy. I told him to hold it up for me, but all he would do was put it behind his back :)

Later that night was our ward's Christmas party. To be honest, I was not looking forward to it that much. Ward parties have gotten soooo difficult with our kids! They both won't eat, so while we are trying to eat, they are running around, getting into trouble or crying and whining. I tried to come prepared with a game plan to see if things could be a little more enjoyable. I fed the boys before we came, so we didn't worry about getting them any food. Which was a good thing, because James decided his plate and utensils were a drum set! His friend, Kaemon, from nursery wanted to copy everything he did, so we had our own set of drummer boys.

Rett joined in too!

After we ate, Anthony and I had a small part in the entertainment. We dressed up as Mary and Joseph while someone sang "Silent Night". I planned on bringing a doll to be baby Jesus, but I totally forgot, so we used Rett. At 21 pounds, he was the chunkiest baby Jesus ever!

After a few songs from the choir, Santa made his grand entrance. James got a little impatient waiting his turn and had to go to time out for a little bit. While he was gone with Anthony, I sat with Rett on Santa's lap. He still didn't enjoy it.

 James made it back from time out in time to get his turn on Santa's lap. Each time he has visited Santa this year, he has kind of clammed up and only managed one word answers to Santa's questions. So unlike him! Usually we can't get him to stop talking! He still said that he wanted an airplane for Christmas. I asked him later that night what kind of airplane he wanted. He said he wants a big one that we can all sit in, that magically gets smaller so that it can go out our front door and then gets bigger so that we can fly away in it...Uhhhh...hmmm. I told him that kids can't fly airplanes, that only grown ups can and that you need a license. He said he would just use my license.

Then he started talking about his airplane while rubbing Santa's belly. I guess he liked the softness of his coat, but it was pretty funny!

We tried for a picture with just the boys. This is the best we could get.

Right after this, a huge snowball fight started between everyone with soft fabric snowballs. The bishopric, the older women in our ward, the kids, everyone was throwing them back and forth. It was so funny! James liked it, but he was a little overwhelmed and just wanted to watch.

While everyone was throwing snowballs, Anthony and one of his fishing buddies from church decided to sit on Santa's lap and ask for a new boat for Christmas. I'm not sure Anthony has been good enough for Santa to grant that wish ;)

Early December Fun

On the 1st of December we had our very first visit from the Elf on the Shelf! I bought one on clearance after Christmas a couple of years ago and this year I thought James would actually understand and enjoy it. We had been talking for awhile about an elf coming to visit us that would be our very own elf, so it wasn't a total surprise when he arrived. We spent the night before he came decorating the Christmas tree, so the elf's first spot was on the curtain rod near the tree.

In the morning James found him and we sat down to read the book that tells you all about him.

When we got to the part where you give him a name, we gave James some suggestions. We told him the names of his cousins' elves and some of the ideas in the book. He insisted, "His name is James!". So we responded, "He is going to be James too?". James came back with, "No! He will be James 3!" He hasn't deviated from that decision since. His name is now "Elfie James 3".

The book explains that you aren't supposed to touch the elf because that will make him lose his magic and he won't be able to fly to the north pole. We talked about that a few times and James understood it. A day or so later we were driving in the car and James asked me, "Mommy, can I shake Santa's hand?". I said, "Of course you can!". He replied, "But, then he will lose his magic!" You can't get anything by this kid! He notices everything and will point out any discrepancies. We already had to explain to him about all of the different Santas being Santa's helpers because he notices all of their differences.

We haven't done anything too creative with our elf. He just basically moves around the house...or sometimes really likes a certain spot so he stays there for two days in a row ;) The second day, he hung around on our ceiling fan:

 The next day he turned some of James' cars and trucks into reindeer. James was actually not very happy about it when he found it. He insisted that I fix all of his cars right away.

One morning he brought James a tiny bag of candy with a note saying that he likes how good James has been. James will ask me all the time what the elf is looking at, or why he picked a certain spot. I think tomorrow he will be bringing the ingredients for making Christmas cookies, so that will be fun!

The city has a little park downtown called Christmas park and every year Santa visits a little house there so kids can come and sit on his lap (for free!). Last Saturday we decided to go to the park and then walk over there. I looooove that there are never any lines to see him. James was pretty much the only kid there, so Santa talked to him for a long time. He asked him a lot of questions, but James could only manage one word answers. He was so distracted by all the lights and decorations in the little house! He did say that he wants a big airplane for Christmas.

 Rett was fine with Santa, as long as he was sitting in the stroller, watching him from a distance.

 As soon as I put him on Santa's lap, it was instant hysterics! My favorite are Santa's eyes. He looks like he wants to escape!

Whenever I ask James what he wants to do today, he almost always yells, "The beach!". I pretty much never want to go because it is so much work! Getting everyone dressed, packing stuff in the bag, carrying everything from the car and then back again when we leave, not to mention cleaning up all the sand. It is exhausting! Finally I gave in and we went one afternoon. It was our first trip since Rett started walking and he had a blast exploring every inch of that beach!

James found a friend as soon as we got there and he played with him the entire time. His parents had built a large sand mountain with a moat, so the boys were running back and forth filling their buckets in the waves and then dumping it in the trench. They didn't even notice that the water always absorbed, they were having too much fun running around!

At one point, Rett climbed into the trench and tried to scale the sand mountain. He has no fear when it comes to climbing on things! I still can't believe it when he climbs to the slide on the park and then goes down it by himself. Isn't he still a tiny baby?? I finally got a video of him doing it the other day. Notice I don't touch him at all.

With both of the boys running and climbing now, life is a lot more exhausting, but still really fun :)