Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Sea World

We just got the kids tucked in bed. I gave them some melatonin tonight to help them fall asleep earlier because they've been sleeping till almost 8 some mornings the past two weeks. A 6:30 wake up is going to feel early tomorrow! It's pretty hard to believe that Christmas Break has come and gone. I overheard Jansen and Natalie talking about how a part of them is excited to go back to school and another part of them is dreading it. I think we can all understand that feeling. 

We had plans to have friends over for dinner on Christmas Eve, but Natalie had a fever so we had to cancel. Thankfully she wasn't miserable or anything. The kids each opened a present from me and Nate that night: a new book and new pajamas. 

Leah is listening for reindeer on the roof.

Natalie and Jansen got a call that night after they were in bed live from Santa's sleigh. He said he was on his way to Texas! We have been really lucky that our kids don't stay up too late on Christmas Eve, and they usually don't wake up too early Christmas morning.

There's a little Christmas morning magic going on here. Leah was still asleep for a lot of the present opening which was nice. Natalie had asked so sweetly and so many times for a puppy, but Santa wrote her a note and told her it wasn't quite time yet. Jansen also got a note from Santa telling him that they were unable to get the particular origami paper he asked for because he rarely has requests for it from children so they don't have it at the North Pole. He complimented Jansen on his talent on hard work because it's usually adults that need that type of paper for such complex folds.

This book is probably Jansen's most used Christmas present. He LOVES it.

This is one of the few times you try to really savor a mess because of the happiness that came with it.

Christmas Day was actually a very difficult one for me. There were a few reasons - some I will blog about later. I always miss family on Christmas, and the day sometimes drags because of that. I'm not usually one to get sad or compare myself to other people from Facebook or Instagram posts, but that day it was hard to see pictures of people with their families. There is truly not a person in the world who has more to be grateful for than me, but sometimes you just really want to be with all the people you love!

Members of the military and their families can go to Sea World for free once per year. We hadn't used our free passes yet, so we decided to go the day after Christmas before 2014 was over. It was a little chilly at first but soon turned into a beautiful day. 

As is often the case when we go to these types of places, the kids were as excited about getting popcorn as they were about seeing animals and going on rides. They love that stuff - especially Jansen.

I do not like roller coasters and I never have. Jansen hasn't really liked amusement park rides in the past, even the kiddie ones, so I assumed he was like me. Nate really wanted Jansen and Natalie to go on the ride Atlantis (seen behind them) with him, but I was kind of discouraging them. As a mom I really didn't want them to get on the ride and feel scared and stuck. Nate offered them $5 each if they went on it. It took a fair amount of convincing, but they agreed. They loved it! It definitely "scared" them, and it was so funny to listen to them describe how it made them feel. I am so glad they have a dad who will encourage them to do the hard things, the scary things, and the fun things. Here they are after the ride holding their $5. 

Since we live so close to Sea World (it's about a 15 minute drive), we will probably get season passes at some point. We think it will become a fun part of our San Antonio memories. I was jealous of the cold and snow that everyone was getting in December, but now that Christmas is over I am loving the sunshine and temperatures that allow us to be outside.

BC (Before Christmas)

The fourth graders at Jansen's school had a living museum. The students chose someone from history they wanted to learn more about and prepared short presentations to share with people who came to "visit" the museum. They were also supposed to dress and pretend like they were the historical figure they chose. Jansen decided to do Ronald Reagan. It was difficult to dress him in character since he doesn't have a suit or any blazers. This is what we settled on. He had some khaki pants he was supposed to wear that day, but boy does he hate his "church" clothes and he decided not to wear them. 

After seeing Jansen at the "museum," Leah and I joined Natalie for lunch. I haven't spent much time at their school, and being there that day reminded me how much I love elementary schools. I don't think I ever want to teach again, but I definitely want to spend more time volunteering there when Leah is a little older.

Emmy is so sweet. She is a very obedient child right now and likes to please and do what's right. She can border on being a tattle tale, but she just likes people to be doing what they are supposed to be doing. She is most difficult at night right before bed, but I think it's because she is so tired. She is asleep almost the moment she closes her eyes. 

A week ago we decorated gingerbread houses. We invited the Kartchner's over who are in our ward and live in our neighborhood. We tried out a copycat recipe that night of Cafe Rio's tortilla soup and it turned out really good. They were wonderful company, and it was a fun, sugar-filled evening.

It's not the greatest picture, but I wanted to capture the moment dad is "attacked" when he pulls in the driveway from work. I actually think all three children are in that pile.   

                                                        

We discovered a way to keep content for awhile - give her a fruit roll-up still in it's wrapper and let her go to town on it. I'm pretty sure I had to throw that shirt away.                          

I am the Wolf den leader in our church's Cub Scout pack. We took the boys to do a service project at a food bank one Saturday morning. 

This is one of my favorite pictures of Leah. She has acquired another nickname, this one from Emmy: Dubs. I have no idea why.

Emmy and her friends at preschool sang the cutest songs at a little Christmas program. Emmy had been singing this particular song every day all day but during the program I don't know if she sang a single word. I think all the kids were a little distracted by the parents and siblings, but they still did such a great job.

Party in the pack and play!

I took this picture the Sunday before Christmas. I do have other children, but Jansen and Natalie detest church clothes and who knows where Emmy is so I just snapped some shots of these two. They were the best dressed of our crew anyway. 

We loved having our friends the Thomsons come stay a night with us at the beginning of Christmas break. The unfinished playset quickly became a hideout, shelter, and fortress.

It wasn't as warm this day as Natalie's shorts and short sleeve shirt would lead you to believe, but we still got a little soccer in.

We tried out a burger place in town and all really enjoyed it. Well, eating out with Leah isn't really "enjoyable," but we made it work. I think Emmy had fries and lemonade for lunch.

The front room of our house is pretty empty, so I just kind of decided it would be the "Christmas room" this month. It was often a mess, but it was a happy, Christmas-y mess. Nate's mom made our beautiful stockings you can see in the background. Leah doesn't have one just yet so the girls made her one out of paper. It's that pink thing you can see to the right of the others. It just cracks me up.

This picture gets me every time. Those cheeks. That nose. Her chubby little hands. I love that innocent little face. She is starting to babble a lot more and is getting up on all fours. It won't be long till she is crawling all over the place! Her favorite thing in the world to eat and play with is paper.

Thanksgiving, Today, and Everything In Between

Each Thanksgiving since we've been married has been different than the rest. I don't think we've celebrated in the same place twice, and we've done everything from making almost all the food, only making the cranberry sauce, ordering it from Claim Jumper, etc. It's kind of fun to always be changing things up - I do miss being with family though. 

Our kind friends the Harters that we know from Las Vegas invited us to their home this year. We brought the rolls and some desserts. I am not a big fan of pie, and I don't have much faith in my ability to make a tasty one, so I gave that job to Nate. Jansen really enjoyed helping him.

Nate played in a turkey bowl that morning with some guys from church and the rest of the time before the meal was mostly spent preparing food. Natalie hurt her foot while playing in the backyard that morning and there were some prettttttty loud wails and screams as Nate cleaned it and wrapped it up. I'm not sure I want to be in the room when she gives birth some day.

We had a wonderful time at the Harters eating, chatting, watching football, and letting the kids play in the backyard. 

The Harters also hosted a couple Basic Trainees from Lackland Air Force Base. They are almost done with boot camp there.

 The next day our great friends the Nelsons (that we also know from Vegas) came from Houston to stay a night with us. It was so nice having close friends in our home and catching up. We had many conversations and ideas about how to spend our short time together and ultimately decided to just "hang out." We watched football, worked on the backyard playset, played at the park, etc.

We sure love them and can't wait to see them again.

 December always flies by, so we tried to get the tree up and decorated quickly after Thanksgiving. If I remember right, this was a little bit of a stressful evening. Thankfully things got better because the kids just love decorating tree and I wanted them to have a fun night and a nice mommy. :)

A couple days later Nate and found probably 20 ornaments just set on tree branches. No hooks, no ribbons, just ornaments resting there. We had to laugh and shake our heads and their laziness??? or maybe just ignorance.

And of course we have incorporated origami into our tree as that is still Jansen's obsession.

The kids love playing with the nativity sets I have collected. Some are breakable (though not valuable), but we just let the kids play and rearrange them as much as they want.

Leah had her 6 month check up and is weighing in at about 19.5 pounds! Love my little chubs. Her appointment was at 9:20 though and I barely made it back to pick up Emmy from preschool at 12. Lots of waiting at the doctor's office and for immunizations. I hate that.

Natalie had her annual eye appointment. She needs a stronger prescription, which we suspected. She will probably start wearing contacts in the next couple years. She seems so young for that, but the optometrist recommended it and said it may even slow down the changes to her vision.

We will see how long it lasts, but Natalie is currently enjoying doing the dishes.

And this is her latest Christmas list:

Emmy had a happy morning decorating cookies with friends last week.

 Leah was there too. :)

Saturdays are so precious lately. Nate has been working late during the week, but he does have Saturdays and Sundays off. We always have an incredibly long to-do list, but there's always time for pancakes.

Nate was heading out on a run this morning and I suggested Jansen go with him. They ran 3.8 miles, and Jansen ran almost the entire time. 

Most of the rest of the afternoon was spent on the playset. Nate is working really hard to get it done. Emmy spends a lot of time just hanging out there with him.