Our First Christmas Visitors

We did a lot more cleaning this morning, and then we decided to take a break and go to the mall for lunch and then Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Well, the real reason was that DH and I wanted Haagen-Dazs ice cream. *WINK* This isn't the greatest picture, but when I saw this scene I had to take a picture so I could remember it. The kids all looked so happy sitting together and enjoying their ice cream--DD and DS#3 with chocolate, DS#2 with Dulce de Leche, and DS#1 with a Bailey's shake. Seeing this just made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. :)

Grandma, Grandpa, and DH's brother G arrived at our house while we were at the mall. After getting reacquainted and relaxing a little this afternoon, we headed to DH's favorite restaurant (and a favorite of my in-laws as well) El Mirasol for dinner. Here DS#3 is showing Papa his "teeth". He didn't have a nap again today. Sadly, we think he has pretty much given up naps. Before he would at least take one every other day or so. He has only taken the very shortest of naps in the last few days that I've been home. *SIGH*

Here is a group picture of everyone. It's always nice when we get together with family. DH and I look forward to the day when they move here. Hopefully that will be very soon. When I asked DS#1 this morning (while I was driving him to an early morning soccer practice) what he was looking forward to the most with Christmas approaching. He answered that we hadn't seen Uncle G in a while. During a later conversation, DS#2 agreed. It's nice to know that the kids aren't always about Christmas PRESENTS. :)

DD has been bugging me for a couple of weeks to make a gingerbread house. I bought this premade kit and we finally got to make it today/tonight. I was in a hurry and first made the icing too thick and then made it too thin. The candies are probably falling off as I type this but DD had a lot of fun decorating the house all by herself so I let go of perfection. Besides, Grandma brought a gingerbread train kit that we can make later in the week. DD also wanted to make cookies for Santa, but since I have to work tomorrow, DH volunteered to do that with her tomorrow. Christmas is coming and it's all coming together. :)

The Cleanout

DH has been putting the kids to work during their Christmas vacation. We'd like to do something more with the game room and we have way too much stuff in there now. There's something about having such a wide range of kid ages that makes it difficult to get rid of toys because there's always another kid that can play with that toy. Every time DH tries to throw a toy away that he thinks DS#3 isn't interested in anymore, DS#3 starts playing with it--a lot. As a result of this clean out process, the game room is an unsightly mess.

I've been doing my own cleaning also. I can't remember when I posted the "before" picture of the sofa in my bedroom. Well, after a very long time I finally cleared that stuff off the sofa! Yay for me! Even DS#1 noticed without my pointing it out first, and he was actually shocked. Now, I have to admit that all that stuff hasn't reached its final destination yet--some of it is in a bag to give away, some of it was memorabilia and photos that I need to put on a few scrapbook pages, etc. At least it's a start, and I actually did throw some of it away. Can you believe it?!!

I also wanted to include some pictures I took at Fiesta Texas yesterday just to show that the kids are having SOME fun during their vacation. DS#3 seems like he's going to be a daredevil when it comes to rides. He never hesitates when it comes to a ride. DD worked hard to keep this teacup spinning (and spinning fast) during the ride and DS#3 really enjoyed it. Even though he did look a little dizzy in the middle of this ride, he still had a smile on his face.

This picture makes my heart stop for just a second and makes me feel afraid--VERY afraid. DD was tall enough to drive her own car on this ride. There were rails so that the cars didn't veer off course, but still, the sight of her driving this car made me fast forward to the day when she does actually drive a real car.

My little camera just wasn't fast enough to capture this action, but I thought it was a cool picture anyway because you can actually see DS#2's face. DH had texted me to take video instead, but I didn't bother checking my phone since I thought he was just telling me that it was almost their turn to go down the snow hill.

Lastly, I took this picture today when I took the kids to Chick-Fil-A. DH and DS#2 had gone to see the new movie "Avatar" at the 3D IMAX (which my Sci-Fi buff DH said was "amazing" by the way). I watched as DS#3 struggled to climb up the playscape while his big sister was oblivious. He asked for help and she started looking out for him. He quickly learned to scramble up that playscape almost as quickly as DD. She was great with him even when he would call her if he didn't see her right in front of or behind him. As I watched I was thankful that they have each other. After a while I could see him struggling to climb again and I hoped that meant that he was tired and would take a good nap. I was also afraid of a showdown when it was time to go but amazingly, that didn't happen at all. DD merely told him that she wanted to go and he followed her to get his shoes on.

Unfortunately, he didn't take a nap today, although I'm not sure if that was because my snoring prevented him from sleeping or he just wasn't sleepy by that time. Tomorrow, our first Christmas visitors arrive.

Holiday in the Park

I'm still in disbelief over this picture! DS#3 is actually sitting on Santa's lap! Read on for the details:

We went to Holiday in the Park at Fiesta Texas today. DD wanted to see Santa, so for the first time ever, we waited in line to see Santa. I think she was still excited from her encounter with Choo Choo Claus yesterday. The boys never seemed to care about seeing Santa when they were younger, and DH and I didn't like the long lines, so we let it go. We only waited in line for maybe 20 minutes today, and they were playing Frosty the Snowman on the TV screens to entertain the kids. We only mentioned Santa to DS#3 in the last five minutes or so and then he actually seemed a little excited. When it was our turn, DD was running and DS#3 ran after her. DH and I thought for sure that when he saw Santa he would turn and go to one of us instead. We were so wrong. He climbed right onto Santa's lap. What was even more amazing was that when Santa was talking to him, he talked back. DD was just overjoyed, of course, smiling from ear to ear and constantly giggling.

DH and I had to laugh when Santa pulled out his cell phone and showed the two of them a picture of his reindeer. Then, he gave each of them a "Twix PB" which is like a regular Twix bar except it has a chocolate cookie and peanut butter instead of the regular cookie and caramel.

DS#2 stayed back and didn't get near Santa, of course, but as we were leaving, DS#2 passed in front of Santa and Santa tried to throw a candy bar at him too. When DS#2 got the candy bar, Santa grabbed him and said something about how DS#2 hadn't wanted to visit with him. The lady taking pictures snapped the picture at just the right time, so of course I HAD to buy a picture. My little camera isn't very fast and I missed this moment. I also got a picture of DS#3 and DD but their picture was much better. These pictures are both worth every penny I paid! :)

DS#1 wasn't with us because he was at a movie ("Avatar") with friends from school followed by a trip to the Riverwalk. The kids enjoyed various activities including one of their favorite rides called The Wave Runner where you basically spin the entire time. Because of centrifugal force, it's the only time I ever get to see DD sitting so close to her brothers, especially DS#2, although at one point, DS#2 was pushing her back. It was all in fun, though, because they both had big smiles on their faces.

They also had a short sled ride down "Frosty Chutes Snow Hill". It was very short, but fun. After all, we don't get to indulge in that sort of activity around here, only when we visit the grandparents in Colorado. Lastly, the most memorable thing about this trip for DS#2 was probably that he got a Houston Rockets hat from one of the gift shops. He was torn between them and the San Antonio Spurs hat, but he wanted the Rockets hat more and the Rockets hat was cheaper anyway. :)

Santa's Railroad Wonderland

Last night we went to the local Texas Transportation Museum where they have an event called Santa's Railroad Wonderland every December. Even before we went in there was someone selling these lighted swords for $5 each. I couldn't resist and I bought one for each of the older kids. DS#3 wasn't interested. They were so excited about the swords that they all willingly posed for this picture. Their excitement made the purchase well worth the money.

Our first stop was riding in an old train up and down the track. There wasn't much to see, but we still enjoyed the ride, especially DS#3 who was just taking it all in. Our next stop was a building where they had lots of trains set up and where they were running them constantly. DS#3 was fascinated and he was constantly pointing at this train or that train. From about five feet away he even noticed a bus in one of the scenes and pointed it out.

There was so much detail in some of these scenes. DD noticed that one of those houses looked like it was actually burning. There was smoke coming from the top of the roof where there was a hole as if there were a real fire in the house.

One of the attractions was getting to meet "Choo Choo Claus". Of course this term confused DS#3 so we just referred to "Choo Choo Claus" as "Santa". DH and I have never wanted to wait in those mall lines so our kids could get a picture with Santa, so DD was all excited about this rare opportunity. She was so excited that at first she was a little hesitant about going near him, and then when she got up there, she could barely talk. Yes, my DD, who just got in trouble last week for talking too much at school was actually speechless for the most part, especially when Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas. The only thing she managed to blurt out was "Legos Space Police". She had already told me that she wanted this, but I wondered if she told Santa about this only because the boy in front of her had asked for it, too.

DS#3's favorite part of the whole trip was getting to watch Thomas the Tank Engine and his friend Percy together on one of the tracks in the "Garden" area which involved an outdoor setup of trains. The only way we were able to tear him away was to ask him to look for "Toby" the Tram Engine who is also one of his favorites. He did say when we were leaving that Toby was "at home". In fact he has two Toby's at home.

They had an old passenger engine that we got to walk through to see the very small spaces that people had to live in when they traveled on trains. My family all got into the engine part and the window portion was perfect for framing my little family. Of course DS#2 decided to be a little different and hang out the side instead of looking out of the window like everyone else. The big boys had the choice to stay home for this but they decided they wanted to go. I think they were happy they went. :)

Musical Sunday

I just wanted to show the picture of the Majestic Theatre that DH and I went to yesterday. The photo from my pocket camera actually came out decently. Isn't that ceiling just incredible? I loved just looking at the inside of the theatre.

Today, DS#2 had his first guitar recital ever. He played "What Child Is This?" in a duet with his teacher. He was nervous before the recital and he said as much. He went first so he was able to get it done and over quickly. DH and I were pretty proud of him. He's no professional, but he's definitely shown a progression of ability since he started lessons.

We left after the second performance of the recital because we had tickets to see the San Antonio Symphony. They're having a series of concerts specifically targeted at kids and we bought four tickets for DH, DS#2, DD, and me. DS#1 didn't seem interested and DS#3 would not have been able to sit still. Before the concert, DS#2 and DD had a chance to try out some instruments, sort of like a "instrument petting zoo". DD seemed particularly interested in the viola.

The concert was Christmas themed, of course, and included Santa Claus and one of his elves named "Elf Gang Holideus Mozart". It was definitely geared towards younger kids. DS#2 looked bored through most of it, but DD seemed to really enjoy it. (I asked DS#2 just now if he enjoyed the concert and he replied, "Kind of.") We have tickets to two more in the series, so I'm hoping he'll enjoy the others a bit better.

Tonight, we're planning to go to Santa's Railroad Wonderland which is held every December at the Texas Transportation Museum here in town. I'll report back tomorrow with pictures.

Thoughts on The Lion King

DH and I went to see The Lion King at the Majestic Theatre here in town today. I wanted to record some thoughts on the show:

--We didn't take into account the extra traffic in the area because of the Rivercenter Mall and Riverwalk. It took us twice as long to get there and even with valet parking (all the parking garages were full too) we got there late and they wouldn't let us in until after the first act finished. Luckily we got to see the first act on a monitor in the lobby. That was definitely not the same thing, however, as seeing it in person.

--The Majestic Theatre is really beautiful inside. I haven't been to a lot of theatres, but this one seems very unique to me since the ceiling looks like a starry sky and the boxes on the side look like part of a building. Cameras weren't allowed, but I did take a couple of pictures of the theatre during intermission. The pictures from my pocket camera really didn't do the place justice.

--I wanted to be close enough to see the performer's faces and we were. We had great seats! At first some people were in our seats, but since we were late, we didn't bother to say anything until during the intermission. There was a really tall woman in front of me and it was difficult to see past her. Our real seats were so much better.

--The story of The Lion King is simple enough, but the musical arrangement was very beautiful. I love all the harmonies with the African flair.

--The costumes had masks that the performers wore mostly on top of their heads, but at certain times, the masks would slide in front of their faces to add to the drama. This was a unique effect. The costumes were all pretty unique with the combination of puppetry and live action. I really wish I could have take pictures during the show, but I bought a program instead so I could remember some of the costumes.

I'm sure I forgot something, but that's all I can remember right now. DH and I had a lot of fun. :)

Party Day

Today was the designated day for holiday parties where I work. Each clinic is supposed to close by 10:30AM so everyone can participate in their department holiday party. Since I work in the operating room and we can't just stop surgery to have a party, we traditionally have to keep working past the 10:30AM cutoff. What usually happens is that the surgeons don't book as many cases and we still have a fairly light day.

This year our department catered the holiday party. In the past, it was more like a potluck and those that didn't bring anything gave a donation instead. Because of having to come to work in buses and the difficulty that comes with bringing food to work on a bus, the powers that be decided to cater the meal instead. That meant that everyone that wanted to attend had to pay $9 per plate. They had a couple of fundraisers to help pay for the enlisted military personnel so they didn't have to pay so much to eat at the party.

Because of the money that people spent, there was talk that if they didn't get to eat lunch, they would ask for a refund. Because of this, the powers that be decided to be more strict about shutting down (even partially) by 10:30AM. It worked out for the most part. There were a handful of stragglers, but all in all, the surgeons cooperated and everyone had a chance to participate.

There was also a dessert contest where some people did bring a dessert and they had some designated judges. There were some very delicious desserts there--my favorite part of the party. :) I was told to go home by around 1PM, but I stuck around just to get my hours in and because DS#1 didn't get out of school until 4PM.

Meanwhile, DH went to the holiday parties at DD's and DS#2's school. DS#3 was napless so he was a bit needy. DH only took a handful of pictures because DS#3 wanted to be carried constantly. DD had to sit out during the first part of the party because she was being punished for something she did earlier this week. She kept talking during working time in class, so much so that she had to move her clip to red. She didn't move her clip, hoping that the teacher wouldn't notice. When her teacher wrote a note in her conduct folder, she didn't bother showing it to DH or me. She also made the signature box look as if DH or I signed it, which we didn't. We were horrified at how dishonest she was! She's lost her privileges for a week. That includes playing with friends and watching TV. We hope that this will make an impression on her so she won't do this again!

Happy 43rd Bday to Me!

Today was a busy day but in a good way. At work, I was doing my own cases because we were short of residents. When my colleagues came to my room to give me breaks, I told them I didn't need them, although I did take a lunch break. I enjoy doing my own cases because I'm not compelled to talk to anyone during the case. My cases all went very well, so I had a nice, peaceful day.

This morning, one of my colleagues (CH), whose 40th birthday was just last week, saw me in the hallway and said very loudly, "Melanie, isn't it your birthday today? Happy Birthday!" He knew very well it was my birthday but he wanted to tell everyone else, and everyone else heard. All day, every time I saw him, he said the same thing as if he hadn't said it many times already. It was embarrassing but it was a good kind of attention, so it made my day feel a little more special. :)

Another of my colleagues (SB) announced overhead that everyone should wish me a "Happy Birthday" and that I was turning "The Big 5-0"! I don't know which was more concerning, the fact that he announced that erroneous fact overhead or that some people didn't automatically think that he was actually kidding. Of course one person (RM) who just turned 50 this year, teased me very loudly that I was turning 50 also.

Later, one of the anesthesia techs came up to me and asked me to go with him. I had an inkling about what this was about, and I turned out to be right. We went to the Anesthesia workroom and all of the anesthesia techs were there and they sang "Happy Birthday" to me as they were presenting me with a card and a small cupcake. After I thanked them all, one of them told me that the cupcake wasn't originally their idea, as someone had given them a bunch of cupcakes. Still, I thought it was very sweet of all of them to do this for me.

I didn't want to hang around work after I finished my room, so I went ahead and drove to DS#1's school. As it turned out, I waited for DS#1 to get out of soccer practice for almost two hours. He got out almost 30 minutes late--on the day that we were planning to meet DH and the other kids at PF Chang's for dinner. Oh well, at least I got to read my email on my IPhone and read my scrapbooking magazines.

By the time we got to PF Chang's, DH had already ordered and they were almost finished with the Lettuce Wraps appetizer. We ordered the usual Sichuan from the Sea Shrimps and Scallops (my favorite), Chang's Spicy Chicken, Orange Beef (all spicy), and we tried a new lamb dish that wasn't spicy but still very tasty. The kids started talking about sign language and I decided that I wanted a picture of them. Here DD's smile is so big because she's saying that "this means 'thumb'" while wiggling her thumb--total nonsense but she was so pleased with herself. I'm not sure what DS#2 is doing, but he's probably being his normal uncooperative self with pictures. DS#1 couldn't help but hold his hand behind DS#2's head. DS#3 was busy eating his Kid's Lo Mein but when he was finished, with minimal prompting from DH, he came up to me, gave me a hug, and very clearly wished me "Happy Birthday". That totally made my day! :)

What else would we do for dessert but go to Brindles?! I had their Cappucino Crunch (coffee bean bits in coffee ice cream). DD had the "Azteca", chocolate with cinnamon. DS#3 had his favorite, chocolate ice cream. DS#2 had his beloved Dreamsicle shake. DS#1 had the Pumpkin Pie ice cream, and DS had the Cafe Latte ice cream. Here, DD and DS#3 are so busy with their ice cream that they wouldn't look at Mama and her camera!

Because it was already after 7:30PM by the time we got home, we got everyone bathed and dressed for bed before I opened my presents. DS#3 was the most excited about opening presents. He could hardly wait--he started trying to pull at the paper as soon as we set the present down in front of him (and me). In fact, I was opening a present from DD (that she had made in Faith Formation this week) when he went ahead and opened this present.

Of course, my children are my most precious gifts, so I asked DH to take a picture of us, pajamas and all. Despite no makeup and acne, I don't look a day over 43, do I? ;-)

Santa Centerpieces

I have always loved crafts but I do not consider myself "crafty". I can copy what someone else does, but I'm not good at thinking that stuff up on my own. My work office mate, however, is "crafty". He showed me a wreath that he had made using ball ornaments and a big bow--fabulous! He also made some felt stockings for an auction at his kids' school. Just by seeing a picture in a magazine he cut the pattern by hand and sewed it all together by hand. This picture is the "before" picture. He saw these little Santas and lighted sleighs at Michael's Arts and Crafts Store and he saw the makings of a holiday centerpiece.

Here is my office mate with one of the finished products. The sleigh even plugs in and lights up! Our department was supposed to make these centerpieces for the holiday party on Friday and I knew just the person for the job. These are supposed to be raffled off and I think the winners will be happy to get them!

Christmas Cards and Carols

DH finally finished writing the Christmas letter and getting paper to print it on, so tonight we stuffed the envelopes. For the first time ever, we enlisted the kids' help in the task. I folded the letter while the boys put the cards in the envelopes. When I had folded enough letters, they started putting the letters in the envelopes.

During this time, we started singing Christmas carols on our own. DS#1 even changed up a line from "Feliz Navidad". "I want to wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my corazon!" DS#2 loved this so much that he kept singing it this way even when DS#1 wasn't. DH tried to take some video but of course the boys stopped when they saw the video camera. DH gave up after a while and started playing Christmas music from the computer.

After DD finished watching Dora with DS#3, she came over and begged to help. She stuffed the letters into the envelopes while DS#2 applied the return address labels and DS#1 applied the address labels. We all had to keep reminding DS#2 to focus. Sometimes it seems like he isn't able to talk and do his job at the same time. It's actually become a running joke amongst family.

I have a few addresses I still need to get, but we're mostly finished with our cards. Yay! DH will mail what we have tomorrow. Now, on to teacher gifts...

Last Soccer of the Year

We have had two full days of soccer games this weekend. DD and DS#2 seemed to have fun and they learned a lot too, so it was all good. I've been taking Zyrtec for my allergies and that just wipes me out so I'm that much more tired today. I even ended up taking a short nap on the sidelines in between soccer games! Thankfully, DS#1 stayed home with DS#3, who was happier at home.

This first picture is of DD falling during her game yesterday. I missed it, but DH said that DD was being aggressive and ended up taking the ball away from a girl on the other team. She started running with the ball and either the other girl tripped her or she just fell on her own. Either way, the referee called a foul and DD went running to her coach because her wrist hurt from the fall. She was okay in the end, but DH was so pleased that he caught this on the camera for me.

This morning started out very foggy with around the same temperature as yesterday (upper 40s). I took this photo mainly to show how foggy it was. Today we had to get up at 6:30AM to get to the fields. Ugh! DS#2's first game was at 8AM. Even though DS#2's team lost that game, they ended up playing another game today (semifinals), but DD only had one game today, a game they lost.

DD forgot her jacket this morning. At first she took the fleece blanket that I brought for myself and I took every opportunity to remind her that she had forgotten her jacket. I was too cold to give up my jacket, but DH gave up his. DD looked so funny running around in DH's jacket that I had to take a picture. Later I put my red scarf around her head because her face and ears were cold. She was quite a vision in her humongous blue jacket and bright red scarf!

Once again DD's team played "giant" girls. She still needs to learn some strategy, like not running after the ball that your teammate already has but instead running to a position where your teammate can pass to you. Still, she can be aggressive, like in this picture where she is practically shoving this girl so she can get in front of her for the throw in. Her team lost pretty badly today, but we were proud of them for having held their own against the "giant" girls.

Well, today we actually played the last soccer GAMES of the year. DS#1 still has practice after school next week and then on four days over Christmas Break. His first high school soccer game is a scrimmage on Saturday, January 2nd. DS#2 and DD don't have soccer again until February. Hallelujah!

Party Time

This will probably post late because I'm so tired tonight. We had a very full day of soccer today. We got to the fields at about 9AM so DH could check in DS#2's team (he's the team manager) and so DS#1 could volunteer. He has a community service requirement for his high school (a good thing) where he has to volunteer 120 hours of his time over the four years. He was a "field marshal" during part of the time and then he helped put the medals and trophies together. He was so busy that he forgot to eat lunch! I guess that means that he enjoyed himself if he wasn't even looking at the clock.

The morning started in the upper 40s and it was misty and cloudy all day. It may have gotten up to the low 50s but the light wind made it seem SO much colder. DS#3 even allowed me to put the hood of his jacket on! He did okay overall but it was a very long and tiring day for him too. He even ended up falling asleep on my lap around 2PM for around an hour or so. I was so cold that even his warm little sleeping body didn't keep me warm. Unfortunately, it was a junk food day for him. He refused to eat any real food. He even refused to eat a hotdog with ketchup, one of his current favorites. He only ate chips (tortilla and potato chips) and really only had one juice box all day.

DD and DS#2 each won one game and lost one game. Even with that, DD's team was in second place and DS#2's team was in third place going into Sunday. We didn't finish the last game (DS#2's) until after 4PM. Because of the late time, we went straight to church which started at 5PM and then we were so hungry that we went out to eat so we didn't have to cook. We didn't get home until 7:30PM tonight! No wonder I'm exhausted!

Just a short note about Friday night. The Army hospital in town trades off with the Air Force hospital in town in planning our department Christmas party. Well, it was the Air Force's turn and they didn't plan one. One of my colleagues and his wife volunteered their house for a party instead. This was a very generous offer and there was a pretty good turnout. This is a picture of one of my other colleagues (center) and his wife (left) who was also celebrating his 40th birthday. The party hostess is standing on the right. DH and I had a fun time talking with everyone in a relaxed, casual atmostphere. Thanks to SB and JB for being so generous with their home!

A Trip To Bass Pro Shops

I was very busy at work last night so I ended up with less than 4 hours of sleep. That made me less excited about going to the gym with DH. Instead, he took a walk and then we went to Bass Pro Shops at the Rim because we had heard that they had some cool things for kids to do. The first picture is DS#3 in front of a huge fish tank they had in the middle of the store. DS#3 had so much fun pointing to all the "big fish" and "baby fish" (which really weren't much smaller than the "big" fish).

They also had this huge track with a car that would just keep racing around and around the track. All you had to do was push a button and the car would go. No steering involved. There was also a trigger that DS#3 kept pushing that made the car switch tracks (sort of like the switch on train tracks). Notice that DS#3 is talking here (more on this later).

DS#3 watched another kid playing with this big remote control Toyota Tundra and couldn't wait until it was his turn. This involved actual steering, which was difficult for him, but the truck was on this large table with rubber sides and a big tire glued in the middle for the truck to bounce off of, so no harm done. He didn't persist with this, I think, because it was so difficult for him to even hold the controls.

There was even this small shooting arcade type area. DS#3 seemed fascinated with the gun sounds and watching his Papa shoot. This gun was a little too big for him, as you can see. They did have a smaller one for smaller kids to use, but honestly, I think DS#3 wanted the one that his Papa had just because his Papa had it and because it WAS bigger than him. :)

Of course, the big Christmas train was probably DS#3's favorite area. We stayed here for a little while just watching the train going around and around. As you can see, DS#3 is talking here, too. He was his normal chatty little self, mostly saying, "Hey Mama" or "Hey Papa" followed by a description in his words, of what he was looking at. We had a smaller train somewhere that we used to set up under the Christmas tree, but we need to see if it still works. DS#3 would LOVE that!

As a side note, I'm amazed that people were shopping at this place wearing their camouflage. It made me wonder if they came in to shop right before or after going to wherever it was they were hunting or fishing or whatever at. Surely they don't wear that stuff all the time?! Bass Pro Shops even sells camouflage for toddlers/kids! They have crafts for kids on the weekends. We might have to go back there some time.

Tent Trains

DS#3 is still one train-obsessed boy. He also benefits from having lots of toys because he is the youngest of four children. This morning he started yelling "tent" while he was upstairs in the game room and I was downstairs. I didn't realize what he wanted until I got upstairs and he was next to the folded up tent. When I unfolded the tent he proceeded to take several trains and put them inside the tent. I decided that he also needed tracks in there and I set up a circular track for him. He was just happy as a clam playing with his trains in this new venue.

I also have another cute story about trains this morning. I needed to change DS#3's poopy diaper and he didn't want to stop playing to allow me to do that. I told him that he could bring a train with him. He was looking at his trains and I sensed some hesitation, so I told him he could even bring two trains if he wanted. (Mind you, the changing area is less than ten feet away from the train table.) He then said, "Yes!" and proceeded to name (and take into his hands) "Peter Sam, James" and since the trains were all stuck together and more started getting picked up as he picked up the initial couple of trains, he named more--"Sir Handel, Diesel, Mavis". Yes, he had five trains cradled in his arms/hands as I took him to the changing table. I had to chuckle to myself but I was thankful that I could change his diaper without any fuss.

I'm home today because I'm on call tomorrow. I made the kids some cinnamon sugar crescent rolls and some turkey and cheese filled crescent rolls this morning and I got to play with DS#3. I'm looking forward to similar activities tomorrow when I get home from work.

Happy 44th to DH

Today is DH's 44th birthday. Apparently, none of the children remembered this fact this morning, but he was fine with it. He spent the day at home playing with his new PS3 game, in between caring for DS#3, of course. One of our good friends, KT, walked by while I was talking to DH, so I handed her the phone to say "Happy Birthday". When he told her what he had planned for today, she joked to him, "I want your life." She has a pretty hectic schedule with her three children also but we talked today about how we'll both miss our hectic schedules when the kids are grown and out of the house. She really wishes she could stay home with the kids.

At one point today, KT was calling her kids' school because two of her kids were in the school nurse's office. She made me glad that DH is able to stay home and take care of the kids when they're sick. One of the other ladies at work complained that she had to make phone calls about her broken water softener instead of her husband making the calls. After that I called DH just to tell him that I appreciate all that he does for me and for our family. He makes life SO much easier for me!

One thing that DH didn't want to do today was cook or prepare dinner--or clean up after dinner. We expected to have soccer practice tonight from 6-7:30PM and then 7:30-9PM. The weather was a bit "misty" or drizzly and cloudy for most of the day, but it wasn't too wet. Despite that, we got the word this afternoon that the soccer fields were closed. It was as if God smiled on DH and cancelled soccer so that DH was able to go out to eat with his family on his birthday. He had said on Sunday that going out to eat with the family was all he really wanted for his birthday.

DS#1 was done with high school soccer practice by 5:30PM so we left his school and met DH and the other kids at Fuddrucker's. After dinner we went to the Baskin-Robbins near our house. I had to take this picture because DS#1 was sitting next to the spot on the wall that said, "Eat dessert first" with his huge waffle cone. DS#2 is making that funny face (he actually wanted to be in the picture!) because he was disappointed that he only got a kids' cone versus the big waffle cone. He's trying to look like he's pouting in the picture.

We didn't know about it ahead of time, but apparently kids' scoops are $1 on Tuesdays. We would have gotten DS#3 one of his own anyway, but cheaper is better. When he saw DD's Rainbow Sherbet, he immediately asked for the "pink and owe-ange one". He was taking so long to eat his ice cream and we were all waiting for him to finish so we could go home. Luckily, he started feeding DD his ice cream. She wanted to have some more ice cream and he really enjoyed feeding it to her.

Tonight DH played his new game for another couple of hours. I think this turned out to be a very happy birthday for him. :)

Fight Animation by DS#1

DS#1 created this animated movie he calls "Fight Animation" for his Survey of Design Technology class. My picture of the day shows him watching this video with DH on DH's computer. DH recently bought the student version of Adobe Creative Suite 4 which contains the Adobe Flash program that DS#1 used to create this movie. The Creative Suite was rather pricey but DH plans on using it himself and it will be more convenient for us if DS#1 has access to the same programs at home that he has at school. With classes that teach him cool stuff like this, no wonder he loves school!

Timelines

DD had her Christmas recital today. Her teacher had all of her students doing ensembles. She said it was the first time she'd done things this way. That meant lots of duets between students and other students or with her. I enjoyed the added dimension in the music with the duets vs. the solos. Our friends, the T family have three kids as her students and they played with each other and with their father. Very cool!

After the recital, DD's teacher and I talked about how she has progressed beyond our friends (the T family), who started lessons before her. I hadn't talked to DD's teacher in a while because I never get to take her to lessons anymore. I get to pick up DS#1 while DH takes DD to her lessons. She told me that she gives DD the choice of preparing 2, 3, or 4 pieces for each week and DD usually picks 4. I told her that 4 is too many. She told me that DD is doing very well and can handle it. I told her that 4 pieces is too stressful for ME. Remember when I could barely get DD to practice? Now she is picking 4 pieces to practice for each week? Personally I think DD gets bored when it's just one or two pieces but when she is assigned more pieces I feel like she has to master all of them because they were assigned, so I feel like I have to push her more. DD certainly loved the fact that she is now ahead of her friends. It's nice to see that she has a bit of a competitive streak in her. :)

After the recital, we came home and finished DD's project for school that is due tomorrow. They're studying timelines in class and she was supposed to put together some sort of timeline using pictures, either in different years or in the same year if it was eventful. She chose to highlight different trips she has taken since she was born, and we picked one picture/trip per year of age with 8 total pictures.

I glued and measured everything, but she chose the background color. She chose to use a flower (using one of my punches) to designate certain points in her timeline. We used a big flower for each birthday and we used a small flower to pinpoint when she took each trip. She also picked out the photos she wanted to use and she pretty much chose the pictures that made her laugh. The first trip/airplane ride she ever took was to New Jersey for my cousin's wedding when she was just 3 1/2 months old. She picked that picture because she is in her car seat with a car seat cover over her so that only her little face was showing. Her next trip was to Colorado when she was 8 months old and she chose that picture because she has pink sunglasses on. The next picture was with her godfather and she chose that one because of the funny expression on her face, and so on. As I previously stated, she chose pictures that made her laugh. :)

We went out do dinner for DH's birthday today. His actual birthday is on Tuesday but since he will be gone to soccer practice with DS#2 and DD by the time I get home from DS#1's high school soccer practice and the rest of the week is also busy, he wanted to have the family birthday dinner tonight. We went to his favorite restaurant El Mirasol, of course. After dinner he sat in the living room to open his one present and that's when I took this picture. Notice that everyone is looking at the camera and smiling except for DS#3. Notice that he is very focused on DH's present, as he was as soon as he saw it. He could hardly wait until DH let him "help" open it. Remember on his birthday when he wouldn't even open his own presents? That's not a problem anymore. :)

The present was the new "Dragon Age Origins" game for the Playstation 3. DH had mentioned wanting to get it and I was planning on buying it, but then he ordered it through Amazon. I had no other ideas on what to get him so I "made him" wrap it and not play with it until tonight. Yes, he has been playing with it for the last couple of hours and I have a feeling he'll be wasting more time with it in the coming weeks.

Little Tree

This morning we put lights on the crepe myrtle trees we have in front of the house. DH had fashioned a tree from net lights around the fountain plus we have a light-up Santa and reindeer which have all been up since before Thanksgiving, but it still just looks so dark out there at night. It was rather nippy outside with the temps in the 40s, so our fingers were frozen until we found our gloves still in the bag from our Colorado trip last March. DS#3 was fascinated by the lights and just sat there looking at them until we were finished.

When we were done, DS#3 went over to one of the big trees and saw that a tiny tree was beginning to come out of the ground below all the big trees. He kept talking to his big brother about how this was a "li'l chee" (little tree). DS#1 seemed to be enjoying just listening to his baby brother.

DH also got out my collection of standing Santas. I'll take a picture of the lights later when it gets dark.

Piece of the Puzzle

DS#3 has never been overly affectionate. He gives hugs and kisses on his own time--when HE is ready and when HE feels like it. No matter what, I can usually convince him to at least say "I wuv you, Mama" when I put him to bed. For the last couple of weeks or so, he has been refusing to do even that. In fact, he's been refusing to give me any hugs or kisses at all, and if I go ahead and kiss him, he'll wipe it off. He has still been giving lots of hugs and kisses to his big sister, however.

Before tonight, I've really only seen DS#3 do those wooden single piece puzzles with the handles on each of the pieces, although I've seen the other puzzles strewn about in the gameroom. Tonight we put some puzzles together, a couple of 24 piece and one 12 piece puzzle. I put together most of the puzzles, but he would put a couple of pieces together here and there. When it came down to the last couple of pieces of the Dora puzzle, for example, he knew exactly where they went and one of them, when he held it up to the rest of the puzzle, he realized that it needed to be rotated 180 degrees and did just that to make it fit. I was amazed. I told him what a smart boy he was and he just made that embarrassed smile face that he makes.

I realized that this was probably the most time I've spent with him in the last week or so. DD, on the other hand, has been spending lots of time playing with him. Last weekend, she even played "school" with him. He wanted to wear his Dora backpack and everything--too cute. Tonight he said "I wuv you, Mama" when I put him in bed. Maybe I need to spend some more quality time with my youngest boy. Then maybe he'll start giving me more kisses and hugs again.

Funny Face

I've been doing this photo a day project (aka Project 365) this year and I have to admit that I'm tired and just want it to be over. Sometimes I'm just not feeling creative and this project forces me to be creative, which isn't always such a bad thing, but I'm still tired. For example, I didn't get home until 6:30PM again tonight because DS#1 didn't finish with soccer practice until 6PM. I got him another "Double Baconator" from Wendy's, and I had already finished my small chili when he got in the car. When we got home we only had a half hour before we left again, this time for his Club Soccer practice. DH had already left with the "little ones" for DS#2's Club Soccer practice. I went there, picked up the "little ones" and when I got home, as y'all can imagine, I was pooped--but I still had to get a picture for today.


DS#3 was wearing this cute shirt and I got it into my head that I wanted a picture of him wearing the shirt, especially since I wanted to show off the shirt to his Grandma, who recently got back from vacation in Italy and probably needs her baby fix. She also loves penguins, which is one reason why DH and I bought this shirt last week. DH also liked it because it says, "Cool Like Daddy".

I finally managed to get this picture! He kept laying back on the sofa or holding his Thomas DVD in front of the shirt or he just wasn't looking at the camera, etc. Finally, DS#2 helped me by talking about making a "funny face". After a few tries, DS#3 finally looked my way during his "funny face" pose. This boy loves copying his siblings. DH and I hope that his siblings will manage some behavior worth copying. At least I got my picture of the day for today!

Collecting Coins

DS#2 loves coins and coin collecting, just like his Papa. He's been talking about how he has a collection of state quarters, so today I was able to go by Michael's and buy him a coin book to put his coins in. I started helping him figure out which state and whether or not there was a "D" (for "Denver") or "P" (for "Philadelphia") and putting the coin in the appropriate hole. DH then whispered to me that half the fun of collecting is looking for the right coin, so I stopped so DS#2 could do it himself. He was taking a shower at the time. He was very appreciative of my getting the coin book. He even gave me an extra kiss goodnight, which makes it worth it to me. :)

They're going to post the results of the soccer tryouts tomorrow. DS#1 is confident that he should at least make one of the three teams and he thinks it will be the Junior Varsity A team (which would mean 19 high school soccer games in 2 1/2 months starting in January). Please think of him tomorrow around 8:40AM!

The "Baconator" revisited

I posted about DS#1 and Wendy's "Baconator" this past September. I finally got a picture of him today with the "Double Baconator". When I picked him up from soccer tryouts, he was so hungry that he asked me to get him something to eat before we went home. When we were in line at the Wendy's Drive Thru, I saw a sign for the "Triple Baconator". When I pointed it out to him (implying that he might want that instead of the "Double Baconator" if he was that hungry), he replied that he knew about it already but that he didn't want to "feel fat." I couldn't believe he said that! Anyway, he ended up watching "Star Trek" on my IPhone on the way home so he didn't actually eat it until we were already at home. It's going to be a LONG week of soccer tryouts for both of us.