Blunt Force Trauma

Today Rhys got to go to the hospital.  Neal was in the backyard with the kids and I was in the kitchen when I heard Rhys crying pretty hard.  He had left the backyard and made his way into the garage and to the door connecting it to our house dripping blood the whole way.  When I opened the door the red stuff helped me register that there was something wrong.  I quickly called Neal in for back up and we put pressure and ice on the wound until we could see what we were working with--a deep jagged gash on his chin.  These pictures were taken with my phone so I apologize for the quality but you get the idea.

Neither of us saw anything happen.  Neal was busy pulling out old tomato plants on the side of the back yard when whatever happened.  Later we looked and think it was an old bike he must have fell off of or something. 

We ended up at the ER and waited about 3 hours before they were able to stitch him up.  He had stopped crying back at home was was rather content waiting.  He even fell asleep during peak nap time hours for about 30 minutes.  The ER was crazy!  I got up once to change his diaper and there were no seats when I got back to the waiting area.  I later found out that they typically get 5 people per hour on a slow day and today they were getting about 30 people an hour! 

We finally got stitched up which was not fun for Rhys or Mommy!  Two inside and 5 more to close him up.  He did pretty good though and the man stitching him was sweating but being patient because Rhys was moving quite a bit.  He did a great job getting through it and was pleasant the rest of the day.  He occasionally tells us "ow" -- a total understatement!  Stitches should be out in about 6 days.  It's under his chin so scaring shouldn't be to noticeable. 

You're a trooper, Rhys!

National Thank You Note Day

Did you know that December 26th is National Thank You Note Day?!  I don't know who said so but I'm a nut for the bizarre, mostly unknown observances as well as the traditional, popularized one.  So we sat down and as part of our Family Home Evening, discussed gratitude briefly and went to town writing thank yous.  Here, the kids are making their thank you letters for Santa.

Christmas Day

We all slept well.  When everyone was out of bed, we let the kids unload their stockings first.  Rhys was not pleased that we had disrupted his usual morning routine of cartoons and breakfast and had to be coaxed into exploring his stocking. Sophie noticed Santa had accepted her gift and left not a crumb of the cookies.  She checked and saw that the reindeer had eaten all the carrots.

We had breakfast next.  Neal made up some hash browns and bacon while Keri made eggnog french toast. 

Then we helped the kids open their presents from family and Santa.

Then we were into our church clothes and off to a Christmas Sacrament meeting.  I know the clothes don't matter to God but everyone looked so merry in their holiday red and green.  It took some time for the priesthood holders to pass the sacrament as there was a lot of family visiting.  The music and narration of the Christmas story from the Book of Mormon and the Bible was beautiful.

Back at home we played with new toys and games, rested, and then started prepping dinner.  Rudy and Becky joined us after spending the morning in Louisiana and driving back to Plano.  We caught up on family and then sat down to Neal's choice for dinner--tamales (black bean, cheese, and chicken-tomatillo), Spanish rice, corn on the cob, and salad.

After dinner we opened presents from Oma and Opa, played games, ate sweets, including Neal's pie that turned out so yummy. It was a wonderful, low-key, joyous Christmas.

T'was the Night Before Christmas

Had an awesome Christmas Eve.  Took it pretty easy--did minimal grocery shopping, went out to lunch, played games inside and then got started on dinner.
 
For Christmas Eve dinner, Keri chose to make breakfast (Neal got to choose Christmas Day dinner).  We had Orange Waffles with Cranberry Syrup and they were great.  Used whole wheat flour and corn starch for the cake flour and nearly doubled the zest.

Then Neal finished up his pumpkin-butternut pie.  Don't ask Neal to cut butter into flour with two knifes.  He turns into Scrooge.  But when his pie comes out perfect he turns into the spirit of Christmas himself.  Although he did state that the color of the pie looked like "baby crap."  The coloring looks great in this photo though.

We watched The Nativity movie, which is minutes, a few times and talked them through the Bible's Christmas story while it played.  Then we got the carrots put out on the back porch for Santa's reindeer and Sophie put her present to Santa and cookies near the fireplace. 

Then it was off to bed and Sophie got the Three Wise Women of Christmas as a bedtime story.  Rhys got the simple version on Jesus' birth from his board book New Testament.

Neal and I wound down and flipped channels catching a few scenes from A Christmas Story.  It was a very good day.

Something Crumby for Kriss Kringle

This week the kids and Keri heard a little Christmas gem on the radio:
How Many Cookies Can Santa Claus Eat? by Tom Paxton

How many cookies can Santa Claus eat?
How hungry will he be?
We'd better pile the plate so high
With cookies nearly to the sky
To feed Saint Nick so he can fly
To kids like you and me

Well, it certainly got Keri thinking about one of our favorite traditions--making treats for Santa.  It was our advent activity for tonight.  This year we did a Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookie that turned out great.  Used whole wheat flout, crunchy PB instead of creamy, and added chocolate chips instead of chopped peanuts.  The kids had a blast pounding the pretzels into bits. 

Everyone got to sample before our little cubs were scooted off to bed.  Somehow, Neal and Keri just know Santa will love them too.

Getting My Craft On!

I started these at a Super Saturday back in September.  Or was it August?  Anyway, Super Saturdays are a part of Latter-Day Saint or Mormon culture it seems, at least in the States.  The women of the church get together, usually without their kids, and get their craft on for the morning/day.  There are a variety of projects one can sign up for and they happen whenever someone is ambitious enough to organize it.

So, I completed these cute little books for my kids Christmas gifts.  They can actually use them in church on Christmas morning.  We are hoping to provide options that will help them feel reverence during our sacrament meeting.  They have been doing progressively better so good for them!

Also, I finished this word art just in the nick of time!

Bah Humbug!

On Friday of last week Keri started feeling sick and went down with a stomach bug over the weekend.  And now Keri's good but Neal is feeling ill.  Not fun, especially around the holidays.  Thus, the "humbug."  Needless to say we have been flexible with our Christmas family activities in our attempt to enjoy the season without undue stress.
On Friday, we just grabbed some candy and shoved it in the advent box in lieu of the activity so we didn't have to think. 

Saturday, instead of the whole family, only Neal and Sophie went to a movie matinee of Arthur Christmas while Rhys and Keri napped.

Sunday, Neal and the kids "ate Frosty" when they made the bagels we did in Rhys' preschool class, as seen in this post.  Keri slept in.  Thank you, Neal.

Monday, we were all well but Sophie passed out at dinner and did not wake fully until morning.  Needless to say, we adjusted.  Our family Christmas shopping trip to the dollar store was a date for Keri and Rhys.
Tuesday, Neal started feeling bad but we made it out to one of our local shopping areas to take a holiday trolley ride and see their lights.  But, that night in particular, the managers of the shopping center were trying to locate the trolley company because none of them were present or running as they had planned.  So, we went for a chilly walk and ended the evening at a cookie shop.  Poor us, right?!

Wednesday, Neal was in bad shape and we cancelled our activity to roast chestnuts.  Instead, we went with an idea Sophie started earlier in the day.  Than morning, she asked Keri, from the back seat of the car, "Does Santa have a Christmas tree?"  Learning that he most certainly did, she suggested, "We should give him a Christmas gift so he can put it under his tree."  How sweet is that?!

So, after a bit of discussion and thought, Sophie chose one of her less loved toys to wrap up for Santa that evening.  It's sitting under our tree for now but we will place it next to his cookies and milk so he doesn't miss it.

Tonight, Neal took his turn at sleep while Keri and the kids popped corn and jumped in the car for a tour of lights.  We visited a nearby neighborhood and really enjoyed ourselves.  In fact, this has been a very trying day for Keri and she finally felt calm and enjoyed the kids. 

There were beautiful lights at many of the houses but we appreciate specific houses that brandish their Texas pride through the medium of Christmas lights, lest we forget which state we live.  Tonight we saw Santa with cowboy hat, a team of reindeer led by, not Rudolf, but a long horn steer, and the not-so-uncommon outlined state of Texas with "Merry Christmas Y'all" emblazoned across it--each at a different house.  It was a good time.

Sibling Fun or Rivalry?

So I hear Sophie nicely asking me for help and I make my way down the hallway to witness her in this predicament.  That's our hamper with Sophie inside and her little brother atop.  I knew Rhys was climbing more but I'm not sure how he managed this one.  Anyway, I'm pretty sure he "won" this one--just behold the look of gratification on his face!

Sophie's Preschool "Winter Party"

Today, the family was able to visit Sophie for a short time during her "Winter Party" which we all know is code for "Christmas Party."  Neal came during his lunch and I just love that he works in the city we live.  Sophie was surprised to see me but was really impressed that her daddy was there. 

She and her classmates enjoyed Christmas stories, cookies, bingo games, cookie decorating, Christmas memory games, present opening, and singing.  Rhys loved playing in the play area and eating cookies too.

Here Sophie is decorating a snowman cookie, and below she is sneaking a candy corn "carrot" nose!  When she actually started applying decorations to the snowman I drew her attention to the fact that the snowman was up-side-down, otherwise the candy corn nose she placed would have made our snowman anatomically correct.  Good save, Mom!

More Yuletide Family Fun

As we continue to open the advent boxes, we continue to enjoy ourselves this Christmas. 

On Sunday evening, we were able to visit family friends and drop off goodies (a roll of Christmas gift wrap with a tag stating, "Hope you are getting all wrapped up in the spirit of the season." Cute, inexpensive, practical, and calorie free so we weren't tempted!). 

While making our visits, we really had a great time viewing all the Christmas lights in the neighborhoods.  The kids were in the back seat going "Ooooo" and "Aaaaahhh" at the extravagant displays.

Monday was an awesome activity.  For Family Home Evening, we opened with prayer and a children's Christmas hymn.  Then we rolled out some butcher paper and Keri drew out the first Christmas with a magic marker while Neal read the account from the bible.  The kids loved coloring the scene with their crayons.  When we  were done, we had a beautiful mural put up on our play room wall, and as we had hoped, the kids have referred to it often. It has been a great visual reminder for us all.

Tuesday, Neal and Keri planned to attend the temple in the evening so the kids and Keri made treats to share with the family that would be watching over the kids that night.  We dipped pretzel rods into chocolate and sprinkled them with Christmas candy. The kids were really into it! 

Rhys annihilated the delicate art of sprinkling and went with the "more is better" method.  Yep, that a complete bottle dumped in the corner.  The kids enjoyed sampling sprinkles and cleaning the sweet, gooey pot.  The counter was a field of chocolaty fingerprints when all was said and done.

And at this point, Keri had to actually put down the camera and parent our death defying toddlers.

On Wednesday, we returned the favor as our friends attended the temple and had Kenzie as our guest.  We had the kids coloring pictures and signing Christmas cards to send to a couple people they were missing.

And tonight, we had special guests over for dinner.  Elder Park and Elder Dunbar are missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

They were very gracious and we enjoyed some good conversation with them.  Keri warned them that they were serving as guinea pigs for a new recipe: Autumn Vegetable Pot Pie.  They ate dinner with a smile and Neal provided a high score (and Keri knows he is brutally honest) so we may be having it again.  It was a nice, easy-going meal and we were glad to have them as guests.  They even tolerated me taking at picture of them for the blog--See! Mormon missionaries are the best!

Again, we'll post more holiday happenings as we open more advent boxes.