Christmas 2014 (so far)

We've survived 3 out of our 4 Christmas gatherings...exhausted but happy to be home together and blessed to have so much of our family close enough to visit with over the holidays.

Last week we were all really sick. It was Kai's only full week of school all month and he missed 3 days due to so much coughing and congestion. We got him on antibiotics for his double ear infection and he is already doing better. As the week progressed the rest of us started to feel under the weather. Instaed of their usual jaunt to Grandma's last Thursday we all stayed home sick. Friday was Malakai's class party and I was able to swing by the school and grab all the crafts for him to do at home. I had also gone to have dental work done that morning and taken Des and Aurelia to the doctor, making myself an appointment for Monday. 4 out of 5 of us were prescribed antibiotics. Ben stayed home sick Monday and really should have stayed home more but had too much work to get done to try to do it all remotely from home. It was a whirlwind of a week and a half leading up to Christmas. We did as much as we could in advance to avoid late nights of wrapping gifts and making food for the upcoming events. 

Ben worked a half day Christmas eve and as soon as he got home we hit the ground running. We were all feeling well enough to celebrate, so we headed to church and then to his parents to gather with all his siblings. We had a great dinner and quite the gift exchange.

{Aurelia's 1st Christmas Eve in a dress I made her}

{these boys could hardly contain their excitement} 

Our tradition is to open one gift on Christmas eve (hint: it's always pajamas), read T'was the Night before Christmas, leave cookies for Santa and head to bed. We were out fairly late, and having anticipating as much we brought the PJ's with us and I set the cookies out for the boys who had passed out on the short drive home. 

We had Christmas morning at home, just the 5 of us. The boys even tolerated waiting for Aurelia to sleep in a bit while they snuggled up with daddy on the couch after a quick breakfast. Once I got my coffee we let the kids dig into their gifts from Santa and then from us. Our rules on gifts is to keep it simple, so we always have a pretty minimalist Christmas, and we like it that way. Each kiddo got a few presents from Santa, and 2 gifts from us. Ben and I also got a few gifts from Santa and 1 thing for each other. 

{my precious gifts}

We had a pretty leisure morning and early afternoon letting the kids play with their gifts, read and color and watch a Christmas special. Then we scrambled to get out of the house for our 2 family gatherings that day. We had dinner with my Aunt + Uncle on my dad's side and dessert at my Aunt + Uncle's and my mom's side of the family. Thankfully we snapped some photos before leaving the house because everything else happened in such a blur that we barely took any pictures once we left the house. 

{Aurelia in her Christmas dress from Mima}

We dragged ourselves home just before 9pm, carried sleeping kiddos into the house and snuggled up to watch A Christmas Story (which Ben had never seen), then promptly passed out from sheer exhaustion. 

Today we purposefully planned absolutely nothing. We've been eating at odd hours and watching a little tv between playing with new toys and reading new books together. 

Tomorrow is our last Christmas gathering, with my parents + siblings, and we'll have a small celebration for my birthday as well. The best part is that both Ben + Malakai are on vacation for another 10 days and I'm enjoying ever minute of it. 

I hope you've had a very happy Christmas and here's to a healthy and blessed new year in 2015!

Trimming the tree...more Christmastime photos

When we got our Christmas tree we brought it in later that afternoon and decorated it that night. I love watching my kids put ornaments on the tree and marvel over the twinkly lights. I know they won't want to help with this tradition forever, so I try to take it in while it's still fun for everyone. 

Ben snapped a few of these pictures from outside our front window. I love seeing him use his creative talents.

Here are a few more shots of Aurelia in our baby santa outfit. Later I moved her nearer the tree and she stared at the lights and watched her brothers hang ornaments.

Growing up we had to take turns with the honor of putting the topper on the tree after all the other decorations are on. We started doing that with the boys this year...

Surprisingly enough, with a new baby and three kids total our house looks more festive than it ever has this time of year. We've got a fun mix of handmade, gifted, store bought and kid-made decorations  throughout the house. My only regret is not buying a matching stocking and holder when I got the boys theirs years ago. Target no longer carries the silver letters we put on each boy's stocking, nor the type of stocking we got them. They are currently out of stock of the holders that we hang them from, so I'm waiting for them to either restock or hopefully still carry them (or something similar) next year. It's not the end of the world but I just think it would be cute to have them match or at least coordinate. 

More on our Christmastime festivities to come...

my little santas

Each of our kids has worn this santa costume for their first Christmas time, usually while we decorate the tree. This was first my brother Cody's so it's 20-something year's old at this point. I can't wait to pass it back to my siblings some day for more pictures like these...

Malakai was 5 months at his first Christmas in 2009. Desmond was just over 2 months in 2011 and Aurelia will be 3.5 months for hers this year. 

Love my little santa babies...

Thanksgiving weekend

I can't believe our first long weekend of the holidays is already coming to a close. Malakai was off of school for 5 days, and Ben was off work for 4. It has been so nice having them home, especially right when I came down with a rather brutal cold. Now I just need to pray hard that everyone else stays healthy!

After 9 years of double Thanksgivings (both in one day) we decided to simplify and just do one this year. Mostly because it's easier with a baby (who isn't a fan of the car seat anyway) and partly because we wanted to stay in town. We've discussed maybe starting an every other year tradition where we rotate who we celebrate with each year. It was so restful to be able to stay at one location all day instead of having to plan to transition multiple times and figure out what to eat where and all that jazz. Packing up the kids just once to leave and once to go home was one of the best parts. We missed the other side of the family but we saw most of them the next day anyhow. 

Aurelia ate + slept through most of her first Thanksgiving, so she's already pretty much got the traditions down. The boys enjoyed playing with cousins and other relatives all day. It was a nice and relatively relaxing day. 

Normally we go get our Christmas tree a day or two after Thanksgiving but with the forecast of rain and my feeling under the weather we chose to push it back to next weekend. It also gives us more time to clear a space for the tree and pull the Christmas decor out of storage. 

Last year I made an Advent calendar for the boys that they loved. This year Malakai made a chain at Sunday school that we'll start shortening day by day. Each link has a scripture verse and activity. We should be plenty busy learning and celebrating all month long. 

Dear Desmond, on your 2nd birthday.

{traditional birthday breakfast at Original Pancake House}

Dear precious Desmond,

You have grown from my baby into my little boy very quickly over the last 2 years! You've worked hard to keep up with your big brother and are always found by his side, usually mimicking his every move and word. You've picked up on a lot language over the past year and I'm still in awe over the full blown conversations we've been having over the last few months. I love that you can easily tell me how you are feeling and even why. Your verbal skills have surely come in handy in holding your own when your brother gets a bit bossy. 

You've always been our little climber, before you were walking you were climbing. Just the other day I caught you climbing your chair to reach something on the table, you waved me off and said "no problem, no problem." Sadly you're starting to tune me out when you're intent on doing something that you know you shouldn't. I see the same fierce independence Malakai had at this age coming through in you as well. 

I love watching you learn and grow. You love numbers and shapes and devour books by the dozens. We have to go to the library once a week to keep up with your appetite for reading both with someone or thumbing through picture books on your own. 

Your favorite things are animals, especially those that say "ROAR", like lions, tigers, bears and dinosaurs. You love to say chomp like a crocodile as well. You are obsessed with trucks, trains, planes and pretty much anything that goes "vroom". Your party theme was modeled after this, "things that go". You remember the different sounds that fire trucks, dump trucks, trains and other automobiles make and you've memorized a few of your favorite books. 

Running and hopping come easy to you. I'm sure you'll be pedaling a bike with ease by next spring. You are a phenomenal eater, trying almost anything and going back to try several times even when you've decided "I don't wike it!"I'm so thankful you haven't started to mimick your older brother in this regard. You have always grown fast and are now growing into Kai's clothes almost immediately after he grows out of them. 

Sleep has been a struggle for the past 10 months or so. You did well as a baby, but since last December you haven't been able to go to bed for anyone but daddy at night. The last few months have been rough even with daddy by your side. Thankfully you nap pretty consistently, although that tide is changing as well. I'm praying hard you hold on to your afternoon nap for at least another year, I know you need that rest because you get VERY cranky at dinner time without it. 

Your favorite places to go are Grandma's, Mima's and church. Whenever we get in the car you say, "go to church!" and half the time, that's exactly where we are headed. You've learned the look of our neighborhood and shout "we're home!" when we turn onto our street. 

Sweet Des, you are very social and love to play with bigger kids. You shout hello to the neighbor boys whenever the front door opens and run to greet your daddy each afternoon when he arrives home from work. You transition to new environments quickly, even when you shed a few tears of protest they dry quickly and you have a great time making friends wherever you go. 

My good natured boy, I love you dearly and am so proud to be your mama. Let's continue on this adventure and keep on growing together. Happy Birthday Desmond!

Yours, mama.

_______ ___ _______ ___ _______ ___ _______

On Desmond's 2nd birthday we woke him up and whisked away, just the 4 of us, for an early breakfast at Original Pancake House. This is a tradition we started on Malakai's 2nd birthday. It's easily one of my favorites. 

Desmond was very excited for pancakes and especially blowing out his candle. He blew it out as soon as the plate was set in front of him. We clearly needed a do-over, so the waitress came back to re-light the candle so we could sing to him and I could capture the obligatory photo. That scrunchy face didn't disappoint. Oh how I love a good 2 year old facial expression

{waiting is more bearable with a bendy-straw}

Both boys were on their best behavior and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as usual. Taking kids out to breakfast is much more preferable than dinner!

Just before we headed out we got a quick family "selfie" and by some miracle Ben captured all of us smiling (albeit Kai's is quite goofy, but it's still a smile). 

Ben headed off to work and I took the boys to play indoors at the mall (it was freezing cold and windy that morning so the park was not a great option). They had a great time and walked hand in hand so sweetly. 

{Des LOVES trains!}

Before lunch we headed to the downtown library, which is much bigger than the little branch on our side of town. Malakai was looking forward to the elevators and Desmond enjoyed running around the aisles. I grabbed a ton of books to keep them happy later that afternoon. 

We headed home for lunch, Des took a nice little nap and once Ben got home we had dinner, cupcakes and gave Desmond one of his presents. Then off to bed! It was a whirlwind of a day but Desmond had a great 2nd birthday and we still have his party to look forward to!

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

A week ago we went on an adventure to find the perfect Christmas tree. Since then things have been a bit busy, so not only have I not had time to share the photos, but it took us almost another week to get the tree decorated. Now it's decorated and oh-so festive, here's how we got to that point...

I had wanted to go to a Christmas Tree farm instead of a lot this year. I also wanted to find a place that had a horse ride and a certain festive ambiance that we could enjoy as a family. I knew it would probably cost a bit extra, but we considered it part of Kai's Christmas gift as we were mostly doing it for him.

We set out on a bitter cold morning with my parents and siblings in tow to Al's Hidden Valley Tree Farm per numerous recommendations after I polled my friends on facebook. They had it all, a covered gazebo with a fire pit and hot drinks and a carriage pulled by beautiful draft horses to take you out to find your tree. I may have been the most excited out of all of us, especially about the horses.



We waited quite a bit for the horses to come around and take us out to search for a tree. Once we got out to the right spot we tried to make quick work of finding the right tree because it was freezing cold outside. Desmond was bundled up in the front carrier and was thankfully the warmest out of all of us. Getting Kai to wear anything is a challenge, so you can only imagine the struggle to get him in to a warm puffy jacket. He refused to wear anything to warm his hands.



As soon as Malakai set foot amongst the trees and brush he began to stop on the tall grass and hit at it with his arms, making a very boyish crushing sound effect.

Then Kai and G'Pa got to running around the trees which I think really helped warm him up.

Once we found the perfect tree (not too tall and not too wide) we loaded it on to a trailer and headed back on foot so we didn't have to wait for the rest of the group to ride the carriage back. We drank hot cocoa + cider and cozied up by the fire while I tree got shaken out and bundled up.

I had never seen such a crazy machine as the one that shakes out the trees. I felt quite assured that we wouldn't be bringing any bugs home with us this year. It may seem silly but it's an honest concern for me after having baby spiders hatch in our house last year and slugs in our garage the year before. It's been a week now and we've seen no spiders or other creatures in the house.

Ben tossed the tree into my dad's truck and we headed down the street to their house for lunch. Oh, and here are a couple funny photos that I couldn't help but share...

I caught my mom giving me a weird look after I put Des in the Ergo so I asked her if I looked funny and then posed while she took my picture to show me how I looked. Below that is my sister Amanda with her boyfriend Kyle and our brother Cody acting super excited about the red tree...also a pose inspired by my mom as she really liked the little rust colored trees. 

When we finally got to decorate the tree, a few days after it was hanging out in our house, Malakai knew exactly what to do from his practice round at Mima + G'Pa's. He dumped out the ornaments again (Thank goodness we have plastic ones that look glass years ago when we had cats). Then he proceeded to hang them all in the same spot...

Ben helped him at first while I snuggled with Des and snapped photos of the festivities....

Then Kai put the star on top of the tree for the first time. He knew just what to do and was so excited about the whole event. 

Once it was up we turned out the lights and ooh + awed. 

This didn't last long because once the lights were out Malakai insisted they stay off and we play "nuh-night" and lay on the floor. All in all, the decorating of the tree lasted about 15 minutes and then we had to move on to something else. Ben and I finished the rest of the ornaments a few days later after bedtime.

So now our tree and other decor are up and we actually get to enjoy it before Christmas passes us by. Now I'm on to crafting up gifts for family any chance I get a free moment, which is always only when Ben is home and both boys are either happy or sleeping. Most of the time these events do not align for long. Here's hoping I can get it all done in time!

Grad

Today my little brother graduates from High School. It's blowing my mind. We're 11 years apart so I remember his entire childhood. I'm sure my mom is beside herself at this point, he's her last kiddo to graduate and go off to college.

{circa 1992}

I'm a bit of a mess, but I can blame that on pregnancy...right? Ben has been saying "Cody is graduating from High School this week." for days now and I just told him to be quiet. I wasn't ready to think about it. Today when I found these photos it hit me and now I'm a goner...

This is what Cody looked like when Ben met him 6 years ago. 

{5th grade graduation, 2005}

Cody has probably changed the most out of the three of us over the years. Just two years later...

{December 2007}

Some of you may remember when I took his senior photos in September. This year went by fast!

My sister Amanda graduated two years ago, I was 8 months pregnant with Malakai. Funny how their graduations have coincided with my pregnancies. I just realized that it's a distinct possibility that I'll be pregnant at her college graduation too. Photos of our family events are going to make it look like I'm always with child. 

{June 2009}

{September 2010}

Needless to say I'll be packing some tissues (I totally cried at Amanda's graduation) and of course our cameras. I'm so proud of you Lil Brudder Cody, congratulations!

Love,

Christmas Breakfast: "Camper" Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe is an  obsession of Ben's side of the family. From what I can remember, it originated with Ben's grandma while camping out at the lake. Now, camping in my family consisted of tents and a very small arsenal of supplies, especially for cooking. Ben's family mostly camped in cabins and trailers out at Triangle Lake. For those of you who cook over a camp fire, despite it's name, this recipe requires an oven.

Camper Cinnamon Rolls are addicting and making them is fairly quick and super easy.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of sugar
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 package (12) brown + serve rolls

Set your oven to preheat to 450 degrees.

Cut each roll in half twice (quarters).

Mix the cinnamon + sugar together.

Melt the butter and drizzle over quartered rolls. More butter makes for gooier bites, less makes for crispier bites.

Sprinkle the rolls with the sugar + cinnamon mixture  and stir to coat evenly.

Bake on a jelly roll pan (a cookie sheet with sides) for 2 1/2 minutes, turn with spatula, then bake for another 2 1/2 minutes.

Be careful as they will obviously be very hot. Eat fresh!

On Christmas Eve we ate them right off of the cookie sheet! Then I made them on Christmas morning for my side of the family for the first time. I think they liked them, as we went through 2 1/2 batches and we also had our traditional lefse!

Enjoy!