Merry Christmas 2009!

Christmas Eve we took all the kids skiing. This would be the first for Tessa. After one run she was doing okay until she saw me, then she needed hot chocolate and a rice krispie treat in the lodge. That was okay, though, because Santa came in and visited the kids in the lodge. She did manage to take two more runs, though. It is pretty fun having all of us up there together (if only we could make the getting ready part a little more enjoyable!)

We were all tired, so the kids had vowed not to come and wake us up on Christmas morning until 7:30. We heard them stirring at 5:00. Then we heard them telling Tessa to come get us. When all was said and done, we were up and ready to head downstairs by 7:15.

Here is a rundown by the numbers:

18 new batteries used

7 times playing games on the Wii

6 stockings stuffed with candy and goodies

5 BYU shirts

4 fights over not sharing

4 new ornaments

4 new Star Wars items

3 meltdowns from one tired 2-year-old

3 board games

3 times chasing Jack so he didn't choke down various items

2 presents opened by Tessa when they weren't hers

2 robots

2 new scooters

1 bike

1 unicycle

AND

0 naps

It was a terrific Christmas! We hope yours was equally amazing! Merry Christmas!

Holy cow, where did the time go?!

Is it already the day after Christmas? I swear Halloween was last week. At least it feels that way. I know that everyone always says that, but seriously. Anyway, here is an update of what we have been up to for the last two months!!!

1. Ted's birthday. I surprised him by taking in several dozen cookies to his office where he happily informed me that they had brought in treats so now he didn't have to share any

cookies. :) (I know - life really isn't fair how he seems to look younger each year and eats candy and cookies like they are going out of style and has NO fat to show from it.....but I digress. That's another post. ) We had a great dinner at home, a rich chocolate cake filled with peanut butter cups, and he got the new bike rollers he had been wanting. Emma also saved up and got him a sweatshirt from "The Killers" concert. She had a friend who was going, and she knew that Ted really liked that group, so she arranged the whole thing by herself. She really is a sweet girl.

(Ted drinking prune juice that the kids gave him!)

2. Lincoln's birthday. Because of the different school schedules Emma leaves for school before the boys are even awake. She had made a simple sign for Lincoln to wish him a happy birthday without any reminding or prompting from us. He woke up, saw it, and he was thrilled that she had remembered. Man, those moments take my breath away. Linc got his favorite dinner of salmon, pasta, and peas, and of course a cake. This year he wanted a cake that looked like a bus riding on a road. I think he just comes up with the most abstract thing he can to see if we can pull it off. It was a visual stretch this year, but he knew we had tried. :) I can't believe he is 10 years old. Man he is a great kid!

3. We crossed to the dark side. If there was ever one thing we were sure of, it was that we were not getting a dog. For years the kids have been asking. Each time we had a great reason why we weren't even considering a dog. We always suspected that there might come a point in time where we did get a dog, but that time always seemed so far away. Our arguments were something like this:

• We just can't have a dog when we have little babies in the house. (Repeat this argument three times to coincide with each child being born).


• We can't have a dog until our youngest is at least a year old.


• We can't have a dog until our youngest is at least two years old.


• Why would we get a dog when I am already cleaning up food and poop from one of my children?


• We can't consider getting a dog until our youngest is potty trained.

Man these time lines seemed so far away when we were saying them.

At any rate, we knew the time was getting close. So, we decided to start searching for a dog. We were determined to get a little dog, and we wanted a grown up dog so as to avoid the puppy stages. Well, we filled half of the requirements. It is small.

Santa delivered him to our doorstep early along with this note. It is a bitter sweet present. Ted and I love him, and think he is a pain. The kids just love him. It was priceless watching the kids see him for the first time. It was also funny because one of Sam's friends was over, saw that Santa had delivered a dog to our house, so he ran home yelling, "I'm gonna see if Santa took a dog to my house too!"

So far all is well. However, just this morning after many nights of not enough sleep and waking up to take the dog out and get Tessa some milk he told me, "You know, it was your idea to get a dog and it was also your idea to have kids." I'm not sure which one he was thinking of getting rid of! :)