Holiday baking and mischief

 
 
 
 

"Slient Night" by Ben

 

More "Christmas Story" photos

 
 
 
 

Baking with the Ballerina

 
 
 

A day with Claire

 
 
 
 
December 6th Gabriella and I had the privledge of watching a friend's daughter for the day. Gabriella was so excited to spend the day helping me take care of and play with the baby. She helped set up the pack-n-play and got out lots of baby toys to share with Claire. She loved to hold her, but we soon discovered that the bumbo was a wonderful contraption. Gabriella loved reading to Claire while sitting next to her, and was excited to dress them both up as princesses and have a tea party. Claire was a delight and let Gabriella dress her up in a fancy top, headband and necklace and served her her first tea. Thanks for spending the day with us Claire!

"You'll shoot your eye out!"

One way to get a little alone time in the evening is to ask for it.

Another is to take a trip to the ER, sit back, relax and enjoy a little time reading Real Simple magazine. Sure, you need a reason to get you there first. Just ask you husband to shoot you in the eye with a Nerf gun. It gives you a great story to retell to all the doctors and nurses, and lightens the mood of their evening.

In my case, I didn't have to ask, Kevin was just being playful and I turned around at the wrong moment. At first it was just a bit of a sting to the eye, but hours later there seemed to be a little something lodged in my cornea irritating my eyelid. After a call to first nurse that left me in stitches, I headed to the ER. In and out in less than an hour and with prescriptions in hand, I am home again.

While we had the rule of no shooting Nerf guns at people's faces, I may have to add the "You'll shoot your eye out"next time I see the kids playing with their Nerf guns.

Curiosity

At the end of a wonderful Christmas day at the Teske grandparents, we made one last trip to the bathroom. Before leaving the bathroom, Gabriella grabbed the hand mirror and said "I just need to check one more thing." She flips over the mirror and takes a good look at her reflection, grins and says "Yep, I still look curious!" She sets down the mirror and walks out the door. Yes Gabriella, you are full of it!

Growing girl

After eating 12 pieces of cereal for breakfast and a clementine and a spoonful of mac and cheese, Gabriella reminded me. "I'm not hungry Mom, Grandma fed me yesterday, remember?"

I'm Getting Nuttin' for Christmas!

I was just addressing Christmas cards with Ben and started singing "I'm Getting Nuttin' for Christmas", soon realizing I don't know the lyrics.

I played it from the computer and Ben heard the lyrics. He was appalled!
Ben's reactions:

"Broke a bat on someones head! On purpose?!"
"A tack on the teacher's chair! Who would do that!"
"Oh gross- a frog in the bed!"

Then we listened to it again and he ranked which ones seemed like the worst offense. It was such a great conversation and I loved that these are not things he would ever do to his brother or sister.

Love hanging out with my boy!

Reindeer

We came home last night to find two deer nibbling at the grasses in our front yard. The headlights shone on them just in time to pull in the garage slowly. We got out of the van and went to watch them and say hello.

G: "Are you lost little reindeer? Are you hungry?"

J: "I think they are lost Mom. I hope they can find their way back to Santa in time for Christmas!"

We walked down the sidewalk to the house a few down the street and watched them. When they took off back to the woods, the kids were relieved.

Ben whispered, "You know that guy that lives at the end of our street that is the Santa at the mall? Maybe he is the real one since the reindeer are here...."

Goodnight to my friends

After I put Gabriella to bed tonight she came in the office and asked to say good night to the brothers. "Sure, just come right back up." (We never forget to say good night to the brothers!) Then she came in and asked to say good-night to her friends. I told her that none of her friends are here right now.

"I need to say good-night to all of my friends in all of their houses? Do I have permission to yell?

"Yes."

"This is going to be loud...."(Her body stiffens, her arms outstretch, and her head tilts up)

GOOD NIGHT TO ALL OF MY FIENDS AND ALL OF THEIR BUDDIES. SWEET DREAMS!"

"Mom? Can I have a slumber party at one of my friends houses? I can take my bunnies, and my blanket, and my covers and sleep on the floor at their house. Okay?"

"That will be fun to do when you are older."

Sometimes it is hard to believe she is still two!

Pink Pie

Our little G woke up with two very red and a bit crusty eyes. Kevin was sweet and patient with her and made it more of a comical moment, than one of worry. He cleaned her eyes, called the clinic and got her drops before heading to work.

Last night she was given a beautiful Christmas dress from a friend. As soon as her eyes were cleaned, she asked if she could please wear her new dress. She changed into the flowing black gown with the purple sash, tights and a sweater. She was thrilled with her dress and somehow the combination of a beautiful outfit, bedhead and those swollen eyes has stayed with me all day and made me smile. No pink eye is going to defuse her spark and keep her from dancing around the living room in a Christmas dress! I love Gabriella's spunk and energy!

Gabriella spent the day with Grandma Millen, and asked several times when they were going to make the pink pie. Even bringing her stool to the counter ready to bake. I took mom a while to figure it out. Not pink pie sweetie, just pink eye...

Penguin PJs

Last night Josiah put on his red, fleece, penguin covered, footed pajamas and burst into tears. He had outgrown them, and they were a very favorite. He asked me if I could save them for when he gets married and has kids of his own. Wow. A very favorite indeed!

Josiah and friends

 
 
 
Josiah's class put on a Thanksgiving play last week and invited us for refreshments afterwards. I have no photos of the actual event. I stayed and scrubbed the face paint off the actors. I caught Josiah and his friend Alex hugging after the play. As soon as the other kids from that side of the room saw the camera, they jumped up and added to the embrace. I love the way his class is all good friends with eachother and look out for eachother. I am so thankful for the boys school experience and their friendships.

Action Jackson

 
 
A friend from school was having a "Guitar Hero, Alien, Action Jackson" birthday party for her son a few weeks ago. I offered to come along and help with the splatter painting, and she was kind enough to invite the boys along. Josiah jumped in and took part in the party, and Ben was a fabulous helper with the younger kids. They made microphones and sang "Kids that Rock" with hats and sunglasses, and played in cardboard rocket and cardboard flying saucer, then headed down to the basement for some splatter painting Jackson Pollack style. As they were covered with their garbage bags and head coverings, they were sent downstairs. They started off painting their guitar papers very tentatively, splattering just a bit with the watered down paint. Then they started getting more and more free with encouragement from the parents and it turned into a full on spraying, splattering, spinning, dancing event. After the guitars were painted, then extra papers, they just sprayed the canvas and created a fabulous party wall hanging. At the end, the last girl was given permission to kicked over each cup of paint. You wouldn't belive how clean the kids were (minus the hands and feet) after all the fun they were having. I had a ball and was so glad I could join with the kids in all the fun!

"A Christmas Story"

 
 
 
 
 
 

Opening performances of "A Christmas Story" was last weekend at ACTORS. The play is terrific, and it has been fun to watch each character grow, and the scenes really come together. My favorite actor is, "Flick." ;) Ben is having a great time adding expressions and bits of humor to his character. Flick has some great lines and Ben gets to be extra winey and loud, which has been really fun. It is so exciting to see him hard at work and loving the friends he is making through drama. 6 performances to go!

The last picture is of Josiah with Santa Claus from the performance. He was totally intrigued by him. He was in the green room taking pictures with his family. Josiah saw his grandson sitting on his lap and was dying to go say hello. Santa invited him over to sit on his lap and he beamed from ear to ear. He was so excited he couldn't remember what he wanted for Christmas- just like Ralphie in the play. His smile was priceless!

Giving thanks for silliness...

 
 
 
 
After dinner and games, some of the Thanksgiving gathering moved downstairs to watch "How to Train a Dragon." I had some good cuddle time with each child, and a little nap by the fire- it was lovely!

After the movie, Josiah made himself a viking outfit, complete with a bandana with paper horns,light sabor and shield. Gabriella took one look and wanted to be a viking too. Then she designed horns for Grandpa and then she thought Baba needed a helmet too. The guys were kind enough to let her and pose with vierce grins. The evening ended with light sabor wars in the living room in the dark. I am thankful for my family, for creativity and for silliness.