Thank You Secret Santa

I remember a Christmas when I was 7 or 8 when one of our neighbors did the 12 days of Christmas for our family. Every evening the doorbell would ring and we would find a small package on the doorstep. I can't remember all of the gifts, but each gift included an ornament for our Christmas tree. I remember the anticipation every night waiting to see what came. I also remember trying to look out the window to try to catch who was bringing the gift. The 11th night my older brother was peeking out the window when they came and he was spotted. So on the 12th night the Allred family delivered the package in person. The following Christmases as we hung the 12 days of Christmas ornaments on our tree I would always think of the Allreds and how fun that Christmas was.

This Christmas will also be a Christmas I will always remember, because of the thoughtfulness and generosity someone has shown to us. Unfortunately I do not know who they are, but from the very generous gift they left on our doorstep last night, I know that they know us well and might even read this blog.


Thank you Secret Santa I wish I could tell you in person how thankful I am and how your gift has made our Christmas even more special with the knowledge that we have friends like you.

We hope you have a Very Merry Christmas.

Love

Hillary, Ryan, Emily, Joseph, Josh and Valerie

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

I received a new camera for my birthday last week and wanted to take a few practice shots before Christmas so I can make sure I have the settings right. Valerie is willing to model for me, but it does not take the boys very long to figure out when I am taking pictures and they always try to get in on the action.

My little Elf

Last Thursday Josh was an elf in his preschool Christmas program.

Josh was a little embarrassed to be dressed as an elf, but when he saw the other kids were dressed as elves too he was okay with it. He also warmed up to the idea a little more when he saw that his Aunt Tracy was there to see him.


It is always fun to watch 3 and 4 year old kids perform, and this program was not lacking in the entertainment department.


The entire preschool performed in the program so the teacher called the two groups by their ages. At one point she told the threes to stand up. Not many of them did so she called out "Where are my threes." Then suddenly you heard the little voices saying

"I'm three."

" I'm three."

" I'm three too!"


Then in the middle of the program one of Josh's friends announced as loud as he could that he needed to go to the bathroom. Don't worry he made it.

Josh was pretty shy during the breaks between songs, but when it was time to sing and do the actions he would really get into it.

At the end of the program Santa came.

It was lots of fun.

I love my little elf.

Christmas Train

It is starting to look and sound a lot like Christmas at our house.

We decorated for Christmas the day after Joseph's birthday.
The kids all have ornaments of their own and love finding the right spot for them. Josh has moved his quite a few times since and has even taken one or two off the tree to show people when they stop by.

Valerie did not really understand what was happening, so she just supervised. She did act a little worried when we moved the furniture around.

I love getting out all of the decorations and remembering where we got them. Many of our ornaments have some special memory that goes with them.

Three years ago Ryan went to Home Depot to buy Christmas lights, and came home with not only lights, but a Christmas train too. Josh was just under two and Joe had just turned four. When Ryan walked in with the train you could see the excitement in both of their faces. Suddenly Josh came running forward and yelled, "That's Mine." as he pushed Joseph out of the way.

Towards the end of October, Josh announced that he no longer liked trains. He said this because Joe told him he no longer liked trains. I knew this was not true, because when we get out the Geo-Trax Josh will play all day, and he about died with excitement when we got to ride on the Polar Express.

As we started getting out the decorations I was not surprised that even before he saw the train Josh started talking about it.

"When are we going to get out the train? I get to be the one who controls the train. When are we going to set up the train?"
For a little boy who does not like trains, he has sure spent a lot of time playing with our Christmas train. The first day he barley left the tree. Now he is busy with other things, but at least once a day I hear the train turn on and find Josh sitting right next to it. I even catch Joe playing with it every now and then.

I don't know if little boys ever really stop liking trains.

5 Months Old

Valerie is getting stronger and more playful all the time. Now when we set her in her chair instead of laying back she sits straight up. We have to make sure she is always buckled in, because she also rocks back and forth, and kicks her legs when the boys start running around. I don't think it will be too much longer before she is scooting around with them.

Happy Birthday Joseph

Joseph was so excited for his birthday today.

All day he went around telling people that he is now 6 years old.

We celebrated by inviting his friends over for a monster party.

We started off by making monsters. I made the bodies ahead of time and then the kids used pieces of sticky felt to give their monsters character.

I was amazed at how creative they all were.




Then we played a game like red light, green light, but if you were caught moving you got sprayed with silly string. After the first round it was more fun just to spray everyone no matter what. So we gave them all their own can of Silly String and let them go to town on each other. Don't worry it cleaned up pretty easily.

When the kids ran out of Silly String we sang to Joe and had a piece of his monster cake.


Joe had wanted a pinata, but it's December and a pinata indoors just does not work. Don't worry though, we figured out something even better.
For the final game the kids popped balloons and inside were prizes for them. This was perfect, because what little boy doesn't love to jump around and pop balloons.



Joe spent the afternoon playing with his new toys and video games.

Then we met Grandma and Grandpa at Joseph's favorite restaurant, Raphael's, for dinner.

Before we went into the restaurant Joe told us that he was going to tell them it was his birthday, and he did tell everyone he saw. When they came to sing Happy Birthday to him, he was so excited, and to make it even more fun, he got to shake the maracas while they sang to him.

After dinner Joe, Emily and Ryan played a few games of the connect four game that Ryan's parents had given Joe. Joe beat dad once on his own and once with me helping to make sure dad didn't cheat by taking his piece back out and putting it where he "really meant" to put it.

It was a fun day. I loved watching Joe and how excited he was to be 6, and somehow he did seem just a little older today.

Happy Birthday Joe!

Santa and Mrs Clause

Every December Santa and Mrs. Clause make a special trip to Grandma's office. When he arrived he came in and talked to the whole crowd. Then Joe was chosen out of the crowd to help him ring his bells while we sang Jingle Bells.

We love to visit Santa here, because he always spends lots of time talking to the kids and making sure he understands what it is they are asking for.


This year Pete (Joe) and Repeat (Josh) were in action. While driving to the office, Josh kept asking Joe what he was going to ask Santa for. When the time came Josh waited for Joe to go first and then Josh asked Santa for the exact same thing........even though I don't think Josh knows what it was exactly.


All three of them asked for a video game of some kind. After we left I told them that they should ask Santa for the big gift they want. Joe explained to me that Starfy (the game he asked for) came in a small package, but opened up a giant world when you played it. I guess he got me there.

After our visit with Santa, Valerie hung out with Grandma,

while the other kids enjoyed the games and activities.

(To keep everything sanitary they used surgical masks for the blind folds. Each child got a fresh one. I was surprised that you really couldn't see through them. I will have to remember that.)

Now the kids are ready for Christmas, and I have one more item checked off my list.

Thanks for inviting us Grandma!