Wednesday, February 22, 2012

So, Christmas Happened

Whelp, March is almost over. No time like the present to blog about Christmas 2011!
We got our Christmas tree at Lowes this year and lucked out on a mis-marked tree -- a 6 footer for $20! It was perfectly cold the night we went to get it, just right for getting in the Chrismas spirit. This video is nothing spectacular, but I love to watch it just to see how excited the kids are...I remember being this excited when it was time to get the tree when I was young:

After the tree was decorated, we turned off all the lights, sat on the couch and basked in her yule-tide glory while sipping egg nog. Aaron and I agreed this was our best tree yet. It's so fun when your tree starts to get jam-packed with home-made creations and souvenir ornaments that are tied to great memories. We finished the night by watching "Pluto's Christmas Tree", a nastolgic cartoon from Aaron and I's childhood
Aaron's birthday is right in the middle of Christmas time and this year's was probably 1000 percent better than last year's. I made a delicious chocolate cake, Aaron made steaks, and we all wore party hats.
Christmas Eve we made our own delicious feast and had Ellen join us for all of our traditional stuff (rudolph game, cookies for santa, nativity story from bible, Christmas carols, short nativity video) Did I not take any pictures of that? Sad.
Christmas mornings just keep getting better and better. Santa scored a ton of Geo Trax for free from a friend and so Finn woke up to his very own train set. Kate was very excited about her princess barbies. Rex was an angel and liked to look at his new Tigger before drifting off to sleep. Candy was eaten before 8am. It was great. Aaron's favorite gift from me was the laptop I sneakily fixed for him (which I broke in the first place...we won't go there.) And my favoirite gift from him was...my cute boots! I sure loved wearing them all winter.
Being Sunday, we had church at 10am and being the choir director, I had a program to lead! I was totally nervous and glad when it was over. But it turned out so well! The hilight was "What Child is This"...I love that song and the choir did such an amazing job bringing the spirit into our meeting.

The rest of the day was filled with family and food and fun. My kids are so lucky to have so many cousins their age to play with all.the.time. And of course, having Grandma and Grandpa around was great too.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Finnisms

It wouldn't be a Finnisms post without some of his latest self-portraits, right?
Finn has grown up so much in the last few months! Right around the time Rex was born, Finn discovered his passion for texting. I literally showed him ONE time how to send a text and the rest is history -- he was hooked!
Aaron and I were upstairs together when Aaron's phone got the above text message...and we realized Finn had found my phone in the basement and sent it all by himself! Later that day, I noticed the following message in my drafts folder:
He has always had such an inquisitive mind and we are constantly amazed at the stuff he can figure out on his own. He is getting really good at sounding out words and can carry on quite coherent text conversations!

He recently discovered a text-to-speech website that he loves. (Moms -- let your kids play around on one! It will entertain them forever while teaching them letter sounds...serious life saver for me) Annnyway, one morning I heard him trying to get Kate to say "your voice sounds like a robot." Naturally curious I went in to see what was going on and and when she finally said it, Finn went straight to the computer to click the mouse...I had him try and reinact it...I thought it was pretty funny:


******
Finn: Mom, can I have some milk?
Me: You've had enough milk today. If you're thirsty you can have some water.
Finn: But I'm not thirsty, I'm milky!
******
Finn: Hey Mom, guess what my favorite vegetable is?
Me: What?
Finn: Chicken!
******
We are all at the dinner table, Finn finds out we are having spaghetti and meatballs and proclaims, "Yes! Meatballs are my favorite kind of balls!"
******
Finn: Mom, I like you and Dad more than Satan, you know why?
Me: (laughing) Why?
Finn: Cuz Satan's a big meanie.
******
Aaron took Finn to the grocery store and Finn was riding on the front of the cart. While Aaron was walking down the aisle Finn extended his arms, leaned back his head and said loudly, "This...is...SERIOUS!!!"
******
We were running late and grabbed McDonalds for dinner one night. After eating Finn said, "Dad, I'm still hungry, can I just have like, a vegetable or something?" We made him some peas and my mommy heart grew three sizes that day.
*****
And the piece de resistance:
Finn: Guess What?
Me:What?
Finn:Chicken Butt. Guess why?
Me: Why?
Finn: Chicken Pie! Guess who?
Me: Who?
Finn: Chicken Goo! Guess when?
Me: When?
Finn: Chicken Butt...again! (a few minutes pass) Mom, Guess what?
Me: (sigh) what Finn?
Finn: Chicken Penis!

He wasn't even trying to be rude, he was just trying to think of another body part to say. This was followed by a discussion about private parts, and the need to omit them from casual banter.