Never Too Early

Santa is laughing for real because as Kaylen is whispering her Christmas wish for an American Girl double stroller, Kelton is whispering "I don't know what I want. I'll need to send you a letter."

Sweet!

I love, love, love this one. It shows all their cute little freckles and their overall cuteness just bubbles through. These are two of the three faces that light up my world.

This one doesn't need words but if I had to pick one I'd say: Love. These two adore each other.

A Little Girl's Wish

See this stroller? Cute, right? It's Kaylen's Santa Wish this year and there is no amount of swaying and gentle guiding that is working. It's from American Girl and it's $58 plus shipping.

$58 plus shipping for a doll stroller? You have got to be kidding. We've asked "What if Santa can't make one exactly like this one? What if he can make you a different kind - maybe pink?" (A pink double stroller can be had at Toys R Us for $25) No dice. It has to be *this* one. Exactly. No color variation and it *must* have that heart shaped flower on the front.

I've tried the "What if Santa just can't do that for you?" and I get back "I can't ask you and Mom because it's too much money. I can only ask Santa and Santa would never break a little girl's heart. Right Mommy?"

Damn you American Girl catalog for arriving in our mailbox. (Lannon - did you sign us up for this catalog? Maybe AG has a homing device for all little girls. I don't know.)

So now we are struggling. If we can't change her mind in the next week we'll have to decide what to do because it is going to need to be ordered and then shipped somewhere *other* than our house (two issues with mail order this year: Kelton is a VERY good reader and Kaylen quickly learns how to identify words she has seen and trust me - she has studied "American Girl" and can point it out from 20 paces.). Their grandma's address should work fine but it still leaves us with the dilemma of $58 plus shipping for a Santa gift. Ugh.

AND...she wants a boy "American Girl" doll. Though really, she isn't particular about the actually AG look - my sister found dolls at a craft store which resemble AG dolls and there is the Our Generation Doll line at Target. But finding a boy doll to play the part might be tricky.

Wish us luck!

Merry Christmas to All!

Santa Visit #2

This time of year, you can hardly take two steps without running into Santas (or, as my kids know them...Santa's Helpers because everyone knows the real Santa cannot possibly be in so many places at the same time) so there are plenty of chances for Kaylen to work on her bravery skills and for Kelton to once again express his hearts desire for Christmas.

After three disastrous run-ins with Santa last year (and many close calls) I truly wasn't sure what to expect from Kaylen but apparently her Picture People Santa experience last month set the stage for a great Santa season.

We were in no way prepared for a photo with Santa this day. We were grocery shopping when Kaylen spied Santa and we learned of the free photo op. So we went ahead and did it (what was I going to say, no? "Sorry kids - you've seen Santa once. You're done." No, not likely. In fact, we stop and say hello to every Santa we see. Ti's the season and all. :)) I love how she will sit next to - but definitely not ON Santa's lap. And I am totally ok with that. :)

Gifts Under the Tree

Yesterday Kaylen and I spent time wrapping all the gifts for the kids cousins. When we were finished, Kaylen insisted they all needed ribbons and bows and should go under the tree. Normally, the extended family gifts go into boxes in the garage to wait until Christmas Eve (for Dakota's side) or until we head up to Seattle (my side) and then I add the ribbons and bows. The only gifts we usually put under the tree our the kids and the ones to each other.

Not this year. At least, not yet. :)

Is that a star on your tree.....

...or are you just happy to see me?


For years and years and years, we've had an angel on the top of the tree. The particular angel we've had is one I found my very first Christmas living on my own. This beautiful, simple little angel is about 25 years old (Oh my gosh! How in the world did *that* happen? 25 years old? No way! No. freakin'. way. Nothing makes me feel as old as times like this when I look back thinking "What? 15 years ago?" only to realize it's been much, much longer than that. But I digress....) and I love it. LOVE.IT.

Friday night when we were putting up the tree little miss thing began insisting that we had a star for the top and demanding to know where we had put it. We both told her that no, we didn't have a star. We had this great angel who sat on the top of the tree. No dice. The girl insisted we had a star. She insisted so hard that she flopped to the floor in an all out tantrum demanding to know where it was. Her beautiful, beautiful (non-existent) star.

I assured her once again that we did not have a star but if it was that important to her then we could look at the stores the next time we were out to see if we could find one that would work. My evil mommy plan was to pacify the over-tired girl to give us enough time for it to blow over...as is usually the case.

Only this time...no such luck.

Yesterday, we gave in. We took her to the decoration section of the local one-stop shopping place and much to my disappointment her delight, she found "the most beautiful star in the night sky". It couldn't have been further from what I wanted if it tried. Well ok, that's not true. It could have been the gawdy multi-colored thing that was also on the shelf (and my sincerest apologies if you love the gawdy beautiful multi-colored stars.

I honestly think I died a little inside when she picked the gold star and refused to look at other options.

She proudly carried her star to the check out and we brought it home with the promise that I would immediately place it atop the tree.


Did anyone hear me whimpering when I removed my angel? I tried to be grown up about and I only pouted out of the eye sight of the kids but still.....ugh. We have a gold star on the top of our tree.

And another piece of "me" has been chipped away.

Dramatic? Maybe. But this angel has been with me all of my adult life and it really did feel like yet another sacrifice made for the happiness of my family. So while I don't like the star (at all) I know it brings the littlest member of our family extreme joy (the other two really don't care though I did hear Dakota say that she liked the star). And making my family happy is what it's all about.

The angel is now sitting on top of the china hutch. But someday I know she will back on the top of the tree where she belongs. :)

Christmas Presents

Woohoo! I cannot believe how close to done I am with shopping for gifts. This is the first year since the kids arrived on the scene that I actually feel like I have a handle on the Christmas season. The tree is up, the lights are on the house, the inside is decorated, gifts for all but one niece and one nephew have been bought, gifts for our two have been purchased and the only left to do is stocking stuffers. Easy enough because I already know the things I want to get. It's just a matter of getting out alone to get them.

This year I gave up the idea of going out to stores to buy things. I figured out what I thought were good ideas, talked with Dakota and then ordered almost everything through Amazon. Genius! Online shopping is genius when you have kids and no time to do kid-free shopping.

Sure - as with any on-line shopping it tends to bring tons of catalogs and offers for 0% APR balance transfer credit cards but that's ok. I'm actually one of those weird people who don't mind mail in the mailbox and catalogs make me over the edge giddy. I love to look through them - and so do the kids.

And I don't know about you but have you noticed that so many places seem to have really great sales going on? Smart move on the stores part, too, as it makes it easier for people like me (on a super duper tight budget this year) to spend money in a more consistent manner. Target, just this week, has $4 games. That is a sale normally reserved for the early hours on Black Friday. But I was able to swing by and pick up really good games for a great price (because there is no way I could have gotten a $15 game for nieces and nephews) and I know they will be successful gifts. For me, it was getting 4 gifts for the price of 1. A good deal by anyones standards. :)

And who knows - at this rate there just may be a few bucks left over for Dakota and I to buy a gift for each other. I figured that was a lost cause this year but I'm feeling optimistic.

The Christmas Card Photo Adventure

Ok seriously. I took 64 pictures to get the one decent photo. Sixty-four. And it's only "decent". *sigh*

It never seemed to fail that for the photos where Kaylen was feeling compliant, Kelton was not. And if Kelton was, Kaylen wasn't. It would have been hysterically funny had I been watching the scene unfold instead of smack in the middle of it setting and resetting the shots (and watching the hour tick by) but as it was.... not all that funny. But now...looking back over the pictures I can't help but smile. Those kids of mine are so darn goofy!

In the end though, we did finally get a decent shot (and I'm talking "the end". It was the second to the last shot we took) and I have created the card and shipped it out to the printers. Next to tackle will be the letter...unless I go the route I took last year and skip it all together. :)

And now - for your amusement....a sampling of the photos. :)

Trimming the Tree

Look what we did last night! :)

Building the tree.


Kaylen would hug the tree over and over while saying "Welcome back, Christmas tree! Welcome back!"

Looking up at the lights.

Getting ready to decorate.

With every ornament she pulled from the box she would squeal with delight "This is my new favorite ornament!"

Looking up at the lights and decorations is a huge tradition with the three of them. They will repeat this scene many, many times throughout the next few weeks.

Hide and Go Seek Elf Style

Jack is still a big hit around here so I thought I would show off his latest hiding spots.

Tuesday morning found Jack hanging on a picture frame on the top of the entertainment center.

By Wednesday he had moved to another picture frame but this time on the dining room table.

And this morning we found him in the kitchen perched on top the window blinds for the sliding glass door.

This is how the computer hutch (yeah yeah - it's a mess. But it's an *organized* mess so it's ok. Hee hee) normally looks in the early morning hours while Kelton is playing online games while we waits for Kaylen and I to get up (he gets up at 5.....Kaylen and I aim for 6:30. Dakota leaves for work at 6 which means he is really only on his own for 30 minutes) however the next person shows how I found him. And please note; you can see Jack atop the sliding door.
When I asked why the hutch door was like that and not tucked back behind he replied "Because I didn't want Jack watching me."

I thought that was too darn cute. :)

I wonder where we will find him tomorrow.

And Speaking of Traditions....

...(which I did in the post below this one) we have already taken care of the yearly tradition of "Letters to Santa". Sunday night the kids wanted to write and send their letters to Santa. After dinner they sat at the kitchen counter and wrote out their wishes.

When the letters were finished, we popped them into envelopes, addressed and stamped them and went to the mailbox to send them on their way.

You know what they say about the early bird, right? :)

A New Tradition

This year we have a new Christmas tradition in our house; Jack, the Christmas Elf.

Last year Dakota's mom gave every family in the clan a gift of "The Elf on the Shelf". I don't know about you but Dakota and I grew up in homes that had at least one Christmas Elf in them. We didn't have the story to go along with them that Kelton and Kaylen have but I do remember several of these little guys in all the Christmas trappings. Dakota's mom had Elves as well and they were a favorite part of her Christmas memories.

Knowing how important the Elves were to Dakota and others in the family, when Dakota's mom found "The Elf on the Shelf" she bought several and gave them to everyone along with a very touching note.

And so a tradition was born.

The kids named our guy Jack and every day Jack sits somewhere in the house and watches over things. After the children are in bed, he flies off to the North Pole to give his report to Santa and then he returns to sit in a new spot for the next day. In the morning, the kids have to find him.

It's been a big hit for the past two mornings and I expect it will be for the rest of the Christmas season.

The first morning the kids found him in a wreath:


And this morning, Jack was sitting on top the hall clock:


I wonder where we will find him tomorrow. :)

Fa-La-La-La

The holiday season has arrived at our house!

We started off the weekend with our usual Friday "Movie and Pizza Night" with the movie choice being Santa Claus 3, The Escape Clause. Saturday Dakota went up into the attic and brought down the Christmas decoration boxes and, while she studied, the kids and I decked the halls. After opening the boxes and spilling their contents onto the floor, Kelton lost interest and moved on to other things but Kaylen and I spent the next 2.5 hours taking down the fall decorations and putting up all things Christmas. Well - not the tree. We usually decorate the house before Thanksgiving and save the tree for a little bit later. I think we'll put it up next weekend though as the kids are chomping at the bit to have it up.

So we went from this:





To this:





All brought to you by:





Once Dakota was done studying for the day, she climbed up on the roof and got to work hanging the lights. Kaylen and I constructed the outside Christmas Tree (a spiral tree with lights) and placed our lighted polar bear in the yard. (Where was Kelton, you ask? He opted to go across the street and help a neighbor rake leaves.)

Soon it will be time for all the Christmas goodies baking and eating and after that.....diet pills! :)