Coal for Christmas

On Christmas Eve, as I was picking up our van from the mechanic, (hopefully all better for our trip to Utah this week) Eli was acting up a bit. I used the line that can only be used once a year that he "better be careful because Santa will be coming tonight and you don't want to get coal in your stocking." It's always worked very well in the past.
Then I heard him crying. Not whining, but a full on sob. When I asked him what was wrong he said "that's was exactly what I'm afraid of happening." Then he expressed that he always gets in trouble. Apparently, he felt like he might just be deserving of that lump of coal. Immediatly I felt a wave of guilt that my bluff had sent him over the edge. I tried to reassure him what a good boy he is. I thought I did a great job helping him feel better, but on Christmas morning when he saw his presents he came running up to me with that big smile of his and said "Look mom! I didn't get coal!!!"

He asked for this bow and arrow set (suction cup tips) and has been playing with it non-stop. He's getting pretty good too.

Sweet little girlies

Christmas Eve PJ's- Sadie not quite into the picture idea.

The main thing Emma wanted again this year was Webkinz. So now she has 6 pets living together in Webkinz world. She loves them all. I'm enjoying her love for stuffed animals for as long as it lasts.

Ballerina costume for Sadie

Emma and Holly's horse stable from Santa- (who had a great time putting it together at midnight) the animal version of a dollhouse. Holly's new Webkinz "Coconut"
Christmas Eve fun
This girl is just melting my heart lately. Whenever I put her down in her crib I blow kisses and say "Night-night" "I love you". Even when she is crying because she doesn't want to go to sleep, she repeats everything back to me through her tears. So I get a sad sounding "Mwah-mwah" with her hand blowing the kisses. And she'll stop just long enough to say "Ni-ni". It's just too sweet. She's a super angel. I'm having a real hard time picturing her becoming sassy someday. Maybe she'll be the one that never does right?

Update- December Fun

"Holidays Around the World"

First Grade Musical

This was a super cute show. We just got a new video camara and I haven't tried to figure out how to get stuff from it onto the computer yet but I may add a clip or 2 later. I got some great shots of this ham- let me tell you. There was a surprising amount of choreography I thought for 1st grade and there were many, many practices, but it made the show really fun. Eli's for sure got some moves!

Saying his part

Eli and his friend Jake.

Third Grade Field Trip

Thanks to my great friend Sheryl watching Holly and Sadie for about 6 hours, I was able to go with the 3rd grade to The Rock and Mineral Museum and Arizona History Museum. They are both in Phoenix not too far from each other so they decided they could hit both in one day. They were both really cool. We really liked the Rock and Mineral Museum. My group's favorite part was the 200 lb meteor they had there. I must not have been in picture mode because I only got these 3.

The 5 kids I was in charge of. They were all super fun kids. This hard bench has some springs under it that lets the kids get the feeling of what it would be like riding a covered wagon. These girls both agreed it would be rough riding for sure. I loved this one on one time with Emma. It was great just being able to talk on the bus uninterrupted. Emma thinks a lot about things and sometimes I feel like I don't have the time to answer questions she asks.

"Center Stage"

Emma and Eli took a class for fall where they learn lots of songs from Musicals and then do a performance at the end. Both these kids have not a drop of inborn shyness and I'm trying to take advantage of this while they are young. I know I got more self-conscious when I hit the teen years and Dana says the same thing. This is "Singing in the Rain". I've loved hearing them sing these songs at home through the past few months. This was Emma's second time in it and Eli's first. I kinda wondered how Eli would do when I signed him up, but he did great! One of these clips has him doing his solo part. I think Emma and I had gotten him so nervous about missing it (because it was the first line of the 2nd verse) that he was a little overanxious. I'm bummed because I left the video camara as we were walking out the door (in a rush as usual) and my camara doesn't have much of a memory card. That's why these clips are so short. Overall it was a terrific show with just one minor incident of Eli announcing he had to go to the bathroom after one of the songs. Luckily it was a small crowd and we were back in like 3 minutes :). Such a funny boy.

These 2 are just growing so fast. Eli must have hit a growth spurt because lately I just can't get over how big he looks. Love these sweet big kids :)

Straight from the Backyard

Our backyard finally produced more than some dirty, wet socks or toys with mud caked all over them! It probably seems silly to most of you but let me tell you, I was excited when Eli brought this in and I saw that it looked promising on the outside. Then after I cut it open I was elated! Enough to even grab my camara and take a picture right? This is definetly a day we have all been waiting for since we planted our citrus trees about 3 years ago. Now never you mind the smurf-tacular plate, or that dirty spoon left on the counter from Sadie's breakfast. This is truly a beautiful sight. We all (besides Sadie who gave me a look of 'why did you just put this in my mouth', and Dana who was at work) enjoyed every last bit of this home grown grapefruit. Now we're waiting for some oranges.

Christmas Fun

Sadie is so much fun this Christmas. She was just a baby last year (as opposed to the big girl she is now) so everything is so new to her. Whenever she sees Christmas lights at night she starts saying "pitty!" And she points at all the Christmas decorations at the store. And whenever she sees a Santa she says "Tanta!" I just loved watching her take everything in when we put up the tree Sunday. Nothing beats a super happy toddler!

Much loved animals in front of the tree- oh and the stuffed ones too!

Sadie so excited that the ornament she put up didn't fall off.
I guess she wanted to see what our fake tree would smell like- not too piney.

Spoiler Alert! the following photos may take away some of the anticipation you may feel in receiving our Christmas Card.

But, I gotta post some of these cute pictures.

I was so excited about getting some cute pictures of Eli. I don't have as many of them as I do the girls for some reason.

Eli is suddenly into being "cool" and wearing "cool shirts" so he really liked when Jill would put him in a "cool dude" pose.

I LOVE this picture. That's why it's one of the images in our multi-image Costco Christmas card that I will be picking up on Monday. Don't say I didn't warn you...

Our first try, at Jill's home (living room) studio. They were cute but I just wasn't feeling their happy selves coming through the pictures. Dana's mom made these cute Christmas dresses and Eli's tie for the kids. They LOVE them.

I really liked this one with Sadie smiling so big (this was about the only one she smiled in) but didn't like how it covered part of Emma.

Heaven Smiling Down

This picture was taken in Asia a couple days ago. Venus is on the left and Jupiter on the right. They lined up with the moon just right to make a happy face in the sky. I love the times that I feel just like this- that life is so great that even the sky can't help but smile.