Christmas Eve 2010

On Christmas Eve we went to Jeff & LuAnn's house for a German Christmas eve. It was fantastic. LuAnn and her cousin made German pancakes and Rouladen. It was delicious!

After dinner the kids (and some adults) performed a live nativity. Calder had been looking forward to being the shepherd for a few days. He even got to hold a sheep that the Oliver's had. He was in heaven. Jason read the story from the Bible and I did my best to herd the shepherd. We all had a great time and Calder still talks about being a shepherd.

I forgot my camera so I had to steal these from LuAnn's blog. Thanks for taking pictures LuAnn and thanks for the awesome evening.

Christmas 2010

 We had the most wonderful Christmas. I feel like this is the year Calder caught on to holidays. He now knows what his birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all mean. This is what it looked like the night before when we finished putting the presents out and stuffing the stockings.

 We feel greatly blessed to have such marvelous families. We would have loved to be with them on Christmas but the distance and weather (and buying a third plane ticket) limited our ability to be with them. We still had a marvelous day filled with love, friends and presents.

 I think this face sums up Calder's day. He loved every minute of it. Actually Christmas present opening lasted until the evening of the 26th. He kept wanting to play with each toy he opened and we didn't rush him so he had presents for quite a while. I really liked doing it this way. I imagine I couldn't force this schedule on a 10 year old though.

 We had three families over for brunch at 11:00. It was perfect. It gave us enough time to leisurely get ready for the day and finish making quiche and cinnamon rolls. This was our third time hosting Christmas brunch with friends and I really like it. It makes it feel a little more like an eventful day without being stressful.

This is how we spent the afternoon. Reading, snuggling under a blanket. What a perfect day!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Santa's Workshop

 On December 23 Calder and I met up with my friend LuAnn and her boys to visit Santa's workshop. Every year Santa comes to visit DC on the Ellipse of the White House. This is also the site of the National Christmas tree, which is not a very attractive tree in my opinion.

 It was a lot of fun for the boys and we were lucky Mrs. Claus was there as well. Calder was pretty excited to sit by Mrs. Claus and have a picture. It was nice to be inside while visiting the Claus family because it was a bit chilly outside.

 Calder weathered it well though.

And in the end it was all worth it to meet the man himself. I have to admit, this is the best looking Santa I've ever seen. The beard is real and even had a little glitter in it. He definitely looked quite comfortable in the suit. Calder was a little nervous but thankfully LuAnn's boys went first so he was okay with it. Although his wish list changed every time we talked about it he told Santa he wanted a train. Santa asked if he wanted a Thomas or a GeoTrax. Calder said GeoTrax even though neither of us have even seen such a train / track system. I love that Santa knows more about the toys available than I do.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

 I love Christmas and I love decorating for Christmas. We have two sets of stockings and chose these this year. I like them a lot.

 Calder's snowflakes.

 We just bought this tree skirt at a craft bazaar for $3.50. It is handmade, real wool and has awesome 1950's charm. I'm loving it.

 Our advent calendar is actually used by Calder as mailboxes and toy storage. We use the red envelope advent calendar below as our activity calendar.

I made this calendar with my friend LuAnn. It was totally her idea and I love it. For more details on how to make it go to Candied Apples.

Holiday Baking

 Calder has been such a good little baking buddy lately. He always makes sure to lick the butter wrappers while we bake. He also asks for a bite of butter when we make toast. Gross I know.

He helped me make sugar cookies this last week and then we invited his friend Abraham over to decorate some. I think the boys had fun and I enjoyed talking to Abe's mom Ariel.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I know, I'm a little late but here nonetheless. This is proof that my husband is around sometimes and he does make our turkey every year. I also love that he is sticking his tongue out because this is his look of concentration. Oh and this is the only picture I have of Thanksgiving so this is what you get.

We spent the holiday with two of my cousins and their families. It was great! I love them so much and it was fun to just chat and enjoy a delicious if not glutenous dinner. It's nice to have family close by. 

Here are a few things I'm thankful for: 

I'm so thankful that I have a husband who is patient, loving and good at his job.

I'm also thankful that my little boy is sweet, kind, gentle and has a strong desire to be good. 

I'm thankful for technology that enables us to be in frequent contact with Calder's grandparents. 

I'm thankful we live in such a great city with so many free activities. 

I'm thankful for a warm, comfortable, safe home. 

I'm also really thankful for friends, old and new. 

I'm thankful for talents, creative abilities and nap times that keep me sane. 

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. 

Happy Halloween

 We had a great Halloween this year!  It has lasted for 3 days and we've loved it.  This is the year he caught on to what was happening. Calder requested to be a garbage man for Halloween so we went with it.  I tried to convince him to be James Madison (like last year) but he could not be swayed.  

At first he wasn't thrilled with the costume I made. He was upset that he couldn't ride in the cab or drive it with a steering wheel or open the doors. Basically he was upset I didn't provide him with a real garbage truck to ride around in.  Thankfully he got over it. He liked his costume even more once other kids thought it was cool.

 The garbage truck fabric is all felt, which is definitely the way to go because you don't have to worry about fraying in any way. Plus it is stiffer and holds up well.  I used wooden dowels for added support and balled up newspaper for support in the front and back. The cab has a compartment on top to hold his candy. It worked beautifully. His orange vest is actually a Tonka construction costume vest but I added a WM (Waste Management) logo over the Tonka logo and we were good to go. The hat was a lucky find and the gloves were a pair we had around.

He wore this costume to the church party, a friend's party and trick-or-treating. It was well used and still looks pretty good.

 At the church party on Friday he won the Most Original Costume award. He was elated.  For a prize he got bubbles. He could not be more proud.

Easter

We had a marvelous Easter! On Saturday we went to the park down the street for an egg hunt. There were tons of kids there. Thankfully Calder found one piece of candy. Yes, that's right, he got one piece. A little boy saw that Calder didn't have much and picked up a piece for him. So at the end of the hunt he had two pieces. He was THRILLED! I love how happy it made him. After the hunt was over one of the volunteers of the hunt saw Calder's bucket and gave him a handful of candy. You should have seen his excitement.

On Sunday we had some friends over for the a great Easter dinner. We invited them to stay to listen to the last conference session. It was so nice to let the kids play in the yard while we sat on the deck listening to the prophet.

Happy Valentines Day

Enjoy this kiss from Calder.

Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas! We hope each of you are enjoying time with loved ones. We move and miss each of you. Our Christmas was beautiful and special. It was very low key but also full of traditions that we love.

We started our morning with cinnamon rolls. They were delicious. Then we got down to the present opening. We were able to take it at Calder's pace. He opened his last present at 7:00 pm which was just fine by us.

Calder has bronchitis and has been under the weather for the last few days. So, if he we look tired, there is a reason for that.

Here is Calder checking for Santa. (Lets be honest, he is probably checking for the garbage man)

Dr. Calder is in the house. If you come visit he will check your heart. He's very good at it.

One of his favorite presents... a garbage truck. He's asking 'where is it' in reference to the real garbage truck.

Attacking the stack.

Playing his new harmonica with daddy. He got a whole band set, which he loves.

A fishing pole. He used it twice in the bath today.

Break time. I love the way he has a toy in each hand and string cheese in his mouth.

Snuggles with mommy.

Another break. This Christmas business is hard work.

Taking the trash out at the end of the day.

Christmas Decorations

I LOVE decorating for Christmas and getting into the spirit of the season. This is the first year we've had a tree in our 5 years of marriage. Prior to this we've had our festive Christmas swag that we hung ornaments from. This is such a sweet tree. It is about 4 feet tall and rather sparse. It is as artificial as they come. Everything on it is something Calder can touch or move to his heart's desire.

I feel a theme emerging for my Christmas decorations. I'm glad because prior to this year I haven't really felt like it was cohesive. So, the theme is slightly Scandinavian, winter white and gold. I want to get a few things at the after Christmas sales to really make it obvious.

I just bought this advent calendar and am so in like with it. Next year I'm going to not only include candy but also a slip of paper with an activity for us to do each day. I've seen various lists online and am so excited to try it.

Thanksgiving 2009

We had such a great Thanksgiving this year. My parents and brothers came from Sunday through Thursday. We had Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday. I love that my family sacrificed so much so we could be together.

My mom got her hair cut while she was here. Isn't is awesome! I LOVE it.

Jayme is a trickster. He tried to convince my parents to just give him the money instead of making him come to Columbus. I think he had a good time though.

And Cody. I love Cody. He is so much fun. Calder really loves him too. This was Cody's last single person Thanksgiving. He is getting married THIS MONTH! Yay.

Jason would be so mad if he knew I posted this picture. This is his post-Thanksgiving gut. :)

My dad is so great. We had a great time walking around our neighborhood and talking. He also fixed my closet door while he was here. Thanks dad!

Here's our table. I LOVE my fancy china and don't get to use it often enough. It sure makes any meal feel special. I am going to try to use it more.