Christmas

This was a really fun year. We thought more of things the boys wanted to do and that made all the difference. This little ceramic nativity set was given to us by Jaylene, and at first I wasn't sure if they were old enough. I was wrong, it turned out so cute and I LOVE it...I'm sad to put it away actually. You can see Paxton took on the stable with help from little bro.

Bennett decided the camel should be blue and Joseph should be green. Makes sense to me, why not paint them in your favorite colors? He and Paxton both like to paint and this coming year I hope to facilitate that more since I do have a few supplies and some know how.

They seem happy with their project, Bennett is also happy with a sucker in his mouth.

I would't call it a tradition, but we did take the boys on the commuter train up to Temple Square to see the lights. We went on a Wednesday night and there was still a good crowd around the Temple grounds but there weren't too many on the train so it was nice.

The older I get, the more I actually like snow. Maybe it's because I aspire to be a landscape painter and snowy scenes are beautiful. The kinds of winters I hate are those that are bitter cold and just dry. So I say let it snow! We need the snowpack anyway, and the boys totally love playing in it, especially Paxton.

This IS a tradition, and I fear it won't be around forever. Then again, my Grandma Jackie's endless energy makes me wonder. She hosts a Christmas Eve party and we have delicious food, a talent show, Christmas carols and the real Christmas story in Luke. Thanks Grandma!

Luckily our boys still sleep in (the late bedtime the night before helps) so we didn't get up until maybe 7:45 on Christmas morning. It's great how little ones are so happy with the first gift that they get busy playing with it instead of tearing through the rest of the packages.

Both boys love Scooby-Doo. I thought that was just a passing trend of my own childhood but apparently (other parents tell me) it has some kind of timeless appeal.

Thanks to aunt Denette and her family for this great gift idea! They gave us a beach tote filled with great stuff for the pool. We don't have a single beach towel in our house so it was perfect. This could get me out to a pool or two this year instead of sending Jared.

My niece gave these to the boys...she knows what kids like! Paxton in particular loves to dress up and Bennett usually follows.

My Mom made these fantastic quilts for the boys. They both are ready for bigger blankets on their beds so we got new pillows and sheets to go with them. The next step will be a new bed for Paxton. Maybe Christmas 2016 When our woodworker is back in town? I'm not sure it can wait that long...

Our dog is very adept at unwrapping gifts too. She leaves them alone until we make the first move then she's off to ripping each piece of wrapping paper until there's confetti on the floor. That's her brown nose down at the bottom of the photo, Bennett can barely get out of the way.

Inside that big box was this gift from Jared's Mom and Dad. These were on sale and shipped for free so we went with this heavy duty tube in the hopes they'll last a while.

 Bennett loves his shades.

We found a school nearby had the perfect hill for us. Jared and I jumped on here and there to try to beat each other's distance. I usually won since Jared defies the laws of motion and doesn't tube straight.

We feel very blessed in so many ways and find our little family grows happier each year.

Maybe some of you feel like this after the holidays.

November

We have been using The Friend magazine to help plan our Family Home Evenings and this thankful tree idea came from it.  Each day in November we would ask the boys what they were grateful for that day and then write it on a leaf to put on this tree. They didn't have a hard time thinking of things until toward the end...there were some cute things, Bennett said "M&Ms and smarshmallows". Paxton said things like his room, his toys, and his friends, and Mom and Dad.

As you can see Bennett is grateful for cake batter...this was probably his first time licking a beater. He gets as messy as I do.

















If this mustache looks familiar, it's because Paxton, at a similar age, had some kind of minor cut on his upper lip and said he needed a bandaid. So Jared suggested to Bennett that he put one his upper lip and he was happy to do so. He is in the stage of wanting a bandaid for everything, not only because he thinks it will instantaneously cure his wound, but also because he actually does get more scrapes here and there. 

 I still remember when Paxton put this on his lip. He was totally serious and we could hardly keep a straight face.

Bennett has gotten in to more messes lately, he finds it amusing to write on himself with marker....our fault for keeping the dry erase ones accessible.  He got my makeup one day and tried to put mascara on his eyelashes, which ended up looking like a black eye.

Thanks to my folks for raking up their leaves in a big pile just for the boys to play in. They had a great time. It's fun to see such simple pleasures and remember what that's like as a kid.

Jared's sister planned a fun activity to make some Christmas gift bags for the primary children in the Philippines where their parents are serving a mission. We took some pictures and hope to see the photos of when the children there open them. I was really pleased at how all our little ones got to work and didn't even ask for any of the fun things for themselves.

Paxton has a good buddy in his cousin, they are very cute together and have the red in their hair to match.

After the gifts were put together and everyone ate dinner there was still time to play. Bennett is always up to be with other boys, he sure acts like a bigger kid all the time. My neighbor said to me recently that some days your kids can't grow up fast enough and other days they grow up too fast.  So true, most of the time I am saddened a bit at how they change and mature every day but none of us can stay small forever.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving at my Grandmother's. It's always delicious food and a nice family time. I was glad to have my cousin's kids there to play with our boys. The adults outnumbered the children this time, unlike when we visit Jared's side which is kid mania. Personally I enjoy both kinds of holidays for different reasons.

Paxton's Favorite Month

My sweet aunt invited us to her Halloween party and the boys loved being with the other kids. They had games to play and then a hay ride pulled by tractor to another home for dinner.

They'd made grilled cheese sandwiches and soups, perfect for kids and adults...my new favorite cheese is Havarti. Yum.

This is evidence of Paxton's involvement in the silly string fight. The adults had just as much fun chasing the kids. The whole yard was covered and Bennett kept picking it up saying, what is THIS?

Paxton was also very adept at the candle squirting game that Bennett is doing here, it turned out to be a challenge for just about everyone else.

Paxton does enjoy Batman like so many boys. He asked for chocolate cake...this is simply chocolate frosting under the black spray food coloring. Eating anything black isn't too appetizing so I didn't try to color the cake inside.

This is the current craze in toys at our house. Bennett loves them too, particularly getting a reaction out of us when he puts them in his mouth. Paxton can build a whole set with very little help. And we tell him doesn't follow directions well?

Since Bennett got to be Superman at the other party, I didn't feel too bad convincing him to wear the bear costume. But I'm guessing this will be the last time he lets me dress him up in what I want. They both enjoyed trick-or-treating.

Another great part of our week was meeting up with Jaylene to see her and their new little baby. We went to the children's museum at the Gateway. This cylinder sucked in light objects and swirled them around before they blow out the top.

 Paxton was acting as foreman to the crane operator. They had so many different things to do it's not hard to spend hours there.

The boys are sitting in an actual helicopter they have next to a play children's hospital where the kids get to take emergency calls, push gurneys, and dress like doctors.

This perfect little piano was so cute. Everything in the house, including the kitchen, was sized just right for Bennett.

At this station you can build block houses then choose an earthquake magnitude to see if the houses will stand or crumble. For little boys the only thing better than wrecking a house must be getting to push a button to do it.

I got some Christmas ideas out of the outing...both boys loved this wheelbarrow.

We had some dinner and I got to hold sweet Ellie. She is beautiful and I am so happy for J and J. They have been amazing to our family.

Is that a tiny smile?

Kittens

We talked about it for a while and decided the get not one but two kittens. The man of the house was not a big fan of the idea and I feared that our dog would not get along with another cat, not to mention two. But my aunt had many kittens on her little farm and one more batch was dropped off to her after their mother was hit by a car. She bottle fed and house trained them so I thought it was good to take 'em in. We think they're about 10 or 12 weeks old. They had been held and played with by her grandkids enough that they are very friendly and sociable. In fact they've put up with a lot from Bennett...he's not the gentlest to say the least. I don't let him play alone with the kittens for fear he'll squash one or carry one around by the tail.
Paxton also chases them but is learning more quickly that the kittens will like him more if he isn't running around squealing at them. He does get little boy crazy sometimes playing with them but he handles them well and even wants to clean the litter box. If only that desire would last. The kittens have had a few names, including Oreo, Charcoal, Bo, Shaggy, and Fred. At present we call them Chico and Chica, one is a boy and one a girl. Paxton is holding Chico here.

This is an old chair from my parents that I fondly remember growing up. When my Dad said he was going to donate it to charity if I didn't take it, I decided to grab it. The kittens like the ties hanging from the cushions.

I pulled out the ole sewing machine and made a kitten bed. The zipper is in and functional but not the prettiest; my Mom who is an expert in sewing told me she didn't know how I did it (wrong basically). I laughed. Next is a window cushion and maybe some pillow shams for my bed. No zippers on those.

We're trying to hang on to every last warm day so we've been to the park and we walk to school most days. Although I'm ready for the vegetable garden to be done in terms of the work, I wish the mild weather would stick around so we can enjoy being outside without freezing. The light frost we had recently did zap some of the vines - mine were mostly dead anyway except the ornamental potato vine - but the rest of my plants were fine. We're still harvesting a few cobs of corn from a late batch and we have about 40 spaghetti squash that I'm doling out to everyone I can think of. Our cucumbers have been great this year and the raspberries are slowing down in production but taste the sweetest they've been the whole season. It seems the cool weather has that effect on them. Oh how I wish Grandpa Les was still here so I could tap into his gardening and fruit tree knowledge. I often think of him when I'm in the vegetable garden.

A couple days ago it was Bennett's nap time (although naps are sporadic lately) and he announced he was going to nap on is bear. And he did. I assumed he'd move over to his bed but he didn't and stayed there his whole nap.