Christmas Break Complete with Injuries

Today I took down the rest of our Christmas decorations despite Sarah's tears and protestations ("But I'll miss my Christmas stuff!").  I still don't know where to put some of their new toys but I'll get there. I'm writing about Christmas today so I can officially move on with my life.

Well let's get down to business. Or busyness. Justin had the entire week between Christmas and New Years off so we had him for 11 days straight. We made a list of all the things we wanted to do that week and accomplished 5 of the 9 (Sadly missed was seeing Les Mis. This weekend for sure!) A major wrench in our plans was spraining my ankle on day 1 of his break. But I did manage to eat all that was on my holiday food bucket list (I made and ate fudge on 3 separate occasions) so I feel accomplished...and resolved to eat no treats until Valentine's Day (44 days to go).

These are the towels Sarah gave away for Christmas.  She drew the pictures on regular paper using 4 colors. Then I traced her creations onto flour sack towels using Sharpie markers. I made sure she used the same colors I had Sharpies so I could capture her drawings just as she drew them.  I love how they turned out.  And according to pinterest, they can be washed (not bleached) and the picture will stay. She had fun making them and telling the recipients all about their personal picture.

Messy Henry. I don't remember what he was eating. Any guesses?

Friday, the 21st we frosted sugar cookies.  I love doing this.  I love eating them. Justin, not so much but he was a good sport.  Sarah could have done it for hours.  Henry just ate the frosting I gave him to spread on his cookie.  He's my kid.

The goods. They tasted so good. I know fancy decorated cookies are all the rage right now but nothing beats a soft cookie with a thick layer of homemade buttercream and crunchy sprinkles.

So as I mentioned, Saturday the 22nd we went up the canyon to go sledding. I hiked up to the top of the mountain and sled down a black diamond run, for sure.  Half way down my sled crashed into a tree and my ankle smashed into the trunk. I managed to reunite with my sled and slide the remainder of the hill to safety where I fashioned a stint with some twigs and pinecones and walked back to the car.

Okay, what really happened is I walked 20 feet up the hill, sat down on Sarah's sled, slid 10 feet into a shrub. I must have stuck my foot out to stop or steer but managed to slide over my foot at a horrible angle. I heard a pop and it went numb---like fallen asleep numb.  I couldn't breathe. It felt wrong, all wrong. A snowmobile was brought to my rescue and I was hauled back to the car where I sat while everyone else loaded up my kids.

When we got home, Justin carried me to the couch where I sat for the rest of the day with ice on my foot.  I couldn't walk on it until the next day. I still can't wear shoes. I bought a pair of slippers that I can actually slide my foot into with my brace on. Justin thinks they're ugly and if I wasn't so desperate for footwear, I'd probably think so too.

I can get around mostly pain free but I'm very slow and that's frustrating. And I have to take a lot of breaks. Listen to me go on and on like I'm the first person to ever sprain an ankle!  But this is the worst injury I've ever had and it's my blog.

I thought about taking a photo of my foot for proof of the severity but my pride won't let me.  I'm afraid if I post a picture of my swollen, black and blue foot, it's all you'll think about when we cross paths at the grocery store.

Christmas Eve we went to my Mom's house and ate what I call the holy trinity of ham, funeral potatoes and baked beans. Then the grandkids exchanged gifts, shared Christmas stories and songs then ate a lot of dessert. I didn't take pictures because I felt like an invalid and invalids don't carry around cameras when they need both hands free to walk. Then we took the kids home and put them to bed. Justin and I stayed up assembling things while watching Christmas Vacation.  Then we played Santa and went to bed.  I really felt like a parent.

Here's our tree just after Santa stopped by.

Christmas morning Sarah came in to get us up. She had already been downstairs. I asked her what she saw and she said, "I can't tell you. It's a secret."  Ah, I love it.

Henry left half-way through and came back downstairs with his blanket.  Then once he got hungry he wanted nothing to do with the rest of his presents.  I opened the last few myself and decided to keep the last one for his birthday since he seemed satisfied and my living room is too full anyway.

Sarah got a fishing vest, Cinderella and a Cinderella playset, wooden paperdolls, some art supplies, chutes and ladders, clothes and books. 

Henry got a slide, like 12 cars and trucks and this chime push toy, balls and books. The table and chairs and easel are for them to share and they actually do! It's great.

 Taking a break from all the unwrapping.

Justin got this awesome new hat, shaver, game, pillow and book. I got a new hand mixer, a stick blender, bedding, and a doughnut baking pan.

 Sarah is very good at reading all our names so she was our little elf.

We wrote these service gifts a few days before Christmas and then Santa delivered them to our stockings. We each wrote a nice thing we would do for everyone else in our family. They'll stay on the fridge until we do them, I guess. I owe Justin a pie, he owes me a homemade dinner including clean-up.

My parents came over for breakfast then we went to Justin's parents to eat some more and await the phone call from Dallin in Brazil.

After all the new toys, nothing beats his blanket.

Sarah's new outfit.  We also opened presents with Justin's family.  Sarah scored a pink sleeping bag (that she slept in on the floor for the next 7 days until I put my foot down) and Henry got more cars and new shoes.

Justin's dad deep-fried a turkey for dinner. I may never be satisfied by turkey prepared any other way. And they didn't catch anything on fire. Win-win.

 Isn't the day after Christmas almost as fun as Christmas day?

I love my little family.

We played lots of games, ate lots of food, went to an arcade, returned gifts, bought more stuff, played more games, ate at Bombay House and stayed up too late.

Next post: Justin's birthday and our trip to Logan with my family that includes a near-death experience in the middle of an elk herd.

We leave you now with a little Christmas cheer.

Before we all implode or combust or something tomorrow.....

Since the world is ending tomorrow, I had better catch ya'll up on our month thus far.

We made wreath cookies.  My mom made these when I was little and used redhots for the berries.  Hers turned out less army green than mine but they still tasted yummy.

Here's our tree all lit up in it's glory.  Notice I only included the top half that's out of my little elves' reach.

And here are some nativities.  I'm getting quite a collection without meaning to.  My next door neighbor brought over a snowman nativity so now I'm up to 4.

 This is the one I made. It's my favorite one.

Sarah loves the tree the most. When she was just 2 months old, we would lay her under the tree and she would look around and kick for the longest time. That year, I almost left it up into January because it was so helpful. Now it's her self-proclaimed job to plug it in every morning (yes morning, not evening). She instructs us to say "oooooo" when she turns on the lights.

My kids love to draw. Like a lot. I have more papers with drawings than I know what to do with. The walls of my house are turning into art galleries.

 I love to watch Henry settle down on his tummy and be all serious-like with his pen.

So which horse would you guess was drawn by a 4-year-old? If you said all 3, you'd be wrong.  Two of these were drawn by adults.  College-educated adults.

Sarah is talking to her dad on the phone.  I don't remember what they were talking about but I sure love how all her attention was on him.

 She pulled out the drawer to make her own little phone-spot.

Henry loves nativities. Well he loves little animals.

My sister and her boys included Sarah in their gingerbread boy making.  Sarah wanted to make a gingerbread girl which meant lots of rainbow candies.

We went to the Riverwoods to look at lights. I like to go to SLC but this year it wasn't going to happen.  These in Provo hit the spot and it was closer, free to park, free horse-drawn wagon rides and lots smaller for little legs to walk.

You get to watch me learn how to take pictures of moving things in low light. Lucky you!

This is my favorite photo of the night.  Sarah was trying to warm her hands without "the fire burning my eyes."

So Sarah got this idea in her head that she can fly if only she practices.

 "I'm trying to be magic but I'm not being magic."

And Henry's love for his blanket is growing.  It's getting to Linus proportions.

 (Minus the thumb-sucking.)

12.12.12

Since posterity will want to know what my kids were doing on this momentous of days....

They were just being cute and messing up my house.

We also went grocery shopping at Macey's and got free cookies. I took a nap, Sarah watched the Grinch for the 10th time, and Henry finished off a bag of goldfish without my knowledge. 

Thanksgiving and caving into the demands of a preschooler

Thanksgiving may be old news but since my motto is, If I don't blog about it, it didn't happen, here's Thanksgiving.

The Monday before Thanksgiving we made this awesome turkey for FHE. And check out Sarah's equally cool turkey crown she made at preschool.

 This is the day before Thanksgiving. I sure like November days when we can play outside in short sleeves.

 Goof-ball

Henry LOVES his sister and loves when she plays with him. Notice his tongue? That's how we know he's concentrating.

I'm waiting for the episode of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood about not picking up your baby brother. If Daniel sings it, she'll listen. I already have the lyrics to the song:

Don't pick up your brother. 

He doesn't like it 

and neither does Mom. 

Big brothers are for hugging, not lugging. 

(The songs on the show never rhyme either.)

 Cute little stinker that never listens!

I made Sarah and any other niece and nephew I could snatch color turkey napkin rings for Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone had to wait for them to finish up to actually set the tables and eat. They were a hit. At least I'd like to think so.

 On the back they wrote something they were thankful for.  Here's one of Sarah's.

 Turned out cute huh?

Here's Henry. That's the last of the pictures I took on Thanksgiving. Once I started eating, I didn't stop for nothing.

The day after Thanksgiving we went to Krispie Kreme after the Dye family party.  Sarah picked this snowman doughnut. She didn't want to eat it that night or the next day or the next day. I told her she needed to eat it. "But I'll miss it," she says. "Well if you don't eat it, it will go gross and we'll have to throw it away anyway," I explained.  Now imagine the conversation continuing for several more minutes, she saying the same thing, me trying to reword what I'm saying in terms that will help her understand that she cannot keep her doughnut forever, no matter if she eats it or not. 

We get nowhere so I decide to just stop talking to her about it.  Then Justin comes home from work and after dinner the subject gets brought back up by me (because I think she eating it will be less traumatic than me chucking it so I'm really trying to get her to eat it before it would make her sick) and the tears start flowing. Justin and Sarah have a nearly identical discussion/argument to what she and I went through that morning.  See in the picture how it looks like she's been crying?  She had.  A lot. Reminded me of the Great Balloon Loss of October 2012. Somehow Justin gets her to eat the doughnut. He takes lots of pictures of her and her precious snowman doughnut to remember the good ol' times and she eats it. And I just realized she hasn't brought it up since. Hasn't wanted to see the pictures and hasn't wanted another one. <shaking head>

I made this nativity out of wood blocks for the kids to play with. Sarah didn't quite understand the story behind them and sang "Mary had a little lamb" while playing with them on the stairs.

 That turned into playing a London Bridge is Falling Down-type game while singing Mary Had a Little Lamb.

 I sure loves me some getting-along kids.

Our neighbors across the street had their tree and lights up November 1 or something obscene.  Then two weeks before Thanksgiving, houses all over the neighborhood are lighting up.  That's fine, free country and all but it made Sarah very persistent that we get our decorations up much earlier than I like. (I just get tired of them by December 26 so I wait as long as possible). I think she thought we were the last family in the world to have a tree.  I'm more of a wait-until-December type and Justin is a don't-you-dare-before-Thanksgiving kind of guy so we've never had a problem waiting until December. November 30 I caved much to Sarah's delight.

Henry and Sarah actually make a good team. He likes to pull them off, she likes to put them on.

 

Our tree looks good on the top third, bare on the bottom third and totally full in the middle which is where Sarah puts the ornaments after Henry pulls them off so he won't do it again. Someday I'll have a stunning tree with coordinating ornaments perfectly placed. And it will be boring.

Sarah is just super excited about Christmas this year.  I think this is the first year she remembers Christmas from the previous year. She's been asking a lot of questions about babies and Santa and both topics make me uncomfortable. I believed in Santa when I was a kid and it was all good and fun and I wasn't traumatized when at 8 I figured it out.  But I just can't bring myself to lie to her when she asks about him. She's full of ideas from watching Frosty and Rudolph and I can't bring myself to perpetuate the myth. Am I taking this too seriously? Should I just have fun with it? Yesterday in the car she proclaimed "I love Santa" and I got jealous. If she asks if Santa brought such and such toy in past years I always tell her no, mom and dad gave that to you. Is that bad? What are your thoughts on Santa? Do you downplay him?  It's not a "true meaning v. Santa" thing for me, I just feel weird lying and I want the credit.