Christmas 2007 Recap

Well, I've almost recovered from our vacation out to Utah for Christmas. All it took was hours of unloading and reorganizing, vacuuming and washing the van, finding new places for all the new toys, recycling out some older toys, cleaning out the bathroom bag where Brooke's baby shampoo squirted EVERYWHERE and taking a few days to catch up on some much needed sleep. Now things are almost back to normal...almost. (Matt still needs to put the boxes full of Christmas decorations and the fake tree up in the attic). Ah-hem. Cough, cough.

So here's a glance at our very Merry Christmas and the GREAT time we had out in Utah.

Jenna and Brooke with Matt's parents, Grammy and Grandpa. Jenna had such a fun time out at Grammy and Grandpa's and cried when we left because she didn't want to leave, she "still wanted to play with Grammy." She sang them her songs and loved all the attention she got from the aunts and uncles too. She's a lucky girl.
We were able to go to my Grandma's yearly Christmas party which I haven't been to in a couple years, so that was really nice. It's one of the oldest traditions I can remember having in my family.
Jenna got to play with almost all of her cousins on this trip and she was in cousin heaven! This is Jenna with her cousins Daylen (5) and Maleah (3). It made me wish she had some cousins nearby because she really loved playing with them. It also made me want Brooke to get bigger so she can actually play with Jenna, and not just be a punching bag.
The intense look of one serious Gingerbread-house-maker.
I'm not sure what percentage of candy was eaten to what percentage was actually put on the house, but let me assure you, it was high.Brooke playing with a toy her aunt and cousins got her for Christmas. Seriously her favorite thing to play with (and subsequently my favorite present as well. ;)

When we got home to Missouri, that night we had "Late Christmas" with my family here in Columbia. Brooke and Jenna both scored big time. This is Brooke on her bouncing Zebra thingy, which Jenna promptly pushed her off of and played on herself.
Jenna spelled Christmas D-O-R-A this year. From the "Talking Cash Register" that Santa brought her, to the loads of Dora stuff my mom got her. She was decked out in a Diego Jeep Power Wheels, Dora PJs, Dora Blocks, Games and Puzzles and more. She now is asking to be referred to as "Dora." Go figure.

All in all we had a great Christmas and a great trip to Utah. Even the driving part wasn't too terrible. (I did, however, fear that at one point Matt might purposefully drive us into a pole when Jenna and Brooke were both screaming and it was snowing and blowing really hard across Wyoming. Let's just say, he was a little "on edge.") :)

On Tap for Xmas

Okay, so here are the books I'm planning on reading during our Christmas travels and festivities. Let me know your opinions and whether or not I should nix some from my list.
So I've tried to intermingle some "fun" ones with some Classics and hopefully it will keep me entertained. I've read The Giver about 6 times, it's one of my favorites to just pick up and read, any time, any place....so no dogging the Giver, but the rest are up for your opinions! ;)

Cookie Cutter Face

So, Jenna and I were playing with Play-Doe and cutting out shapes with the cookie cutters this morning and Brooke was sitting next to us, sucking on one of her toys. Well, the next thing I know, Brooke is crawling towards me on top of all the Play-Doe/Cookie cutter stuff and she biffs it hard and lands face first into the Christmas Tree cookie cutter (it was one of those sharp metal ones too!) Needless to say, she now has the imprint of part of a Christmas tree across her lip and nose, poor girl! Merry Christmas to her!

Trapped inside and going crazy...

I love Missouri...I mean, who wouldn't love a state where, instead of snow for Christmas, you get sheets of ice that make driving anywhere pretty much fatal. So, thanks to Mother Nature's little gift, church was canceled today. For kids, this was joyful. For me...it was torture. I HATE the feeling of being almost literally trapped inside. It's weird because there are certainly other days of the week where sometimes I don't leave the house all day, but just knowing that I CAN'T leave the house, even if I wanted to, just really drives me crazy. So, in an effort to stave off boredom and cabin fever, I baked. This was just one of my "baking projects" today. The best actually, as far as I'm concerned. They are Carmel/vanilla glazed cinnamon rolls and they were yum! Jenna's highlight was when she got to go out in the frozen backyard and experience a little of the ice with Matt. They lasted about 2 minutes, just long enough for me to snaps some photos. We don't have a sled, so instead, Jenna slid down our little hill on my cookie sheet. Once or twice down and she had had enough of Missouri winters, just like her mom.

The Nutcracker...my head against the wall

So on Saturday night Matt and I went on a date to the Nutcracker (his idea, seriously). He said he's always wanted to see the Nutcracker and well, now we have. Cross that off my list of things to do and add it to my list of things never to do again. Here's how the ranking goes in my mind:

Worst fine art exhibitions to endure:

1. Opera-this must be what Outer Darkness is like

2. Symphony-I have no musical talent and thus am unjustly jealous of those who do and therefore cannot appreciate their art. (This being said, it makes all those symphony concerts of Marcie's that I went to that much more special. It means I really must love you).

3. Ballet-This ranks in as number three simply because at least there's something to look at while the music is going on.

After viewing the St. Louis ballets performance of The Nutcracker on Saturday night, my list remains unchanged (although I'm considering moving interpretive dance into my top three, just because it's so weird). Honestly though, the Nutcracker did have brief moments that were really great, but those moments were ruined when instead of lasting 1 minute like they should have, the dancers danced on and on for like 10 minutes doing what looked like the exact same things over and over again! It didn't help that our seats were terrible and that a huge group of gangster looking people came in 20 minutes late and totally blocked our view while they took their sweet time finding their seats, and then left 20 minutes early, once again pausing in front of us for who knows what reason!

The greatest part about the ballet was that it was a night out on the town and that it was Matt's idea. So despite the fact that I'd rather have been watching the football game or at a basketball game, Matt still scores lot of points for taking the initiative to put this thing together for us. It just makes me wonder...how well does he really know me if he thought The Nutcracker was my type of thing?

Too Much Fun

So, you can tell what your priorities in life are when you can say, "No, Mr. Salvation Army elf, I can't spare 75 cents to drop in your bucket, but have fun freezing in the cold." While in the next breath you are calling your local Dish provider and upgrading your package so you can watch the BYU v. Utah game on the coming Saturday. "$18 to watch the BYU/Utah game...that's a steal--totally worth it!"

Needless to say, we watched the BYU v. Utah game today. Despite the slight guilt I felt that Matt upgraded solely for that one purpose, we did have a great time! Our friends the Hammond's came over with two little boys just older and younger than Jenna. She was in Heaven playing with her nursery friend "Griffie" (Griffen) as she was calling him. Anyway, the game went on right during her nap time, so of course, napping was out of the question. But not 30 minutes after our friends had gone, I noticed things were more quiet than usual and I found Jenna, who, by the looks of it, was trying to read some books on her bed. Unsuccessfully, you'll notice.

Black Friday

Yawn! Boy am I tired. This morning I woke up at around 4am for our yearly ritual of Black Friday Shopping. This is my van when we got home. The back seat was folded down into the ground, so the entire back half of my van was full to the ceiling just about. We got some great deals. The best of which I thought was a 8 mega pixel digital camera for $89. My mom also got Jenna a Power Wheels! I wonder if she's old enough to maneuver that, or if it will just end up rammed into things with her stuck and crying.

This years proceedings went off with hardly a hitch. Aside from a near fatal paper cut in line at wal-mart, me blocking out the line cutters at Target and nearly fainting with the dizziness caused as a side effect of my sleeping pills, it was a a fairly smooth process. I love Black Friday shopping because for a little sweat and sometimes blood, you can get great deals and more presents for others than you would have normally been able to get. Although, as I sit here in the quiet of my computer room, there is something to be said for buying online!

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and and happy Black Friday!

PS... A couple of funny Jenna things

We're running late for my class at the gym, so Jenna's eating her breakfast (a banana) in the van. I hand it to her and she says, "I'm not going to make a big mess in mommy's new van. That would make you so sad." Yep, I don't want you to make a big mess in the new van, so be very careful. "Awe, don't worry mommy. We can get you a new van, you just have to think positive!"

Matt is telling Jenna she needs to pick up her toys and put them away before we can play a game. She doesn't listen, so Matt tells her again, a little louder, Jenna you need to pick these toys up, I already asked you twice! Jenna says, "MATTHEW! It's not a big deal!"