OK. I have been wanting to do this for awhile and I figured I better get it done now while I am thinking of it. I am taking my blog private so if you want to continue to see what we have been up to you need to register with VOX. It only takes a minute and you don't have to do your own blog or anything like that to view my blog. To better protect my family, I feel it is best to go private. :-)
On Christmas Eve day I generally have the kids bake and decorate cookies for Santa. Bryce really didn't want to do this this year but Emma was VERY excited about cooking. She had a lot of fun with the dough and decorating with the icing and candies. Enjoy the pics!
I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas day!
We went to church last night. In the past, we have had our kids open one present after church on Christmas eve but we decided to let them open it up earlier so they would have time to play with them before bed. Bryce opened up one of his new Lego sets and Emma opened up her musical instruments.
On Christmas morning we woke up VERY early. We tell Bryce every year that he has to wait until 5:00 to get up. Chad is also a very early riser for Christmas so he wouldn't sleep much past 5:00 anyway. Emma woke up at about the same time and so after Chad got the mood set (Christmas music playing, turned on the fireplace, turned on the Christmas tree lights, etc. the kids came down to open their presents. Emma was SOOOOO excited. I don't know how many times she had scoped out the presents under the tree and counted the number of presents she had. She and Bryce tore into their presents right away. Half way through opening presents Emma yells out, "Santa, you are the best!"
Bryce received a Nintendo DS and several Lego sets. Emma got a Fisher Price MP3 player, stuff for her doll house, a jewelrey box, a Dora game for her Leapster, and a few things for her kitchen. Bryce says the Nintendo DS and the Indiana Jones River Chase Lego sets are his favorites. Emma loves her music player.
Chad got his Wii Fit. Chad and I both did the beginning tests where it measures your weight, BMI, and does some basic balancing tests and gives you your "body age." Chad got an age of 42 (a little older than his actual age). Chad has a healthy weight and BMI but he has a hard time with the balancing (at one point it even asked Chad "Do you have a hard time standing up?" he he he). But this also gives him something to work on. My age was 31! :-) Let' s just say I am NOT 31 and this was a GOOD thing for me. Chad was a little disgusted by this because he says he works out and he eats really healthy and I don't and I still get a really good score. What can I say? I think I have really good genes...
I got my new camera and have been playing with it most of the day. I also got a beautiful cross necklace from the kids.
After opening presents, Chad made us a big breakfast and then we hung out and played the rest of the day. I did make a turkey with all the trimmings for a late lunch but it has been great just to have some time to relax and have fun with all our new toys.
I did take some pics with my old and new camera but I am just too tired to get up and get the cameras so maybe tomorrow!
It has been a few years since Chad and I have exchanged actual Christmas presents but this year we decided we were going to exchange gifts. I really wanted a new camera (a couple of months ago the one I wanted was on sale at Best Buy with a free bag and extra battery so I told Chad to go get it) so I know that is what I am getting. Chad really wanted a Wii Fit and as you probably know, that is not an easy gift to find. Last weekend I checked online and there was a post that Best Buy was going to have Wii's and Wii Fits in stores for Sunday. So, I got up early, headed to the store, got in line, and was able to get one. I pretended to be very disappointed when we got home though to try to fool Chad into thinking I couldn't get one. (Chad has ALWAYS figured out what I get him for Christmas). I even wrapped up another box and hid the real present so he wouldn't see it until Christmas morning.
Well, all was going well until last night. I was on the computer going through the process of looking for a Wii Fit (again all to try to trick Chad) and the kids (who happened to see it when I was wrapping the gift) went into the other room and began talking about it. Emma runs in and tells Chad "A Wii Fit!" and Bryce yells, "Emma, you told Daddy what he is getting for Christmas!!!! Mom, Emma told Daddy what you got him for Christmas!"
If that wasn't bad enough, this morning Chad was looking at the ads in the Sunday paper and saw that My Fitness Coach was on sale (the game he wants for the Wii Fit) which I also got for him and Emma saw the ad and said, "Daddy, NO! You are getting that for Christmas! SSSHHHH!!! I am not supposed to tell and you can't open it until Christmas!"
So, maybe next year, I can make it a surprise for Chad and I really should have known better than to have the kids be a part of this if I didn't want Chad to know ahead of time.
The second one is Emma and J. Emma took a liking to her cousin J and throughout the few days that we were there, she kept trying to take him by the hand and playing with him.
The last one if Bryce and N. N and Bryce became best buds and it was pretty cute watching N follow Bryce around the house. They really bonded playing in grandpa's mustang.
Speaking of cars, yesterday we cleaned out all the toys in the house. Well, Bryce cleaned out all of his cars (in the end he did decide to hold onto a small bucket of them) but he got rid of all the rest saying he doesn't play with them anymore. He really doesn't play with the cars but I was still shocked to see him do it. He still loves cars but he loves remote control cars and the real thing more than the little hot wheels. His big passions are his bike, Legos, and the Wii. ** sigh** My little boy is sure growing up in a hurry.
Here is a final picture of my parents' grandkids. This is all of them except baby J and N (who was not feeling well).
Yippee!! We are on Christmas Vacation! We are all rejoicing in the fact that we have two whole weeks off!! Ahhhh.... I have to say, I was spoiled rotten by the kids and parents in my class this year. This is my first year teaching in a private school and I always felt that I was blessed teaching in the public school but this year was a whole new level. I got many goodies (Bryce and Emma are happy about these), several beautiful Christmas ornaments, a gift certificate to a restaurant, a pizza place, and the bookstore. I also got a few gifts of money (including one parent who gave me a $100 bill in a Christmas card). I was truly overwhelmed by their generosity to this rookie teacher at the school. Chad also got a gift certificate to the movie theater (so we are taking the kids this week to see Bolt) and a few goodies as well. He also got a $25 Visa card from the PTA so that is pretty neat.
Our vacation is not off to a great start however. Emma tripped yesterday and bumped her head on the coffee table (Praise God we have rounded edges for the table) because she got a HUGE bump right above her eye. We put some ice on it and I slept with her in the guest room last night (not a good night's sleep for me). We also gave her some Motrin because she said her head hurt but this morning she woke up happy and ready for a new day. She still has quite the bump but the swelling has gone down some.
Chad also had a rough night of sleep because he is SICK! We don't know if it is a stomach bug or something he ate but he has been feeling really sick since last night.
We are praying that he is on the mend soon...
Today is Bryce's Gotcha Day. In 2001 on this date he officially became our son. It was one of the happiest days of my life! With all of this cold weather we have had recently we told Bryce it reminds us of those cold days that we spent in Russia seven years ago. I love this kid! He is the most amazing, smart, sweet, sensitive, funny, and stubborn little boy that I know.
To help celebrate his Gotcha Day I got someone to cover my class so I could take Bryce and his friend N, who was also adopted today in Russia (that is where we met the T family), out to lunch. We then went out to dinner this evening and Bryce got a new remote control truck (I think the last one he got was last year for his Gotcha Day). It was a fun day! I love you sweetie!
We didn't get much snow but we did get some ice and sleet which made the roads very slick. They did try to treat the roads but because the temperature is so cold (the wind chill was -10 degrees this morning) it didn't do much good. So, we get a snow day. I am happy to have the day off but I am also in a time crunch since this is the last week of school before break and the end of the 2nd quarter. We are in for a nasty week of weather so I am wondering if this won't be the only day off this week. The teacher side *sighs the mom side says YIPPEEE!!! :-)
This past weekend we drove out to see the Magic Tree. It was absolutely beautiful! I wish I had brought my camera but maybe if it thaws out we can drive out again and I can get a picture. Until then, enjoy the website!
As moms, God blesses us through our children. These are a few ways that God has blessed me this week...
Emma told me the other evening as I was giving her a bath...
"Mom, I love Jesus. He was a cute baby."
The next morning we were heading to school and I realized that I had forgotten my dessert for the Christmas luncheon at school. I told the kids that I would have to go to the store during recess break (and I obviously sounded a bit stressed about it). Bryce tells me...
"Mom, don't worry. God is with you."
***God was with me because I had forgotten I got a can of homemade chocolates from a student the day before and so I shared those instead of trying to head to the store during recess.
Then the other day, Bryce had gotten hurt (bumped his head) and Emma immediately folds her hands, bows her head and says...
"God, thank you for my brother. Will you help him get better and not get hurt anymore?"
Thank you God for these blessings!
