Christmas Present(s)

As usual I can't believe Christmas has already come and gone. For me it the excitment and anticipation was more than just Christmas. My sweet sister surprised me a few weeks earlier with an announcement that she was coming to visit for Christmas, so I looked forward to Amber and her boyfriend Norm flying in on Christmas Day. We decided to spread Christmas out and have Santa come a day later which was really fun.

(I actually got the idea from my friend Erin who Post-poned Christmas since her husband was working on Christmas day one year.) My kids are little and don't know the difference and we figured it would be more fun to have Santa visit and to have the girls open their gifts while Aunt Amber was here, and it really was.

We did open a few gifts from our Grandma & Grandpa Payne on Christmas morning. The girls were in love with their new clothes and dolls and honestly I think we could've called it good with just those few things they were so happy.

"Yahoo," I think She likes the jewelry box

Being our first Christmas in Washington Santa went a little "crazy" (because he knew I didn't have to worry about traveling and taking gifts back on a plane, not to mentions he found some screamin deals at "Savers." I was almost embarrassed at the amount of toys that had accumulated over the past several months. It was fun nonetheless to see the excitement in their faces and the screams of "presents, presents".

YO-YO Competition

Never enough Dolls

I have to admit I learned a lot about myself through watching my kids. I read several posts from friends and realized I need to spend more time teaching the Real meaning of Christmas with my kids and less time on worrying about the gifts that would be under the tree.

Winter Wonderland!

This song has a whole new meaning for me as we got a chance to frolick in the snow today. Church was canceled and so we spent some time this morning on the Christmas lesson from the nursery manual about Jesus Christ and his birth. We then joined our neighbor Meisha and her husband and helped make a snowman.

Later that afternoon Meisha came and "kidnapped" me and we went for a long walk down to get her a newspaper at one of the coffee shops at the bottom of the hill. It was fun to chat and be out in the falling snow. It was incredibly beautiful and a little crazy how little traffic there was in the usual busy Sumner area. I've been told we've made national news with our weather. We currently have about 6-8 inches of snow on the ground and it's been snowing almost non-stop for a few days now. The airport has been shut down and I wonder if my sister is going to really make it on Christmas Day.

There was a lot of time to kill so we got the girls involved in making Christmas Cookies, although they discovered how yummy the dough was and then it was more about the snitching than the making. :)

The Great Freeze Out of 2008

This has been the longest stretch of freezing temperatures in like 40 years up here. Luckily John was on top of it and bought us a "fireplace" to supplement our Heat Pump (which doesn't work in sub-freezing temp) and with the space heaters our home is toasty warm. Other than that we have been thrilled with the few inches of snow that have covered the yard and streets.

I thought birds flew south for the winter?

Everytime it snows in Washington I'm always surprised. It's just not a Washington kind of thing. Infact the state shuts down and people start to panic at the first sign of snow and cold. I didn't understand when I first moved here, but after 5 years the hills, the ice, and cars are not a good combination. That doesn't even factor in all the power lines and the trees that fall when they become heavy with snow. As for me I'm still like a little kid-I love the snow, love watching it fall, love playing in it (most of the time). My kids have caught on to my excitement and even when after the sun had set they were asking to go out and play in the snow.

Luckily with Dad home the girls have been outside a plenty playing & even an attempt at sledding was made-thanks to Dad and his handiman skills. As for Tate and I we have only ventured out for an appointment with the lactation specialist. Tate us already up to about 8 lbs-We did manage to grab a few pictures of his first bath the other night. It's true what they say by the time you get to the 3rd child-who remembers or has the hands to grab for the camera.

Tate-2 weeks old-Where'd my newborn go?

Good times my friends, good times!

Home Renovation-Carpentry

As mentioned John took his paternity leave this week. He's been really good with the kids and especially helpful with the 5 am feeding, since this isJohn's normal wake up time he's usually quite happy to take Tate and feed him (bottle of course) because at 5 am I'm just not functioning at all. Once Tate is back in bed John will be found out in his workshop until 8 am when the women and children are finally up. Thought I'd post his recent carpentry handiwork. The kitchen has continued to come together and the drawers and shelves are beautiful.

Good job John!

The past 2-3 weeks have kind of flown by in a big blurr. Tate is now 2 weeks old and I wonder how I've survived thus far? I have my Mom and beloved Husband to thank for all their help!

Unfortunately most good things come to an end and Grandma left us on Saturday morning. Amazingly enough My mom was up and at it by 5 am doing laundry and some last minute cleaning. Did I mention how much I love my Mom? I tried to warn the girls that she was leaving, (Grandpa was nice enough to let her stay so long) but even as we pulled up to the airport and she climbed out of the van, McKenna decided she was going with her and proceeded to try and climb out of the van as well. It was a teary departure for all, even John as he realized the shoes he was going to have to fill. :) She left us with the promise she'd be back in February. Only 6 weeks to go...

Luckily John took his paternity leave this week and so I'm not quite "alone" yet. Saving that for next week when he'll only be gone a few days, break me in slowly.

So much to write, so little time...

This is probably going to be my motto for a while, as I'm sure it could be a lot of people's, especially with the holidays among us. Heads up-Christmas cards will pry be a little late this year...at the rate gifts will pry be late as well as I haven't even had time to shop for my dear husband...maybe "it's the thought that counts" is really true? Or maybe not.

My post today is really to report a little of what's been going on in the past week. The biggest being my dear old Dad was able to come visit us this last weekend and to meet his 2nd grandson.

It was a whirlwind of activity and so much fun to have him here. My girls couldn't get enough of their Grandpa with his "roars" and the chasing and screaming.

It was quite entertaining to watch and I think they wore each other out. Grandpa was usually asleep in the first 10 minutes of any movie turned on. John, the girls and Grandma & Grandpa were able to go out and find us a Christmas tree and that night they went out and saw the Fantasy Christmas Lights at a park in Spanaway. Luckily Grandma took care of Photos and got me some great shots so it was almost like being there!

Our Lil Angels

Finding the "Perfect" Tree

Fantasy Lights

New Jammies

Nothing says Christmas like a snowglobe

Thanks for coming to Visit Granpa! As always so sad to see you go, so come back soon!

Home

It has not even been 24 hours and we are already home. Crazy to think of all that has happened and how much life has already changed.

The girls today were so cute! They played and wore out Grandma all morning and when I opened the door to let them in the room their hair was done all cute in bows and they were each carrying their own "baby boy" with big smiles on their faces. They peeked in the room and shouted, "the baby boy's here." After getting a good look at him they asked to hold him and as each took their turn they lovingly held him and looked at him and called him by name, "baby boy." :) It really was and is quite enduring as they continue to take turns holding him and wanting to show him everything.