Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This year was probably one of the most memorable Christmas' for me.  I think this is because the boys were so excited.  We did something almost everyday to reinforce the true meaning of Christmas.  Ethan goes to a religious-based VPK, so he brought home spiritual and secular things all month.  Most of these items produced tears in me, except for the one with Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus.  In the picture, Mary (who just had a baby) is holding a sheep.  I just found it hilarious and well, I'm evil, huh?
Enjoy some photos taken over the last week of my sweet boys.

 Posing for a group shot before the Ward Christmas Party.  Grayson loved wearing Jared's Santa hat.  He would wear it around the house singing, "Santa Claus is coming to town..."

 Ethan on Santa's lap at the Ward Party.  No one else was interested.  Jared said Ethan leaned in and whispered that he wanted a robot.  So cute.

 Opening gifts Christmas Eve with Gigi, Papa, Aunt Stacey, and Uncle Tony.

 Landon really got in on the ripping open packages action this year.  He barely looked at what he got because his favorite part was tearing off the wrapping paper.

 Uncle Tony bought the boys this huge soccer ball that you can get into.  It is one of the favorites! All three boys enjoyed a romp around the yard on Christmas day.  Today, Ethan took a "rest" in it while playing outside.  

 Santa came and left quite a stack under our tree.  

 Merry Christmas!

P.S. I made a throw for my sweet mother-in-law, Sabra, for Christmas this year.  She does so much for us and we are grateful for all that she does. 

Random Things I Don' Want to Forget

Grayson has been learning to pray and he recently started feeling confident enough to pray without any assistance.  His prayer the other day at lunch touched my heart.
"Father.  Thank you for this day.  Thank you for this food.  Thank you for Jesus.  Thank you for lunch.  Amen."  He also calls reindeer "kangaroos."  It is awesome.

 The boys love to color in the morning.  It is a nice, quiet activity and I am so glad they like it because it lets me get dishes done and go to the bathroom in privacy.  Ethan really loves color by number sheets.  Just love that they will sit for at least 5 minutes.  Heaven!

 Recovered this little chair to sit at a new computer desk.  We inherited Brandon's old computer and plan to use it for the boys mostly.  This was an extra chair I had, but Grayson's eating habits had done a number on it.  So, I used some extra fabric I had and recovered it.  The rest of my chairs need to be recovered as well with a heartier fabric to withstand the boys.  Aunt Teresa is coming in a few weeks to help me out with that larger project.  Very excited.

 Weather here has been so beautiful, so we've been enjoying our backyard.  Here we are having lunch last week.

 Eggplant Parmesan with Spaghetti!  I just thought our dinner looked so yummy this week, I took a picture of it.  Here's the recipe if you'd like to recreate.
Peel and slice eggplant into about 1/2 inch to 1 inch slices. Go with your preference.
Preheat olive oil in skillet.
Dip eggplant egg/milk mixture and then into Italian bread crumbs.
Fry in skillet until a pretty brown color on both sides.  Drain excess grease on paper towel lined plate.
Place eggplant in layers in casserole dish.  Cover in sauce and sprinkle with as much parmesan/mozzerella/etc that you like.  Bake for about 20 min at 350.  So good, people.

Ethan made this Santa Claus at school.  (Side bar: Landon sees him and says, "Santy Claus! Ho, Ho, Ho!")  I asked him about his healthy eyebrow hair.  His response, "He's angry." Me: "He is?  Why?"
E: "Because people have been naughty."  Hehehehe.

More Christmas Fun

 This week we focused on giving Christmas gifts to Jesus.  After all, it is His birthday!  I found this sweet little tear out in our Friend magazine that gives you scriptures and tasks to do each day that give the "Best Christmas Gifts" to Jesus.  Check it out HERE.

Monday night we had some friends over and decorated sugar cookies.  It was so fun to see the children play together and the cookies were delicious.  We love when the Swartzlanders come over.

 Forgot to bust out the camera until the very end.  Here's the only shot I got.

Tuesday, we made more cookies!  This time we delivered them to our mailman.

Wednesday, we took the remainder of our cookies and took a walk to deliver them to a neighbor.  As a side perk, we were completing our "Best Christmas Gifts" task for the day by enjoying the beautiful Earth that Heavenly Father has created for us.  It was drizzling, but we ventured out anyways.  On our way home we were rewarded with the beauty of a double rainbow!  I know it was just a rainbow, but I felt Heavenly Father's love so strong. It was a pretty sweet experience for me and lifted my heart. 

The double rainbow was much more spectacular around the corner. Once we got home to get the camera, the view from our house wasn't as awesome.  We did catch a little glimpse of her though. 

Boys will be Boys

Just wanted to share a few funny stories about my boys. 

Almost every night when it is bath time, my boys run wildly naked through the house.  This usually involves multitudes of giggles and ends with Ethan and Grayson finding me and rubbing their butts on me.  Not sure where this originated, but it is kind of hilarious.

A few days ago when Jared arrived home from work I asked him to check on Ethan in the bathroom.  We have been having a test of wills all week about him cleaning himself up on his own.  He had been in there quite awhile as I finished dinner and I was starting to get worried about him.  Jared opened the door to find Ethan standing on the bathroom counter checking out his little booty.  He smiled impishly and stated, "Had to make sure I got all the poop off, Dad."  Perfect logic, Ethan, perfect logic.

On Sunday, Grayson was getting dressed.  He usually does so himself, but asked for an assist from me.  As I'm heading over, I see he's holding his clip on tie and I can just see the wheels turning in his head.  I say calmly, "Grayson, please don't put that tie on your penis." As I talking, he does it folks.  He clips his tie on his penis and he is now screaming.  In order to get it off, I had to yank it, which I'm sure added to the pain.  It took all I had not to laugh.  I think I'm the worst mom ever.  (Note: Grayson was completely nude when this occurred.)

Christmas is Coming

 We LOVE Christmas around here!  Our decorations are up and we are trying to create fun family traditions.  Usually one of our favorites is getting our tree.  Jared insists on a live tree and our vacuum always gets a workout, but it sure does smell good.  I'll admit, Jared and I were both cranky on the day we got our tree.  We got this super fat tree, but it the trunk was crooked which we did not notice.  It took us about 3 hours to put it up and I am not exaggerating.  Once it was up, Grayson pulled it over and that is why he is in none of these photos because he was sent to bed.  My friend, Emily, introduced me to the concept of FWP (First World Problems).  This is definitely a FWP, but it did not help with the aforementioned crankiness.  

Jared feigning excitement.

 How Jared really felt at the end of that day.

 Decorating our tree.

Monday night we went to the Cypress Grove Park Festival of Lights.  It was so fun and stress-free since we didn't even get out of the car.  Unfortunately, I forgot the camera.  We will definitely be doing this again next year, so I'll get some then. I hope Christmas has come to your homes!