December Delights

- Like many families, we have an "Elf On The Shelf" that visits us each year between  Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Grace named him Seth 2 years ago after a friend at school.  Now that Matthew is 2, he gets excited about finding the elf each morning and has nicknamed him "Salsa"!

- I was shocked one day when Grace came running to tell me that Matthew had peed in her room.  He decided to pull down his pants and pee in the oven of her toy kitchen. When I asked him to go to timeout, he walked straight to his room, sat down and started reading a book (no need to close a door).  I was thankful yet again for investing in a steam cleaner!
 

- Grace has acquired the skill of unbuckling her seatbelt (this is hard even for adults to do).  Now when we arrive at our destination, she unbuckles herself and then helps unbuckle Matthew for me.  This skill came in handy when I accidentally locked my keys inside the car with the kids inside!  Grace unbuckled herself and mercifully opened the car door for me!

- Grace is quite the safety patrol.  She has told Jeff several times not to unbuckle his seat belt in driveway as he's pulling into the garage.
 

- I took Matthew to the boy's bathroom at school one morning and while helping him direct things to the right place, he was asking me what all of the parts of the urinal were called.

- After pulling on a jacket over a t-shirt and sweater, Grace proclaimed that she felt like meat (she meant sausage)!
 

- Jeff picked up Matthew to hug him and while hugging Jeff farted.  He asked Matthew, "Did you fart?" Matthew said, "No I didn't fart...yet."
 

- When I go get Matthew in the mornings after he yells,"Awake," he often follows by saying, "Chee(se) (s)tick!"  For a kid that used to be allergic to dairy, he sure does love it!

- Christmas Eve Grace was an angel and Matthew was a wiseman.  During the sermon, Matthew wanted to play Rev. Larry's guitar and Grace pulled straw out of the haybale that the little girl playing Mary was sitting on.  Yes, the kid's service was a zoo as usual and I was up front trying to keep my little angel and wise man in line!
 

- Unfortunately, Christmas didn't go as initially planned...primarily because Jeff's sister-in-law got the flu, our nephew had fever from teething and his brother had a cold.  However, as a result we celebrated Christmas 3 times...first with our nuclear family + grandparents, then with my sister's family after they were back from Memphis visiting her in-laws, and then with Jeff's side of the family once they were well.  Favorite gifts for the kids included a scooter for Grace from Santa, a tricycle for Matthew from Santa, an Ariel water doll for Grace from her sweet birth mother, a toy violin for Matthew from his Houston cousins and Magna Tiles for the family from my parents.
 

- The day after Christmas, Grace scooted all the way to the park while Matthew ran (trying to keep up with Grace and another friend on a scooter) and I walked with our jog stroller (in anticipation of tired kids on the way home).
 

- On the same visit to the park as above, I was surprised and thrilled when Grace asked me to read the label on a package of pretzels from her friend before sharing them with Matthew.  It was a good thing she did because they were made in a facility that works with peanuts.

- Matthew told Jeff, "You not get dessert!" after Jeff farted at the dinner table! 

- Grace devised a new game which starts off with dumping all of Matthew's stuffed animals into his crib, climbing into the crib, turning on music from the ball hopper toy next to the crib and then jumping/rolling around with the toys in the crib.  As a result of this game, Matthew has learned how to climb into and out of his crib quite proficiently.  we're thinking about moving him to a toddler bed and upgrading Grace to a twin soon!

 

- At dinner one evening, Jeff was describing a problem at work.  When he was done talking, Grace piped in with her advice, "Daddy you need to tell your guys to.....!"  She's going to be a real task master one day!
 

- When Jeff was leaving for work, Matthew said, "Thank you for loving me Daddy!"  This one just melted my heart!

Merry Christmas friends and thank you for the love you've given to this family and continue to give!