Our own little Christmas Day.

We'll be traveling to Utah for Christmas. We're still trying to figure out how to make Christmas-away-from-home work in the coming years. Because, as much as I like being in Utah with family, I like to wake up with my kids in our own home on Christmas morning. Maybe I'll have to start convincing family to come to us. But anyway, no need to look so far ahead right now. This year, this is what worked. I didn't want to pack all the gifts to Utah, just to repack them (plus more) to bring home. Plus, the kids got a couple things that I'm hoping will keep them entertained on the drive.

So Sunday the 15th was Christmas for us, and we really enjoyed it! Paul and I commented that it's nice to have the gift stuff done, but still have Christmasy stuff to look forward to. 

On "Christmas Eve" we went to Rick's Drive-in for dinner because its always done up all festive. 

After dinner we made cookies for Santa. 

Paul text Santa before bedtime (ahem, his dad, ahem) to see if Garrett could remind him that we were hoping he would come early this year. Garrett had a great time talking to Santa. Addie on the other hand loves saying that she sat on his lap, hugged him, talked to him, etc.) but when it comes to actually doing it, she'll pass. 

We're simplifying Christmases around here and budgeting, and I think it's a good thing. We're doing 5 gifts each: Want, Need, Wear, Read. And the one I added, Homemade. 

For "want" they both got Leap Frog electronic devices. They never said they "wanted" those. But they want our phones and iPads way too often, so we did some research and picked what we thought would be fun and educational. 

For "need" they both got footie pajamas. It could have worked for wear too. But they really needed jammies. 

For "wear" they got long pants and fleece pullovers. We're not very Utah ready, so we got a warm outfit for them. 

For "read" we got Disney look and find books. Can't really read them, but G got one for his birthday and they both love it. It's like Where's Waldo, but you find more things on each page.

And for "homemade" I refinished my

old dollhouse for Addie, and bought IKEA blocks and painted them for Garrett. A's was more work and a bigger deal, but as I predicted, they both love both gifts and share pretty well so far. 

We did stockings as well. But those were pretty practical too. Underwear, socks, tooth brushes. And a few fun little things that are probably broken now. As they were opening, I realized it was pretty boring because the Leap Frogs weren't hooked up yet, so there was nothing really to play with as they opened. But they're happy now. 

Here are the before and after pictures of the homemade gifts. 

I made a festive breakfast that morning too. I took everyone's suggestions and granted all the requests. It was like IHOP in my kitchen. 

I made: pancakes with whip cream and blueberries, bacon, eggs, hash browns, hot chocolate with whip cream and sprinkles, bananas and strawberries shaped like a candy cane, tangerine snowmen, and we had sparkling grape juice and orange juice too.

It was a fun day. And it's fun that we still have a vacation and actual Christmas to look forward to.

According to the kids

Kids say:

Me: It's almost Lulus birthday.

G: no it's almost DADS birthday!

(This was before Paul and Addie's birthdays. He's learned the order really well.)

I can't decide if this is appropriate or not, but it was cute, and Garrett doesn't really know better yet. When my nephew William was born, Garrett wasn't talking much and Addie wasn't at all. But they'd both put their index finger along the bottom of their nose, above there lip (like the oxygen tube) to let us know they knew who he was, or that they wanted to see him. This past Halloween Garrett had the corner of his bandana twisted up and he put it up to his lip under his nose and said,  "Mom! Take a picture! I'm baby Will!" 

We often have to remind Garrett to finish eating before going on to something else and he's started picking up on our eating advice. Paul was hurrying through a mean and G said, 

"dad, swallow that bite first." Another time Paul and I were talking during dinner and Garrett shouted, "mom, focus!"

Everyday when Paul gets home from work the kids both excitedly ask, "Done workin'?"

Me: Addie who should we go see for Christmas?

Addie: Baby Will...and Tow Mater. 

G was chasing Addie swinging a coat at her. 

Me: Garrett, what are you doing?

G: I'm playing hitting. 

Me: You're playing hitting? That sounds like a safe game. 

G: yeah, it's a safe game. 

G: Addie don't do that! You're making me crazy!

Walking to our car from a store, G was touching each car as we walked by.

Me: don't do that bud, people don't want your finger prints on their cars. 

G: (keeps touching every car) mom, you're crazy. 

The two of them are very mischievous together. When Garrett had been told

not to do something, he whispers to Addie to try and get her to do it. And she almost always whispers back, "ok" and then does it. I used to get mad at her for doing what he was doing, but then I caught on, and now he still gets in trouble for making her do stuff I've told him not to do. He hasn't learned yet though. 

They are both constantly telling me things are 'so cute' or 'adorable.'

No matter when the last time was that G used the bathroom, if I ever tell him to try and go, he says, "I went last night."

Addie: sneezes

Me: bless you!

G: (wipes his arm from Addie's sneeze) and says: Eww, you just blessed on me. 

Addie puts on new Jammie's and goes to G and says, "Garrett, look at me." Garrett says, "oh...you're very pretty."

G: mom that dinosaur has a lady friend. 

Me: hmm, do you have a lady friend? 

G: no. I have a mama lady friend.

Addie walks around randomly patting her belly saying, "oh ho ho, Merry Chris trees."

Garrett walks around randomly patting his belly saying, "ho ho ho, Very Christmas."

The "guys" party

Paul has a group of guy friends here. (All pretty close by except one who's out of state.) He calls them "the guys" I call them "the home school kids". (And I tease them about it any chance I get.) We hardly ever see each other but we try to plan something a couple of times a year. This was the first time we've had a Christmas party and I hope it becomes a yearly thing because it was really fun. And in the next week or so, the one out of state will be the only one without kids, and it's fun seeing our kids play together.

We had the party in the mortuary reception room. We had dinner, kid activities, and a white elephant gift exchange. 

My kiddos before the party. 

The reindeer food bar. I made the food. (Oats, crushed cookies, cocoa and sugar, colored sugar, round sprinkles, and edible glitter.) And I found free printables on Pinterest to stick on the jars. 

We decorated cookies.

We colored and made crafts.

The decor. 

The kids.

Rules for the gift exchange by Paul. And why wouldn't we pull our numbers from an urn??

The whole group! (Minus the two out of state. And there's a baby in a stroller hidden behind us.) 

California winters

We've decided to repair my computer instead of buying a new one (for now anyway). It's in the middle of some clean outs and fixes, so I'll probably be phone blogging or not blogging or 5-in-one-day blogging for a bit longer. 

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When the whole country was having snow, freezing rain and record low temps, California was too, apparently. If low 50's in December is cold, then yes, we were suffering right along with the rest of you. We even had rain one day. See?

But aside from the occasional dip into the 50's, it's been more like this. 

We go on walks. We shop at the weekly farmers market. We play in the leaves. (That are finally looking fallish and I love it!) 

And sometimes it's almost cool enough for jackets or a hat, and some hot chocolate. (Or we pretend it is.) Last Friday it was 66 degrees and a farmers market vendor asked with a concerned voice, "where are their jackets!?" It's funny watching some of the locals be overly dramatic about "season changes" here. Scarves and boots come out if it drops from 73 to 65. But I miss the sweater/scarf clothes too, so I guess they just like to jump at any chance they

get to be comfy and cozy. 

I gotta be honest though, this Utah girl missed the bright fall colors (although I'm learning that once the leaves finally change here, they probably last longer than Utah ones do) but I do not miss the snow, cold and ice. At all. Sure, I hope the kids get to play in some snow next week, but it's nothing I'm missing! 

Knott's "Merry" Farm

Paul had last Wednesday off because he worked the weekend. We wanted to do something fun, but hadn't decided what yet. But the car repair place and the dentist decided for us. We got our van paid off just in time for a $700 repair bill. (And a big scratch along the bottom of the back passenger door, but we won't talk about that. And no, that's not what the repair bill was for.) And Paul had to have a cavity filled that morning. I'll never complain about Paul's dentist bills because this was maybe the third he's had in his life and I'd just had a MUCH more expensive dentist visit the week before. Between dentists, doctors, prescriptions, and car repairs, December has cost us about $1500 more than we'd  planned. But we've survived! (So far.) 

Anyway, our family fun day needed to be free, or close to it. So we decided to use our Knott's passes, for probably the last

time before they expire. It was so Christmasy, warm and fun! One of the funnest times we've had there. 

The kids get more brave and more excited each time we go. There were no crowds and they went on everything they wanted to at least once. There's a free three hour lot that we never have to move from because a couple hours is usually enough, but this day we moved the car and stayed for almost six hours. 

The train conductor gave Garrett a ticket to be punched and Garrett was amazed. I think it was extra cool because he'd just seen The Polar Express for the first time a few days before. 

The kids fell asleep as soon as we got in the car. We could still see the Knott's sign in the back ground. It was a good day!

I love this boy. He's into collecting rocks and sticks right now. He fell asleep holding a stick. 

Festival of trees

We went to a little (really little) food and toy drive a couple of weeks ago. They had Santa, a train ride, food, drinks, games and a festival of trees. I use the term "festival" and "trees" loosely because I've been to the one in Salt Lake. And it was a stretch to call this by the same name. I didn't take any pictures of the trees because we'd made it through them all before I really realized it had begun. Maybe 10 trees, and they were pretty sad, but they tried and it was for a good cause. 

We got our Santa picture (for free). Had some hot chocolate, and went on a train ride. The train we started on had a loose wheel so we got to sit and breathe in exhaust for a few minutes before they had us get off and wait for the next train. But the kids loved it, and they loved the playground as we were leaving so we called it a win. 

Sorry about your head, Paul. But this was the only non-blurry one.