xmas

There is so much to catch up on, I can't possibly do it in one post. Here are some highlights from the actual holiday.

Everyone had to dress up for the annual Christmas Eve party. Sawyer was too scared of his tie and belt to wear them. He was also in a typical holiday mood (read: uncooperative).

Scott, typically, cooked. Awesome food, only it tasted like cardboard to me because I had a cold. In between seasoning and slicing, he found time to work his sleep magic on Baby A.

I recycled a pre-Sawyer Christmas outfit. I didn't quite fit into it, and only realized AFTER adorning it that I matched the kids. Sooooo geeky.

Wearing the Armstrong tartan tie that used to be Uncle Ross's, Justin exemplified Tweenhood when he plopped down to play with a toy on the floor in the middle of the party. Moments before he was super excited about getting a sweet skater hoodie from the Kim family.

Christmas morning arrived and Sawyer SCREAMED when he saw what Ho Ho Claus had brought. Oddly, the entire family gave him play kitchen accessories. How ever did they know? We can verify, however, that Santa's elves were up until 2:30 in the morning assembling the kitchen - post Xmas eve libations - which came in 134 pieces. Apparently Santa's elves do occasionally cuss loudly.

Still a believer, Justin was thrilled that Santa was able to make a Wii in his workshop, even though they were all gone from the stores. It's lucky that Santa gets things for FREE!

Arden says: so let me get this straight, Sawyer got a kitchen, Justin got a Wii, and all I got was this lousy pink duck? (actually, Santa gave the kitchen to Arden too, but Sawyer hogged the whole thing).

We all got a chance to enjoy the Wii (oddly the entire family gave Justin Wii accessories including extra remotes - how did they know?) Mimi played golf with Justin and Scott. Even great Aunt Bobby took a few rounds bowling (and scored a strike). Pop Pop was so obsessed with tennis (convinced that his remote was broken) that he turned the game back on after Justin went to bed and attempted to brush up on his skills.

Hark the Herald Angels . . . . Cry.

Poor Sawyer made it about halfway through his Christmas play and then just lost it. I'm not sure why. Maybe he was cold. It was like 40 degrees and we were outside. Maybe the pressure was just too much. There were about 100 people watching him. Maybe it was the fact that he blurted out BIG TRUCK! when one went by on the road behind us and everyone laughed. I wasn't allowed to go up to him and the teachers left him there so he just stood there amid a choir of angels, crying, for about 10 minutes. Later, when people asked me which kid was mine, all I had to say was 'The angel that cried" and they all knew who I meant.

Gingerbread House

Sawyer put this together from a kit during a rainy weekend day before Thanksgiving. He was so intent and careful. Good thing I'm no Martha. The end result was hardly something for the cover of Good Housekeeping, but it was entirely his and boy was he proud.

Photo shoot comedy

We postponed taking the official Christmas photo until Justin arrived. Coordinating three kids can be a bit difficult. Here are a couple highlights:

Sawyer, stand behind Justin. Okay just squat down behind him. Put your face next to his. Put your chin on his shoulder. I didn't say sit on his shoulder!


Scott tries to dogpile all the kids. It looks really cute, until he snaps the shot - see Arden in the back?

Arden: I can't take this any more!


To see the REAL shot look in the mail in weeks to come.

Lessons learned

Sawyer has been attending a Baptist preschool these last four months. In addition to learning about Jesus when they study the letter J, Sawyer is learning to say his prayers, mind his manners and obey the 10 commandments (or a preschool version of them). For $100/week (full time), it is a miracle. Yet, it's a constant struggle between my lion-hearted son (he's not officially a LEO but he should be) and the teachers who have little tolerance for strong-willed children. Most days I get notes home that Sawyer lost his 'star' for telling the teacher "No." Some days he loses it for 'stubborn behavior' or 'running wild.' Still, they manage to get him to follow their rules most of the time. The best thing they have taught him is to put his hands behind his back when he stands in a line at school. I use the hands behind the back trick when we go shopping. He can run through a toy store and not touch a thing. Another miracle. On the good side, they tell me that he has an amazing attention span for books and movies. Of course, we don't have TV so we watch a lot of movies at home. And we read three or four books every night. When we get to the end of each book, Sawyer closes the cover and says "Amen."

Kooza!

Over the Thanksgiving holiday my mom treated us with tickets to Cirque du Soleil. She watched Arden so that we could enjoy the show with Sawyer. For anyone who isn't familiar with Cirque du Soleil, its like the circus only better - there aren't any elephants and they serve white wine in plastic wine glasses. Through luck of the draw we ended up with front row seats. The show was UNBELIEVABLE. PHENOMENAL. OUTRAGEOUS. Sawyer was mildly terrified. Especially when the room went dark and the strobe lights started flashing and the music kicked in at about 5 million decibels. He cried when a giant costume dog barked at him, but he was oddly unafraid of the army of skeleton suits. He spent the first part of the show burying his head in my shoulder, but peeking. The second half he applauded and shouted hooray at the end of every trick. I wonder if he'll remember it down the road. It's definitely left an impression on me.

32 degrees

This morning Sawyer walked out the front door and let out the high pitch scream he usually reserves for when Arden steals something he's been playing with or when Duncan starts licking his face. He ran back inside screaming: "It's cold! Want hat!" It was the first time he's ever acknowledged the need for extra clothing.

By the way - it was really f-ing cold. Duncan's water bowl was frozen and so was half of the fish pond.

Walking and chewing gum

I really wanted to post some video of Arden walking all over the house but I couldn't seem to download it off the video camera. Two weeks after taking her first steps, Arden became a full time walker. She's bow legged, so she looks like she just hopped off the horse. And she's still so tiny that people laugh when they see her toddling around. But she's fearless and her entire purpose in life at this point is to hone her skill: can I walk carrying this cup? can I walk carrying this cup and a shoe? can I walk carrying this cup and eating the shoe? hello, cup, can you hear me?

More Notes

I'm afraid I'll forget all those cute things Sawyer says once they start slipping away. My current favorite is "I dood it! I dood it!" which he says with delight after accomplishing a task by himself. I yelled at my dad over the weekend for correcting him. Other language mishaps are a bit more confusing. Like when he says "Help me," while trying to put on his clothes. If you actually try to help him, he starts screaming even louder: "Help me, help me!" running in the opposite direction. What he means is that he's helping himself, Me being the operative word in that sentence.