Ahhh! The Joy of the Holidays

Aren't the holidays fun! Oh the joys of putting up the decorations. The sorting, the packing, the cleaning, the ............ Why is the packing up the decorations so much harder than the unpacking? Could it be the motivation level? I'm thankful I have the resources to have decorations to pack up, so I should stop whinning. Happy New Year!

Christmas memories

Uncle Terry may be the hero of the day as he, with "lots" of help from Brodie, put together the mammoth Star Wars set.

Is that the next Taylor Swift I see with a guitar, and did we ever figure out the word pirate game????

Opening gifts

We had lots of fun opening gifts and showing off our presents. Brodie loved his new leather coat. I hope the girls (Sadie, Stella, Sarah) liked all their gifts too. We have much to be thankful for.

Family Christmas time

Our family joined us on the 26th for food, food, and more food. We had some gifts too. I took the girls and Brodie to the lake to feed the ducks. It was EXTREMELY COLD, so we didn't stay long. It was fun though.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day we had to wake Brodie at 9:15. He was excited to find the football helmet, pads, pants, and jersey that he had requested from Santa. Santa also brought a scooter which he didn't request but was extremely excited to get. He also got Under Armor, a leather coat, some games, a DSI, and lots of fun stuff in his stocking. He had a pretty good haul. All that and he still has family to look forward to tomorrow. It was a fun relaxing day. We ended in the evening by watching Aliens in the Attic which we all thought was pretty funny.

Feeding the Reindeer and Santa

We had a beautiful snowfall on Christmas eve. We went to Christmas Eve Church and then to a party at Brook's house. We had lots of fun. The drive home was beautiful and a little slick. When we got home we put out the reindeer food and left cookies and milk for the big guy. Then off to bed so Santa could deliver the gifts.

Octavian's gifts

Octavian left Brodie a Bakugan (whatever that is) and Christmas jammies before he left to head back to the North Pole for the year.

Yuletide Express

Brodie and his class were in the New School Christmas play this year! He was a Jack in the Box. We were so proud.

What "not" to wear

This is an example of how Brodie lays out his clothes for the next day! It cracks me up every time I see it. If there are gloves for the outfit he will place those at the end of the sleeves. I guess it is a visual for him - a precious memory for me!

Marriage plans

This morning I have been cooking and cleaning in preparation for our familys arrival on Saturday. Brodie wanted me to sit down and watch A Christmas Story with him. He and Ben had watched it this morning, and he wanted me see it too. He obviously loved it and didn't want me to miss out on the fun.
When I went to sit down on the sofa there were about four shirts and a pair of baseball pants that I had just removed from the dryer and folded this very morning. I said, "Brodie, you are going to have to help me keep the house cleaner. Someday you will have your own home and you will need to keep it clean."
Brodie then responded with, "Well what if I have a wife that is as nice as mommy?" I immediately thought poor girl! I then asked him who he was planning to marry. He said, "I am going to marry Xavier's grandmother, because she will do anything Xavier wants."
I hope she is interested. That might be Brodie's best chance for true happiness in marriage!

Biology 101

The other day we were driving on I-540 and Brodie noticed a billboard advertising the Jones Center. The billboard had many children of various races and nationalities. He said that one of the kids was Anna, a friend of his that was adopted from Korea. Then he said, "Mommy, why does Anna have brown skin and Mr. Kevin and Ms. Marti have skin like ours." I reminded him that she and her sister were adopted from Korea instead of growing in Marti's body. I also mentioned Sharon and Mia - girls in his class that were adopted from China and how they don't look like their mom and dad. Then Brodie said, "Yeah, just like David Zhu!" I told him, no that David was born in Arkansas like him. Brodie immediately said, "No, he was born in China." Again I told him that he was born in Arkansas. Then Brodie said, "Then how did he get those slanted eyes!"

I got a good laugh out of that and I want to remember that conversation. Sadly things I think I will never forget I can't even remember long enough to tell Ben later.

Santa's message to Brodie

Brodie got a special message from Santa and I wanted to share it with all of you. Enjoy the magic of the holiday season. Click below to view.
http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/5fe12aff5d61f4e6196cc3568e49571e

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Sadie, Stella, Sarah came to ride the Santa train and have breakfast with Santa at the ACO. Lots of fun for all of us. JC came along too. Merry Christmas all!

Train Ride to Van Buren Black Friday

On black Friday we rode the train to Van Buren with friends. It was a beautiful fun day!