Merry Christmas!

from our family, to yours!

Visit to Santa

Well, Santa came to our ward party again, and this year Alex actually sat on his lap! Hurray! However, he never dared to tell Santa what he wanted. Luckily Santa is a smart fella, and he let Alex know that if they put their heads together, he could read Alex's mind. Phew. (I'm sure Mark wished he had that same power to figure me out... Maybe if he grew a beard and a belly...)

Lovin' Christmas Decorating!

Last night Alex got to have a special "late-night" (oooh, 8:30!) to help me put up our Christmas village. It was truly magical. Kids are the greatest! He was just bubbling over with pure excitement. I don't know how many times I heard the phrase, "Mom! I just looooove the village! And Christmas! Oh... and candy canes!" After talking about that, he'd always throw in a sweet little, "Mom? I just love ya!" Ahhh....

Of course, thanks to a couple of curious and crazy 1 1/2 year olds, we're not putting up half of what we have this year, but that's okay!

Alex is also playing Santa make-believe every day. He's constantly turning the furniture into a sleigh, loading bags full of toys, putting them under the tree, and asking me if I've been naughty or nice. Each night it's the same question... "Is Santa coming tonight?" If only I could bottle up this excitement and spread it out over the whole year! What fun!

The HIGHLIGHT of my Christmas Season

I know... it's not even Halloween yet... but... DO read on...

Man, oh man... can I just tell you how much I LOVE the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas Concert? I can be having the worst, most bah-humbug season ever, and all I have to do is go to that concert and I'm floating on cloud nine. There is something about music that has always touched me so deeply. Moreso than any other medium.

And so, it has been with great sadness that I've missed the registration for the random ticket drawing the last two years. (But don't worry... I got to go both years anyway... gotta love connections!) So I'm here to tell you that registration is coming up!

October 25th-November 4th

Mark your calendars and visit this site for more information!

Believe me... it'll be the very best part of your Christmas season... Well, at least in the top 3. Trust me! Do it! And GOOD LUCK getting tickets. If you get them and I don't... well, you better be giving me a call... heh heh.

Almost done!

Well, I'm feeling pretty good right now. Granted, it's almost 1 a.m., but I just wrapped nearly all of our presents. Yeah! This is a first for me. Usually I'm up late, Christmas Eve, thinking, "This sure is taking a lot longer than I thought it would..." Then I'm always exhausted on Christmas day. Anyway, I just need to wrap something for the hubby and the parents, and then I'm finished. Hurray!

Wrapping Alex's presents has made me so giddy this year. He totally "gets it," and is SO excited about Christmas. I can't wait to see his face. Kids really do make this season special, don't they? I wish I could keep them from growing up! :)

One of THOSE days...

Sheesh. Crying, crying, crying... That's all I heard all day today. It tends to get so frustrating at times. Therefore, I'm venting! I love my kids, but, man... The babies have colds, don't want to sleep, and don't want to be more than 1 inch away from mom. Alex has been on a whiny kick for the last few weeks, and it's only getting worse. I think we've hit the terrible-nearly-threes. I'm definitely not feeling the Christmas spirit. I can't believe it's only a week away! Send me away to some sunny spot, and don't make me come back for... oh, two years or so?

Then... there's the whole "to move or not to move" question. We've been toying with the idea, but it's so risky! We really like our house, and we love our location. But we want something newer, and we want a younger neighborhood. However, we don't really want to make a parallel move (or downgrade), we'd like to make a jump. We think we might be able to get a screaming deal, but it's a huge risk. The bank and/or builder might not accept our super low offer... stress. I can't get this darn thing off of my mind. I feel bad, like I'm being totally materialistic or something, but that doesn't stop my mind from thinking about it... *sigh*

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE....

We attempted the Santa Claus thing this year. It actually went better than expected. Alex mustered up the courage to tell him that he wants "a candy cane and a fire truck," and to tell Santa that he's "two (with his two fingers held up)." But (and no surprise here) there was no way he was going to get on that man's lap, and mom had to stay close by.

Later that night, he had to pretend he was Santa by putting on his "white hair and white beard."

And here's one more of Alex and AJ. See that fading red mark by AJ's right eye? Yep... that was another one of "those" days when big brother felt he had to inflict wounds on the younger crowd. Sure is fun stuff...