It is not yet even 8:00 and our little chillins are already in bed. Yes, you can say it. We Are Good. We got in all the special Christmas Eve traditions from the Nativity to the Eggnog and The Night Before Christmas all by 7:30! Woohoo! Now we just get to wait……….. till they actually fall asleep!

So while you’re waiting you can check out our evening.

Go Go spent December 24th in shorts making more LEGO creations

We finally got our Christmas pictures taken….

The Nativity

The Baby Jesus covered in, I mean laying in the hay.

Shepherds and Angels

The Narrator Joseph

And last but not least, the real star of the nativity this year…
The Camel (his choice of part)

The PJ’s

The Jump shot

The Force

Superman

The Night Before Christmas

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight! May Santa bring you everything you hope for tomorrow! And may your children fall asleep before midnight!

Today was Mr. President’s Christmas concert at school.  The school conveniently chose 9:00 in the morning (the time at which I am usually in the shower because I’ve just spent all morning getting everyone ELSE ready and out the door) to have the concert.  So, I raced around trying to get myself AND all four children ready before 9.  After getting both the older ones out the door and the little ones dressed, fed, coated and shoed, we finally made it into the car at about 8:59.  The school is not far but it is cold enough that I was not going to walk that far.  However, by 9:00 the streets surrounding the school were already packed and I still had to hike, well, really I was running by this point, over rivers of ice and through the woods in 24 degree weather to get to the school.  Luckily there’s no snow yet.  Poor Ladybug in her stroller got the bouncing of her life as we ran over the uneven sidewalks and Blue Jeans had to run to keep up with mom as I dragged him along.  His little fingers were cold, but it is so hard to get gloves with fingers (as opposed to mittens without fingers) on little hands that I didn’t take the time to do so before dashing from the car.  I told him to put his hands in his pockets and he thought I meant his pants pockets, so he ran the whole way being dragged by one hand and trying to keep his other hand in his back pocket.  If I hadn’t been in such a hurry I would have laughed at how funny he looked.  Instead I kept pulling and prodding to get us all there before we missed the concert.  We made it into the school and raced down the hall to the gym, throwing off our heavy layers that had suddenly become stifling in the heat of the school.  We entered the gym only to find that there was standing room only at the back.  We are very short, Blue Jeans, Ladybug and I and standing behind all those people was not going to work.  But stand we did, looking at the backs of everyone who was slightly less late then us until Mr. President’s class filed in.  We only didn’t miss him because the school band played first.  I’d forgotten what an elementary band sounds like.  It was painful, to say the least and I was suddenly grateful for all the years my parents spent not only listening to the painful practicing, but all those painful concerts too.  Whew! 

We managed to find a spot along the side where Mr. President could see us and know that we were there.  That’s all that really matters, after all.  Who cares if you can’t see very well, or have to stand for a long time in a really warm room while holding a baby and trying to keep a toddler quiet.  The important thing is that your kid knows you’re there.  And he did.  I got a big dimpled smile and a wave for my efforts. 
But I barely had time to catch my breath.  Mr. President’s class sang a grand total of two songs and then left the stage.  Two songs.   It was so short I didn’t even have time to get the camera out!  We were inside the gym a total of 10 minutes before we had to turn around and repeat the over the river and through the woods part again to get back to the car.  On the way back Blue Jeans did a twisting 360 on the ice…while I was holding his little hand.  It almost looked like we’d planned an ice dance, but the stroller gave it away to all the cars waiting for us to cross the street. 

So that was Mr. President’s Christmas concert.  5 minutes.  I risked life and limb and the ‘lifes’ and limbs of my two smallest children just to see Mr. President sing Jingle Bells and shake a bell.  Oh the things we do for our children.  As we drove away I imagined what it would have been like had it just snowed and I said a small prayer of thanks that we hadn’t actually needed a sleigh with bells to GET to the school.  And just think, this is only the beginning.  I have years and years ahead of me to enjoy such concerts. 
Thanks Mom and Dad.

Last week at the dinner table Rock and I were discussing whether or not we were going to do something and Mr. President (as usual) wanted to be involved. He started butting into the conversation and giving his two cents worth. Rock informed him that this was not his decision. To which Mr. President thoughtfully replied, “How can I get into the decision?”

Earlier this week Go Go brought home a pattern for a Christmas ornament from Denmark that he could not wait to put together. He kept asking for help all afternoon until finally I had a moment to help him with it. He wanted me to look up the directions online as there were no directions with the pattern. When I looked at it and discovered it was very simple and that I could tell him how to do it without the internet, I told him so. To which he replied in amazement, “REALLY? You used to live in Denmark?!!!

Blue Jeans has taken to racing down the stairs to beat whoever may be coming down after him. Yesterday he raced past me down the stairs and when he reached the bottom exuberantly called, “You lose, and me win, ok?!” Rock has also informed me that whenever he does race someone and they say, “I win!” He still happily calls, “I Lose!”
May he keep that good sportsmanship all his life.

Last night as I was tucking Blue Jeans into bed I sang him the song I am a Child of God. This is something we do every night but for some reason last night he paid more attention to the words. After I sang the line, “Teach me all that I must do to live with him some day.” he got a very thoughtful look on his face and said, “Momma, we go see Heavenly Father?” I answered, “Yes, someday we’ll go see him.” to which he replied, “We drive there?” (which came out We dwive there?) to which I replied, “No, it’s too far away to drive. Heavenly Father doesn’t live on this earth.” His little brain still working, he said “We walk there?” and I said, “No, it’s too far away to walk.” Determined not to give up, he said, “We walk and walk and walk there?” Finally, becoming aware of the bedtime hour I said, “Maybe someday, Blue Jeans.”
Aren’t primary songs great?!

Then this morning Mr. President was asking us if we knew where his ball was. When Rock started questioning him about it-where did he put it, where was the last time he saw it, Mr. Pres said, “Well, it’s not lost, I just don’t know where it is. It’s complicated.” Ah. Now I see.

Rock took the day off today and Blue Jeans enjoyed hanging out with Dad.

Man’s best friend

And just to get you in the Christmas spirit…

As you’ll remember from Thanksgiving, Blue Jeans specializes in split personalities..

Come join us for a reenactment of the Grinch who Stole Christmas and Superman Saves Thanksgiving… (with a sword…).