Christmas 2011

On Christmas Eve we got to go look at lights, then it was bed time when we got home. We left Santa a plate of cookies, chocolate covered pretzel and some Egg Nog by the front door..... and one big carrot for the reindeer!

The boys had specific directions not to wake Mom and Dad up after they snuck down to their stockings..... that didn't work. We were woken up with excitement by 6:15. Santa brought the boys an Ipod Touch to "share.'

Santa has also learned a valuable lesson.... he put the Ipod in Reece's stocking, and all the accessories and Itunes cards in Riley's stocking, well it took Reece some time to get it through his thick head that it was to share. Better luck next time, Santa.

Reece was excited enough (remember he asked for an IPad) about it.... he said, "I asked for an IPad, but an IPod is just like an IPad, only smaller!"

Good Job, Santa!! Happy boys this year!

Once we all migrated downstairs, we opened presents. They both got new pajamas and a new Star Wars Lego set. Riley got the newest "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" book and a Donkey Kong Wii game. Reece got the movie "Megamind" and the 3D version of "Mario Kart" for his new 3DS.

Then we were off to Wichita for round 2!

I have to point out that we have a new stocking this year. My brother, Shawn, is getting married in less than a month! I warned my future sister in law, that she was "stocking" official! No backing out now!!!! Haha!

Reece got some Mario Kart Legos.... pretty cool!

More Star Wars Legos!

Excited kiddos!

It's "Wipeout 2" for the Wii!

And, as a joke (or not) for my aging Dad.... a KING size remote! That really works!!!

As far as my Christmas, Jake surprised me with a Kindle Fire! Awesome!!!!

So far I have been on Facebook, and I've been playing Angry Birds.... I have downloaded "The Hunger Games" Trilogy..... I have promised my sister to have the first one read by March, when the movie comes out. I have read 1 chapter.... so I'm on a great start!

Reece and Riley realized that the Mario Legos that they got weren't a full track, so Reece had some gift cards from his birthday, and with a little extra cash from the boy's spending money, we got the entire track! It is so cute!!! They think it's VERY cool!

Almost forgot, that Jake couldn't resist getting the boys a disco ball from Lowe's. They found it humorous!

Reece on the Ipod Touch..... they can now text Jake and I! Fun!

Legos, Legos, and more Legos!

Lastly, I also got a gift card from Jake to Sassy Bags.... AND I got a Christmas bonus from the school. Chamber checks!! Which happen to be able to be redeemed at Sassy Bags! I bought several shirts and this fun luggage! I've had my eyes on it for a while.... and NOW it's MINE!

Jake's big gift was the new BluRay complete set of Star Wars.... It's not as exciting as my Kindle, but I think he's pretty happy! Other than that he got clothes that were needed....

Cakeballs

My sister Joanna is such a show off..... this was her take on Cakeballs!

Merry Christmas!

Ugly Christmas Sweater

The staff I work with has a great time on the last day of school, before Christmas break. We compete in an Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest.... there is a traveling trophy and all. I wish I would have gotten closeups of this fabulous sweater my sister made.... the back looks way worse than the front! Sadly, I did not win..... the term "sweater" is used loosely. Next year I'll be more prepared.... it must be head to toe ugliness! We are talking Christmas skirt, Christmas socks, Christmas lights that actually work, Christmas hat/headband.... I need it all!! LOL

R.A.O.K.

I have a good friend, Cindy, that I work with. She has really pushed me to give a little this Christmas season, even though I rarely feel I have much to give! She has spent all month doing Random Acts Of Kindness (R.A.O.K.).

I have been in Wichita with the boys the last 3 days, working the dinner theater at Prairie Pines, and on Wednesday I recieved a little more than $40 in tips. Tips are very rare here, only because each ticket purchased has gratuity included.... so occasionally, we see some Christmas spirit when waiting these tables. Well, Thursday, the boys and I had a ton of time to kill, so we were out and about. We had lunch at McDonald's, because the boys just LOVE the McChicken on the dollar menu. Works for me..... it took me sitting there to remember all the kind things Cindy had been doing. So, when we finished eating, I went and bought a $10 gift card and handed it to a grandmother with her 3 granddaughters.... she was very thankful! They had already paid for their food, but I told them maybe they could have some ice cream or use it at a later date, and Merry Christmas!

Next, the boys and I headed to the mall, to do some miniature golfing. It was a good deal, and the boys LOVED it! I went to the front and I prepaid another $10 for the next group that came in. Sure enough, there were some grandparents with 2 grandsons. They had stopped and inquired, but then they left. I was sure grandpa wasn't in the mood to pay and spend time there.... before you know it, they were back! The front lady told them a "secret donor" had paid $10.... which meant the boys got to play for only $2!! I felt so good! I couldn't even describe it!

We left golfing, and went to the food court for some Orange Julius... believe it or not, but this was the first time the boys have had these.... I've truly deprived them!! ;) It was here, that we got to talk about the true spirit of Christmas. They were able to witness their mom giving to complete strangers! I told them how much I wish for them to be so thankful for everything they have and everything they will receive at Christmas! There are so many children out there that will be lucky to get a single gift, and many won't even see a Christmas gift at all! I hope something soaked in with our talk.

We finished our treats, and I needed to head to Target for a couple last things.... when I checked out, I paid for another $10 gift card, and handed it to the lady behind me, wishing her a Merry Christmas, as well. This is when Riley chimed in, and said, "What a nice mommy!" I gave him a hug, and we went back to my parents.

Fast forward to this morning.... the boys and I packed up and came back home. I stopped by McDonald's for a drink on the way home, and after I paid, I asked to pay for the person behind me.... and again I just left with a warm heart.

I truly hope somewhere, I made an impact or maybe something has been paid forward with these good deeds, but if not, it really brought my spirits WAY up! I wish I could be that person who could take $20,000 to KMart and pay off layaways for strangers, but it's just not in my cards. If I wouldn't have collected those extra tips, I'm not sure it would have been as easy on me to let go of some of my money.... but tips or not, I am so happy I did these R.A.O.K.'s, and I'm happy my boys saw each and every one of them. Merry Christmas, Friends!!!

Amazing Reece

Here are some pictures of one of Reece's many talents.... he amazes me!! He is so limber and strong! I was a pretty strong kid, and never in my more athletic days, was I ever able to do this! He started doing this AFTER he decided to quit tumbling. Our neighbor, Savannah, taught him.

Believing

I don't recall the age I was when I figured out the little secret about the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and even Santa Claus. But, I have hard time believing that Riley will continue believing much longer... he actually just found out about the Tooth Fairy a couple of weeks ago. He caught "her" green handed a while back. To my defense, the kid should have been WAY asleep at this point. Oh well, I told him the truth followed by a warning NOT to talk about this to his brother. A 6 year old (at the time) has every right to still believe and have fun with it.
I was SO sure this was going to be the year that Riley became suspicious of "Santa," mostly due to the TF incident. So far he hasn't questioned anything! We even had a sad conversation at dinner last week, and Riley came to Santa's defense. Reece came home from school telling us that a couple boy's in his class told him Santa was dead. And, since he was dead, their parents had to be Santa for them. Keep in mind that Reece is only in 1st grade, and I felt so sad and mad that these poor kids couldn't just enjoy the tradition at their young age. I told Reece that maybe they were naughty and Santa won't come their home, so mom and dad had to do Santa's job. Is that bad?? It just broke my heart.... and one of the first thoughts that actually crossed my mind, was the very low income school the boys go to. Kids at the boy's school see things in their daily lives that they shouldn't ever have to at such a young age, and what if the lack of "Santa" is just one more reality they have to live with in their early years. What a sad childhood! Thankfully, Mrs. Olander did get upset with the kids who were saying such things, and both of my boys were in complete shock that anyone would think this way!
Guess we get to "believe" a while longer.... and I'm okay with that!

11 Dozen Cookies Later

I've been keeping my sister busy this month.... She just makes the prettiest and best tasting cookies E.V.E.R!
I got Riley some basketballs to take to school tomorrow to celebrate his half birthday.... then my para friends decided we should get some Christmas cookies for our kiddos on Tuesday, and my other friend ordered her daughter some girly cookies for her birthday. I decided not to take them out of the wrapping, because I wasn't sure I'd get them secure again before delivering them. Aren't the beautiful!!??

Gingerbread Fred

Last week, Reece got to have a visitor from school.

His name was Gingerbread Fred... and Reece's homework was to write a journal about what they did together. There was even a book called "Gingerbread Fred" to read, but mommy didn't know about this book until it was past bedtime.... oops!

Where's Fred?? Haha!

Birthday Fun

Reece had a very nice birthday! He woke up super early, and he looked at me (because there was no way he was going back to bed) and said, "I'm so excited!!!!"

Not sure if he was more excited about his birthday, or the fact that his Grandma and Grandpa were coming from Arizona that day. I bet it was both!

Aunt Joanna made his birthday treats for school.... we decided on bowling and party hats, since he had a bowling birthday party this year.

This came home from school that day.... the next day I got a very nice email from his teacher. She said that Reece went to school and told her, "I might go wild today!" She was very glad to report that he did not, in fact "go wild" and I should be proud that he focused so well on his birthday. He even had this perfect math page.

When Reece and Riley got home from school, Grandma and Grandpa were here!

We went to watch Riley bowl, and he got his game high!! 87!!!

Then it was off to have birthday dinner at Applebees, where Reece got a mini birthday dessert. After that we sent the big boys to go pick up Reece's ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Reece really loved the Jayhawk cake!!

What you may not know about Grandma and Grandpa, is that they are ice cream fanatics.... so this cake was especially planned around them!

"Reece LOVES cake!!"

Silly us! We totally cut into the cake before we remembered the candle.... my brain just doesn't work like it used to! It's a scary thing.... so here is the "wish" after we began eating.

Reece was so patient! We made him wait ALL day to open his one gift from us.

WOW!! It was a Nintendo 3DS!!!

Here is a video of Reece opening his gift.... mom and dad were silly and made him work hard at unwrapping it. I'm not sure whose reaction was better... Reece or Riley's???

Happy Birthday, Reece!!

My sweet "baby" is officially 7 today!

I still have the feeling, that I survived 7 years of Reece..... haha! But I just couldn't imagine life without this kiddo. I love his spunk and his desire to do it all and have it all. I hope that fire never leaves him!!

Reece's 1st cake!

Mr. Blue Eyes

Reece is pretty excited for a couple reasons.... A. It is his birthday. And B. Grandpa McMillan and Gramma Sally are arriving today from Arizona to spend a few days with the family! I hope they survive Kansas in the winter time.... I think it's been a while since they've been around cold!

Happy Birthday, Reece!!

We love you!!

Birthday Bowling

Somewhere along the way, I blinked, and my baby is now just days away from turning 7!!!

We got to give him a bowling party, and I think it was a crowd pleaser.

Reece chose a Transformer cake..... I had to put the action figures on myself, and apparently I need to brush up on my Transformer trivia, because I put them on like they were fighting. Reece informed me that these two were NOT enemies! They are both good guys!! Oops!

Shaylyn and Nicholas.

Shaylyn and Asa.

John, Shaylyn, Nicholas, Garrett, Asa and Logan.

Reece's favorite girl..... Savannah!

The "older" kids.

Time to make a wish!

I have to tell a Reece funny...

Nicholas was telling everyone that he saw Santa at Walmart, and he thought it was pretty cool!!

Reece's reply was, "It must have been a fake Santa, because I saw the real one at the Farm (Prairie Pines.)"

Rudolph.... I mean, Asa!

***

Today, Reece and Riley dug for dinosaur bones.

It is still in the works, but Reece got this gift and apparently, when all the bones are found, they can build a dinosaur. We'll see how this ends!