Jellybean on drums....

She has her own way of doing things....

Crazy busy....

Christmas day is so busy that I really didn't even try to take many pictures, but I did grab a few. This is Trent's busy season at work, so he literally only gets Christmas day off. That leaves me with all the registering of electronics, assembling of toys, and reading of manuals. It also leaves me to clean up the mess and pack up the decorations. So, I now have a much longer to do list to ignore. We only allowed ourselves to go to two other Christmas day celebrations after the morning at our own house, which did make it less hectic than in years past. But, it also caused us to miss out on seeing my cousins and most of his cousins, so there is always a trade-off. We also did something new this year; we bought each other something. In all of our years together, we have not given many gifts to each other(not tangible ones anyways). I guess if you count "staying within our budget as a gift" we have given that many times over. But, this year, he replaced my FM transmitter that I have needed since we got the new van, and I got him a thermos because he will not be able to come home for lunch for a few months beginning very soon. The better gift is that I will make stew to fill the thermos. I have some pictures from our house and some from the celebration at Aunt Ann's, but I forgot to take the camera to Trent's mom and dad's house. The crazy part is that between the two visits, we came home and the boys found time to play the Wii. Boys will be boys, all day long! Taylor ended the day at my Mom's, getting ready to head to the woods for a week of dirt and four wheelers and guns (oh my :)). And Trevor ended the day at Mimi's for a four day weekend of spoilin'. Jewel, as usual, is content to raid the boys gifts for anything fun and steal all of mom's attention and lovin'. So, the day may be over, but the pleasure is getting an extension around here. The best part is when they all get back and we get to start doing all the activities and kits and games that they unwrapped. Ah, that's the true reason for the season; pile up activities to carry us through the year!

Fun and learning....

Last night, after a great day with Momo visiting, we got to open presents at my Mom and Dad's. We celebrated early with my family because some of them are going out of town. That really helps us out, because now we have one fewer place to go on Christmas day. Jewel thought it was a mistake to unwrap the presents; she said, "Oh no" when I ripped the paper off of the first one. And, later she just held hers, unsure if she was supposed to tear it up. And, we were unsure if she would like a baby doll, but she did. Very much. Trevor liked the dolls and kept taking them from Jewel, until he got to ride the four wheeler. (Jewel got even by playing with his truck all morning. She even put it in the stroller and pushed it around.) My fave gifts were the Ball Blue Book of Preserving and The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Morlynn, however got me a great frog picture frame, so I have to say that she is an excellent gift picker. My mom got Trevor a Hess truck, ha ha very funny! Trevor had a wardrobe malfunction (accident), and had to wear camo pj's that were too big, but really cute. It was a little bit sadder this year, because Ronny wasn't there and it was so obvious. Taylor even broke down when he got me alone. We went to the backyard so he could show me constellations and describe the things he learned from the planetarium show (my parents live so far from the city lights that you can see loads of stars), and it just got to him. He and Ronny were close. When I was pregnant with Taylor, Ronnie would measure our bellies to see whose was bigger. His always was even right before I gave birth, that was before he got sick. On a happier note; we got a Wii! Weeee! (Sorry, I couldn't stop it.) So, first thing this morning, Jewel jumped up and grabbed her stroller and babies and started taking care of them (very cute) and Taylor helped me create a Mii. Trevor didn't come home with us. No, he's not sleeping on the four wheeler (which is, I'm sure, what he would've done), he stayed with Trent's parents. I am including pics of the origami tree also. Morlynn stayed with us night before last and all day yesterday. We watched the shows I have on the DVR (for "school") and made origami all day. Trevor made his own, but nobody knows what it is. We let him put it on the tree anyway. And, I had to make the unicorn 3 times, so Jewel and Trevor could have one too. It was a blast. We watched the Time Warp marathon through some of it, because Taylor loves it. And, today, without Trevor to "interrupt" we will finish the shows I have on DVR. I keep it full of "educational" things that involve either something we have been studying or that Taylor has expressed interest in. Then, I just use them as needed. Taylor is leaving for a week tomorrow, so there are a few we want to watch before he goes. The conversations and investigations inspired by "watching TV" make it so worthwhile. I am sure that I am inviting criticism of my teaching technique by admitting that, but it works. I don't know about other kids, but if you want to ensure that Taylor will not remember anything you teach him, make him read it and do a worksheet on it. But, he will remember something from a "show" for years. Time Warp is great because it has so much physics in it, and it is all coupled with really cool tricks or messy/amazing stunts. He just eats it up. Mom always insists on getting a family picture, this time it was challenging (and hilarious to me).