One Last Visit

We had an extra day in Lincoln this year because the snow prevented travel to North Dakota. We spent the evening of our extra day with good friends, Erin & Ryan and thier four kiddos.

Erin fixed delicious chicken and noodles for dinner and we enjoyed a warm fire and a chance to meet their newest little one, Ellie (pictured above). All the kids had a great time, and managed to keep their clothes on, unlike this summer when we visited. On our previous visit I found three kids (two of them mine) in the basement happily playing in their underwear. Why do kids do the most embarassing things when other people are around? Why do their mothers write about it for all the world to read? In their defense, I think they just never got dressed after they took off the dress up clothes they had been using. My children refuse to wear their regular clothes under their dress up clothes, but usually ask me to help them get dressed when they are done playing. I guess there was just too much playing to be done to bother with getting dressed. Anyway, it was a good time (both times) had by all with lots of kids and lots of fun!

Going around the table starting with the closest child: Isaac (Kindergarten), Grace (2nd Grade), Xandra, Theia, and Noah (3 years) Not pictured: Aliyah & Ellie

Christmas Celebrations, Part 2

We spent Christmas Day at Uncle Josh and Aunt Tami's house eating lots of yummy food, opening presents, and playing games.

The day started with presents: a moose and book,

a belt sander,

surprise car starters for two,

gifts for the young,

the older,

and for cousins, too.

Theia's favorite of the day was this Crayola Beginnings drawing pad. It plays music while you color on it and the faster you color, the faster the music goes, the slower you color, the slower the music. She colored and colored and colored.

Grandma DeShon made blankets for all of the grandkids this year.

Emma's and Nick's blankets were full sized and our girls', for whom she has already made beautiful baby blankets, were sized just right for dollies and bears. Xandra's bear, Arp, carries his blanket with him everywhere he goes and especially enjoys sniffing his blanket, a habit Xandra has with her own "green blanky." As you can see, he made quick work of using his blanket that very day during his naptime.

Blankets aside, Xandra LOVED this jewelry box and accessories from Aunt Tami & Uncle Josh. It gets almost daily use at our house. Organizing accessories is fun!

Presents and lunch aside, the remainder of the day was spent bonding on the couch,

with grandpa snoozing in his customary afternoon nap location,

Xandra bowling on the Wii for the first time,

and fun was had by all.

Fun All Around the House

Besides Graham Cracker Houses and celebrating Christmas, our time at Grandma & Grandpa DeShon's was filled with lots of other fun. For one, they have a very large stuffed fish in their basement. Whoever gave my dad that fish years and years ago could never have guessed how much joy their gag gift would bring to a 3 year old girl. Xandra slept with this unusually large and colorful fish on her bed the entire week. She and Theia also worked very hard carting it around the basement. This is a tough thing to do when the fish is both taller and wider than both girls.

Grandpa not only has a big fish, but he has a lap built for grandkids and doggies. And they're both usually up there at the same time.

Bathtime is also a hit at Grandma's house. There's an extra girl in the tub and fun bathtime soaps and boats.

Evidently bathtime is so much fun, they like to play even without the water.

There were several cutthroat games of Memory and CandyLand among all the kids.

As always, there are also lots of special treats. Some we help make and some we just eat.

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa for hosting a FUN week.

Sugar Coated Wonders

Once we arrived in Lincoln we spent many fun days with cousins Nick & Emma. One of our days together involved constructing and decorating gingerbread houses. Aunt Tami bought a pre-fab kit for the girls and the guys made their own from graham crackers. The girls had a blast working on theirs together and eating as much frosting and candy as they could sneak by the adults. They were very proud of the finished product.

The boys' "house," being a 7 story tower, took much longer to construct and decorate.

I'm not sure if it took so long because it was so tall or because there were lots of breaks and candy eating.

Aliyah supervised the whole process from her chair, as she was too little to help with either house.

The finished product was remarkable and was still standing days later when we left for North Dakota. Notice the flag atop the tower (partly dismantled by grandpa who threw the flag away after he broke it off), the tree-lined entry way to the tower, and the initials of nearly everyone in the family marking different walls.

There's a Jayhawk on the tower, too. Can you find it?

Travelling Light

As travelling with three small children is bound to be, our travels to the midwest for Christmas were full of adventure. After 2 hours of sleep, forgotten paperwork for lap held infants, a loooooong wait in line at the airport, a missed flight, two standby flights (one from Maryland and one from Chicago), we made it safely to Minneapolis.

We're pretty light travellers, too. That's 3 XL suitcases, 1 medium suitcase (there's another medium suitcase packed inside one of the XL's), 1 small suitcase, 1 backpack, 1 computer bag, 1 blankie bag, 1 toy bag, 3 carseats,

1 double stroller, 1 small food bag, 5 coats, plus hats & mittens, 3 blankies, 3 bears, 3 girls, 1 mommy (extra tired), 1 daddy (extra tired) and a partridge in a pear tree (okay, we left this at home, but I'm pretty sure no one would have noticed if we'd brought it!).

The last leg of the journey was a 10 hour drive (it's really just 8 hours, but in keeping with the theme of the day, we hit some ugly weather) in Joe's parents' minivan (stuffed to the gills, of course) to Trisha's parents' house in Lincoln, NE. Our heads hit the pillow at 2AM, just 22 hours after getting up from a night of 2 hours of sleep. Crazy, sleep-deprived travels aside, we were glad to be home. And in case you're wondering, I wouldn't recommend or agree to this itinerary for future travel.

Snow Day

Our first snow of the season came in early December. A bit uncommon for this area to see snow so "early", but it was much welcomed in the Pull household.

The girls were excited to get out in the snow,

that is, until they actually got out in the snow!

Once they realized being in the snow involved getting wet because snow sticks to your pants and gloves and then melts, they were happy to come back inside to the warm, dry fire with mommy. Not the tough and rugged types I think daddy was hoping for, but they're young, maybe there is still hope for some North Dakota brainwashing as they grow.

The trip outside wasn't completely wasted, however, because they did discover a pumpkin hidden beneath the snow.

Curl Up With a Good Book

Early in December while I was folding clothes on the floor of the living room, Xandra and Theia set about bringing their pillows, bears, blankies, stuffed animals, dolly cribs, and magazines to the living room. They carefully placed each crib and pillow so everyone would have ample room to lay down. They put their bears to bed with blankies, and then laid down, covered up with their own blankies and read their magazines. I LOVED watching this happen and was especially tickled when I looked up to see BOTH of their magazines upside down!