More Christmas

Here's how Price spent his Christmas day. He loves his new DS and has been having fun playing all his games.

I on the other hand spent a chunk of the day working on this. I swear you need an engineering degree to put these things together. Price helped for the first part, but he lost interest after a while and I was left constructing this Star Wars battleship. Luckily the instructions were easy to follow, but I kept asking myself "where's the structural engineer when we need him?"

Jeremy bought all his Christmas stuff a few weeks ago, but wouldn't get it out until Christmas. When he finally got his stuff out (a coat, some running shoes and some ties) he decided to reorganize his part of the closet. He even got rid of some old clothes (Hallelujah!). So this is how Jer spent most of his Christmas day.

In the usual tradition of the mom. I got some great household items. A new rug for the living room, a heavy duty can opener (every girl's dream present) and loads of body wash (is that a sign that I stink or that I need to take more showers?) But I also did get some cool new running shoes and my trip to Arizona.

Christmas

We had a great Christmas. The kids didn't get up until about 6:45 (which I never would have done as a kid, I was usually bugging my parents at around 5). We got up and saw the finds that Santa had brought. Originally we were going to wait until after church to open presents, but we had enough time so we opened presents then had a yummy cinnamon roll breakfast (thank you Rhodes!) and got ready for church.

The kids were not very good at church (and spent most of it in the foyer) but who wants to sit quietly when there are fun toys at home to play with. The last speaker did a great job and I am so grateful for the talk she gave. She talked about having gratitude and it made me realize how I need to be more thankful in my own life. I am given so much and I need to show more appreciation for it.

After church we came home and played and hung out and had a nice relaxing day.

Kylee showing off her finds. She got a doll, some dress up, a Mrs. Potato head and some cute clothes. This is the only time all day I could get pants on her. The rest of the day she insisted on wearing just her shirt.

Brynlee and her new clothes. She also got some Barbie stuff and a Leapster (and a face covered in chocolate).

Getting Price to look up is a miracle. He got a DS and has had his nose in it ever since. He also got some Lego stuff and some clothes. But his faith is restored in Santa now that he has his DS.

A nice relaxing time spent with family. I couldn't ask for a better day.

Addendum

I need to add further comment to my previous post about Brynlee's stiches. As a kid I too was quite accident prone. Although I never broke a bone or had to have stiches. But I seemed to get hurt whenever I played at my friend Kylee's house.
Once I fell and broke out their basement bathroom window. Hopefully my parents paid for that. Another time I fell off their porch and hit my face on the cement edging in their yard. Her poor mom had to carry me home with her hands full of my blood. Why they didn't ban me from coming over is beyond me. I seemed to be a walking disaster when I was younger.
I can remember piling up cushions at the bottom of our stairs and then just flinging myself down them. And apparently I thought it was fun. So I guess now I know where Brynlee gets her graceful abilities.

Christmas Eve

We did our usual for Christmas Eve. We had some people from church over for dinner and a Nativity re-enactment. It was a little busy and hectic, but it makes Christmas day that much more relaxing and nice.
During the day we finished delivering our Christmas packages to our Secret Santa families. It worked good except one house; someone was standing at the door when Jeremy walked up. But I guess it was good because the coat we bought didn't fit the mom so we were able to get her another that did fit.
For dinner we had 4 people over and had ham, potatoes, salads, etc. With some pie for dessert. Luckily our friend Gena was one of the guests because all the rest were men and I would have been bored without a girl to talk to.

After dinner we had a reading of the Christmas story and the kids got to dress up.
Price was a shepherd, Brynlee was Mary (I'm sure there would be a revolt if she wasn't) and Kylee was an angel.


The kids went to bed pretty good and luckily no one woke up in the night looking for Santa.

Stiches

On Friday the 23rd we went over to a friend's house for a Christmas party. There was food and friends. We were having a great time. There was a white elephant gift exchange. First for the kids and then for the adults. It was a good party, but of course the Hodsons had to break it all up.
Brynlee came upstairs crying and covered in blood. It took a minute to figure out what had happened, but it was her ear and it was a pretty bad cut. So a friend drove us to the ER and she got some stiches. Luckily during the white elephant gift exchange for the kids she got a stuffed ladybug with a pouch filled with suckers. So she could cuddle the ladybug and eat the suckers.
It turned out better than I thought. She was really good about getting the stiches put in and I didn't have to old her down at all. And right after she got the stiches she jumped up and was happy and talking up a storm.

Now the stiches are out and she is feeling lots better. And it made me realize how grateful I am for good friends who pitch in to help and who called to see how we were doing.
And with 3 kids it's inevitable that we'll make a few ER trips for stiches.

Busy getting ready for Christmas

The girls were helping me take things to the post office this week. The ladies at the Wiley one are so nice. They always give the kids stickers and talk to them, but today they even gave them a stamp on the hand. It said "spoiled" which I thought was very fitting for our girls.



Last week at Price's school they had a "family fun night". We got to go make gingerbread houses and then watch "Mickey's Christmas Carol". It was fun. Price was being shy though and it was really annoying. His school BFF is Drake and Price is constantly talking about him. We saw Drake and his dad that night, but Price would not go up and say hi and tell him to come sit by us. It was weird, but I guess he's only 6 so he's forgiven.

Saturday was especially busy. We went to the YMCA in the morning and made ornaments and decorated cookies. It was a great time and even better there's no mess at our house yet we still get to do fun festive stuff.
In the afternoon I took Price and Brynlee to Theater Cedar Rapids to see "A Christmas Carol". Zach Johnson's (the golfer) Foundation (Kids on Course) got us discount tickets. Who says it doesn't pay to go to a school in the ghetto? Anyway, it was pretty good. The guy who played Scrooge did great. And it was fun to take the kids to a play. I don't think we've ever been to one with them before.

In the evening we had the ward party. The Primary kids got to sing and Brynlee was even chosen to be Mary. She was so excited. Plus who doesn't love watching those cute kids sing? They did a great job!

Girls Weekend in Arizona

I just got back from a great weekend in Phoenix with my parents and sisters. We shopped a ton, ate a ton and laughed more than I have in years. It was a great weekend. And apparently my fam didn't miss me because Jer claims the kids were well behaved and he even did laundry.
I flew out on Thursday and I have to say my biggest disappointment was not finding a Cinnabon in any airport. That is one of my highlights of flying; a giant sugar rush. But apparently they are not to be found at DFW or in Phoenix. I was bummed.

We got these pedicures done. It was probably the best pedicure I've ever had. They rubbed your feet with hot rocks and I got the best massage. Although the lady did yell at me to not look at her, but to watch the TV instead. But she was trying to put on my flip flop without messing up the polish. I guess I was trying to help and was just making things worse.

Friday night we went to Glendale to watch my niece, Sadie, dance. She did so cute and it was fun to watch all the dancers. It was at a big festival where they had tons of food and were playing Home Alone on a giant screen. It was so nice to be able to walk around and not have to herd kids.

On Saturday we went to Nordstrom and got our makeup done at the MAC counter. I was the last one done (I look hideous by the way, like I'm rabid or something) and when I was done the girl tried to tell me I had spend $50 on makeup. Yeah right, and give Jer an instant heart attack. No way! So my sisters smuggled me out of the store, quickly.


We also went on a little run/hike. I nearly died. Running up a mountain really doesn't go over well with someone from Iowa. It was fun coming back down the mountain, but you did have to dodge loose rocks and I thought I smelled a skunk. But by then I was so tired I really doubted if I could have out run it. Who goes on vacation and comes home sore from the workouts? Just the Price family.

I got some cute clothes, ate some yummy food and had fun with my sisters.

I really missed Iowa though. I was so glad when I got home. I missed being where it takes 10 minutes to get where you want to go. How if you put your blinker on people let you in and just being home with Jer and the kids. I had fun, but it's nice to be back home.

I also realized the Sky Mall sells a ton of crap, but I did find this cute little quote in it. "Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think." -Christopher Robin to Pooh. I love that and may have to put that up in the Price's room.