Christmas 2011

Christmas time has come and gone but the joy remains.  I'm typing this as I hear screaming coming from upstairs.  It's been 2 full days of  Christmas toy bliss with no trips to the outer-world.  All the family togetherness may be finally getting to them. Yesterday, I made them run laps in the backyard to get their wiggles out. :)

We've had a lot of fun this December doing all of our Christmas traditions.  One things the boys particularly enjoyed was the 12 Days of Christmas.  We picked a family in our neighborhood and for 12 days we secretly left treats (along with a poem) on their doorstep and ran.  It was fun to make up the poem and pick items that would go with each day.  Some days, our items and poem were a bit of a departure from the original 12 Days of Christmas poem.  For instance, here is Day 7 (we gave Swedish Fish):

Seven swans a swimming, yikes, that would be cold,

But good for the circulation or so we’ve been told.

The swans have all flown south and couldn’t be got,

But fish are swimmers too, and Swedish ones are hot!

And here's Day 8 (Milk Duds):

Eight maids-a-milking, what a taxing chore,

After all that work, we’re sure they’d want to snore.

So we won’t give you the maids, but what about the dairy,

Here’s some tasty Milk Duds, now go and be merry!

Like I said...quite a stretch, but we didn't see eight maid-a-milking laying around anywhere, so we did what we had to do.  Don't judge us.:)

We made some reindeer ornaments with the boys thumbprints.

And some Christmas trees out of sugar cones, frosting and M&Ms.  Bridger was suprisingly precise in his placement of the M&Ms.

The Elf on the Shelf (aka "Fred") made his debut at our house this year.  Fred is a special Elf that watched over our family every day and at night, would fly back to the North Pole and report to Santa.  Each morning the boys would wake up and look to see where Fred was hiding.  The first night, I caught Gannon out of his bed at 3am.  He wasn't entirely awake, but he kept saying he wanted to see Fred flying. :)  I LOVE Fred.  I really, REALLY do.  Best motivator ever.  Fred inspired the boys to be good because he was "watching" them.  Sounds creepy but very effective. :)

  

This is Gannon washing the dishes so Fred could see his good works and report it to Santa:

It snowed about 12 inches last Thursday and so we really did have a white Christmas.  We went sledding on Christmas Eve and the boys had a blast.  The only problem was that at the bottom of the hill was a playground with lots of equipment, so Jeremy and I had to stand guard at the bottom to make sure no one did a header into the slide.  Bridger tried once with both Jeremy and I, but decided he wasn't the biggest fan.  Maybe next year. 

We put cookies out for Santa and Elf-sized doughnuts (Cheerios dipped in sprinkles) out for Fred the Elf.  And of course, carrots out in the backyard for the famished reindeer.

Christmas morning Hayden and Gannon arose bright and early - 5am.  They were as quiet as could be, but we could hear their whispering and made them go back to bed until 6:45am.  They opened stockings and played with their presents from Santa and then we went to Sacrament meeting.  Trying to get 3 boys ready for Church and out the door on Christmas morning is a near impossible task.  Even more difficult was getting them to settle down through Sacrament.  We only made it half-way through before I had to take them out in the hall.  But not before Bridger let loose with a goodie that entertained the congregation.  We were taking the Sacrament, when Bridger announces for all the world to hear, "I pooped, Mommy!"  In a quiet chapel, this rang out like a fog horn.  Booming.  And then, in case the entire room didn't hear, he clarified, "Mommy, I did it. I POOPED. YAY!".  Everyone around me was cracking up.  The entire Brewerton family was in hysterics.  Brother Brewerton told me later, "That was awesome.  Thank you so much!".  Anything I can do to bring Christmas cheer to one and all.

Here Comes Santa Claus

Santa and Mrs. Claus made a personal visit to our house yesterday.  The boys were ecstatic.  We had planned to go see Santa at the rec center that very same day, but no longer needed to since Santa (our sweet home teacher) apparently makes house calls.  It was cute to see Hayden explaining to Gannon that this wasn't the "real" Santa but one of his Santa helpers because "that beard is really fake".

A few family photos

I know I've already posted the most important photos from our photo shoot (Jeremy and his Love), but here's a few of the rest of us non-furry family members.

I was reading some New Testament stories to the boys the other night and Gannon asked if Jesus was going to come back to the Earth.  I said yes and explained to him again about the Second Coming and what the scriptures say it will be like.  He seemed happy at first, but then looked crestfallen.  He sighed, then asked, "Will I have to wear my church clothes??"  He was seriously stressed out by the thought.  There is almost nothing Gannon loathes more than wearing church clothes.  To calm his angst, I told him that Jesus will love him regardless of what he will be wearing.  :)

Living The Dream

Hayden and Gannon have been wanting to go bowling forever, but with Bridger around, it makes going places in public interesting.  So, on Wednesday, I dropped off Bridger at a friend's house and we took the boys bowling.  Oh the excitement.  You would have thought we were going to Disneyland.:)
 Selecting the balls and putting on the bowling shoes were thrilling, of course.  They each got to pick a ball in their favorite color.  However, the lightest ball was 8 lbs, and because of it's heftiness,  neither one of them could get any momentum by swinging the ball back and then forward.  So their technique consisted of setting the ball on the ground and pushing it.  The ball traveled VERY slowly.  But some of the time...pins were hit!  And because we had to wait so long for the ball to go down the lane, the excitement was even that much greater when contact was made.

Gannon was watching the other bowlers intently and he leaned over to me and whispered, "That grandpa over there is SO awesome."  I think he was taking notes on the correct bowling form because when it was his turn, he would push his ball forward and then AFTER his release he would kick his leg to the side, thrust his arm forward and point towards the pins as if he was urging the ball forward on sheer will alone.   Jeremy, of course, schooled us all.  He is such a bowling super star. I think he missed his calling in life.

True Love

:)

Jeremy suggested that we get family pictures taken to send Christmas cards out this year.  Immediately I was suspicious.  Last year when I scheduled family pictures, it was like pulling teeth to get him to come and even harder to get him to muster up a smile for the pictures.  So when HE suggested a family photo, I knew something was up.  And then it dawned on me...he wanted to send out cards so our friends and family could see Finley...the dog.  Not so everyone can see the boys, or even his adorable wife (tee hee), but so he could show off THE DOG.  I suggested that I take a picture of he and Finley together...perhaps with Jeremy wearing a turtleneck sweater, laying by a crackling fire with the love of his life, Finn, in his arms.  He didn't go for that, but I really, really wanted to.  After I finished laughing and teasing him endlessly, we finally did get a few pictures taken by my good friend, Linnea.  After the shoot, Linnea said that she'd never seen Jeremy's face light up like that.  Again, let me be clear.  He didn't light up for me, his precious wife, but for THE DOG. 

A trip to the zoo

I love the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  I love to go for the animals, but also for the scenery.  It's right on the side of Cheyenne mountain, so you feel like you're in the woods on a nature hike.  And the view is spectacular.  You can see all the way to Kansas, or so Jeremy says.  Today was an epic zoo trip because...we went without a stroller.  Bridger wants to "do it" all by himself now, which means he wants to be unassisted in all areas of his life, included walking instead of riding.  But because he is such a runner, it's impossible (and annoying) to take him anywhere, now that he isn't strapped down.  A friend let us borrow her child leash and we tried it out today.  I LOVE the leash.  Seriously.  It has changed our lives.  We were able to walk the entire zoo without losing him or being stressed out from having to chase him everywhere.  And he was happy too.  So it's a win-win for everyone.  We got some funny looks from people who probably thought we were cruel and inhumane, but to those people I say, "If you had my son, you'd have a leash on him too." :)

Biker Boys

This has been a monumental summer for Hayden and Gannon.  They have both mastered the art of bike-riding and are zipping around like professionals.  We took Hayden's training wheels off last year and gave it a try, but he didn't seem ready.  So in April, their good friends, Ian and Jed, learned how to ride their bikes and of course, Hayden, had to try it again.  Nothing like positive peer pressure.  :) Hayden only needed a little help and was able to get it in no time.  Gannon still wasn't sure about the whole balancing thing.  A friend told me that Razor scooters are great for learning balance - once they can master a scooter, learning to ride a bike is easy.  So, I bought Gannon a scooter and within a week, he could ride it all over the place with perfect balance.  I was planning on taking him out with his bike again, but Hayden beat me to it.  On the 4th of July, Hayden came running in the house, "Mom! Mom!  Gannon's riding his bike!"  And sure enough, I went outside to find him riding up and down the sidewalk with a huge grin on his face.  Hayden had taken Gannon out and helped him up on his bike and ran with him until he got it.  What a great big brother!

Patience, Grasshopper

Finley might only be a puppy, but he's no dummy.  He's figured out very quickly who to go to for the goods. His favorite spot to sit is under Bridger's highchair because he knows that if he's patient, sooner or later (and usually it's sooner), the food will fly.  We've had to start putting Finn outside when Bridger eats because he has too much fun chucking all his food overboard.  Can you tell by the grin of his face?  They are quite the pair. 

Surprise, surprise

A few weeks ago, Jeremy told me that his old friend, Bryce, and his wife were coming to town for a visit. They were flying into Denver at midnight and Jeremy was going to pick them up.  So on the appointed day (or rather, night) Jeremy left for the airport and I, being a gracious hostess, went to bed. :) At about 2:00am, Jeremy came into our room and said he needed my help.  Apparently Bryce's wife was really sick.  I'm not the most coherent in the middle of the night and not the happiest either. I asked in my nicest 2am voice what he wanted me to do about it, and pointed out that he knew where all the medicine was.  He said, "I mean, it's like a....GIRL problem."  I told him where all THOSE supplies were, but he refused to give up.  "Look, I'm not going downstairs to hand a strange woman a box of tampons", I not-so-sweetly said.   Still not giving up, he handed me my robe and said I had to come.  At this point, I was fuming and I stumbled down the stairs with, what I'm sure, was the crustiest look on my face.  As I rounded the corner, I saw a little girl sitting on the bed and when I walk through the door I see my college roommate and dearest friend, Heidi, standing there.  I think if Jeremy had waited until morning I would have been jumping out of my skin with excitement, but at 2:00am, my brain wasn't functioning at full capacity and it took me several minutes of standing there with my jaw hanging open to grasp that it was Heidi.  The euphoric glee kicked in the next day.

Heidi and I always wistfully talk about getting together, but with her in North Carolina and me in Colorado we figured it would be years before we would be able to make it happen.  Apparently, Jeremy, Mr. Sneaky Pants, called Heidi in April and asked her and her two girls to come out for a visit.  I still can't believe that they kept it a secret from me for nearly 2 months.  I don't think I've ever been more surprised in my life.  Jeremy just earned major brownie points for this!

Heidi, Madi and Gracie were here for 2 weeks and we were able to do lots of fun things.  We went to The North Pole, The Garden of the Gods, the aquarium and the Flying W Ranch.  We drove up to Pikes Peak, went to the pool several times and the park.  We started off our adventure with a trip to the zoo where Madi promptly got sick and threw up on the side of the road and then in various bathrooms at the zoo.  We ended up turning around and trying to drive home, but Madi couldn't make the drive back home and they ended up staying in a hotel for the night while Madi "cleansed" her system. :)  Poor Madi (and Heidi!).  We also ended our 2 weeks of fun with another throw up episode.  It just wouldn't be fun if oodles of vomit weren't involved, right?

Madi, in her own words, says she is "horse crazy", and likes to be referred to as "Cowgirl Madi".  Her one wish while here in the Wild West was to see a REAL rodeo, not the poor-excuse-for-a-rodeo that they have in North Carolina. :)  So we search on-line and finally found the nearest rodeo that would take place while they were in town.  It was in Evergreen, about an hour and 40 minute drive from here.  I'd never been there, but we mapquested it and Heidi bought tickets on-line, so come Saturday we were ready to go.  Although, things didn't go as smoothly as planned.

Gracie ended up not sleeping well and had to take a morning nap.  While we were waiting for Gracie to wake up, Gannon started having extreme stomach pain and we had to wait until he got everything out.  So, we had a late start, but all seemed well.  Until we were 20 minutes out and Heidi realized that she'd forgotten her wallet.  Going back to retrieve her wallet put us another hour behind.  I've decided that whoever gives the directions on mapquest must get a real kick out of giving the most out-of-the-way and completely misleading directions possible.  After several turn-arounds and backtracking we were within 15 minutes of the rodeo when Gracie started heaving.  A LOT.  All over her clothes, her car seat and the seat in front of her.  We pulled over on the side of the road and striped her down to her diaper.  There was no way we could clean her car seat in the middle of nowhere with no supplies,  so we ended up leaving Heidi and Gracie on the side of the road (there was a senior center nearby) and the rest of the kids and I headed out to find Walmart, a new car seat and a change of clothes for Gracie.  After all was said and done, we'd missed the rodeo.  Madi was such a trooper.  She didn't complain once and kept giving me helpful suggestions.  And to top it all off, Heidi had taken Dramamine in the morning to help her combat car sickness. :)  She didn't throw up (thank goodness!), but it made her so sleepy she was comatose for most of the day.  All in all, it was a bust, but will make for some vivid memories.

This blog thing...

I'm always the last to get on the band wagon for anything.  Like cellphones (I still use a phone with no camera capabilities...gasp!), ipods, or DVDs...Jeremy and I were both slow to convert.  Blogging is another technology I've been resisting.  I don't like the idea of complete strangers reading what I write and seeing photos of my family.  But a few friends of mine recently told me how they have turned their blogs into books that are bound.  I love to journal, but run out of steam when I am writing by hand.  I would much rather type.  And I've lost any desire to scrapbook our photos.  So, I've decided to try this blog thing, solely for the purpose of a journal, with pictures and all that can be bound as a book at the end of the year. I'm kind of excited.  Without further ado...here I go.  Hello, blogosphere!