Day: December 2, 2009

We are still doing school, though the month of December seems to be a hard time to stay focused on reading, writing and arithmetic.  Today we were doing addition and subtraction, which Ruby let me know that she didn’t understand what I was talking about until I said, “plus and minus.”  Those were the key words.  We also played some phonics and word family games, then got Mack safely to bed after lunch so that we could do a couple of fun projects.

We made hot cocoa and wrote down what happened to the water, the powder and the marshmallows and peppermint.   A science experiment of sorts.

Molly is going to have Kindergarten two years in a row because she already does everything that we do!  Even when I’d rather her not.

Ruby enjoying her cocoa (sort of) while she wrote the answers to the questions…she looks like such a big girl here.  I can see her as a college student ordering $7 coffee drinks with her Dad’s money.

Side note:  This is why I don’t like sharing my office area with three little munchkins!  Eaten apple just laying on my desk and a sticky mouse to go along with it.

Ruby crushed up some peppermints so we could mix them with melted white chocolate and then let it harden on wax paper.  YUM.  She is supposed to give it to someone.  I wonder if she wants to give it to her teacher????  Me, that is.

It really was a productive school day.  We went to church tonight, and I got to see her in the Magnolia Room as she sang some songs with her choir class.  She was so cute up there!  This is the same room that we didn’t go in to see Molly sing.  In our defense, we didn’t know in advance about this performance.  Molly likes to tell me, “Remember when I sang in that room?  I was looking and looking and looking for you, but you were not there.”  UGH.  That’ll make you feel like complete poop!  I explain to her that I didn’t know before hand, and she is beginning to come around and will add to her statement that, “Yeah, they should have told you.”

For the record, Molly has been great lately.  And tonight I told her that in Cubbies I wanted her to not miss me and be sad, but to love me and be excited that we will see each other soon! (She usually is very quiet and tells me it is because she misses me….I mean, we only spend 90% of our time in the same room.) She had a great night at Cubbies and Choir and the teachers even commented about it!  Gran, keep up your praying.  Gran said she prays every day for Molly to have a good time and to talk to her friends and teachers.  It worked.  Yipee!

We are glad we have already gotten our tree, decorated it and put up several other things for Christmas, but I am not sure putting something in the stockings was a good idea.  Ruby can’t reach into the stocking, but she can ask five million times a day if she can look at what is in her stocking.  “NO!!!!!!!!!”  It’s my own fault, I suppose.

All that to say that everyone is excited about Christmas.  We laugh at Mack because he is a little confused on the nativity sets.  He has heard that Jesus is God’s son, so he names those in the nativity as “Murray (Mary), Baby Jesus, and God (Joseph).”  Not an easy thing to explain to a 2 year old.

We are hoping that the birth of Jesus is what sticks out the most to our kids each Christmas season, though it is very easy to become distracted.  Josh and I were having trouble ourselves as we roamed a very pricey Christmas Tree Farm.  They had the most gorgeous wreaths I have ever seen.  There was ornament decorating for the kids and face painting.  They even had trees that had “snow” on them.  Beautiful and expensive.  Someone, evidently, buys their trees at this place or else they wouldn’t be in business…we just aren’t one of those families.

Here’s the outside of the building

Me and the kids in front of one of those fancy trees

Mack found some marshmallows to stuff in his mouth

They sat and watched some fish in a pond

This is Berry Patch Farms where we got our tree…very cute place with a fun tractor ride for the kids

Kids waiting on the tractor

Josh measuring the trees to see which one would fit best

Mack is pleased with the tree!

Mack had been concerned all day about how the tree was getting back to our house.  He said, “Daddy will drive slowly?”

We did some decorating around the house later that night.  The tree decorating would wait until Sunday afternoon.  We were tired from a full day….not to mention that we were going on four and a half full days of family time.

Here’s our “chandelier” over the dining room table.

The kid’s tree

Molly putting the angel on the top of our tree downstairs

This is a basket of books, each wrapped individually.  The kids get to open one each night leading up to Christmas…they are all Christmas-themed books.  I got this idea from a friend last year.  There will be a couple of DVDs in the mix, so that should be exciting for the kids.  Grandma’s, if you see any cute Christmas books or DVDs, feel free to send them our way.  I will give you full credit.  🙂

Forgot to mention that we did buy something from that first Christmas Tree Farm I was telling you about…mistletoe.  Funny.

Here’s another tradition I have…having the kids get a picture taken with Santa.  I wish you could see these up close because they are comical.  Somebody is crying in each of them except the one where they all three look “drugged.”  I am gearing Molly up for the event big time.  I am hoping it will happen tomorrow, but we’ll see….Molly asked if we could go in that pottery store (Pottery Barn Kids) and my reply is, “After we take our picture with Santa!”  She then will ask if she can get a slushee.  “After we take our picture with Santa!”  I am certain she is going to fall apart, but I am going to try very hard to help her enjoy the moment.  It is doubtful that will be the case.  Hopefully I will have a picture to show you tomorrow.

Stay tuned.