Service or Guest

A few nights before Christmas, we took the kids out to see the lights.  There is a neighborhood not too far from us that is known for their lights.  They actually have hay rides that go through the neighborhood because of the sheer number of houses decorated.  While it would be fun to do the hay ride in the future, it turned out for the best that we didn't do it this year because about two streets into the neighborhood we heard this statement from the back seat, "I shouldn't have drank that whole Vitarain at dinner."  So we turned around and made a pit stop at home before heading out to an even closer neighborhood for the remainder of our time that night.

The homeschool community is huge and well connected in this area of town.  We are part of several groups online and in one group, I get 10-20 emails a day with people either asking for advice or looking to buy or sell items.  Most of these I delete right away, but one caught my eye.  "Free desks."  I contacted the woman and we were the first ones to inquire about them, so they were ours!  Henry has been asking for a desk for his new room, so now he and Caroline both have desks of their own.  Completely free.  So awesome!  Of course, now they want chairs.  Swivel chairs to be exact. 

The kids have been using the rowing machine.  Josiah keeps saying he needs to work out.  They've been playing outside with the neighbors for hours at a time - running around, riding bikes, climbing trees.  I told him that is a kid's workout right there.  He still wants to row.  I've given them a 100 stroke limit which takes about 5 minutes, but it's a tiring 5 minutes.  The boys are really enjoying the rowing.  Caroline has liked it, too, but it hurts the arm she broke, so she's taking it slower.

For Christmas Eve we went to an evening service at church.  It was a nice service, mostly singing Christmas Carols.  About mid-way through, they asked all the kids who felt like singing to come to the stage to sing a song together.  Caroline was on her feet as soon as she heard the invitation.  They sang Go, Tell It On The Mountain and she was up there singing away.  When she came back to her seat she whispered to me, "That was fun."  Then at the end of service we sang Silent Night in the candle light.  This is the kids favorite part because they get to hold fire.  I sang with a side eye on them the whole time.

And then it was Christmas.  I think the kids had a really good Christmas this year.

Josiah

Josiah got his favorite "Make Your Own Forky" kit.  This was $3.50 at Five Below, but to him it was like a million dollar gift.  He has a small obsession with Forky.  He literally carries him everywhere he goes around the house.  He changes his expression to fit whatever he's doing, too.  The blue mouth is wax, so it can easily be shaped.  He also got a Kylo-Ren helmet which he's worn a lot.  We didn't know it at the time, but it lights up when he speaks and it lights up brighter the louder he speaks.  So, yay for that.  He got so many gifts from uncles and aunts and grandparents.  He spent the day working on three different Lego kits - Steamboat Willie (while humming Turkey in the Straw nearly all day long), Toy Story Mania, & Star Wars A-Wing Fighter.  He has loved every kit and every moment building them.  He got a new pair of binoculars that he has been using daily. He likes to walk while looking through them, which I'm sure will always end well. He has also used Henry's new thunder stick to scare us.  It is a seemingly small cardboard tube, closed on one end with a long spring attached.  All you do is move the tube and it creates shockingly loud thunder sounds.  Shockingly loud. (Thanks Grandpa.)

Henry

Henry got a giant Nerf gun thing with four guns and a gazillion bullets.  I think we've said, "Only shoot at the doors!" about a gazillion times as well.  We have a neighbor and they always have Nerf gun fights so now Henry can hold his own.  He was gifted a whoopee cushion.  He loves it.  We are so glad he has something to encourage all his potty humor.  His last gift that he opened was Madden Football.  (We did not have a game console up to this point.)  So we made a big deal that he got the game he wanted....just nothing to play it on.  We got Josiah a game, too, just so he wasn't left out.  It was Josiah who said, "Wait.  Does that mean you got a console to play it on?"  (The pictures below are the moment they figured that out.)  The console is Todd's because there is no way I was going to give it to the kids so that they think it's theirs and then there are a ton of arguments about that.  They have played both games every day since.  Henry has been asking for Madden Football for months now, but it has proven to be a pretty tough game which has resulted in a few meltdowns.  Todd told me to call him a durn fool for getting it, so that's been fun.  I've obliged his request.  Many times.

Caroline

Caroline got a gigantic gift of a doll/horse/horse trailer combination.  She's been asking for the horse and trailer for a long time.  She spent a lot of time organizing it and putting in all the little pieces and accessories.  It came with another doll like her Ja'Neesa doll.  This new doll's name was Lily Anna, but Caroline doesn't care about names that comes with dolls.  She promptly named her Lulu.  Caroline (and I) changed these two doll's clothes probably 10 times that day.  She got a roller skating/diner outfit and I put those roller skates on the dolls at least five different times.  Stop taking them off!!!  She was gifted a mermaid/fairy Barbie and she did the same with those - she changed their clothes constantly.  The same with her new Polly Pocket doll from Grandad and Nana.  Thinking about it, that was how she spent her Christmas - changing doll outfits.  What surprised me was her reaction to a jump rope that she was given by Grandma.  She spent a lot of time practicing jumping.  She only got 2-3 jumps in a row, but she had some laser focused practice sessions.  She's going to get it in no time.





Grandma also got Caroline a sand art kit and a little stuffed cupcake that you push fabric pieces into to give it color and texture.  She loved both of these kits.  We have some arts and crafts kids around here.




I think this was probably their best Christmas for gifts.  They were blessed by receiving so much from grandparents and aunts/uncles.  They all seemed quite happy.

After Christmas we spent a few days cleaning up the kids' rooms.  Not just cleaning, but totally organizing their shelves and really cleaning their rooms.  I was in my element and enjoyed it thoroughly.  (Merry Christmas to me!)  The kids really like their nice clean rooms.  We were able to fit Henry and Caroline's new desks in their rooms, too.

After they all had clean rooms, they were getting a little perturbed at their siblings coming into their room and messing things up, so Josiah created a password system to combat this.  This is how it went down:
Josiah: Every week I'm going to give you [our family] the password to get in my room.  The password this week is, Forky asks a question.  What is a password? [no joke]
Todd: What if Mommy has your laundry and needs to get in your room to put it away and you're not there to let her in?
Josiah: Well...[thinking]...service workers can come in.
Hours later as I was in Josiah's room saying goodnight,  Todd knocked on the door and said:
Forky asks a question.  What is a password?
Josiah: Service or guest?
Todd: Guest
Josiah: Come in.
Me: ......
This kid lives well above his means.