The Year Without the Christmas Classics

Every year I am saddened by my kids' lack of interest in watching the old holiday classic shows--you know, Rudolph, Frosty, The Year Without a Santa Clause, etc.  But they'll have nothing to do with them unless, of course, I force them--which I am not above doing. I have so many memories of waiting for those shows to be on t.v. back in the day and enjoying them soooo much because of the anticipation building effect they had in preparation for Christmas.  I think they were ultra-special because you could only watch them on that one night that they were on.  No re-runs.  No videotape.  No tivo.  If you missed it that was it until the next year.  Sorry, pal, you can cry all you want that you missed Rudolph, but he's gone and won't be back for 365 days.

My favorite is The Year Without a Santa Clause because I love Heat Miser and Snow Miser. They are hysterically ridiculous.  I watched it when I was sick last week.  Noah was sick with me so he watched it too.  Begrudgingly.  Apparently it needs a car chase or two to catch Noah's interest.  Here they are for your holiday enjoyment.  Tonight I'm hanging out with Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys.  And you can be sure my children will be there too! 

Jingle Bells and O (little) Christmas Tree

Rachel and Noah had their Christmas concert last night.  You can never have enough of "Good King Wenceslas" or "Jingle Bells."   Well, that's not really true.  You can when your child practices them daily for two months leading up to a concert.  At the concert they were allowed to wear a Santa hat, but of course, Rachel had to "march to her own drummer" (get it? drummer--band--aren't I so incredibly clever?) and wear the antlers.

Rachel, since she plays the flute, is in the front row.  

Noah and one of his best friends, Sergio.  Sergio smiles so nicely whenever I take a picture of the two of them and Noah required 4 do-overs and a few threats before he actually had a real smile in this one.  There's just something about him and cameras and I'm hoping it is a something that he will be outgrowing at some point.

Up close with the antlers.

Noah, since he plays trombone is in the back row.  Last concert I didn't get a single picture of him playing as a result.  This one I had to go stand on the side of the auditorium to try to get a shot.

Then today Tommy and I went to Rachel's class to see the trees that she and her classmates all made.  The room looked really cool with all of the trees lit up.  It was a really cool craft using wire hangers and garland and a string of mini lights.  

Rachel likes all things craft so this was right up her alley.  She's been planning for weeks what she would put on her tree.  I'm certain that she will continue to add things to it all the way up through Christmas.  

And, BIG NEWS!  We found out this morning that Rachel won the contest for designing the yearbook cover at school!  She did a great design, which I unfortunately didn't think to take a picture of before she turned it in, that included a honeycomb pattern on the back and a really cool hornet that she drew freehand (that's their mascot).  We are so excited for her to have the whole school get to have a piece of her artwork for the rest of their lives...or as long as they own their yearbook!

WNBA future?

Katya started playing on the basketball team at school.  She may have found her calling!  She is currently 5'7" and is all legs and arms.  She is quite adept at rebounding--at times she just reaches over everyone and grabs the ball they are all reaching for!!  And it's not easy for her opponents to shoot around those extended reach arms!  They come in real handy when I need help getting something off of a high shelf at the store too!  So far their team is 2-0 and she is having a great time learning the game and using her height to its full advantage.   

 

Game over

Just in case you were wondering what happens when you drop your bluetooth in the parking lot at work and a semi truck drives over it.  Semi truck: 1  Bluetooth: 0

Like Mother, Like Son...and daughter

I forgot to post this from my birthday last month.  We have a tradition that was started way back when Emily was 2 or 3, that I put up a sign and balloons and streamers in the birthday child's bedroom so it is there when they wake up.  There is also a sign on the back of their chair at the kitchen table along with some balloons and streamers.  

On my birthday I woke up to this:

Noah made it.  H couldn't find any balloons so he made them!  The one on the left is actually 3-D!  So cute!!  I was very blessed by this.  Also, on the sign, I put squiggly lines (i.e. streamers) and confetti dots as well as the age they are turning all over the paper.  On mine, Noah very sweetly omitted the number and put question marks instead!  

The other ultra cute thing that day was Rachel's card.  She doesn't give a typical 10 year old card.  She has a way of turning a phrase that makes me laugh out loud.

All in all they made it a great birthday!

The house that Sam and Noah built

Sam and Noah have been building a "house" in the backyard for a little over a year. It was a father/son bonding project that was inspired by Noah.  He just wanted to build something! God bless Sam, he invested the money and time into the project and he and Noah have something to be proud of.  

The last few steps are to finish the inside, starting with painting.  Katya and Rachel helped. Happy siblings painting Noah's casita:

 

Noah had decided he wanted to do a "splatter" look in the casita.  That's when the real fun began.  I only saw the aftermath.  I heard something about something "was an accident and then Noah..."  And that was all she wrote.  

I think Sam's left eye started to twitch upon discovering their mayhem.  I actually thought it was funny.  I'm guessing they'll be talking about this for years based on the amount of laughter post splattering.  "Remember the time we painted Noah's house...and each other?!"  Surprisingly there was only a little bit of paint that was hard to remove from their bodies, and they actually did get some on the walls of the casita.  So, it was successful all around.  Except for poor Sam's eye twitch.