what I hear

...Often, Rhett and Noah will hum a particular tune, especially when playing with their toys or cleaning their rooms. This is a tune that I recently put on my Zune because they love it so much.

The Star Wars Theme Music.

And, it is funny to hear them hum it. They hum different parts at different times but mostly it is the beginning part: DUM! Da da da da da da dum! DA DA DA DA Dum...

It makes me laugh.

Around here it is Star Wars, all the time. They love all the Star Wars toys they received for birthday and Christmas and it keeps them busy but also they are full of questions about the movie, the cartoon, the characters, who killed who, who is from where, ect. ect. My answer: Go ask your dad. :)

Have a wonderful New Year's Eve!!

Christmas was

...sweet, according to Noah, who got what he wanted from Santa: Star Wars Legos the video game. This went along with their Nintendo Wii (yes, we got one! Thanks to Santa's elves--Krista and Chris) and Rhett and Noah were so excited.

...busy and fast. The time went by so quickly that I could hardly believe it. I don't feel that I got to spend a lot of time with my brothers and sisters but that really is how it is with 7 kids running around in one house.

...unfortunately, a time of illness. I had tonsilitis, my niece had an ear infection and my poor husband got the stomach bug the day after. I was disappointed because I wanted to see my friend Christy and her baby, but because of illness, I knew I couldn't. Sorry Christy. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

...exciting and happy. Holly and Justin had their baby a few days before Christmas and I hope they had a wonderful holiday with their brand new baby boy.

...fun, through it all. Even though there were cranky kids (mainly Noah), and sick ones and it went by so fast, I think we all had a good time. It was great to have everyone in my family together again--it had been over a year since that happened the last time. I felt very blessed.

oh what fo it is

...Noah, singing at the dinner table:

Jingle Bells. Jingle Bells. Jingle all the way. Oh what fo it is to run in a fo fum fa fo sleigh. Hey!

and...

I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus underneath the nistletoe with Santa Claus.

and after some coaching from Rhett...

Jingle Bells. Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride in a...bah, bah, bah bah sleigh.

Happy Birthday Noah!

...Last night Noah was so excited because he knew that he was going to wake up and be 5! Also because he knew he could open his 2 presents that I held back from his birthday party. He then looked at me and said, "Mom, I don't want to grow any older than 5." I asked why and he answered, "Because I don't want to go away from you." Is that not the sweetest thing? How he already understands that growing up means leaving your parents I am not sure, and I know by the time he is 18, he'll be ready to get outta here! :) I just told him with tears in my eyes that I will always be in his heart and he in mine. That way we'll never have to be apart from each other.

Of course, last night's conversation was farthest from his mind this morning. He was ready to open his gifts! I guess it is a tradition now to open presents in the morning. I know it started because 1) impatient little boys and 2)Daddy wanted to see them open them but had to go to work so now that is what we do. It gives them some excitement in the morning.

PS-Rhett has figured out by not riding the bus in the mornings and afternoons buys him more time to play with his new toys. This week I have been taking him to school and picking him up from school. It does give him 1 more hour in the day to play; smart kid. :)

Happy Birthday Rhett!

...Rhett is 7! The night before his birthday we were saying "good-night" to him and he said: "Mom, you don't have to check on me anymore at night because I'm a big boy now." (This was after I told him he didn't need the light in the closet on at night because he was a big boy now). I told him I would probably check on him anyway. He said, "Okay!" A few minutes later, he and Noah came out of the bedroom and Rhett said: "Noah is scared. I think he needs a light." Uh-huh. So the closet light was turned on again.

Rhett was so excited about his birthday and kept asking me when we were going to celebrate it. I told him we were having his party at 3, but we celebrate his birthday all day. He really got excited then.

Rhett opened 2 presents from us in the morning. (Noah does have pants on by the way. He sleeps without a shirt on) He and Noah also opened Aunt Krista's gifts. They loved them and were a big hit all day long!

Don't look at the cakes too closely. They were quickly baked and frosted. Rhett let his best friend help blow out the candles which I thought was nice.

And Noah was so excited to finally be celebrating his birthday too. After all day long hearing that it wasn't his birthday, it was Rhett's, he finally got to hear Happy Birthday too!

Noah the angel at the children's program at church. He loved having wings but didn't like the halo too much. He did wonderfully! He sang and even danced some. I was impressed!

Rhett aka Joseph also did great. He was a little nervous being in front of everyone but toward the end, he also sang some. I think they were both glad it was over with. After weeks of rehearsal, they were pretty tired of singing.

Have a great Monday!

sweet ramblings

...Tuesday: Noah asked my neighbor out of the blue if she had been hit by Cupid. She said she guessed so. He answered, "Of course you have. You love your husband!" Then he said, "I've been hit by Cupid too." My neighbor asked, "Oh? You have a girlfriend?" Noah: "Yes! I love my mom!"

Wednesday: Rhett said that he decided he didn't need presents for Christmas. "All I want is you Mom!" Noah chimed in and said all he wanted is me and Dad. Rhett said, "Yeah. And you Noah." Noah: "You too, Rhett." Rhett: "Well, maybe I do want presents too. But I still want you Mom."

I think I got two of the best Christmas gifts I could ever ask for.

more on that frozen stuff, birthdays and Christmas

...Earlier today I wrote that frozen ice fell from the sky. Being that ice is already frozen, I think I meant frozen rain. :)

No school Tuesday. It should be warming up but Wednesday there is a chance for frozen rain again. Rhett wants to go back to school and I don't blame him. They are going to be making gingerbread houses and working on their Christmas program. He misses his friends and his teacher.

Noah, on the other hand, is happy to be home.

Rhett is worried that everyone will miss his birthday party. I told him since most of the guests are his neighborhood friends, I am pretty sure they will still come. And actually this weekend looks like nice weather ahead.

Noah, on the other hand, has no concerns about the party. His concern lies in his gifts: He just wants something robotic. This is the first I've heard of this and we've already bought birthday gifts, so he will not be getting that. I don't think he will be disappointed because he likes everything right now.

And I've finished all my Christmas cookies. Or at least I decided that I am not making any more. After 4 hours in the kitchen, making a big mess, letting the boys cut out cookies, mixing several batches of cookies and cleaning the big mess, I am also wondering if I should just order their birthday cakes. That sounds so good right now.

Oh, and one more thing. Rhett is going to be Joseph in the Christmas program at church!! He is pretty excited about it. He did tell me one thing before he got too excited: "I hope Joseph doesn't have to kiss Mary." I assured him that he didn't in the play. Whew.

icy wonderland

...Yesterday, frozen ice fell from the sky. The boys had fun breaking it off of the chairs and feeding the ice to Scout, who loves ice.

Then it got dark. And the ice kept raining down. And our lights went out. We lit candles, Seth started our fire and we brought the boys in the living room to sleep. About an hour later, the lights came back on and I left the "comfort" of the floor and headed to bed. At 4:30 am, Noah also headed to my bed. Such a young age and he already knows the floor isn't that great for a bed! Anyway, I was awake so I turned on the tv and found out school was cancelled. Rhett was so funny this morning. He ran in and said, "Mom! We slept in! We are late for school!" When I told him the news he smiled.

Seth made it to work okay but said it was really slick.

So that is what is going on here. More rain is coming down now, so I don't know what our situation will be tomorrow. But I do know one thing: Winter has begun.

my December boys

...In a little more than a week my sons are going to have a birthday party. At our house. I have no idea what I'm going to do for cakes. For treat bags. (And when did it become law that we had to give out treat bags? When I was a child, I went to a birthday party expecting nothing else but cake, maybe ice cream and a thank you note for the gift if lucky. Now I hear children complain if there is no treat bag. It is appalling really.)

I may sound stressed and I will be until I get the cake thing figured out but, really, I love that their birthdays are so close together. I also love that they are December babies. I loved that after having Rhett, he spent his first Christmas in his striped red and white outfit sleeping the whole day surrounded by his new stuffed animals. I loved that a day after bringing Noah home from the hospital, Seth and I left the boys with their uncle and aunt and we went shopping for his First Christmas ornament. I loved that on Rhett's 5th birthday, it snowed, even if we were in the part of Texas that hardly gets snow. He was so excited. I loved that we got to have Noah's first birthday at my parents' house surrounded by his cousins that were there for Christmas.

In a little more than a week my oldest will turn 7 and my baby will be 5.

stop and...

...It is easy to get stressed during the holiday season. I saw the beginning of a news story last night that began with a man saying that more people now dread Christmas coming than are excited about it. I, too, can get caught up in the materialism, the "I gotta bake those cookies for our neighbors!", the decorating, finding the perfect gift, ect. Sometimes it is good to take a step back and just enjoy the season:

*Drive around and look at the Christmas lights. Try to find Griswold's house.
*Make a batch of cookies just for your family.
*Tell your kids about any special ornaments you have.
*Let your kids wrap some presents and just look away when they use a whole roll of tape for one gift.
*Sing Christmas carols at the top of your lungs.
*Teach your kids other versions of "Jingle Bells" (Batman Smells versions is a favorite around here)
*Let your kids give you one more hug, even if they were supposed to be asleep an hour ago. :)

the countdowns begin

...It is December! The boys are beyond excited because Rhett and Noah have birthdays coming up in 13 and 16 days respectively. We have figured out our party plans, sent out invitations and now all there is to do is wait. And wait. And wait. Noah said it seems like his birthday will be in 100 days, not 16.

The boys are also going to be in our church's Christmas program. Noah is going to be an angel (he is very excited as angels are exceptionally powerful) and Rhett is going to be an animal (either a donkey or horse). This is their first Christmas program and I am looking forward to it. I still can remember putting on that angel costume at my church and just waiting for the year I could be Mary. Sadly, I never got to be Mary because I think we stopped doing Christmas programs because we ran out of little kids, but I digress. Anyway, it should be fun to watch.

Rhett and Noah are also getting into the Christmas spirit by listening to songs and watching movies. Their favorite movie to watch: Home Alone! Casey and I watched this so many times when we were younger and we loved it! You should see Rhett and Noah howl with laughter at the robbers' expense!

And, it was my niece Mallory's 6th birthday yesterday! I was going to have Noah help me wish her a happy birthday but he had a bad day at school so he is not in the mood. But, I will say that I hope you had a wonderful birthday and a wonderful tea party and got wonderful presents! I can't believe you are 6! You are a beautiful, creative, smart girl and I am proud to be your aunt! And I know Noah secretly is wishing you a happy one. Rhett too!

Have a fun Monday!

PS-Happy belated Birthday Abbey! I hope you had a great celebration!