Counting Down to Christmas

The kids are counting down to Christmas and so excited. Jacob is so silly. He counted six days until Christmas with four fingers up on one hand and two up on the other. Then yesterday at five days left he had three up on one hand and two on the other. And today he has two fingers up on each hand instead of just using one hand. Both kids are done with school for two weeks and they’re excited about that too.

Monday night we went to the Jazz game. We left Kaley with my mom. We ate at the food court at the Gateway and made it through three quarters of the game. Makayla was ready to go after 30 minutes but we made her hold out. It got better for her when someone tossed her a plastic hand clapper noise maker. Jacob had a good time and yelled a lot of “Go Jazz Go.” Makayla thought we were there to see the Go Cougars when we got there. The only other time she’s been to something like this was a BUY basketball game in February.

Jacob hates learning his numbers. One night this week he happily chose to go to bed at 7:00 instead of working on them. And then the next morning he cried when I told him he had to work on them before school. He does great with the letters and their sounds. And he even does pretty well with his sight words. But numbers are his nemesis.

I took a short break to feed us all breakfast and was telling the kids what we needed to get done this morning including finishing this post. Jacob asked what I was writing and I told him. When I got to him and his homework, he asked why I was writing that. I said because it was funny. And he said, “Well it isn’t funny to me.” Silly kid.

Kaley showed off and was a ham for smiles for the first time on Wednesday. She was hamming it up for my visiting teacher. It was pretty funny. She’s also started tipping her head to the left while sitting in her high chair when she wants to be silly. She won’t tip it to the right though. She cut her seventh tooth a few weeks ago and has been drooling so much lately that her poor little chin is really chapped.

Thursday afternoon Jacob stayed home from school. He said his tummy didn’t feel good. I believed him when I reminded him of his Christmas Sing Along that Kaley and I would be coming to and he still said he was too sick to go to school. Plus he hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch. An hour later he was throwing up. He threw up three times. Yucky. Luckily he did it in the toilet every time and he didn’t have anything in his tummy. Luckily he felt better on Friday and made it to school.

Friday afternoon the kids and I watch classic Christmas cartoons. (We love our DVR.) But the best part of it was finally getting Makayla’s stocking finished and hung. I don’t know if I’ll get Kaley’s stocking done but I’ll definitely get it started.

Saturday we took the kids to see a movie as a family for the very first time. We saw Disney’s The Princess and the Frog. Jacob and Makayla really liked it. Jacob was cracking up during the slap stick part where the characters were whacking each other trying to hit the frogs. And at the end there was lots of dancing and Jacob was dancing in his seat. We had so much fun that we might try it again when Toy Story 3 comes out. We were the last ones out of the theatre because we stayed long enough to see John’s name in the credits.

After the movie we went to Jarl’s Grandma Bagley’s to celebrate her 87th birthday. It was fun to see family. Jacob loved playing with the wooden outhouse toy that falls apart when you open the door thanks to the mouse trap floor. He also sang “Nuttin’ for Christmas” and recited his part in the Primary Program for everyone. That kid is definitely not shy.

Sunday the primary did a pretty good job singing “Away in a Manger” and “Picture a Christmas.” They weren’t really loud but it is what it is. Then in Senior Singing Time I taught them “We’ll Bring the World His Truth” (Army of Helaman) since I think it’s a tragedy they don’t know it. They LOVED it. We sang it three times and they would have sung it again but there wasn’t time. It was really nice to finally have a song that they really like and to have them so enthusiastic about singing it.

That night we went to the Nelson Christmas party (my mom’s family) at the club house in Grandma Leona’s community. It was really nice to have space big enough and to see everyone, even if I didn’t talk to many of them. I’m grateful for Facebook because that’s how I stay up to date on them as much as I do. Before it Facebook it was the bits and pieces I gleaned from Mom or the twice yearly get togethers. The kids had a blast playing with all the kids. They played Ring Around the Rosy, my brother Matt taught them Duck, Duck, Goose (which was seriously funny to watch), their cousin Ashlyn taught them the joys of bubble wrap, and they just ran around and had fun.

Makayla and Jacob continue to be monsters when I get in the shower. Today they lathered Makayla’s hair up with lotion and water which necessitated her getting in the shower to wash her hair for the second time today. Most days I wonder if I should even get in the shower because I never know what I’ll find when I get out. But since I have to shower to feel human and do it sometime in the morning I continue to everyday and pay the price everyday.