Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all that!

As has been my habit lately, I've been sorely neglecting this here blog. Who knows if anyone even cares anymore! lol! But, since this is also for the kiddos, I have to keep it up at least on important days.

Well, except for the monthly updates. I sat down to do the December update and honestly, I couldn't think of a thing that was "new" for any of the kids, and I have noticed that I'm sounding like a broken record. So, I think I'll just post whenever the mood strikes instead of on the month-a-versaries.

But Christmas! Oh, did we have a wonderful Christmas! I made waaaaaay too many baked goods. We'll have cookies and breads until next July, I'm sure. But it sure came in handy though to be able to take things out of the freezer when needed. Like the day we put the tree up I made a finger-food feast to leave out while we decorated. I had wondered how my Buddy Adam would deal with so much food just left out in the open to take at will, and he did Great! Until! Until I started to put it away. He had been just fine while the food was out. Didn't sneak any, didn't gorge himself, etc. But, once I got the plastic wrap out, he decided he was starving and needed the food. I thought that was interesting. We did that a few other times this Christmas season, but he seemed fine. Big strides for him.

I made it a point this year to only get the kids stuff that I was absolutely 100% sure that they would go ga-ga over. No wasteful trinkets that just take up room under the tree. So, the packages were fewer, but the joys were fuller, I think. Adam got a remote-control Monster Truck, and a Knight costume. Liana got a bride costume and a new bike. Leksa got a princess costume and a Castle Playhut. There were some other odds and ends - oh, a rock tumbler was also a major one, and a sign-language dvd, etc. But, I haven't needed to clean out any toy chests to make room for what they got this year. By the way, the picture I posted of the girls in their costumes was taken in the bathroom - I found them standing on their "stools" so they could see into the bathroom mirror! I thought it was hilarious!

We stayed home this year for Christmas Eve and Day, but the day before, we made a trip to my dad's house for a visit. We got him a giant mailbox... There has never lived anyone who loved "mail" more than my dad does. He was happy as a lark. It was so fun to see him so happy.

Then for New Year's weekend we went up to John's grandparents' house in northern MN. I know I've talked before at what a winter wonderland it is up there... but it really is. Beautiful snowy woods all around that cozy house, lots of laughing and talking and game-playing and children giggling, and oh boy, the FOOD. We ladies sat around playing the Blokus (great game!), and we played the Ungame with John's mom, grandma, sister and cousin. It was fun to tease the guys about joining us so they could "share their feelings" with us too. One of the questions was particularly interesting given the number of generations that were represented as we played. The question was "How have you been personally affected by a war?" Well, Grandma V.'s generation was affected by WWII. John's cousin was a Viet Nam baby - her mother is Vietnamese and father was a US soldier, so her answer was, "I wouldn't be alive if there hadn't been a war." Interesting! (I love social studies/history; have you picked that up by now?) Anyway, just some interesting tidbits.

Grandma gave John's sister a "lefse-making" tutorial while we were there. It was fun to sit and watch - and get to be a taste-tester instead of a back-breaker. :O) (We're a bunch of Norwegians here in the upper midwest!) (Lefse is a potato/flour/butter/etc. mixture that you roll out and bake on a hot griddle. Then you spread with butter or butter and sugar, or use for sandwiches if you're so inclined. We usually just stick with the butter/butter sugar combo in our families. Good stuff!

But! We're back to the grindstone, and surprisingly, we're falling into our routine rather smoothly. I had been dreading a fight from the kiddos this Tuesday once we were "back to school." Glad to be pleasantly surprised that the kids were eager to get started! Could be because of our reading contest that John and I are holding for the month of January. If they read X amount of books, they get to go to the Mall of America and ride the rollercoaster. Can you say "EXCITED?" They have been madly competing against each other and themselves all week. "Mama, Liana took her book with her into the bathroom! Tell her that's not fair!" *tee-hee* Such trials we have over here! Usually our evenings are spent doing "family things" - like playing games, tickle time with Papa, or a video. This week they've been off in their own corners with their books. Love it!

No meltdowns this year... just a fun, fun, fun holiday season. Much more fun than any other year, I think. We're just so much more jelled as a family. We know each other a lot better this year, and we're all a lot more relaxed "just being." We don't have to be on high alert for breaks in the routine, sugar (believe me, they had a ton of it this holiday season!), etc. They just did great, and we all had fun just enjoying each other. (I'll have to look back at last year's blog entry; I probably said the same thing last year, but I honestly mean it a lot more this year! The kiddos are much nicer kiddos this year! *wink*)