We just stayed home mostly today and got a few things done. I did some intense house cleaning and some organizing and while I did that Jeff and the boys went grocery shopping. Ben was cute as he could not decide whether or not he wanted to go to the grocery store with Jeff. Jeff told him, "I will be fine. You can stay here or come, do what you want." Ben replied, "I just don't want you to be lonely." In the end he and Alex both went. :)
**Jeff has posted a bunch of pictures...FINALLY! He commented to me, "Did you know Alex graduated from Kindergarten this year?!" ...Yes...I did know that. :)
Well much to the kids' dismay we had to act like grown ups today and run several errands, returning pants that were too big for Ben, returning a video...for Christmas Jeff and I bought each other the same movie...Pirates of the Caribbean 2...and so forth. Ben and Alex did not want to run errands with us but sadly for both of them we did not care. So we returned the pants for Ben first. This worked out quite well for Ben as he ended up with two pair instead of just one and these actually fit him so that was good. After that we went to the mall which we rarely do it seems. I went to Target to return the movie and the boys and Jeff went to the Discovery Store to return a planetarium that Uncle Shawn and Aunt Cyndi had given them--we tried to use it and it did not work. We got all of this taken care of fairly quickly and I met up with them at the Discovery Store. Alex wanted to go over to check out the Disney Store and I had no problem with that of course and so we did. I looked at some things for Chloe but in the end we did not get anything. We asked Ben if he had any place he wanted to check out and he stated, "I'm hungry." Mind you he had had a big lunch before we left the house and so we did not stop to get him any food...
From here we went to the Ski Market as this last time skiing it was obvious that Alex's coat was not going to work for him and so he got a new coat and new mittens that actually fit him and should keep him warm on the slopes. By this point it had started to really snow and so we decided we had better go home.
After getting home the boys were very happy about the snowfall and decided to suit up and go outside and try some sledding...on oh maybe two inches of snow. It worked ok though and they did get in some sledding and some other running around in the snow fun so that was good. :)
I was off again today and so this afternoon we decided to make sure all our gear was in working order for when ski club starts up again in January. We also decided to try a different mountain, Pat's Peak. Pat's Peak is different than the usual mountain we go to, bigger, a little further away, and oh yeah, um,bigger. We arrived and got half day passes and tried to find the lockers. We could not find any and ended up putting our shoes in some cubbies near some stairs which in the end worked out ok but it was not the best of places for us to try and change into ski boots and so forth but it really wasn't clear to us as to where a good place would actually be. So we got suited up and out on the slopes.
We hit the bunny trail first to try and get our ski legs back and had intended to ski it a few times before moving on but this magic carpet lift that they had for the bunny trail broke down about every two minutes and the break downs lasted for a good five minutes. It was unreal. We soon decided that one trip down the bunny hill would be the only warm up. This was more than fine with Ben who while saying he wanted to do three times down the bunny hill would have preferred I think just to hit the trails.
We got down the bunny hill just fine and went over to the lift for the green circles figuring we would be fine here. For the most part we were...except for the fact that the green trail sort of gave out mid way due to lack of snow and the only way down the rest of the mountain was the blue square area. Poor Alex was not thrilled about this turn of events and really I think would have preferred to ski over the grass that would be the green circle area if only it had snow. At first he even seemed to ski towards it like, "Well this is the green circle so I am skiing here with or without snow." :) So we ended up trying to ski down the blue circle area with Ben and Alex. Alex took a fall and in the end he and Jeff ended up going down the blue square together on their bums. Ben and I did our best to ski down together and inch by inch we made our way. Ben did fall at one point but he kept his cool and was able to get up and ski the rest of the way down. Once we got past that one section it turned back into green circle skiing and we were fine. After all of that we decided to regroup and went in for some hot cocoa as while going down on his bum poor Alex got snow all in his gloves and so he needed some cocoa to warm up. While we had our drinks, Jeff checked the map and found another green circle area and we decided we would try that and hopefully it would be fully open...and it was. We were able to ski the trail called, "Puff," the rest of the afternoon and I think we all really liked this area. We only had one incident here, as again, poor Alex was getting on the lift his ski got caught somehow and fell off. The lift slowed and I took Alex's ski from the attendant and told him I would give it to him at the top. Alex was riding with Jeff and Ben and I were behind them. Alex panicked, trying to think of how he was going to get off the moving lift with just one ski, he decided that maybe he could just ride the lift back to the bottom but Jeff explained that I had his ski and that they could still get off the lift together just fine...but they did not have to worry at all as once they got to the top the attendant at the top stopped the lift for them and they were able to get off the lift fine and then Ben and I brought Alex his other ski and we all skied down the hill once more. The lift line moved right along, the ride on the lift was not too long and the skiing down was perfect for all of us. I wish we had started here. Oh well.
After we got all our skiing in for the afternoon we headed for home. We decided to stop and eat at Bugaboo Creek and we had a good warm meal here. Alex convinced us to get dessert and he shared a chocolate cake with me and Jeff...I think Alex's eyes are brown because he is made of chocolate. Anyway the waiter could not believe how fast that cake disappeared, saying, "I have not been gone all that long and all that cake is gone," or something like that. We talked about our fun skiing and about the trials we had had on the mountain too and that it was a good time. Ben had fun at one point again pretending to be Bear from "Man vs. Wild" and talking with his bad British accent...hopefully now we are all ready for skiing this winter and when we go back to our usual place we will have lots more fun. :)
I was off today and so the four of us went out this afternoon to work some more on shelter two. We had a great time and I was happy I went. Both Ben and Alex were thrilled to have me along. The second shelter is a sapling shelter and it needed a lot of work. I helped by cutting down some branches and Alex was an extremely hard worker, carting the branches I cut back to the shelter for Jeff and Ben to put on to the saplings. I could not get over how beautiful it was where we were and how you felt like you were so far away from civilization and yet our house was a short walk away really. I do feel this shelter stands a much better chance of not being tampered with as it is not visible at all from any paths and you would kind of have to know where it is in order to find it. It overlooks the river and after we finished working on it we took a short hike around the area and explored. We came across an area where beavers had obviously cut down several trees...Jeff was not quite sure that it was beavers but then I pointed out the beaver dam that was right there and said that I was very sure it was beavers. They took me around what they had checked out the day before and it was beautiful and cool and all of that fun stuff. After a good hike through the woods we returned home where of course both boys insisted on hot chocolate even though we had not really been all that cold out there. It was a beautiful sunny day and with all the effort we were doing we were all warm enough. Ben and Alex did make a short video where they pretended to be Bear, from "Man vs. Wild," and it is funny as Bear has a British accent and Ben and Alex try to speak with a British accent in the video. Unfortunately they take after their mother and they cannot do accents but it was pretty funny. Anyway we had a good time and it was a good way to spend an afternoon. :)
The boys did go out this morning while I was at work and they made another shelter in another area...well I guess they were not actually able to finish this shelter. This one is a bit more complicated and Ben and Alex were just not as into it and so they got it started but it is a long way from being finished. When I got home from work we were able to go back to the first shelter and take a few pictures of it. Ben was very upset as someone had come by and "worked" on it...changing it a bit. They changed where the door had been and they destroyed where Ben and Alex had their fake fire. So we had to fix that of course. Ben was not happy that his shelter had been modified in any way and let us know that. We explained that we were just happy that whoever had come by had not destroyed the entire thing but rather had at least tried to help in their way...
After we returned home the boys played a little Game Cube...Star Wars Lego games and then Jeff and Ben went to work on Ben's newest toy, his Lego Mindstorms Robot. He received this for Christmas and has wanted to work on it but he will need Jeff's help with it and so the two of them did that for a long while. Alex and I played a couple of games of Cadoo at his request. We had a great time playing that and he beat me every time. :)
We have been watching a show on Discovery channel called, "Man vs. Wild," and it is about how to survive in various situations. Ben and Alex really like this show a lot and so for Christmas, Santa brought Ben a book on how to survive...how to build a lean to, how to find food, etc. Yesterday after I got home from work the three of them went off to try and build a shelter. I stayed home and cleaned up around the house, took down the tree and that sort of thing. Ben brought his book and Jeff brought a knife. One thing about survival is you really should have a knife with you....it does come in handy all the time on Man vs. Wild. :)
Well I guess the three of them had an absolute blast. They were able to make a small shelter and when they returned they took me back to see it. I am amazed. It really is pretty cool. I forgot my camera but I told them I want to go back tomorrow to take a picture of it. You are supposed to put down, on the floor of the shelter, about 8-10 inches of "bedding" which would be evergreen boughs etc. I guess Ben and Alex got bored at various stages of making the shelter and so the bed was a little skimpy. I explained that if I was going to be staying in this shelter I would expect a full bed....I would want to be as insulated from the cold as possible.
Ben really wanted to spend the night here last night. He told us that he would be fine and he was going to stay there. Jeff and I said, "Fine." So Jeff and I and Alex started to head back home and shortly thereafter we heard Ben coming too. I guess he decided that spending the night alone in the shelter was not exactly what he had in mind. I think Jeff kind of wanted to stay the night there too but the shelter is very small...it is supposed to be small as usually it is for one person and you want it small for better heat insulation. They are hoping to make another shelter tomorrow in a different part of the woods by our house. We will see.
At 4 this morning I heard Ben and Alex whispering in Ben's room. I could not tell what they were saying but I am pretty sure it had to do with Christmas and how to get the presents. They stayed in Ben's room until around 6:30 or so at which point I think I heard Alex trying to go downstairs. I yelled out something like, "No." Alex came into our bedroom and crawled into the bed with us and said, "Well what time are we getting up?!" I told him, "Seven." So he stayed in bed with us for a while and finally he sat up and he said, "Mom, It is 6:58." Ok. Close enough. So we got up and by 7:15 I think it was all over! :)
They tore into all their gifts and were thrilled with what Santa and others had sent them. We spent the rest of the day just enjoying one another and the gifts we had received. We played games and Alex and I did a puzzle. Ben received the movie, "The Fox and the Hound," and we watched that. Mostly the boys played the Lego Star Wars video game for Game Cube that they had received...that was a gift they had really really wanted. We had dinner and more Christmas punch. Both boys commented on how quickly it was over and at dinner Ben even said that he was having a hard time, "emotionally." When I asked him about it he said, "I just can't believe that it is over already." I told him I understood and remembered feeling the exact same way as a child. It is why you have to enjoy the looking forward to it part as much as the actual day!
I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and got everything you needed and maybe some of what you wanted. Sometimes having isn't as much fun as the wanting... something else my kids are slowly learning.:)
Finally it is Christmas Eve and both boys are very happy about that. We slept in a little bit this morning and hung out for the morning and by early afternoon we were ready to do something so we loaded up the bikes and we all went for a bike ride at Mine Falls. The boys did not want to go but we are mean parents and forced them to go. We bundled up a little bit, wearing mittens for our hands so we would not get too cold. We had a great time. Ben commented that he was surprised at how much fun he had. While biking we actually saw a tent in the woods there which is something we have never seen. We saw a lot of runners and two other families of bikers but for the most part it felt like we had the whole woods to ourselves.
After biking we returned home and hung out some more. The boys played with Noah for a little while, even going outside and playing a little bit. They played some Game Cube games too and then when it was time for us to be getting ready for church I sent Noah home. We went to church and came home and had our usual Christmas Eve fun, our Christmas punch, dinner and so forth. They were each allowed to open one Christmas gift and they chose the one from Aunt Chris...it was a small chest of organizer drawers! Alex was a bit disappointed. :) After dinner we started to watch, "It's a Wonderful Life," but in the middle of it Alex was worried about whether it was time for Santa to be coming and he wanted to go to bed. So we checked out the status of Santa on the NORAD web site and it did show him entering the United States from South America, he was headed for Florida! So it was off to bed for Ben and Alex.
We spent today just lazing around and hanging out for the most part. I had one last gift to go and buy and so the boys and I did head out early this morning to go and look for a gift for Jeff. We went to Lowe's as I expected I could find something for him there and while wandering around a staff person approached the boys and asked them if they liked balloons...which of course they do. So he made them some balloon swords. When they thanked him for them he told them that most kids this season had not said thank you to him for the balloons and so he made them something else! They were thrilled of course. We wandered around the store some more, found nothing...saw that staff person again who apparently was totally bored as he made them another balloon thing, and then we left. We decided to try Target and there we did find a couple of things for Jeff for Christmas. We returned home and then Jeff went out grocery shopping to just get the last few things we would need for our Christmas meals. After that we just really lazed around the entire day. We had rented "How To Eat Fried Worms" and we watched that tonight...it was pretty good.
The boys were off from school today and so Jeff stayed home with them. Ben was feeling a little bit better but stuck to toast for breakfast. By lunch though he was still feeling even better and had half a hot dog...but his color and mood were much improved. Anyway I was at work and on the phone when my friend, Ms. Ramirez came over and said, "I have a surprise for you," and up from behind my cubicle popped Ben and Alex! I was really surprised as I had not seen them come in at all. I guess they had been waiting quite a while for me to get done on the phone. Anyway they gave me some hugs and then they went to the video store next door to rent some movies for the big weekend coming up. After that we all went home together.
At home we mostly just hung out for the afternoon. I ran out to do a little shopping and quickly decided I was done as the traffic was just terrible.
We decided to mix it up a little and went to a different restaurant for dinner, one that their babysitter, Sarah works at...and we got to have Sarah as our waitress!! Surprise!! She was really surprised to see us and gave me a big hug. She was all smiles as she took care of us and it was great as she knew exactly how the boys like their food. Alex asked her if the macaroni and cheese was, "Kraft" and she said it looked just like Kraft and she was sure that he would like it, and he did. We had a wonderful dinner here and are trying to convince Jeff that maybe this will be our new Friday night spot. Ben seemed to be fully recovered and seemed just so happy to be feeling better. He ate his whole burger and just raved about how good the food was and went on and on and on about various things...back to his old talkative self. :)
After dinner we arrived home and I checked the phone messages. There was one from Hannah for Ben telling him to check the mailbox as she had come by while we were out and put a present for him in it!! Surprise!! Ben ran out to the mailbox and got his gift. He was so excited. She got him a Magnetix Micro Build Kit, a Return Sport Ball, a framed picture of herself...., several candy canes and lots of Hershey Kisses were in the bag. When Ben saw the kisses he said, "Well this is awkward!" :) He called her to thank her right away and commented to her, "My favorite gift is the picture of you." Then they talked about Pokemon.
Alex of course was upset that Ben had gotten to open something and he had not and so he was allowed to open a gift too. He had a hard time to choose but finally he chose something from Aunt Chris and it also was some sort of magnet thing. It was a very exciting evening here!! Full of surprises and fun.
Sometime during the night Ben came down with an awful virus of some sort. He was up in the middle of the night, around 1, throwing up his dinner. He had gotten up with Jeff and said that he felt hungry and so he had some Apple Jacks...and then within a couple of minutes of that he was done with that... I heard the commotion and came downstairs and started helping Jeff to care for Ben. Ben was so sweet as he was saying, "I'm sorry," to us both and we were trying to explain that there was nothing to be sorry for...when you are sick, you are sick.
So we kept both boys home from school today. I stayed home with them. Alex was fine so that was good. Ben was still really so tired from everything as he had had a second bout of throwing up again during the night...Ben stayed in his pjs all day. After lunch...Ben had toast and a tiny bit of mac and cheese, we went to the basement to watch some TV. Alex chose a Spongebob Squarepants DVD. Shortly after it started, Ben was fast asleep. Alex and I left him there to sleep and we played some board games upstairs. When Ben awoke, he had lost track of time, coming upstairs and telling me, "Good morning," and about how he had slept in the basement last night. I explained that he had only napped there and he just could not believe it at first. I think being in his pjs really confused him. Still he is on his way to recovery and we will continue to take care of him.
Alex had invited me to his Holiday party at school for the afternoon and while I did not know what time it was to be held at I decided to try and drop by when I suspected they would be having it and I was right. Alex was thrilled to see me there and gave me a big hug when I arrived. They were just getting ready to do the gift exchange and so I was just in time as Alex told me. Alex ended up with a present from Brayden, a Lego knight that you have to put together and after school we put him together. We enjoyed putting him together and now Alex feels like he needs another one so then he will be able to play with them.
After school Alex commented to Jeff, "You know what Brandon said about Santa?" Jeff was prepared thinking that the truth would be coming out soon...Alex continued, "Brandon said Santa is nocturnal." So now the truth is out...Santa is nocturnal. :)
This afternoon I told the boys I wanted to do something fun. Alex suggested we play a game and I said that I had a better idea in mind and I went to the kitchen. Alex followed me there asking what was better than playing a game and when I took out the sugar cookie dough he agreed that making cookies would be more fun. I told him to go and get the Christmas cookie cutters out of the basement but he did not want to go down there alone, "Mom you know sometimes I think that those things like Gremlins and Zorgons (Zorgons were in the movie Zathura) might be real." So he and I went to the basement together and got our cookie cutters. Ben joined us and I had them take turns making some cookies.
After the cookies were done Alex wanted to know if after dinner they could have one for dessert and I thought that that would be ok. I was really surprised as we had not frosted them and neither Ben or Alex even mentioned it. So I figured that we just would not frost them...well after dinner as Ben was getting ready to have his cookie he said, "Hey mom can you frost this?" I told him that I had thought they would have wanted to frost them after they were cooked but they just moved on to something else! Jeff said to me, "Melissa, they are boys!" So we made frosting and then Alex and I frosted some cookies while Ben practiced his clarinet as he did need to do that too. They came out ok I think. Ben and Alex seemed to enjoy them. :)
Alex went over to a friend's house after school today. Kellen's mom had called on Friday and asked if Kellen could have Alex over today after school and so he did not ride the bus home with Alex, instead he went home with Kellen. Ben missed him...as did I. Ben said, "It just isn't the same without Alex." Still we have to let him do the things he wants to do too...
So Ben and I went grocery shopping and had a wonderful time grocery shopping together. Again it was some one on one time for me and Ben and we did enjoy it even though it was just groceries. Ben pushed the cart and when it got too heavy he read the list I had made. I did let him get some candy and he even asked if he could get some for Alex too and so of course I said yes. We got the groceries home and then it was time to go and pick up Alex at Kellen's house.
Alex's big concern before going was, "Do you think they have a pet?" Because if they do he does not want it out while he is there. I told him I thought they did not have any pets and that it would not be a big deal at all...Jeff and Alex played a game of, "What if they have a pet hippo? What will you do?" this morning before Jeff left for work. Anyway I guess when Kellen's mom showed up to pick them up she had their big, 60 pound dog in the car with her! Alex freaked out a little and let her know that he was not into big dogs and she put Guinness in the back of the car. When they arrived at Kellen's, Guinness was put in his crate and Alex was fine. From all accounts he had a wonderful time, they made some ornaments, played some games and just had fun together. Alex does not get to do stuff like this usually so we are entering a new world for him. I guess shortly before we came to pick him up he wondered out loud, "I wonder when my mom will come for me," and Kellen's mom told him that I would be there in just a few minutes and I was, along with Ben who enjoyed having a few minutes there to check out where Alex had been all this time. Ben went upstairs and got to see Kellen's pet frog as well and we got to see Kellen's playroom...it is much neater than ours. Oh well. :)
Chloe was happy to see us still at her house this morning. I think she likes having people sleep over night at her house. We had breakfast at her house and the boys were able to play some more with her. She especially loved jumping on the air mattress that the boys had slept on.
Before we left the boys received some Christmas presents and one of them for Ben was a white board. He has wanted this for some time now and he was funny as he wrote, "I am cute," on it with an arrow pointing to Chloe. Then she started walking around the house and he followed her around with his white board and the arrow pointing to her. Alex was funny as while Ben was doing this he said to Ben, "Watch out you don't hurt her with that thing." He did not want Chloe running into it. :) We had some more fun with Chloe and then it was time to get on the road and head home all too soon. We said our good-byes and then went home. Thanks Chloe! We had a great weekend. :)
Chloe turned two today and so since she was having a party we went!! We left early this morning and arrived in her hometown in New Jersey just in time for the party. We arrived just as Grandma and Grandpa Tom and Beba were arriving and we all carried in all of our gifts together. The birthday girl was getting her beauty rest when we arrived and so we were able to eat and enjoy all the various people until she finally arose!! Once she was up she seemed to really enjoy her party. Chloe was all smiles seeing all the people who had come just for her birthday. She had all kinds of aunts and uncles and cousins there. We had some food and then some yummy cake. She blew out her two candles very quickly with just one fast breath. After cake she got to open her gifts. The poor child was tortured though as after each gift she was told that she could not play with it because she had yet another gift to open! Finally she got through all of her wonderful presents and the dolls were opened up and she and her two cousins, Isabella and Gabrielle, had a lot of fun playing with those. Chloe put one of them in a little stroller and kept trying to take her outside for a walk. Luckily though Chloe cannot actually get out the door so then she would turn around and walk her doll around the house, eventually returning to the door once more to try and take her outside! :) Chloe loved her big cousins. Ben and Alex were great with her, carrying on silly antics just to make her laugh. Ben would pretend to whack himself in the head and then make funny faces and fall down just so she would crack up laughing. They played with play dough with her and just had a great time.
After all of her guest had left we remained and we stayed up late with Chloe watching a movie, "Christmas Vacation." Chloe did eventually have to go to bed but Ben and Alex stayed up late and watched the entire movie. Uncle George and Aunt Jen had never seen it before and so Ben and Alex were cute as during the movie they were saying, "I love this part, this is my favorite!" ...they kept saying that over and over again. It seems every scene in that movie is their favorite. Happy Birthday Chloe! We love you!
Today was Jeff's off Friday and so the two of us were able to meet the boys at the bus stop together which I think they like. They both had good days at school and now just one week left until their vacation which I think both of them are looking forward to very much.
In the meantime Jeff had ordered some super strong magnets for them and they arrived today. Ben is studying magnets at school and so he loved this. They played with those for a while, Jeff had also thought to get some iron filings and some sort of magnetic liquid? which I had never heard of but it is pretty cool. They had a really good time with these until one of Ben's chipped and then Ben was very upset. They are super strong and they pulled together so hard and fast that one actually chipped a bit. Jeff had warned them both several times that this might happen...eventually Ben did get over it.
After the boys got home from school it was relatively warm out and so they asked if they could play at the park before heading for home. Since we had nothing going on right then I said that it would be fine. Another mother did the same thing and we enjoyed watching the kids all play and getting to talk to one another. Ben and Alex mostly played off by themselves and had a great time. I am not sure what the game was but it involved a lot of wrestling and from a distance it may have looked as though they were fighting but they weren't...they were having a blast. Finally they came over to me and somehow Alex had lost both of his shoes...I mean he had them, they just were not on his feet...I told him he can never take his shoes off at the park as you just do not know what is out there and what you might step on or into...anyway they had a great time I think and this weather has just been incredible!
Tonight the chorus at the school held its annual winter concert and since Ben is in the chorus we attended. Ben was so excited about this and when I asked him to tell me about the songs that would be sung at dinner, he told me, "You want it to be a surprise don't you?" Ok.
We arrived and Ben immediately went to wherever it was that he needed to go and the rest of us went and found a seat in the already crowded cafeteria/gymnasium/auditorium. Finally after waiting for about 25 minutes the show began. There was a short concert by the staff chorus and Ben's first grade teacher was in that as was his current teacher. After the staff chorus sang their two songs, the band played two songs. And finally after the band was finished we got to hear the chorus we had come to hear!!
This year the theme of the concert combined the African influence into our American culture and so the first song was one called "Maloway" and this is a song I have heard Ben speak of several times. It was wonderful and I think it was my favorite. Then they sang another song called, "Jane Jane." The Fifth Grade chorus then sang a song and then it was back to the chorus I cared about...and they sang, "I Saw Three Ships," "Winter Walk," "Hanukkah Lights," and finally, "When all the Lights Shine." It was wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I wish it could have lasted a little longer. It was so much fun to see all these young faces up there and singing their little hearts out...I admired them all for getting out and doing it, for putting in the effort to give us all such a nice concert. I give Ben a lot of credit as he is never afraid to try something and put himself out there and it gets us all out there too and it really helped to give me a little of the Christmas Spirit at a time when I needed it! :)
Alex in the meantime allowed us to enjoy it too as he was just so good for the whole time, and he had already seen it as they did a practice performance at school. He enjoyed telling us what was coming next and he just was also enjoying being out and taking in a show.
I did also find time this afternoon to race Ben and Alex in the racing game...I lost every time. I told them to watch out though as I will practice and get better. They loved that. We had a great time. Ben made me watch the introduction to the game as he loves the music and the video of the racing cars.
For the past two days Ben and Alex have been playing a game on Game Cube that I would like...it is a car racing game and I do like those. The problem is they always start to play it when I can't! I made a point of telling Ben that when he is going to play that game I want him to come and get me as that is one that I would enjoy and would like to play and that I will kick his butt at it! He was thrilled to hear this and gave me a big hug. Then asked me if I wanted to play...but I had a hair appointment and had to leave. When I returned from my appointment Alex was asleep but Ben was still awake and I went in and talked to him a little bit, "You really like those games?" Yes. Then he told me about how while I was gone they played Jeff as Jeff also likes the racing games. As I was leaving his room Ben said, "Mom, your hair looks good." I gave him a big hug and told him he made my day...he was so surprised and giggled at how thrilled I was to hear my hair looked good...
Tonight the boys and I went to the ski club meeting. I got the paperwork filled out for both of them and they got to see who else was doing ski club this year. It was very exciting to see some familiar faces and some new ones. Ben's friend from soccer, Brennan is doing ski club. This will be his first time skiing and so it will be a nice change for Ben to be the one who knows more about something than Brennan...Brennan is amazing with a soccer ball. Alex also found out that a friend from his class is going, Brayden, and now because Brayden is going to be there Alex wants to take ski lessons....I think it is too late and so he is not going to be able to do that. Still he will get to ski with him after the lessons are done and that should be good. We found out that there are less people signed up this year than last and so the bus that they will take is just a regular school bus...and Ben has decided he does not want to put his skis on that bus. I agree so I will take the skis with me in the car and meet him there. We are all really looking forward to it! :)
We spent today working on Christmas some more...after church and religious ed and lunch, we returned home and I ran out to ship some gifts and get more Christmas cards and that sort of thing. The boys stayed home and did a variety of things. When I returned Jeff was heading out to go grocery shopping and neither boy wanted to go...but they wanted him to bring back some candy...uh with Dad you only get candy if you actually go with him...and so both boys did. While they did the groceries I did some more Christmas cards and got in a run that I needed to do.
When we were all back at home again we hung out and we all watched some of "Man vs. Wild" a show on Discovery channel in which a man called Bear shows you how to survive in some pretty rotten places. Ben just loved this. He liked it so much that Jeff ordered him a book on survival for Christmas. Alex enjoyed it too but during the second episode he was over it. :)
Today was the day we had marked for getting the tree. We were out fairly early this morning...we got the car washed first as it was pretty dirty after my trip and then we went to find our tree. I made us bring our Santa hats and we took our Christmas picture while we picked out our tree. I think I am actually mostly happy with it this year--both the tree and the Christmas photo. We got the tree home and put it up right away. Then Alex had a birthday party to go to this afternoon for his friend Danny that is in his class at school. Jeff took him to that while I stayed home and wrote out a few Christmas cards and Ben stayed home with me. He ended up getting to play with some of the neighbors and then the two of us went out to a nice dinner...just the two of us. We both really enjoyed that a lot I think. I told him we could go wherever he wanted. His first choice was Denny's. Um. No. He had just gone there Thursday night with Jeff while I was away and while they all loved it...I did not want to go. Ok. Second choice. Burger King. Fine with me. So we were getting ready to go and I told him I had been surprised that he had chosen Burger King when he could have chosen anywhere..."You mean we could have gone to Michael Timothy's!" --UH YEA!! but by this point it was too late as I would have needed to change clothes. But now Ben was thinking about it...can I change my mind...sure..."Where do you want to go?" I told him I wanted to go anywhere he wanted to go as long as I was with him I did not care where we ate...other than Denny's of course. :) We finally ended up at Friendly's and we had a great time. We were able to pick up some gift certificates for Jeff's religious ed class that he teaches and so that worked out really well actually.
When we returned home Jeff and Alex were home and we decorated the tree. Ben and I had brought home some ice cream from Friendly's and after the tree was decorated they ate that. Then we went and watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas and had a very good night.
I was away yesterday and today to attend a funeral for my Aunt Ann who had passed away on Monday and when I returned I was able to greet Ben and Alex as they got off the bus. They came running to me and I received huge hugs from both of them along with big smiles and news of how they had gone to Denny's for dinner last night with Dad and how wonderful that was...I was glad I missed that. :) After dinner tonight we all stayed up late watching Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer on TV and that was a lot of fun. Both boys enjoyed it and Alex commented about how he enjoyed seeing the true story of what had happened! :)
For some reason my calendar has become community property and the boys have enjoyed writing on different dates. For some reason they like to pick a date and label it, "Ben's whoopenest day of the year!" or if Alex has gotten to it first, "Alex's whoopenest day of the year!" Each boy has picked one day in the month and that is the label. The dates vary and I do not know why they pick the date that they do. Then they like to go around and talk about how, "Today is my whoopenest day of the year!" ...Ok...it still means you have to go to school. :)
Today was early release day at school and Ben also had clarinet. He does not like this as I guess his lunch or recess or possibly both get cut short. Anyway today he forgot his clarinet at home and while we were at the bus stop I went home to get it. He got on the bus with it. When he got home I asked him, "So how was clarinet?" "I didn't go." He told me he decided not to go because of the early release day. I guess his instructor gave him a D for the class and did catch up with him at lunch to ask him why he had not gone to the lesson. I guess part of it too is that there is a concert coming up but since Ben is a first year student he will not be in the concert and so he feels that the need for him to be at the practice is not so great...and he told his instructor this. I guess the instructor was fine and simply told him that he had to be at the next lesson and Ben said that he would be.
Alex was a cuddle bug this morning asking me after he got up and before he got breakfast, "Can we cuddle on the couch together?!" No problem. That was really a nice way to start the day and so we had some cuddle time and then after just a few minutes..."Can I have breakfast now?" No problem. :)
The boys and I just hung out this afternoon. Ben had requested to do his homework after dinner and I told him he had to do one of the two things and the other thing he would be allowed to do after dinner and he was fine with that. He got the math done and out of the way which was good. After that the two of them played with the Game Cube and their Nintendo DS and what have you. I had thought that Noah might come over but he didn't. Alex and I did read a book together, another "Nate the Great" book from school and that was fun...
Jeff's work had its annual Christmas Party for the kids and once again Jeff brought the boys who were so excited to get to go. This was Ben's last year of being able to go as a child. Next year he can participate as an elf if he wants to and we will see about that when the time comes. I guess the show was pretty much the same as it is every year. Alex was very happy with his gift, an electric type guitar that has buttons you push and various sounds come out of it, Ben ended up with an electronic version of Connect Four, the game and he is not impressed with it really...which goes to show that it may be time for him to be done going to this party as a child...he is growing up and getting more specific about his wants I guess. Anyway they did have a good time and were happy to have been able to go and it really is nice of Jeff's employer to put this on for the kids.
This morning the boys' school had their annual Christmas shop and we took them over there for that. This was our first time participating in it. It was pretty cute. The parents were offered coffee and munchkins and so forth while a fifth grade student took Ben and Alex on the other side of the gym which had been partitioned off so that we could not see. The boys each had some money and a list of who they were buying for and they bought some gifts for the family for Christmas. The items on that side of the gym I guess are very reasonably priced. Anyway they returned with their purchases all bagged up so that we could not see what they were. Ben was fine with waiting for Christmas to give us our gifts and had no problem whatsoever with this. Poor Alex however is not much of a "waiter" and so we heard a lot of, "Why can't I give you your present now?!" We told him, "Because, Christmas is all about the waiting!" He just does not understand that at all and really wants us to have whatever it is he bought for us...now. Oh well. We made him go and put it away. I guess he and Ben bought for one another and they were cute as since they were both back there they told one another what to get. They did exchange their gifts to each other already. I don't even know what they were. :)
We went and saw the movie, "Happy Feet," tonight. We went to Chunky's and had dinner there and the movie and we enjoyed. I would say the movie was just ok...the boys thought it was funny and parts of it were but I do think that it had some adult themes that the producers of the movie thought would go over the kids' heads...and while it may...I don't like it in the movie...ANYWAY...on the way home from the movie Ben asked about what we are made of. Jeff told him, "Protons, Electrons, Neutrons..." and Ben said, "Well that is good. At least they are all 'ons'. I would not like for them to be 'offs'." Then Alex commented, "Ok ok! I will eat my croutons!" We had to tell Alex that we had not mentioned croutons...but he could certainly eat those anyway. :)