Christmas

I felt like I had to get our Christmas pictures up before the end of the year. I don't have much to say about Christmas. The kids had a lot of fun. Emmy is finally to the age where she really enjoys opening the gifts. So, for the first time all three of the kids were really hip to Christmas and it made it exponentially more exciting for Jon and me.
Isobel seems to be getting wise to the Santa game and I am convinced this will be her last year of being a true believer. She really is way more observant than we gave her credit. She did, however, try very hard to explain away the inconsistencies.

For instance, Jon wraps the stocking stuffers (this is not something that occurred when I was a child, but this is his tradition, so more power to him). One night he said to me "You know I used the same wrapping papers for the stocking stuffers as I did for the gifts. Do you think they will notice?" We decided that Isobel may notice, but she would probably be too excited to really notice. First thing Christmas morning, okay second thing Christmas morning... Isobel is opening her stocking stuffers and turns to me and says

"Wow, mom I can't believe that Santa has enough time to wrap these at our house."

"What are you talking about? Santa didn't wrap these at our house."

"Well, that's strange... I guess Santa has the same wrapping paper."

Oops.... I probably should have covered that one a little better. I guess this is the beginning of the daughter being smarter than the mom.

A few minutes later Emmy was opening one of her stocking stuffers which happened to be a three pack of those Crayola Tadoodles crayons (which she loves). As she is ripping open the gift Isobel's eyebrow cocks and she looks at me, then at Jon, then back at me...

"Um, Dad... I thought you got those for Emmy?" She asked timidly.

"What?" We ask, hoping to change the subject promptly.

"Well, I was with you at Target when you bought those, so I don't think they are really from Santa." She looks between us for a few more seconds and finally shrugs and says "maybe it got mixed in with Santa's gifts on accident."

"That must be it..." I jumped at the chance to end that conversation.

I think she probably still has a few good years of pretending for Eli and Emmy, but I think that her rational side will win this fight and she will not be a believer come next Christmas.

Just another reminder that she is growing up way to fast...

Isobel and Eli got new bikes from Santa... they were psyched!

This was by far Eli's favorite gift of the Holiday... he slept with it almost every night for a week.

We are absolute horrible parents... we totally wrapped all of Emmy's gifts without leaving one out from Santa. It was a complete oversight, but it meant she didn't have a big gift under the tree. We took one that she opened at the very end of the night and put it under the tree hoping that Eli and Bel wouldn't notice. We are very lucky they were so excited about their bikes, or we would have been in trouble... It probably would have been the straw that broke Isobel's Santa believing back. No need to fret friends, Emmy was not totally neglected... she received a lot of wonderful gifts that she thoroughly enjoyed... although not as much as she enjoyed the actual process of unwrapping them.

boy, he is nice...

I have often praised the kindness of Eli on this blog. He has a huge heart and almost always puts others before himself (almost always... come on, he's 3).

Isobel is easily his favorite person in the world. I am convinced if you asked him the three items on a deserted island question, his answer would be Isobel, blankie and whichever backyardigan stuffed animal is in favor that day. Although they have the typical sibling squabbles and I occasionally hear an "I hate you" escape his lips, he is happiest when he has Isobel's undivided attention.

He also has an extreme sense of fairness. He is convinced that if he has something, so should Isobel. When he gets a sticker at the doctor’s office, he asks for one for Isobel. When he gets his lollypop after speech therapy, he asks for one for Isobel. If he has something, he is convinced Isobel should have one as well.

Saturday, we decided to fight the crowd and take a much needed trip to IKEA. As we exit the elevators we see some kids walk by with balloon animals. While we have seen the people making balloon animals before, we have never gotten one. We always missed the workers. That day, we were not going to miss our chance.

Isobel, Emmy and I stood in line while Jon and Eli went to the bathroom. There were two kids in front of Isobel and she anxiously awaited her turn. As the woman was making her pink flower Eli and Jon joined us. Eli then got a blue monkey (super neat) and Emmy a red butterfly (Isobel chose the color).

This morning, as Emmy, Isobel and Eli watched cartoons in the playroom, something tragic happened. There was a loud pop and the flower was instantly gone. Isobel was sad, as can be expected. Eli, forever the fairness expert, looked at Isobel and popped his monkey. He just didn't think it was fair that Isobel's balloon had popped and his hadn't. So he remedied the situation the only way he knew how.

a rebel yell...

The Thursday before Halloween Isobel came home more than a little upset. She was furious because I had told her she could wear her costume to school and her teacher told her she could not. It never even occurred to me that this was a possibility. Jon, who is ever the hero dad, ran out to Target to try and find a holloweeny shirt. He came home with this awesome skull shirt, but it was way too big. This meant that he had to go back to Target and get a smaller size, which he did willingly. Isobel loves this shirt and wears it on a regular basis, even though "it is a boy’s shirt".

This is Isobel's attempt to look dark and rebellious.

I think she fails, but I imagine she will figure it out before she hits the teen years.

Seriously...

Emmy is such a ham!!!

While I have always known this, today it was insanely apparent. She is sick, I mean 101.9 temp sick. She has been whiney and sleepy and extremely mellow all day. However, the second the camera is pointed at her she perks right up. Here are the pictures of my sick child...

Does she look sick to you?!?

Disappointment...

I have been at such a loss for the words to express my disappointment in California. I should have known that Keith Olbermann would have those words.

Thanks to my friend Kara for sharing this video. If you haven't visited her corner of the web, you should. She is wicked smart and always has something interesting to say.

Smile...

I am sure I have mentioned this before, but it is worth mentioning again... My husband is fantastic. He is a fantastic husband and an even better dad. Whenever I see one of these pictures that he takes of himself and the kids, I smile. Here is my smile for this moment...

Seriously, how lucky am I?

Election Day!

There is something about election day that I just love. It makes me feel hopeful, almost giddy. Jon calls it my Superbowl. 6:00 will be here before we know it. I hope everyone has voted!