The "Blue Genie".....Correction, Wise Man

So we got a nativity set and I am quite happy. With Damon's daily request to drive him to Toys R Us so he can pick out the toys he wants from Santa, now i can emphasize the TRUE meaning of Christmas. The other night we told the kids the story of baby Jesus and let them each put the pieces of the nativity in the stable. There was one Wise Man that happened to be dressed in blue and Damon had to have his hands on that one. The story went over well, but Damon couldn't part with the blue Wise Man. We asked him to put the Wise Man with the other Wise Men, but he looked at us puzzled and referred to the figure as "the blue genie." It must have been the hat and Damon's new love of wizards/abracadabra/and casting imaginary spells. (He's been watching a little too much of The Backyardigans which is a cartoon where the characters imagine themselves to be wizards, cowboys, secret agents, robots, etc). I've been correcting him ever since, but he continues to refer to the Wise Man as "The Blue Genie." So the "Blue Genie" has found a new home with all of Damon's other favorite blue things. This BLUE treasure also consists of blue paper clips all hooked together, all my blue hair elastics, chapstick that has a blue label, blue Dinoco Cars, and maybe some non-blue airplanes if they are lucky! Damon also jacked 1 Beanie Baby out of a giant bin because it was blue. Now the blue bird named "Rocket" and "The Blue Genie" are Damon's blue buddies.

Santa's Helpers

Friday night we celebrated cousin Logan's birthday and when we finally arrived home, someone else had been in our home. Luckily it was a Christmas Surprise in Damon & Joel's bedroom. It appeared that Santa, or maybe just his helpers, had come and dropped off a mini tree with lights & ornaments along with a special John Deere Tractor/Santa blanket. Damon was SUPER excited and kept saying, "Holy jet-packs!!!" while jumping up, down, and around. Then he had to turn off the room light to see the full effect of the Christmas tree lights. I had to get a picture and as you can see, just 1 never works when trying to capture 3 kids.

Damon was the most excited, Joel acted excited because Damon was excited, and Olivia was just trying to "taste" all the new ornaments.
Thank you Santa's Helpers (Great Granny, Grandma, & Aunt Bobbi)!

The Ninja

I had some premade frosting in the fridge, ya know the kind in the short little tub for those of us who like to bake & make the EASY way. Well, Damon was also very aware of the frosting in the fridge. While the rest of us were upstairs Damon kept taking little breaks and running downstairs. I was in denial that he was up to no good. Hours later we came downstairs to start on dinner. On the counter top was the lid to the frosting tub, but no frosting tub insight. I looked at Josh and Josh looked at me, and the search was on.

We checked the garbage to see if he polished off the container even though it was 3/4 full. No container. We checked the fridge to see if he put the frosting back just minus the lid. No frosting. We checked the dining table, phone desk, and the garbage can in the bathroom......no frosting. Soon we found the frosting out by the TV, with one large severing spoon in the container (for Damon a small normal sized spoon just would not have worked for this type of eating task).

We called Damon downstairs and brought up the fact that the frosting had been eaten and was out by the TV.
Josh asked, "Damon, do you know how this frosting got out here in the living room?"
Oh, the ninja ate it.
The Ninja?!?
Yeah the sneaky ninja got the frosting and ate it out here.

Of course this is the answer he gives whenever he (Damon aka "The Ninja") has done something he knows he shouldn't have. He blames it on this mysterious and mischievous ninja character.

We gave him a chance to tell the truth but he insisted that it was the ninja. We knew he was lying and so he was sent to his room. We could care less about eating frosting, but the lying doesn't go over well. But we really do enjoy the ninja stories because who else blames things on a ninja?!?

SNOW

Every winter I wish for snow and this year I got it. Some hate it, but I like it. There's something about snow.........it's exciting and I don't really have an answer as to why. On regular days I don't wake up in the morning and think, "Yippee it's sunny!" or "Fantastico, it's raining!" But when there's snow outside my reaction is......."Ooooohhhhhh Goodie!" Funny how that is too, because I don't rush outside to play in the snow or have the time to sit and watch the flakes fall. I just like the winter wonderland that snow makes.

So we got some snow earlier in the week, but on Friday afternoon I finally went out with kids to play in it. I bundled up Olivia and we headed down to our cul-de-sac where the guys were working on a snowman. (I know......this girl needs a pink hat).

Damon was trying to throw snowballs at the dogs. Once he stopped that, then dad became his next target. Josh made a snowball and then wowed me with his sauve balancing skills. To keep Joel amused, we took some runs down the hill on the "Sled-Trike." We got some speed and he laughed during each and every ride so it must have been a good time. (Josh and Damon tried out this technique the night before in the dark. Those two guys tend to live a little more dangerously. They were starting at the TOP of the hill and riding ALL the way down, whereas Joel and I were only doing a half run. I think Josh admitted later on that he almost had a near fatal accident........luckily it was "almost."

So the snow is here........we'll see how long it stays!

The Best Gift

Josh is a man of many talents. I started to think about all the things he has made and accomplished in the past months. "Count your blessings, name them one by one" and I am very blessed to have such a talented husband.

• Excavated around our property so we can park next to the garage and could have a big backyard.
• Moved large rocks numerous times because I didn't like where they were, and then moved them a few more times.
• Built a fence to my Molly Standard (luckily we are a lot alike so our standards are similar).
• Installed a whole lot of sod for the backyard.
• Cut down numerous tree limbs because I wanted our upper yard to look more maintained/better.
• Made Damon & Joel new beds.
• Designed and decorated one jet cake for Damon.
• Re-grouted our tile floors so they look pretty & clean again.
• Did a whole lot of touch up paint around our house (We did such an awesomely bad job the first time because we just wanted to move in as soon as possible).
• Added some chair rail moldings in the guest bathroom because I wanted something to class it up.
• Installed decorative shelves so our home looks a little more lived in. (We've taken the slow train on this one, but we're working on it).
• Now he's using his skills on Christmas presents.

As Christmas approaches and we think about all the "stuff" we "want" (not "need") just think about your family and all they do for you. This may sound silly/mushy, but I know my family loves me because all they do. Josh has done all those things to make me happy, and I know that because he usually asks, "Is this how you want it?" "Is this where you want the rock?" "How far do you want the fence to come from the house?" "Which way do you want these gates for the fence to open?" So the gifts are nice at Christmas time, but that's only 1 day out of the year. We can buy stuff, or we can treat each other with love and respect. I'll take love & respect.

More Dog Bones

Ah.....Joel. Sometimes I think he wants to be like his four legged friends, Tank & Rocco. Joel loves the dogs. When the dogs wake in the morning and whine in the garage, that's Joel's alarm clock. Lately the dogs have been sleeping inside since it has been so cold. Now they don't whine when they wake, but the tags on their collars jingle and that is all it takes to wake Joel.

Joel will pull on the dogs tails, sit on Tank and bounce up & down like he's on a horse, sit with the dogs on the rugs by the door, and even enjoys getting in Rocco's kennel and laying in there like it's his little home.

His new favorite thing to do with the dogs is to feed them. Just the other day I was upstairs with Olivia and I could hear the dogs chewing up something. I was afraid it was another Christmas ornament and hurried downstairs. No Christmas ornamnets were being harmed (thank goodness).....instead Joel had the entire bag of dog bones out. Rocco was in his kennel and Joel was shoving dog bones thru the door as quickly as he could. There was a pile of bones and Rocco couldn't eat them fast enough. Tank had a pile of dog bones as well, but he must of had his share because he was no longer interested in what Joel was offereing. (While looking for some pictures on my camera, it appears that Damon was nice enough to document the dog bone episode. Prior to me showing up on the scene). I took the bag away from Joel as he protested in anger. I put the unchewed bones back in the bag (there were 10-15 bones) and took the bag back to the laundry room. Joel followed me and giggled in delight as he pulled two more bones and ran like a thief to get his loot to his comrades. Tank and Rocco are loved. If only I could get Joel to take them for walks and discard of all their poo in the backyard.

D-Money

Another gem courtesy of Damon:

The other day Damon was laying on the couch with a blanket.....just being quiet and relaxing (which is unusual behavior for this guy). Josh came in the room and we started talking about something. He asked where the kids were and before I could explain their whereabouts,

Damon chimed in: I'm over here dad.
Josh: Hey, D-Money! What are you doing?
Damon: D-Money's tired.

It was funny because we have referred to Damon as "D-Money" lots of times, but this time, he actually acknowledged himself as D-Money.

Oh Christmas Tree Trauma

With some sunny weather on our side we decided to get our Christmas tree today. Damon was pretty excited and wandered through the trees trying to find the "perfect" one. He picked one 10 feet tall and extra fat, unfortunately he had to settle on one that would fit in the living room. While focused on keeping Olivia warm, I failed to move Joel out of the way of the falling tree. So poor Joel got pummeled by the tree. The tree trauma left Joel a little shaken, but luckily no injuries were incurred.Josh "He-Maned" the tree out of the tree farm while I carried Olivia, one sad Joel, and a saw. Always an adventure, but at least I got some pictures!

"Thanks Dad"

Every night Damon & Joel get tucked into their beds and get their hugs & kisses from mom and dad. After we exit their room, we usually head downstairs to start the revival & recovery mission which is really just the cleanup from the kids' daily routine of destruction from the day. It is quiet in the house for a short while......and then it starts. The sounds of little feet scurrying around upstairs. Next come the giggles and other noises indicating that those two little turkies are out of their beds and goofing off.

Tonight was no different. After listening to them upstairs for a while, Josh headed back upsatirs to "take care of business." From the kitchen this is what I heard:

Josh - "Joel and Damon get back in bed. It's bedtime!
A few grunts and giggles from Joel indicated that we was being drug back to his bed. Next came the sound of Damon getting his butt swat, followed by crying which stoped quickley so he (Damon) could say, "Thanks dad! (in an angry voice)
Josh - "What?" (starting to laugh) "What did you say Damon?"
Damon - "Yeah dad, thanks a lot, Josh Bucko-Head!" (one of Damon's fake curse word)

Josh burst into laughter and then Damon got attacked by tickles and they were both laughing. Who thanks their dad for getting their butt swat? Damon does. It must be the new mature 4 year old thing to do.