Making Christmas cookies.




Showing me her dirty face and hands.

Max had fun playing with his tractors in the flour.

This video shows how Jack and Hailey scream back and forth a little better than those last videos I posted.

The kids loved their snowman pancakes. I used chocolate chips, pretzles, raisins, and candy corn to decorate them. And then sprinkled powdered sugar over them. They turned out really cute.

It was a very cold day today, about 15 degrees, and very, very windy. As we walked out the door to take Hailey to school, both kids freaked out about the wind. They were both crying and refusing to walk to the van. They were grabbing onto the door screaming because they thought they were going to blow away. We stepped back inside the house for a few minutes so I could calm them down and explain to them that they weren't going to blow away. We had a talk about things that weren't heavy like paper can blow away, but the wind can't blow heavy things like people and animals. We talked about how even the little squirrel walks out in the wind and doesn't blow away. This helped them to calm down, but they were still to scared to step outside and walk to the van. They agreed to let me carry them to the van. On the way to school, we talked some more about what things the wind can blow and what things it can't. They liked telling me examples of things they saw out the window. When we got to school, they again started crying when we got out of the van. I told them they had to walk cause I couldn't carry all three of them at the same time. They were both clinging to me very tightly and crying as we walked through the parking lot. It wasn't easy carrying the carseat with two kids hanging onto my pant legs as we walked, but we all slowly managed to get inside. As soon as Bruce got home from work, we left to do some shopping while Hailey was in school. The wind died down a little bit by the time we had to pick Hailey up from school. I sat out in the car with Max and Jack while daddy ran in to get her. We came home for lunch and naps and then went shopping again. We went to Toys R Us first. Daddy took the kids over to play with the train table while I did some Christmas shopping. Next, we headed to Meijer to get a few things. We didn't get home until 10:00 and started bedtime routines right away.

December 13, 2008

This morning, when I woke up, I heard Max talking quietly in his bedroom. When I walked in his room, he was sitting on the floor playing with some toys. As soon as he saw me he asked " Mommy, are you home?" Since the babysitter put him to bed last night, he thought she was still here. I think he was just afraid to come out of his room thinking we weren't there. He excitedly asked "Can I come out of my bedwoom now? Is it wake up time?" We went over to my parents house for a family Christmas party today. We had a great time visiting with family. The kids had lots of fun playing together in the basement. After the kids opened their gifts, we adults did a Chinese gift exchange, which is alot of fun and something we do every year now. Bruce and I drove separate cause he is working midnights and had to leave for work. It started snowing and the roads were getting bad, so I decided to just spend the night. When I told Hailey that we might spend the night, she said "Maybe Nana will share her jammies with you. I'll go ask her." She was so excited about us all spending the night. She acted like she thought I didn't know what it was like to spend the night there. She was showing me where we would sleep and telling me a bunch of other things about spending the night at Nana's. And she was very excited to show me how you can "turn on Nana's bed to make it warm" (the heated mattress pad). She said "You will love this." It was so funny. Before going to bed, she had to make a bed for her doll, Cassie. She made it on the floor right next to our bed. Then she tucked Cassie in, covering her with a blanket and kissing her goodnight. After tucking the kids in bed, my mom and I sat on the couch, looking at magazines and talking. It was really nice spending that time together.

I love this video of Max, Jacob, and Adam sharing a sucker.









Adam and Max were both fascinated with the ribbons on the presents.

Hailey layed her doll, Cassie, down by Jack and gave them each a toy.

Max is supposed to be in the "naughty spot" (time out) here. Looks like he's having to much fun. Adam snuck over and sat down by him. Then they started sitting on the register and were both giggling. I had to grab my camera before resetting the timer and putting Max back in the "naughty spot".

The Next Day.

Max worshipping in church. He loves to "pwaise Jesus" and sing.

Wearing her birthday hat she got from Sunday school.

Vikki brought Hailey her birthday present.

She loved all the clothes for her doll.

Watching Kenzie play her game.

Jack slept in his crib all night last night. I have been laying him down for naps in there but not at night. Since Max and Jack have been sleeping together at nap time and Max has been doing good with that, I decided to try it at night. Jack really likes the mobile and wakes up talking so cute. He also likes to feel the different textures on the bumper pad. He always scooches his way closer so he can reach. And that's what he is usually doing when I go in to get him after hes' been talking for awhile. This morning he had turned himself sideways with the top of his head touching the bumper pad. Then he was reaching his arms way up over his head to feel the animals on the side. He also had his head tilted up so he could see. It was so funny. I took Hailey to school, and then came home and cleaned the house. While I was feeding Jack, Max was being silly, acting like a pig. He was snorting and Jack kept turning his head so he could see what the noise was coming from. He's so nosey lately. Max said "Mommy, say 'Is dare a pig in our house'." He was giggling so hard when I asked it and then went around the house looking for the "pig". We played that for a little while and then it was time to go get Hailey. While we were waiting for her class to get out, the kids were all singing with the teacher. They were all singing so loud you could hear them all the way down the hall. It sounded so cute. When we got home, we read the book that she had gotten from the school library today. She always gets excited to show me the book she picked and wants to read it right away. I made lunch while the kids played in their tent that they had made. I put Max and Jack down for their naps and did laundry. I also wrote down some things for the babysitter for tonight. We haven't had her yet so I wanted to have everything written down for her. I woke Max up just before she came around 3:00. The kids don't really know her but she goes to our church. I showed her around and gave her some instructions before leaving. Hailey didn't even beg us not to go like she usually does. They seemed to really like her right away. We did some birthday shopping for Hailey. Then we came back to pick Hailey up for dance class. The kids were giggling when we walked in and were having so much fun playing with Amber. While Hailey was getting her shoes and coat on, she asked "Why does Max get to play with her longer than me." We were leaving him and then coming back to drop Hailey off to go out for dinner. Hailey told us how much fun they were having with Amber all the way to dance class. When we dropped Hailey off back home, she ran into the house and started playing with her right away. Max came up to me and asked "Are you home?" When I told him I had to go again, he just turned around and ran to play some more too. We went to Bennigen's for dinner. We got back at 8:30. When we got home, Max was in bed, and Hailey and Amber were watching a movie. She said "I had Doritos and we're watching a movie. We are having a special time." She sure did have fun and was excited to tell me everything they did while I was tucking her in bed. She asked me what embarrassed means. (Clifford was about embarrassing moments today.) The only way I could think of to explain it to her was by giving an example. I told her about Nana wearing two different colored shoes to church once. She laughed and said that would be funny. Then I told her that Nana also wore two different earrings before. She said "But that's pretty."

Jack loves it when Hailey screams like this. It always makes him laugh. Sometimes he'll even copy her and scream back at her to get her attention so she'll keep doing it.

Max "riding" his Lightning McQueen balloon around the house.

Then he'd fall off and "crash".

Bruce had jury duty today. He dropped Hailey off at school on his way. Max and Jack both slept in until 9:30. I woke up at 9:00 and enjoyed a cup of coffee while the house was still quiet. When Max woke up, I heard him singing in his room. He stayed in there singing for another 15 minutes before coming out. When he walked out and saw me, he excitedly asked "Is it wake up time?". He wanted to play with all his cars, trucks, and tractors that he got for his birthday and ran to get them. He played while I sat on the couch and fed Jack. Jack was very distracted and kept turning his head every time he heard Max make car sounds. He wouldn't even finish eating. Max crawled up on the couch by me and asked to hold Jack. He rubbed his head and gave him kisses as he held him. Jack was really smiling at him alot and it made Max so happy. Max asked for "hotmeal (oatmeal)" for breakfast. While he was eating it, he kept saying "Are I gettin all deerdee (dirty) on my face?" When I answered no, he smiled and said "I not?" He was being very careful not to make a mess. He would bring the spoon so slowly to his mouth. He was so proud of himself for sitting at the table like a big boy and keeping his face so clean. When he was done eating, he got his Lightning McQueen balloon and sat on it. He "rode" it around the living room and then would fall off and "crash". Then he asked me to be Mator and pull him out. We had fun playing that for awhile before we had to leave to go pick up Hailey. When I went to put Jack and Max in the van, the doors were frozen shut. I could only get my driver side door open. So I had to crawl through with the carseat, which was a tight squeeze and very heavy with him in it, but I managed. Then I had to crawl back and buckle Max in. The doors were still frozen when we got to the school so I crawled back and took Jack out of his carseat and carried him in. I couldn't believe it but we were a little early and had to wait in the hall. I thought for sure we would be late after all that and scraping the windows before we left. Hailey was excited to show me all the stuff in her book bag when we got home. They have a small pool filled with old Christmas cards for the kids to cut up. I think that is one of her favorite things to do because she's always excited to show me the pictures she had cut out of the cards. She had cut out a bunch of baby Jesus pictures and told me they were her favorite ones. Then while I was feeding Jack, Hailey and Max crawled up by me. We all sang "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" together. Jack kept looking up smiling at us as we sang it. Then we sang it changing our voices pretending to be old ladies, men, babies, cats, and dogs. The kids thought that was so funny. Jack thought it was funny too and was smiling and laughing at us. Bruce got home early around lunch time. He took Max with him to get an oil change on the car. While they were gone, I helped Hailey do her take home project for school. We wrote her name with glue on a card provided by her teacher. Then Hailey picked some things to stick on each letter in her name. She picked some colored cereal, colored sugar, different little candies, and glitter. It turned out really nice. They will be using them for some Christmas decorations at school. I thought Max would enjoy doing it too, so when he woke up, I wrote his name in glue on a piece of paper and let him stick the colored sugar on it. Then we put glue around the edges of the paper and he sprinkled the colored sugar on that too. He loved seeing his name when he was done. Hailey was trying to get Jack to laugh. She would do a little scream and he would crack up laughing at her. Whenever she would stop for more than a few seconds, he would scream to get her to do it again. Then he started copying her every time she screamed. It was so funny. When Daddy and Max got home, Max ran into the house all excited to show me his "car book" (a car magazine). He told me all about them "fixing all da cars". And sat on the couch with me to "read" his new book. He loved that it had a yellow car on the front. I layed Jack on Hailey's bed by her while we were reading books tonight. She gave him a kiss and said "Mommy, I love my two brothers."