Christmas

Before I get into journaling our Christmas doings, I have to say that more than HALF of the pictures taken got deleted. I don't even know when, but when I downloaded all the pics onto the computer, not ONE picture from Christmas Eve or Christmas morning was there. I'm still sick about it. So, all the pictures on this post are from the afternoon on Christmas day.

We spent Christmas is California this year with Brandon's family. Christmas Eve was with the Reed's at Grandma Nawatha & Grandpa Frank's home. It was wonderful to see all of them.

Christmas morning, the kids awoke to stockings full of goodies and gifts from Santa; Jemma got a Pink Razor, Carter received a bicycle (with training wheels) and Gavin got a family of Potato Heads. :)

We spent Christmas day with the Zamaroni's. It was really nice to spend all day in one place. It made for a very relaxing Christmas. Here are some pictures from the afternoon with family.

Brandon and his Grandpa Ron.

Gavin getting tickled by Papa and squeezed by Nina.

Carter, Jemma and cousin Trey enjoying Christmas Dinner.

Gavin with his Great-Grandma Ruth.

Carter and his new Little People Wheelies.

Jemma and Great-Aunt Jill watching "The Polar Express". Jemma just fell in love with Aunt Jill that day.

Carter with his other Great Grandma, G.G. Jean. He was well loved that day! Don't think he touched the floor after all the family arrived. :)

Carter playing with a new toy.

That is also the only picture left that I got of any of our children near a Christmas Tree...can you tell I'm still upset about losing all those pictures. DANG IT!

We had a wonderful Christmas. We are especially grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ, for the gift of His life and for this time of year that allows us to more fully reflect on His birth and all of our blessings.

Sittin' on Santa's Lap

This was the first year I took the kids to sit on Santa's lap. I've thought about doing it every year, but "I never got around to it, okay" (name the movie...).

Anyway, thanks to my dear friend who called from a school bazaar to tell me Santa was there and a picture with him was only $5, I finally got it done!

Don't they look DARLING!!! All three of them smiling too! That is a blessed miracle.

Unfortunately, our scanner is not compatable with our computer, so I had to take a picture of the picture so I could post it on here. It'll do.

Zoo Lights - Fridged Style

Ever since we moved to Forest Grove, I have heard people talking about the Portland Zoo Lights at Christmas time...so, we decided to take the kids on down to see them this year (mostly because we have Plus Memberships that give us free admission to Zoo Lights) and you know, it's a darn good thing we had those memberships because it was a MAD HOUSE for people without them just to get inside the darn Zoo.

After that, however, it was a mad house for EVERYONE.

We had told the kids about the train ride, so we HAD to do that, even though it was almost an hour wait in line. Good thing we had some hot cocoa to keep us warm because it was seriously cold. The temperatures weren't that low I guess...maybe 30 degrees or so, but the dampness is the Oregon air was KILLER!

On the train!

Snackin' on muddy buddies.

Yes, those are muddy buddies in her mouth. :)

So, I've gotta be honest...the train ride was not that impressive. Most of the lights were better seen off the train and we didn't even see any of the animals. Carter, (Mr. I'm so cold I'm going to throw a fit unless I'm being held) however, enjoyed it SO much that he did a little gallop-ee dance all the way off the train platform. So, I guess it was worth it. I'm just glad we didn't pay to get in...

See Zoo Lights before leaving Oregon: Check.

Preschool Musical

Wow, I was more behind than I thought...I have to start with stuff from BEFORE our trip!

Jemma's preschool put together a little Christmas program that was pretty much all music...Jemma did great!

It was probably only 15 minutes long, but they had the kids standing there in a row for the WHOLE thing...it was no suprise that about a song-and-a-half into the program Jemma stopped singing and started twirling and putting her hands out on either side to keep her neighboring boys from invading her space.

What do you expect of preschoolers anyway?

Our family afterwards.

Jemma, enjoying some refreshments... Delish! (Yes, that's a homemade oreo.)

Five Years Old

Wow. Has it really been FiVE YeARS since this little girl came to our family!?!

Jemma has talked about her birthday for months now and kept asking for a surprise party (like she had last year)...it's not really a surprise if you're expecting it, now is it...I was trying to gently break it to her that we would NOT be having a birthday celebration of that magnitude this year (or any other year for a very. long. time.), but finally, I just straight-up said, "We're having a family birthday party this year". A few days later, she came to me and said holding three fingers in the air, "how 'bout 3 friends Mom. Three friends is not a lot. TEN friends is a lot (holding both hands up to illustrate the drastic difference in the # of kids she was proposing as opposed to this larger quantity). So, how 'bout just 3 friends".

We agreed on 2 friends and that it would be a birthday dinner with friends...not a birthday party. That gramatical difference meant NOTHING to this little girl, cuz as soon as the friends arrived, the party was ON.

As is tradition, she chose the dinner menu; spaghetti, rolls, corn, broccoli, and oranges. (Sorry, no pic. Too busy asking the kids to keep their table conversations on appropriate meal time subjects/non bathroom subjects...lovely.)

Jemma with her cake.

I was grateful she just wanted something simple...a "chocolate, rectangle cake with chocolate frosting and princesses". Done.

I think she had 2 bites of her cake before she decided she was ready to open presents. She sat on the couch looking at a dictionary while she waited for the rest of us to eat our cake and icecream. Cracked us up.

Jemma & Carter with the "dinner guests" Trennon and Jenna.

Silly face photo.

This is about how present opening went...super fast!

Jemma's dress from Nona & Papa.

Look at that hair! I promise it was nicely done, but once those "dinner guests" arrived, things (including the hair) got a little cRAZY.

We sure do love this girl and appreciate her loving, creative nature. She is a wonderful big sister and is generally quick to share with and include her brothers.

Hope you had a wonderful 5th birthday Jemma!

THANK YOU!

Last night, we found this on our front porch.

I'm assuming that whoever left it found out about my mishap via the blog, so, that's why I'm posting my thanks on here.

In case my picture is too small, the note says (in what appears to be a child's handwriting...very good idea to disguise your handwriting!) "Reed family: We heard you could use another crockpot. We had an extra. From - a family that loves you!"

Whoever you are, your generosity is SOOO appreciated. It's a good thing you did it anonymously, or it would be something we couldn't accept.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Eesh.

So, maybe I'm the only retard who didn't realize that putting a ceramic crock pot on direct heat is a BIG NO NO.

Yesterday was "Soup for Finals" day for optometry students at Pacific University...that's when all the super stellar wives make soup and bake rolls to feed the op students to help ease the stress of finals...(but what they don't realize is that it's an ADDED stress for most of us wives/mommies.) But, we put a smile on and get up at the crack of dawn to make sure our soup is done and at the school by 11:00am to feed those hungry students.

Well, needless to say, yesterday I had a very full morning; had to have myself and 3 kids ready, fed and out the door by 8:45am to take Jemma and our neighbor to preschool, then off to goodwill to drop off a trunk full of stuff and then a quick grocery run before heading home to get the soup made and to the school by 11:00am before running back to pick up Jemma and two other children from preschool at 11:15. But knowing this was going to be my morning, I did some prepping the night before. I had my potatoes washed and in the oven ready to be baked the night before and had those cooked before I even left to take the kids to preschool. So, when I came home from running around, putting the soup together really wasn't a big deal, but at 10:45 when it wasn't quite warm enough, but already in the crock pot, I thought, why not stick it on the stove for a few minutes just to heat it through. (I didn't put it in the oven because part of the lid is plastic...)

Anyway, that was real dumb.

I was throwin' shoes on Carter when a burning smell started filling up the kitchen. My thoughts: "CRUMBS! The bottom of the soup is burning!" So, I went to lift the crock pot off the stove top and (the sound of cracking, splashing...sounded like an explosion...best way I can describe it) soup EVERYWHERE!!! By the time I thought to take a picture, I had already cleaned off the counters, front of the stove and oven and the floor. So, this picture really doesn't do justice to what a

dISGUSTING, mASSIVE mESS

it really was. The soup was EVERYWHERE; in the oven, in my pans stored in the oven drawer, under the oven, on the cupboards, down the sides of the stove, not to mention the stove top...I had to wash off all the burners and change all the foil.

In case you can't tell, that's the bottom of my crock pot still on the stove. The whole base just came right off. And now, the whole thing is in the dumpster. (In case you thought it would be anywhere else...)

So, seconds after this happened, I got a text from Brandon..."What's the latest"...he was planning on coming out to help me carry in the soup and rolls since I would have Gavin and Carter with me. So, I called him and seriously, fighting back tears, (I was really, really upset over the whole thing!) told him what happened (Carter in the background was saying, "OUR SOUP EXPLODED!!!") Anyway, Brandon came to my rescue. He ran home, took Carter with him to drop off the rolls, explained the soup situation and picked up the three kids from preschool while I put Gavin down for a nap and cleaned every square inch of this oven...literally. It's NEVER been so clean.

So, I was trying to figure out why losing all that soup was so upsetting...and you know what, it wasn't so much the soup as ALL MY TIME! My time is SACRED these days and I lost HOURS over that darn crock pot of soup. And now, I don't even have a crock pot! My super-duper time saver when it comes to dinner (especially on Sunday).

Eesh.

I'm over it.

(Sort of. But not really.)

Moral of story: don't put your ceramic crock pot on the stove/direct heat or it'll bust WIDE OPEN!

The things they say...

Jemma:

"Carter, if you keep being mean to me, I'm just gonna give you away."

I asked Jemma to clean up her toys or something the other day and she was reluctant to participate so I told her she needed to be obedient. (We've had A LOT of talks about listening & obeying lately.) She responded in her most teenage-like voice,

"Mom, Santa is watching you." hmmm.

Carter:

The picture below is of my old blanket which Carter has decided is now his blanket. We had a conversation a few months back about how it used to be mine when I was little, but now, because he loves it SOOOO much, I'm giving it to him. He calls it is "yellow nigh-night" and it is absolutely falling apart at the seams...LITERALLY. The picture doesn't really do it justice...when you hold it up in the light, sections are completely see through because it's so thread-bare, the batting is hanging out and I'm reluctant to fix it because that would mean removing the lace trim, and he LOVES to twist it in his fingers when he's going to sleep. Anyway... the other day he was sitting on my bed with his blanket and he said,

"Mama look, it's wipping. Pwobly we need some tape."

:(

Other stuff Carter has said lately:

"It smells like pizza. I think it's Gavin...pwobly he has pizza poop."

Carter putting a peice of gum in his mouth: "This is super good Mom...(a few seconds pass)...for our bodies."

The Boys

There's really no point to laying a blanket on the floor for your 6 month old when he ALWAYS rolls and scoots off of it. But, for some reason, I keep laying one down. I guess it makes me feel like a better mom...I'm not just laying my baby down on the (dirty) carpet.

I've decided to start purchasing more brown colored tops for Carter...I think they'll hold up a lot better cuz you won't be able to see all the mud, chocolate icecream, brownie batter, blood, etc.

(His sweater is surprisingly clean in this photo...

It didn't look like that by the time he was done! Should've taken a picture then.)

Thanksgiving...

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year very differently than we ever have before. We decided to stay home (which wasn't a first), and had our "Thanksgiving Feast" with a group of other small families at our church on Wednesday...that ended up being quite the feast, and felt just like the real thing...who cares what day of the week you celebrate it anyway! Everyone brought something and we had TONS leftover. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pomegranate salad, rolls, green bean casserole, toss salad, pie, pie, pie, and more pie, etc.

Then on Thursday, the real Thanksgiving, we

1. had a fun breakfast of cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs (with ham, cheese and green onions), hash browns, orange juice and hot chocolate,

2. watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade,

3. decorated for Christmas (set up the tree, and EVERYTHING else in the Christmas decoration boxes

and...

4. went to see Disney's Tangled.

I thought this movie was AWESOME! Mostly because Rapunzel was AwEsOmE. Her character reminded me a little of Belle...she could take care of herself, lots of spunk, despite her appearing to be quite petite...my kind of girl! :) Anyway, it's a good one! Seriously.

And now that Thanksgiving is over, it's officially "Christmas Time"...(even though the Christmas CDs have been playing for quite some time and Santa and the manger scene have been the most common topics of conversation in our house since Halloween). So, we painted ornaments,


Here are the pictures I took of the kids to put inside their ornaments.



(You'd never know that that seriously took FOREVER! And there were even a few tears shed over having to sit in front of the Christmas tree for 2 seconds while I snapped a shot to throw in those little trees! Unless I document it. So there. Now it's down in black and white.)

and we even had time to write Santa and take our letters to the special mail box in Macy's! Jemma wrote hers all by herself this year...I ought to put a picture of it in here...we made a copy of the original...cuz it is DARN cute!



This last picture has absolutely nothing to do with the last week, but it's tradition. I stood in my dad's hand, Jemma stood in Brandon's hand, and Carter did the same. So here it is, Gavin standing in his Daddy's hand. What a pro! (I think he kept his fingers in his mouth for comfort.)