Round 2- G&G Style

Oh, the joy of Christmas morning!

 

 

 

All we Moms really care about is the hugs, right?

 

 

 

James hasn't lost a bit of his enthusiasm for Legos. Long live the Lego.

 

We ended with a "what's behind the curtain?" surprise. Everyone got new bikes. It was a blast!
p.s. that's Abby's prized sequined dress she's sporting in this pic. Her dear eldest brother got her that for Christmas. (from you know where....)

Did He Come?

Santa came to our house!

 

He brought Abby some wonderful things!

 

Oakley got a big bone from Aunt Chris and Uncle Bill. He's finally met a bone he can't destroy!

 

A star is born! Off to G&G's for more gifts we go!

 

T'was the Night Before Christmas

One of my very favorite Christmas traditions is going with the kids to the Dollar Store to do their Christmas shopping. Poway just got a new 99cent store so it was a little less of an adreniline rush than going to the store in the ghetto of Escondido. But, it was still so fun! When we pulled up to the store David exclaimed, "You lied! This isn't the dollar store, it's a 99 cent store!!!" It took a lot of convincing to get him to realize it was actually a better deal. (I'm sure glad that he's getting a really good Poway USD education. Maybe a little more time on money concepts and a little less on learning the moves of the Electric slide...)

 

The kids love using their own cash to buy gifts for everyone. They take such pride in the whole process. They come up with some really thoughtful gifts. This year, I let them do the wrapping without any assistance. It was a great way to burn up some time and they did a great job.

 

 

We had our traditional gathering at Granny and Grandpa's home. They say it's the last year, but I'm totally in denial.

 

Ahhhh, the anticipation....

Never too Late

So, my guilt about going Christmas-lite this year set in around December 17th. That's when it hit me that possibly I had deprived my children of the full Christmas season experience. It hit me while I was in line at Costco picking up the pizza for Abby's preschool party. My thought train ran down the track something like this...
What have I done?
What have I not done?!
Can we still make it to Disneyland?
Layne's said something about going to Disneyland....
When do the blackout days start?
Call Chad Layne.
Can I pull it together and leave for Disneyland in two hours?
Who else can I convince?
Shauna-yes, Maren-no way, Laura w.-do I even have to ask?
(go to party, celebrate, watch Abby and Lauren's adorable rendition of Rudolf the Red nosed Reindeer-all the while scheming in my head some more)
Text back and forth with Mark-he's in.
Let's go...........

 

So worth it!! It was all I imagined and more. David and I actually cried at the tree lighting ceremony when we got there. Pitiful, but true. In fact, I was brought to tears of joy more than once that night. It was definitely magical and reaffirmed in my mind, that I do celebrate and love Christmas as intensely as the rest of my family. I just need to be reminded!

 

Even though we didn't get home until 1:30am, we still had to be up the next morning for the last of school before winter break. David and James had class parties that could not be missed! David loves Mrs.C!

 

Nothing like the joy of two weeks off! The boys really wanted the Mickey Santa hats, how could I resist?

 

 

That night was a mellow one. We got the boxes down and began the decorating. It was perfect, I set a time limit of two hours decorating max. Then we all sat down together and laughed ourselves silly watching Elf.
Even O joined in the merriment.

 

We now Interrupt this extreme makeover home edition for a little entertainment

David had his first ever piano recital tonight. He played a duet with Sister Blattman, "Jingle Bells". They sounded wonderful!

 

The only part David didn't like was the dress code. He couldn't let go of his "jean pants" desire. Surprisingly enough, he was able to put on some church pants and pull out a good song. As soon as the recital was over, he rushed to the car and his waiting jean pants and changed.

 

We're so proud of you Dave!!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Makeover

It all started so innocently....(kindof like this little shopping angel-love her personal favorite shoes-Diane would be proud!Plus, who couldn't use two purses?!). But, I digress... Ok, so we had a "little" flood at our house in October. It's amazing how much damage water can do in a small period of time. Our wood floors downstairs took the biggest blow. Seeing as all of the floors downstairs are the same, we were faced with replacing all the wood downstairs. I'm not sure why I thought now would be a good time to commence the project, but nonetheless, we dove into the project last week.

 

They say home improvement(or restoration) projects tend to snowball and that definitely is the case with this one. We decided now would be a good time to finally retire the hideous family room mantle. We called in our local expert Demolition Man (aka Robie) and within about 5 minutes, the super stylish mantle from the 80's was finally history.

 

 

I love the look on Mark's face!

 

Now the real fun began.

 

This is our demolition crew. They are very enthusiastic. They each had their own style and passion with which they attacked the rubble. We are just pretty lucky nobody lost a finger. Or got whacked in the head with a flying hammer.

 

 

Who'd of guessed they were so good at throwing the hammer around? (I was a little frightened by David's passion, I guess as long as it is positively channeled...)

 

 

The next day the professional demo team showed up. They moved all the furniture to our garage and playroom and then they spent the entire day tearing up the old wood. It took 5 men all day to get the floor removed. Mark originally thought he should/could do that part himself. Thank goodness he came to his senses.

 

So the project continues. I've got more to post on the progress soon. The moral of the story is, we are skipping Christmas this year at the Mendenhall home. At least downstairs. There is no garland, no mistletoe, no tree, no lights. So sad you say. Not really! Call me Scrooge, but I don't really miss it. Maybe it's the thrill I feel peeking down the stairs and seeing my new floor being pieced together. Or maybe it's the joy on the children's faces as they ride the scooter around the concrete with reckless abandon. Or the glee Oakley experinces as we kick the tennis ball around the open space that used to be our family room. Don't lose all hope for us, we do have a mini tree with blue lights in the boy's room and Abby and I bought her a special tree for her room. I guess we just have our own way of celebrating this year...

Thanks

We have lots to be thankful for. We celebrated Thanksgiving in St.George this year. As always, we love spending time there at Granny and Granpa's place. We did all of our favorite things, and more! Swimming at the indoor pool is always a hit. It's so fun to watch the kids really interact with each other. When at home, they spend a lot of their free time playing with friends and neighbors, so when we're away on vacation they really get lots of "quality" sibling time. There are some moments of bliss and many moments of torture! This photo captured James and Abby enjoying each other's company.

 

 

There wasn't quite enough snow to justify skiing at Brianhead this time, so the guys opted for horseback riding. The boys practiced saddling up to the pickup truck.

 

We love hiking around Snow Canyon. This time James showed us the caves he explored last spring with Granny and Granpa. Abby and I were all decked out with our sunglasses. This little girl is a great hiker! (Love the cowboy boots!)

 

 

 

 

 

Hellloooooo??!! The guys disappeared for quite some time, making Granny and I slightly nervous. Luckily, they made it out just fine, and packed out some trash along the way. (cub scout "leave no trace" badge-check!)

 

Abby and I went shopping while the rest of the crew went shooting(whatever). She picked out this dress for Thanksgiving dinner. I have a feeling shopping might become dangerous with her very soon. I absolutely can not resist girl's clothes.

 

The rascals eating dinner. (Pre-911 dialing fiasco. I have been sworn to secrecy on this one. You'll have to ask me in person if you want details.)

 

Another great trip comes to an end. Parting is always sad, we love the memories we've made!
A final funny sidenote-the kids like to play musical beds. They have a hard time settling into sleep the first few nights. So, they play musical beds. At least they all fit in one bed still!