Month: December 2023
Kaitlyn has been VERY grumpy yesterday and today. I told her she had to take a nap if she didn’t want to go to bed early tonight. I didn’t get a comment from Kaitlyn but she did disappear. I later went up to her room to see if she was actually asleep. She wasn’t in her bed so I assumed she was playing her iPad somewhere. I looked in her little nook and instead found her asleep on the floor.
Ben got a really cool robot building kit at his birthday party. Wade’s been helping him build one or two a night. Tonight they built the one he has been most excited about – the bubble robot. Kaitlyn was excited to see it in action and was very anxious for Ben to finish. She couldn’t wait to help find our bubbles and see it working.
Ben got a new iPad for his birthday. We finally got his new one set up and were attempting to switch everything from the old to the new. Ben was very insistent that he needed all of his old videos and pictures. Wade was transferring them and then called me to come quick. We had no idea Ben had created his own video series called “Ben’s previous videos.” They are probably only funny to Wade and I but we died watching Ben and his personality. I’m only going to post one, but just be aware there is an entire series spanning months.
Every Christmas season the bell choir has a concert. Alex and Wade have performed the last few years, but last year was the first year I felt comfortable taking Ben to watch the concert.
This year Alex, Teague, and Wade are all performing. I sat in the back with Ben, Kaitlyn, and our friend’s two little boys (She is in the bell choir with her daughter). I thought the boys did a pretty good job of staying quiet and entertaining themselves. (The man in front of us only “shushed” us once.) Ben loved when they called all the kids up front for Jingle Bells.
Ben asked to have a friend party this year (for the first time) and of course we said yes. He didn’t have any strong feelings on the party location. After a little thinking and research, I settled on Chuck E. Cheese. The much harder part was picking a date. Schedules between Thanksgiving and Christmas are busy! We had one free Saturday so that narrowed our options considerably. We sent out the invitations and had people saying they were coming up until the party started (just a little craziness added to our day).
Ben woke up super excited about his party! Alex, Teague, and Kaitlyn were pretty excited too. Everybody had plans and strategies for winning tickets and playing games. Ben couldn’t wait to see his friends, play games, but mostly – the Ticket Blaster!
After cake and ice cream but before their game time was done, it was Ben’s time in the Ticket Blaster. He had been talking about this for weeks. Our party host said he could pick a friend and he picked Solomon, a friend from church. They ran inside and started picking up tickets from the floor, before the air started blowing. The sweet host didn’t stop them and let them get their hands full before she turned it on. Then Ben held on super tight and didn’t move a muscle once the air started blowing. Solomon felt the air and immediately threw up his hands and let all the tickets in his hands start blowing.
Everyone had dinner at a different time tonight. Teague was the last one to eat and wanted to watch TV while he finished his dinner. My only rule is no eating in the living room so Teague got as close as possible. The funniest part came when Ben decided he wanted to join Teague and have a second dinner.
Alex told me a few days ago that he wanted to build a gingerbread house. Alex only sometimes joins in family activities and almost never initiates them. I grabbed the first gingerbread houses I saw. I decided to get two and let the kids to work together on them.
It was chaos from the beginning. Alex was frustrated that I bought premade houses and he didn’t get to do house construction. (I hadn’t paid close attention and just grabbed the first ones I saw.). Then I bought two different kinds (gingerbread and Oreo) thinking variety would be fun. The kids all wanted the Oreo house.
Everyone recovered. The kids split two and two without too much argument. Alex constructed a tree and helped Kaitlyn with the icing where she needed it. In the end we had two houses and everyone had a good time. (Next time I will buy four identical houses.)
One of my least favorite Christmas activities is Elf on a Shelf. It’s one of those things I wish we had never started and there is no way to end. Our Elf, Kanga, comes as close as possible to Christmas and simply moves locations every night. Kanga doesn’t do any of the cute antics the other kids (and instagram) talk about. In fact, most nights I’m amazed our Elf remembers to move. Last year it finally got easier because someone mentioned the idea of setting a recurring alarm on their phone for about 10:30 pm. (GENIUS).
This year, Alex has taken some interest in helping out. He waits till he thinks the kids are in bed (and staying there) and then begs to move Kanga. I love having the help!
Kaitlyn has been running all fall with her Girls On The Run team. When we were in Memphis, Kaitlyn and I went out twice on practice runs. On the first, Kaitlyn didn’t like the cold and ran less than half a mile of the three. On the second, Kaitlyn did much better but only ran a few blocks at a time before walking. I decided at that point that the run was not something to worry about and that we would be walking more than running.
Today we woke up to a cold, rainy morning. We dressed in layers and headed to the course. The boys were grumpy, but they knew when they signed up (and I paid) that they were committing regardless of the weather. We started all together but Kaitlyn was motivated. She ran at a speed that I haven’t seen before. She also ran a ton! There was some walking but not very much. The last mile (which also means the last loop of three) Kaitlyn saw that there were medals at the finish line. That motivated her even further and I had trouble keeping up with her. I was surprised and very impressed with how Kaitlyn ran her race! We waited at the finish line for Alex and Teague. We tried to cheer them on, but they were too grumpy to want cheering.
On the way home we stopped for donuts and hot chocolate. Then we all took hot showers and had a short rest. Kaitlyn, Ben, and I then met up with some friends to tour some of the Frosty Stops for “Grafton Celebrates the Holidays.” Due to the weather, there were a lot less people out so there were almost no lines. The kids had a great time and got bags full of goodies.
I made an old recipe that none of my kids remember – Chicken lettuce wraps. In particular, Ben loved them. By the time I started paying attention he had had over 10. When I got to 13 and made a comment, Alex decided to try to compete (obviously feeling outdone by his little brother) and started shoving them in his mouth without taking bites. These two ate every bite of food on the table. Ben totaled out at 15 lettuce wraps… Alex came in second but made an impressive second place.