Playing with Toys

During our first week home, the kids were amazed at all the toys they had left behind. Now, of course, they are back to thinking their toys are old news. But Jax, during what (I swear) was less than one minute away from mom, had no trouble finding fun in unexpected places...


With perhaps a bit less excitement, the kids are still enjoying their old stuff. Legos are a big favorite for them both, though Jacqueline's interest has caused Michael to retreat from the floor and build atop a table. With the help of Michael's friend Tyler (who remembers some aspects of our place better than us residents), we have even discovered our toy cabinet and all its contents - more "new" toys!

Grandpa's Birthday

We arrived back in time to celebrate Grandpa Bryson's birthday. Michael had lots of fun preparing Grandpa's present with two favorites of Michael's: play dough and whiffle balls (which he has loved ever since Grandpa gave one to him last year). With the play dough we made Grandpa a golf course, complete with water hazard and sand trap, and filled it with the whiffle balls. (You will notice there is no picture of this gift - there is a good reason for that...). Grandpa even asked Michael to help blow out the candles. What a perfect day!

Survival of the Flightiest

Despite the weather's best efforts to keep us in Utah, we managed to brave the icy road and long flight back to Virginia. When the plane took off I gave one last, longing look toward the beautiful snow we were leaving behind, and then we were off.

The trek did not start out well. Icy roads and highway accidents contributed to a tediously slow ride to the airport. My mom (who was driving) tried valiantly to concentrate on the road and ignore Michael, who was unhappy about all sorts of random things. Some of the issues that made him cry:

• "My blanket isn't covering my foot!"
• "I can't get this suitcase zipper open!"
  
• "I need a drink!"
• "I need another drink!"
• "I can't see Jax!"
• "I want to go fast!"
• "I don't want to go on the plane!"

Yes, it was a fun drive indeed. We got to the airport with just enough time to check our bags with a Skycap (well worth the extra dollars) and get through security (quite the trick with two kids, two bags of diversions for the kids, a car seat, and a double stroller) before walking on the plane - almost the last of our section aboard. Whew!

My mother is an angel who booked a flight to Virginia just so she could help me with the kids during the process. Thank goodness she was there!

Short-timers in the Snow

We spent about two weeks of the last month trying to get over the flu. After all sorts of yuckiness the kids are finally over it. We've been taking full advantage of our newfound health by making desperate attempts to visit everyone we neglected.

Jacqueline's shrinking size has received a lot of notice. It is amazing to see what happens when a chubby little baby starts crawling, starts teething (three teeth in three weeks), and comes down with the flu...

We have also, of course, taken plenty of time to play in the amazing snow; I haven't seen levels like this since I was in gradeschool and I love it. My dad and I took Michael and Kade sledding one morning, and Michael flew solo a few times. He had such a good time!


I tried to snap pictures everywhere we went, with a sadly low success rate. Here are some of the few I remembered to take!

Cousins

When we arrived in Utah my dad dubbed Michael "the marauding band of one." Then Jax started moving and the band doubled in size - and impact. Its numbers have doubled yet again as Cari and her kids came into town last week. We've all been having such fun together! In addition to roaming the house, looting and plundering, the kids have been lucky to have a steady supply of snow to play in.


We have also learned that Kaden and Lucas are very imaginative and active - opening a whole new arena of childplay for Michael, Jax, and me. So far we have eaten our favorite icecream made by Kade's invention (the "Kadenator 2000"), pretended to squirt each other in the eyes with water (does this game make it obvious that, when Gavin comes down to visit, we have four boys under the age of five at the house?) and done lots of tumbling and dancing. We've also had time for a few calm activities (which are far more easily photographed) like reading, coloring, and playing with Grandma's stickers.



After Jax grew accustomed to the noise and chaos she wanted to jump right in. Lucky for her, the kids really love her and try to be very careful when she is around.

2007 In Review

I put together a slide show to celebrate the past year! (Well, okay, after my sister gave me the idea - so she didn't have to scroll through all the posts to look at the pictures...)

In the spirit of the season, I also wanted to list some of my favorite things that happened this year with the kids.

Michael

• When hearing the poem where the dish runs away with the spoon, Michael had something important to add: “Dirty spoon.”
  
• One day Michael and I passed a horse trailer. He pointed to it and said, "The car dropped off the trailer!"
  
• After excitedly sharing his full name with everyone all day long, Michael decided his name was getting old and he wanted a different one. What would he prefer? "Yellow. And Purple."
  
• Michael’s deep question that he sometimes ponders aloud: “But why, why does the cheese stand alone?” (hi-ho, the derry-o…)

Jax

• After giving Jax vegetables for several weeks she showed me how much she hated the sweet flavor of applesauce - shooting me an expression I would have expected if I'd fed her a lemon.
• Hearing Jax “talk” in her sleep early one morning (raspberries). Jax working so hard for days to turn over from her back to her stomach, always having such a problem with her head.
  
• Getting help from Jax during our game. We grab her leg as she crawls and then pull her back toward us. After one or two pulls she’ll crawl away at break-neck speed for a few "steps" and then come to a complete stop, leaving one leg behind for us to grab.
  
• Saying “la, la, la” one morning when I noticed Jax watching my mouth intently - then having her say it back to me.

Christmas!

Christmas is so fun with kids! This year Michael enjoyed everything about Christmas, and thought it was quite amazing that Santa came to the house to fill the stockings (and ate all the cookies, and drank all the milk!). He loved unwrapping gifts from friends and family, each gift so thoughtful and fun, and even waited patiently as we unhooked all the crazy twist-ties that hold toys so securely in their packaging...

Jax got into the action, too, with an added enjoyment: eating the wrapping paper (should we have been surprised?).

We also enjoyed all the Christmas lights hung on houses in our area. The owners of one home nearby have their lights designed by a professional company that links the whole set-up to Christmas songs on the radio. We visited this home several times, as Michael was always asking to go see the "blinking, blinking, blinking lights."