Tuesday: low key

Today was a rather low key day.  Isaac got a hair cut, we played with Christmas presents, we just did normal stuff.

Near the end of the day we tried out the new headsets that the boys got for Christmas using some music on Ben's phone.  They work as expected, check.  Well, Joshua was not so excited about the idea of turning off music.  (He would listen to music a lot more than we actually turn it on.)  So I put my phone* in the bag that the headset is normally in, looped it over his arm, and he happily sat with Ben for quite a while.

Isaac finished his chores and wanted music, so we did the same thing for Ben's phone*.  Isaac got the duplos out and they happily played and listened until it was bedtime.  It was very nice.

*there are other ideas for not using our phones as the music makers, but first we need to see what they get for the next set of presents and/or get some repairs done on a device.  We were planning to do the repairs anyway, but I've just been slow about going about it.

Sunday/Monday: presents

In the morning Joshua threw his animals on the chair and wanted me to take a picture.  It is probably the first picture request I've had from him.

Before opening presents.

Watching Jacob and Isaac shoot each other with nerf guns.

Headphones!  Joshua was rather excited to have them.  He tried wearing them today while playing with some duplos, but they kept falling off.  They're not made for so much head moving.

Presents.  And bubbles.

Joshua enjoyed his backpack, even though it is about 3/4 his size.  A lot of things got moved around in it.

The kids played a game in the evening, with the help of Jamie.  Isaac did very well for the first 30-45 minutes, but then his attention span waned.

Both boys enjoyed playing with some lab supply toys today.  Some test tubes, beakers, funnels, and colored water...what more could you want?  (Actually, we didn't give them water until the very end.  Even without the water it was fun.)

Christmas

Look!  The animals found baby Jesus once again.

What can we learn from the animals?  It doesn't matter if you're...

...a fish out of water or a sheep scribbled on by a toddler
...a giant camel or a tiny donkey
...whether you've lost your ears or your legs have been repaired many times
...shiny or plasticy
...normal or weird

...Jesus came to the Earth for you, to later die on the cross, defeat death, and allow us to come into heaven with him.

Saturday: Christmas eve

Today we opened presents as a family.  (Unpictured: I got a new space heater for the basement and some legos and to sleep in!  The legos have a light brick that I'm excited to see. And since I slept in I didn't take a nap and so it felt like I had two extra hours today.  It was awesome.)

Isaac was as excited as a 5 year old can get to get the laser maze.  There was jumping and falling on the floor.

We went to pick up McDonald's for lunch.  I didn't make the boys wear their hats or mittens, but of course they were cold in the car.  (I did offer to let them wear them and they declined.)  I told Isaac to put his wipe on his head.  Even though I suggested it, turning around to see it made me crack up laughing.

We went to church, but getting out the door was surprisingly hard.  Joshua...I'm not sure what Joshua wanted but it wasn't to go to church.  Isaac knew he would have to go to big church and so wanted to bring laser maze and starting crying when we said no.  We got there in one piece though and it was a nice service.



J: mushroom?
I: maybe
J: Maybe?
I: Maybe it'll be a mushroom.  You'll see.
Joshua eats the mushroom that he already has.
I: The mushroom's all gone Joshua.  You put the toothpicks in here.
J: all done?  Oh!  It's a mushroom?
I: Meat?
J: Mead?
I: Meat.
J: I eat it?
I: Yes.
I: drop it.
J: drop
I: eggs?
J: Please more Isaac!
I: Eggs Joshua?
J: something one more, one more, one more.
I: eggs
J: Eggs

Friday: creations

We went to story time at the library.  During the sleepy bunny song Isaac went to cuddle by Joshua.

During play time, he made a rocket ship.  It had super boosters, so it flew from Earth to Pluto, where I was, in zero seconds.  Then he made a telescope so that man could look at the stars.  He found 100 new stars, including one really bright one.  The bright one was Jesus' star.

Joshua really wanted to cut the pretend food and waited very patiently for the knife.  We stayed around a bit extra at the end so he could fully play with it.

At home, Isaac made a snow plow.

He also got some snow.  However, the snowplow wasn't great at moving this snow.

Thursday: oh Joshua

Joshua woke up several times last night.

1. Something was wrong with the book.  I think he feel asleep on it and was unhappy about that.
2. That book was still in his bed and he wanted it out.  But he also wanted a different one.  Not a different I-Spy.  We settled on Elmo.  I won't tell you how long it took me to figure this out at 2am in the morning.
3. Blankets.
4. He wanted to get up.  It was 6:45 and so it was understandable, but the light wasn't green yet.  I brought him to the bathroom and then "settled" him in bed for a few more minutes.

Nap time rolls around and he is dead on his feet.  He can't finish the game we're playing because he just wants to go to bed.  Ok.  I put him in bed.  Nothing is right.  The wrong blanket is on.  Bear is missing.  He dropped his Duplos.  He needs a book.  Thirty minutes later I take him into bed with me and we finally get to sleep.

Tonight rolls around and Ben is putting him down. He wants a book.  He says an I-spy one.  No, one from his shelf.  No, that book is too big.  They finally find one.  As I'm leaving Isaac's room he calls me over, but is able to move the book out of his way by himself.  Five minutes later he calls, because he wants me to see him putting a duplo in the bucket.  A half hour later he calls, saying, "I'm grumpy" which is his code phrase for "I need my nose wiped."  We find his wipe.  We find Bear and Elephant.

And he finally falls asleep.  Hopefully I don't hear any more for the rest of the night.

Wednesday: outside, Flurry, train

Ethan and Leah came over today.  We let the older kids try their hand at sledding by themselves.  I wasn't completely sure it would work, but they seemed to have a great time.

The younger two were outside for about an average of two minutes.

Later in the day Joshua had a heart-to-heart with Flurry under the tree.   I think he was saying, "Flurry, get out."

The boys played with Duplos a lot today.  Isaac decided it was Giraffe's birthday and made a candle and cake, and then we all had (real) birthday cookies.  Joshua then decided that his lovies, Bear, Elephant, and Square, all needed to have birthdays too.  Square didn't have a face, so Isaac proceeded to put lots of faces on Square, with Joshua's oversight.