Unwrapping Christmas morning

Peeking with one eye. 2:30 am, she can't be up? We just got to bed and haven't had our nap yet! This has never happened before. I jumped into bed, shut out our light, huddled under the covers and heard an excited chatter: "He came, Daddy. Santa came! I can see my stocking at the end of the bed." I waited...wondered what was happening....struggled to stay awake....waited...and then hopped up to see what could possibly be taking Andy so long.
I walked towards the light and I heard other voices. The boys? Could they be awake now too? Yep, they could. I walked into the boys' room and there were Tobin, Noah, and Brenna looking in their stockings, reaching in, and pulling out treasures and goodies that sent them into wide awake land with each reach!
Cries of, "look, I got a book...a water bottle, lifesaver candies, sudoku books, an American Girl doll, Julie DS game; a head lamp; a t-shirt that says "You wish you could kick like a girl," and a chocolate bunny!" A bunny...it's not Easter. It must be a reindeer."

Alright kiddos, back to bed. I knew I had to try for my sanity. And what do you know, it worked! Until 8:00 when Noah dragged me from the depths of lala land, asking, "Can we open our presents, now?"

Merry Christmas.

Breakfast was a fiasco, almost. I burned the bacon, but better than that almost caught the oven on fire with the bacon grease! Don't ask. Turned out, cooking was not my thing today. More on that later.

The presents were fun to open and the children were very orderly. I had had this brillant plan for organizing some of the necessary order for opening presents. We put a G on the 3 group presents, so each child got to open 1/3 of a gift that worked together (Rockband: guitar, game, and other instruments). You couldn't open one without knowing what the others were. So that worked great. What didn't work so great was that we had two presents, that again went together so that you couldn't open one without knowing what was coming. So, we wanted Noah to open the more exciting one first, so my brillant plan was to put a 1 on the first present and a 2 on the second one, so that Noah knew which order to open them. Brillant, right? I thought so, especially, at 2 in the morning. What I hadn't counted on was the fact that I wrote the number 1 on the wrong present!! Not so brillant, but at 2 am, brillance was not my main goal. Oh well. Luckily, Noah happened to open the right one first, even without the numbering system.

It was fun to watch! Andy and I enjoyed it. They were really great with each other. Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve

Highlights of our night:

1. Andy's family came over for our traditional lamb dinner! Andy cooked the rack of lamb on the grill and made a cabernet sauce which was perfect!! Everyone brought something to have a complete and tasty meal.

2. It was fun to spend time with family. We are all so busy and it is next to impossible to pin us all down, so it was nice to be able to catch up and learn a little about everyone!

3. Having my dad call to wish me a Merry Christmas!! It was one of the best presents of my holiday!

4. Getting candy caned! Some friends left candy canes on our porch railing. The funny thing was that the boys (Tobin, Noah, and Brett) were eating in the kitchen with the blinds open and were oblivious to what was going on outside! Crazy boys!

5. Having the kids open one present: a new pair of pjs to wear! It was so warm, we had to put on the fan in their rooms.

6. Staying up late wrapping presents with Andy, talking and laughing and wrapping!!

This one takes some explaining....

Every once in a while we have a pretty irreverant church experience. We just can't focus our attention on the talks given in sacrament. Unfortunately, today was one of those days. It started when Brenna drew a picture of Tobin because she was mad at him. Here it is...
If you can't read it, it says. This is Tobin. He is a weirdo.

So, Tobin drew a picture back for her. Isn't he nice? It says: This is Brenna. Thank you.




Brenna responded by bringing out the big guns, her secret weapon. Her daddy. So, Andy drew the picture below. It says: This is Tobin in his true alien form.


Tobin then turned his attention to his dad and drew this picture. It says: Thank goodness I don't look like my dad.



Unable to resist the challenge Andy drew another picture, the one below. It says: Tobin as a grown man. Thank goodness my son doesn't look like me.


To which Tobin responded with this final picture. Thank goodness church was coming to an end. It says: Sorry, that was Uncle Buff (Buff, I am truly sorry you were brought into these chenanigans. I can only say they consider you a true comrade in laughter). I forgot to draw your moobs (man boobs, sorry everybody) and fat pack.



As you can imagine, our pew was full of the 5 of us laughing (+ 2 friends) shaking with laughter that just wanted to burst out. Thank goodness we kept it in. But I don't think we were as quiet as we had hoped. Our neighbors in front of us turned to see what was so fascinating. Sorry, friends. Next time, the Pagleys will be more reverent. (I'm leaving the drawing materials at home).

Christmas tree decorating

Christmas Cookies

Tobin and I went over to our friends' house and had a thoroughly festive time making cookies. I will say the boys lasted for all of about 45 minutes which left the moms to finish the cookie baking. We had a great time, but next year Bettina, Shari, and Shari and I decided that next year we are going to have our own baking time and then go out to dinner!!! We'll leave the boys to their own devices! Merry baking everyone.

Visiting Santa Claus

I decided to take Brenna and several of her friends to see Santa Claus tonight. Here are some pics. I will add to this post tomorrow b/c Brenna is waiting for me to read her a book.

Our day began at 2:00 AM

With Tobin coming into our room complaining of how his ear and his throat were hurting. Now Tobin had been sick on Thursday and didn't go to school, but we thought we had moved past that. Now, at 2:00 am in the morning, I saw that we actually had taken a different path. We turned on the light to give him some advil and T said that for sure his throat was too sore to swallow the pills. That is when we saw how swollen this throat really was. I'm not sure if T already knew this, but Andy and I took one look, looked at each other and said, "I'll go." Andy insisted, so I began getting Tobin ready for the emergency room visit as Andy got himself ready. The funny, ironic, poetic justice of it all was that a moment before Tobin walked in, Andy had come into our room from downstairs where he had been watching a movie (yes, until 2:00 AM, my thoughts exactly). No sleep for the weary! So, as T and Andy walked out of the room, Brenna walked into the room. No rest for me either. She was very worried about her brother and we were still up at 3:30ish waiting for the phone which finally rang around 4 AM to let us know that they had started an IV (I think to give a round of antibiotics) and were going to do a cat scan to make sure that the lymph nodes were not filled with pus (gross, I know). Luckily, they weren't and Tobin returned home around 7:00ish. We all went back to bed to begin our night's sleep. And darn the luck, in walked Noah, ready for his day, fresh and ready to go!


Brenna brought this note home with her from school today. It reads: Dear Tobin,
I hope your neck is feeling better. Did you really almost faint? Are you feeling better? I really miss you when I'm at school. I think about you every single minute. Love, Brenna (are your eyes dry? Cause mine aren't)

The Grinchiest Christmas Tree Buying Trip Ever

Not a smile, a chuckle, nor a laugh could be found
Those five of us didn't utter one Christmas sound
Why's that you say? The usual culprits were key
"I'm tired" "I'm hungry" "I'm too busy" to find us a great tree
But off we went, in search of the tree knowing this was our one chance
We walked around the nursery, grumpy and sad, in a mutinous trance
Bumping and jostling each other, Tobin Noah and Brenna did much to my dismay
It wasn't even a cold winter's day, but the gray outside matched our gray inside
We approached the trees; naughty and nice on a course to collide
The trees, they sat, and watched ready to grant a smile
Oh, how that holiday joy seemed far away, as much as a mile
But chose a tree we did, with limited patience and fun
Our time had run out, we needed to get the job done!
Our tree in hand, we walked outside, and although not hand in hand
A little bit happier than before just like we'd planned.

Love Notes

Dear headache, Thanks for going away! I know it is because I haven't been getting enough sleep that I had you in the first place. I promise to be better.

Dear Christmas cards, I love the news and pictures you bring. Please hurry into my mailbox so that I can see what all of our friends are up to.

Dear Christmas tree, Keep growing! We will come and get you. Soon. I promise.

Dear Sis, I will get your Christmas presents in the mail soon. Thanks for being patient. They will be worth the wait...I think.

Dear School Board, I know that you have to cut jobs due to the economy, but please don't take my job away. What I do is too important to student learning.

Dear house, I will get in the Christmas spirit and deocorate you soon.

Dear Santa, I've been good this year, or at least I've tried. All I want is to be a good mother and to feel like I have made my kids happy, not in what I have bought for them for Christmas, but rather in the ways I have treated them.

Dear Beau and Heather, Congratulations on a beautiful daughter. Andy's face was beaming as he shared the news of your new addition to the family: Andi Reece. What a beautiful name!! We can't wait to meet her.

Dear Friends, I wish you a very Merry Christmas. Enjoy your holiday season.

Dear feet, get ready because we are going to start racking up the miles on the treadmill.

Dear President elect Obama, So many people are counting on you. You seem like a man, who is kind and decent. Please don't loose that when you head to Washington. We need that beacon of hope more than any policy change.

Dear World, This is a hard time for everyone. If we increase our random acts of kindness upon each other, we would be more happy and more fulfilled within than last year at this time. Let's be the change we wish to see in the world and open our hearts a little wider to the opportunities for kindness that are around us.

A Job Well Done

Tobin's superbowl was last night and he won! And boy do I wish I had pictures, but it was snowing---yes, that's right! Snowing!! In December! Tobin wasn't quite excited to realize it was snowing, but I think it looked rather pretty coming down in the stadium lights. There was something poetic about it.

We were playing the Panthers, a team we beat in our regular season and who were the season champs from last year. Tobin played on the line for offense and corner back on defense. And, boy what a night. He had many key tackles that stopped the other team at many pivotal points. It was exciting to hear the announcer announce Tobin's name for his efforts. It was electrifying, really.

We scored the only touchdown of the night with barely a minute left in the game. It was one of those touchdowns where the player runs almost the entire field from a punt return. You could see the player flanked by his team members (Tobin was right next to him) in something like a flying V formation. We were ready to score! It was a great play and offered us a clean win. Tobin was on a high last night after the game. It was a great end to a great season!

Andy got pictures!! Thanks honey!


Warming up despite the falling cold! Tobin is the one facing us, across from #3.

Tobin is #16, right in the middle of the pictures!

A victorious team! Notice the score board in the back. Tobin is in the 3rd row, right between #s 5 and 23. Go Wolverines!!!

Thanksgiving

My brother Todd, his wife Michelle, and my brother Blair
Noah and baby Jake!!
My mom, her husband Al and baby Jake. He sure gets around!!
Brenna and Julianna!! The girls have to stand together against the mountain of boys in our home!
My three, Brenna, Noah and Tobin, who could all hardly stand for a picture to be taken of them. I keep telling them, they'll thank me some day!
Our yummy Thanksgiving table!!!
Andy cooking the turkey!

Want to know what I loved about Thanksgiving: absolutely everything! I loved the food, our deep fried turkey, our salads, vegetables, green bean casserole, and rum buns (yes, they were from O'donnells) But... two things in particular stand out for me about the holiday weekend.

I realized that when you have your large (in numbers) family over, we had a total of 18 people celebrating Thanksgiving, and your kids are as old as mine, you just kind of let go of where your kids are every minute and you don't worry what they are doing!! You know that they are with their cousins, having a great time, playing, running, jumping, blogging, etc....It really didn't matter as long as they were having a fun time with no bloodshed involved!! And I was glad for them; they are of the age where the food magically appears on the table (like Hogwarts banquets) and the grown-up talk is wicked boring. I love this for them. It is one of those days where all seemed right in the universe.

What was soooo amazing about this Thanksgiving is that for the first time, I made homemade green bean casserole and Andy realized he will never go back (so he says) from making a deep fried turkey.

The green bean casserole: We always have green bean casserole. Ever since I can remember, we have had this dish as part of our Thanksgiving.

Flashbacks: I have a clear memory of my mom putting frozen jello salad squares into the freezer awaiting the feast. As far as I was concerned, they could have stayed in the freezer. I remember this broccoli dish one of her friends made which as far as I'm concerned could have stayed underground. I remember eating the marshmallows off of the sweet potatoes and leaving all of the sweet potatoes behind on my plate. I remember cranberry relish that retained the form of the can as it slid out onto the plate. I remember eating the dark meat of the turkey and loving it. And there was always the green bean casserole. Even though it was a vegetable, I ate it with gusto!

Let me just say, that getting all of the dishes ready for one appointed moment in time, still hot, warm, juicy, tasty, and ready to eat has got to be one of the hardest things to coordinate. And I completely understand getting some help from Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines.

And I am embarrassed to admit that I never realized until I was searching on the internet this year for the recipe that I have been eating the peasant version of green bean casserole! Peasant version ingredients: canned green bean, fried onions, cream of mushroom soup, and milk. But I found a homemade recipe for green bean casserole and I knew I had to try it. Fresh green bean casserole ingredients: fresh grean beans, mushrooms, onions, half and half, flour, panko break crumbs, pepper, chicken broth and nutmeg!! Doesn't it just sound better? So, I bought all of the ingredients and began cooking. Cutting up the onions...I'm still crying over it! I think I have a sensitivity to onions. I pushed up my sleeves, and dug in. You would have been so proud of me!!

I was a little stressed as I started cooking it really late in the day, and Andy wasn't quite sure that we needed to have green bean casserole-- I persisted! Andy has never really liked the casserole, but I do think he liked it this year! I am so glad I made it and I think we now have a new take on an old tradition!!

Andy's turkey was amazing! I can't believe how juicy it was and how fast it cooked in the deep fryer. The day was warm enough for him to cook the turkey outside in shorts! He did ask me to pick up a fire extinguisher though. I wasn't too sure about what this implied! Apparently deep fryers and cooking turkeys are the number one reason, houses burn down and people end up in the ER on Thanksgiving. I'm glad Andy was taking precautions! Luckily, he never needed it. Andy does an amazing job every year with the turkey. He has brined it, cooked it sitting on top of an open beer can, and so many other ways that really make the turkey ooze with taste! I love that our tradition is for him to make the turkey. We had a fabulous dinner. Everyone makes such great dishes. From the Bumgardners corn stuffing (pudding) to the Colchagoff's crab pie, we each have our speciality which make for a wonderful family celebration. Happy Thanksgiving.

The second thing occurred the next night as we had friends over! I saw Noah for the first time playing with a toddler. Usually Noah is so involved in what the "big" kids are doing, he can hardly pay attention to the younger ones! On Friday night we had our friends over and I realized he was sitting next to me laughing, playing peek a boo with a blanket, and tickling our friend's little girl, Sally. It was so fun to watch. Noah looked like he was having a great time and she was laughing that laugh that starts low in the belly and comes out with pure joy. It was so fun to see a side of Noah, that honestly, I have never seen before. That is a lot to be thankful for.