3 Became 4...Which Turned into 5!: April 2011

Monday, April 25, 2011

Traditions

For some reason, yesterday, thinking back on our laid back, very relaxed-but family-filled Easter, I started thinking about traditions. Traditions, it turns out, are very important to both Jason and I...and we're hoping that some of these get passed on and stick with our kids when they start their own families. In a way, it's strange that Jason and I find them to be so important, as neither of us grew up with many concrete, solid traditions of our own. For me-and my family-the only thing I really remember being a constant was the food that we ate while putting up the Christmas tree (which is something I've carried over into our tradition...yes, we have a "putting up the Christmas tree tradition-and my husband is VERY much a part of it!) and honestly, that wasn't always the case either. I guess, I also remember that Santa always came on Christmas Eve for me (once my mom spilled the beans regarding Santa), and once my brother came into the picture, our tradition became celebrating on Christmas one year and Christmas Eve the following. Oh. And ornaments-while growing up, I always received and ornament on Christmas that sort of "wrapped up" the previous year. (example: a car the year I turned 16, a puppy the year we gave our dog away, etc.) Again, this is something we've carried over into our family-we get each other one-and always one for the kids.
We didn't have food traditions, or traditions that went with any other holiday like some other families. My mom isn't a big planner, and she tends to think that none of it matters (although, Jason and I have have figured out that it matters to her more than she thinks, and she ends up disappointed a lot around the holidays).
Anyway, back to our family. We made the decision when Hayden was born that we were always going to spend the holidays at home-in our house-with our kids. Especially on Christmas. We think it's important for them to wake up on Christmas morning and see that Santa has been here. We think it's important that we go to our church, drive thru our neighborhoods to see Christmas lights, and instead of spending Christmas eve and day driving from family to family, we think it's important that we are able to spend that time enjoying the holiday and celebrating what it means to us-as a family-in our pj's-if we so choose.
We've been really lucky, and for the most part, my family has been able to travel to wherever it is that we're living and celebrate with us-and this has become part of our tradition. On Thanksgiving, Papa is our cook-and makes the best meal (Nana is even enjoying it now after years of complaining!). Other than the meal, we really don't do much for Thanksgiving-other than just hanging out. (this is also the one holiday that we sometimes go back to Iowa for)
On Christmas, things are a bit more structured. On Christmas Eve we always start out by going to Ginger Sue's for pancakes. Then it's home to relax and make a Gingerbread House. That night we always make soup for dinner, go to church, make hot cocoa, get in our pj's (which is a gift we open on Christmas eve-along with a Christmas book to read before bedtime-coupled with The Night Before Christmas), drive around and look at Christmas lights, and set out cookies, carrots and milk for Santa and the reindeer. The next morning, we're up early and start on gifts. We always have the "big" gift put together- but the rest is wrapped-and takes us HOURS to open everything. It's a LONG process, but we all enjoy every second. About halfway thru, we eat some sort of breakfast (cinnamon rolls typically)...and then we're back to it. We spend the day playing with our goodies and with each other. That night it's something easy for dinner-showers-and more playing. And we're always ready for an early bedtime!
This year was our first Easter alone-and while it was nice-we missed our tradition of having Papa hide the Easter eggs in the yard! In my heart of hearts, I also missed our traditional ham dinner with all of the yummy sides-but also didn't mind the lack of work-and since our kids don't care yet, we thought we'd go with it. It was a nice morning-going to church, brunch and then home for egg hunt and baskets. The boys had a blast searching for their stuff, and we had fun watching-although, it was EXHAUSTING, as at this age, EVERYTHING is a fight!!
This was the first Easter that Jason and I didn't give each other baskets-a tradition broken. And we both survived it!
Anyway, I guess I'm blogging about this for a couple of reasons-to remind myself of why we go thru the stress of it all-that the payout is TOTALLY worth it and in the end I'm always really glad that we did it all. And. To remind myself of these traditions and to see how much they change throughout the years.
Next up: Mother's Day...hopefully Jason will remember the "sleep until I wake-up and then have breakfast and coffee ready" tradition!!!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Silly Boys!

Sleepover-Sorta

While putting the boys to bed the other night, Jackson came charging into Hayden's room and announced that he was going to "seep with Hayden"...so Jason and I thought-why not?!?!? We snuggled them both, gave them kisses and turned out the light. I sat in the living room and waited for a bit, but when they both stayed put, I decided all was good and went downstairs. About 30 minutes later we heard footsteps...and around the door saw our sweet Jack. He informed us that Hayden was sleeping, so he went bye-bye. After lots of giggles we took him back upstairs and he slept soundly-in his crib.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Today was Hayden's first t-ball practice! It was so cute seeing him out there without the assistance of Mom or Dad...he looked and acted like such a big kid!!! They worked on hitting (his favorite part), running the bases, they did some glove work, and even did some pre-practice stretching (my favorite part).

A few cute moments worth mentioning:

He went up and shook the coaches hand and introduced himself-without being told.

While warming up, the coach had them doing jumping jacks-Hayden had never done one before-so he started out by just jumping up and down. He soon realized that arms were involved, so he started flapping his like a bird.

While running the bases, he ran with his arms straight down and tensed. After practice, we talked to him and explained that pumping his arms would make him run faster-this then needed to be practiced immediately.

The bat that the city provided was too heavy, and my poor tiny guy could barely lift it to his shoulder. We promised to bring his bat next week.

Jason will be running a practice next Saturday. When the coach asked if he'd be around, he wasn't aware of what he was getting himself in to. Hayden is thrilled to get to call him Coach Daddy.

The name of his team is The Cardinals-and his coach is Coach Doug.

His size 9 1/2 glove is a tad too big-but we called Grandpa and got some advice on how to soften it up. This will involve a trip to the drugstore in search of some "Neat Foot" oil. Thanks Grandpa!

Friday, April 1, 2011

From the Mouths of Babes

"Mommy nuggle me" (or Daddy...depending on his mood)-Jack

"no diaper change"-Jack

-"huh?!?!?"-Jack

While saying prayers and asking GOD to watch over Grandpa Blaire and Grandma: "Don't forget Papa's Dad now too!"-Hayden

"I wish we lived in Iowa so I could see Nana every day-and wrestle Brandyn"-Hayden

When asked if he liked a new teacher in his classroom the other day-"nope. I only like Mrs. Gann"-Hayden

"No work shirt Daddy-Hawkie shirt!"-Jackson

"Donuts Daddy. Chockit."-Jackson

When asked to wait a sec-for anything-"that's gonna take 50 hundred hours"-Hayden

"dive-bomb Mom. Hockie, baseball."-Jackson (talking about getting put into his crib and which lalas he wants.

When asked if he liked one of Brandyn's friends-"no. he's ridiculous."

"Dad, when we go to California, can you find cartoons there?".-Hayden

"transformer night"-Jackson

"bubble guffies"-Hayden and Jackson

"cuz"-Jackson

"Sheeee"-Jackson (and Hayden too"-this means fruit snacks.

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