December 14-18

December 14 - Craft Day. Oh holy crafts! Kaylin and I spent virtually all day doing crafty things and Ryan joined us after he got home from school. Kaylin started by painting, then made a manger scene ornament, then a reindeer gift bag all while I made my teacher gifts and packaged them up all fancy. And, of course, we all remember my special project for Leon.

December 15 - Pick 2 angels from the tree at the mall (each child's age) and have the kids shop for them. I cheated and had Kaylin buy a gift for a 3 year old little girl "angel" a couple of weeks ago while we were at Walmart. She bought her a baby doll and was very disappointed that we didn't get to deliver it to her directly. Ryan picked out this t-shirt for his 5 year old boy "angel" named Alex. He had a Bumblebee Transformer shirt chosen, but they didn't have his size, so this was his second choice.

December 16 - Family Game Night. A little Hungry, Hungry Hippos, some Hi Ho Cherry-O...what more could you ask for???

December 17 - Family Movie Night. Polar Express in our PJs. But only the first half of the movie because we started it too late and I was exhausted. I was in bed before 8:00 that night.

December 18 - Glendale Glitters Drive Around Looking at Christmas Lights. We had every intention of going to downtown Glendale to experience "Glendale Glitters" tonight. I filled 4 cups 1/2 way with warm milk, then we piled into the car and headed to Starbuck's for hot chocolate. (their cocoa is too intense for me, so I was going to cut it with some milk - I would have made it at home, but somehow I ran out) Upon filling our cups in the van, Mike spilled scalding cocoa on his leg. Then I splattered it onto the tray in the front seat. After everything was cleaned up, I realized I didn't bring any diapers with me and Jason smelled like he needed to be changed. It was already 7:00 and we were too far from home to turn around, so I ran into Safeway to grab diapers. (buying them without a coupon and not on sale about killed me...) After Jason was changed, I figured I should feed him before the 25 minute drive to Glendale Glitters. I gave all of the patrons of Safeway quite a peep show from my front seat!

By the time we were finally ready to leave, it was 7:22 and on a normal night, the kids would have already been in bed. Mike and I made the executive decision to change our plans and drive around and look at Christmas lights instead. Ryan didn't take the news well.

(yes, I totally took a picture of him having a fit) When I asked if he even remembers what Glendale Glitters IS, he moaned, "NOOOO! But I want to GOOOOOOO!" He quickly got over it and we all moved on. It was a great teachable moment on being flexible!
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We ended up finding some great Christmas lights to gawk at. Check out how creative the back of this house looks.

It backed up to a lake, so the reflection was very cool.

By 8:00, Ryan was begging to go home and go to bed. I suppose it wasn't a good idea to make faraway plans the last night of an exciting holiday week at school and on an evening after two Christmas parties where mountains of sugary treats were consumed. All I have to say is: thank goodness we didn't keep our original plans! With the drive, finding parking, the crowds, and all the walking, the meltdowns would have been a disaster. Everything worked out for the best.