Saturday morning I woke up and just looked at all the toys around me... there was stuff everywhere! I like things to be neat, clean and organized, but after a fun-filled holiday my house was anything but. We decided to wait on cleaning it up, though, to let the kids enjoy their gifts some more before finding a home for everything (and even that will be a challenge! I should have asked Santa for some storage!!!!). Caleb is pictured above in his new outfit from Grandma & Grandpa Ginder.
The first thing we started playing with was Joshua's trains. Unfortunately, the kiddos have a way of destroying the tracks, Caleb especially. We're trying to train him (no pun intended) on how to play with the trains on the tracks and not lift the tracks off the table. I set up the above track using every last piece from the set. I was pretty impressed with it, if I do say so myself. Here's Joshua playing trains with me on Saturday morning. He handed me my Rosie train and asked me to play with him. On a side note, yesterday afternoon the second set of trains were delivered out of the package, which included Percy for Caleb and Gordon for Daddy. They were postmarked December 18 just like the other package, but they didn't come until yesterday. Truly, it didn't really matter. Now Joshua has the trains he wanted and more!
Saturday morning we went to the mall for a little while on a 'scouting' trip to see what was on sale, but Shawn & the boys aren't much for shopping so I went later with my mom and my niece Grace for a little bit. I ended up getting two pairs of pants from Ann Taylor that together totaled $20. I was pretty impressed since their things are usually expensive. Unfortunately, the jacket I really wanted there wasn't available in my size even though it was on super clearance. Bummer!
Here's Joshua posing in front of the mirrors at the mall. Later that night, we went for a ride and tried out my new GPS. Daddy is a super-sweetie pie - did I mention that? :) :) :) I was feeling much better that day after chugging some Nyquil the night before and getting a good night's rest. I think sometimes my body tells me it's had enough going on little sleep and makes me slow down a bit.
We (and when I say 'we' I truly mean Shawn) started putting together some of the kids toys. Here is Caleb's book shelf/sling all filled with books that he can't destroy (in other words, books with cardboard pages). He loves it! He'll pull books off and bring them to us to read or look through them himself. He adores books.
Daddy also set up the boys art easel. Here are pictures from the side and then the front. It has three 'options' - one for blackboard, one with a white board for erasable markers and then 75 ft of paper that can go on either side for painting, coloring, etc.We liked that it had baskets underneath to store the paints, markers, chalk, etc. Saturday was a fairly low-key day of trying to put together gifts and putting some things away that we knew where they would go. That night we watched Mickey Mouse's Christmas movie and headed to bed decently early.
Sunday morning, Dad had invited us to the Greasy Spoon for breakfast. We met him there at 9 am, all dressed up in our Sunday finest since Joanne Kroll had invited us to the Lord's House of Prayer to see their Christmas Pageant. After a delicious breakfast (thanks, Grandpa!), we headed on to church, arriving a solid five minutes late and almost missing the opportunity to tithe. We found a seat near the back and the kids LOVED the Christmas program. The Kroll's kiddos were the stars of the play, as Joanne directed and re-wrote the scripts to include all the kids and teenagers who desired to be part of it. The theme was "Camel-Lot" and it was about a woman who ran a business that sold camels the night of Jesus' birth. The point of the story was not to get so busy that we 'miss the manger.' The entire production was touching, and the boys enjoyed the play and the music and were both well-behaved. Pastor Matt Kroll had the message afterward about us not missing the manger this holiday season, and one young man got saved afterward. When we realized Matt had forgotten to dismiss the kids, we quickly took the boys downstairs to their respective classrooms, and Rebekah Kroll was helping in Joshua's room. We also ran into some old friends there, but quickly. Worship was after the message, and after a few songs we decided it was time to go and went downstairs to grab the boys. We saw Joanne and chatted for a little while before leaving. We came home and everyone napped but me. I had to start cleaning some more. It was driving me crazy-go-nuts! And it still is.
I can't remember what we did that night, but I think we just made pizza for supper and relaxed with the boys. Monday morning, Grandpa Georgia came over and we drove to the Pottery Barn Outlet to check it out. I had dressed the boys in layers, put their warm coats on and then their new hat, gloves and scarves set from Grandma. After we were done in the store, we let them play on the playground, and both boys enjoyed it. Joshua would shout "look at me, Grandpa Georgia; I'm in the bubble!" and then he would slide down the twisting slide "fast" or "slow" depending on what he said at the top. Caleb also climbed in the tubes and slid down the smaller slide. Soon we were cold (or I was) and we headed back to the car. We then checked out the used furniture store in Ephrata where a woman commented on how thin I was; when I told her she needed her eyes checked, she said "I bet those are pants you wore before you got pregnant." I looked down, and yes, these happened to be pants I've had since college. I told her that God has been doing a work in my life and He needs the glory. After we were done shopping, we came back and I fed the boys lunch while Dad & I sipped hot tea. Then Grandpa & I worked for hours on trying to re-build the train tracks that the boys had destroyed. Here's the finished product...
There are still presents to put away, but the boys are enjoying their new toys. And I feel very blessed to have such a nice family. Last night I made Shawn pork fillets for dinner with some sort of parmesan noodles and green beans and carrots. We all ate well, and then I cleaned up dinner as Shawn spent time with the boys. We gave them baths last night and Shawn put Joshua's sheets back on his bed that I had washed earlier that day. The laundry is pretty well done, but there is always be more to do. Instead, I've been reading all the boys' new books to them, which they are loving. Have a wonderful day! More soon...
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