Lights of Christmas

Last night, we went with my mother-in-law to a huge holiday light display. Took us about an hour to walk through it. My pictures won't do it justice, but I thought I would share anyway!

This is the entryway:

The boys in front of a blue-lit tree.                     

Golden Koi and its reflection

Pretty tree

Close-up of boys in front of blue tree

Chandeliers hanging in the trees:

 

Trees                                                                       

Arch

 

Good holiday memories

We had a great Christmas. Things began a little rocky when my husband began to feel ill on Christmas Eve, just when we were finishing up the last wrappings and getting the boys off to bed so Santa could visit. He was seriously ill, vomiting and diarrhea. My husband is pretty stoic usually, won't take an aspirin for a headache most times. He was having a rough time of it this time. I felt so bad for him. He ended up falling asleep in the recliner around 9:30 p.m. I just left him there when I went to bed around 1 a.m.

However, before he fell asleep, Gilbert had managed to hook up the big Santa gift, a Wii, to the TV in the playroom. It's a small TV, but it is perfect for the boys to play games on and not take up my living room all the time! Anyway, Gilbert got the Wii ready for action, and then wrapped each of the three remotes separately (in wrapping paper not used for any other presents) and stuck them under the tree without tags. Then he fell asleep and I finished up wrapping his presents, did the stockings, and went to bed.

Gilbert came to our bed around 5 a.m., followed by Jacob at 5:30, who wanted to know if he could get up. I told him to go back to bed and wait until at least 6:30. What do you know, he did! I could hear him and his brothers talking, but they stayed in their beds until 6:30. Then did they hit the ground running!

So, let the festivities begin! The boys began passing out presents, opening then, and having a good old time. They finally happened upon the three wrapped Wii remotes, and couldn't figure out whose presents they were because "they aren't tagged!" I suggested that since there were three identical presents, maybe - just maybe - they were intended for them! Aha! That made some sense, so they proceeded to unwrap them. Jacob got his open before his brothers and was excited at first, then confused. "A Wii remote? Why would Santa get us Wii remotes? We don't have a Wii!" I was biting my tongue to keep from laughing. They kept going on and on about how it would be a great gift, if they had a Wii. Finally, I think it sank in that this couldn't be all there was to it. Then they started looking around. One of them opened the door to the playroom, followed by his brothers close on his heels, and there it was, in all its glory. They yelled, hollered, jumped for joy, danced a jig and even hugged each other! Such wild excitement! And , of course, they set to playing immediately...and pretty much haven't stopped. It is fun to watch, and fun to play, too. Had to test it out, doncha know?!

I got a new digital camera, which I wanted but didn't expect. Gilbert didn't get my gifts wrapped because he was sick (and because he waits until the last minute - see previous entry!). He felt badly about it, but id didn't bother me. It is just nice to get the presents! Haha!

We had a great, relaxing day, playing on the Wii and just bumming around. Later that evening we went to my in-laws' for Christmas dinner, where we had good fellowship and conversation, the boys racked up on Barnes and Noble gift cards and movie passes, and where we ate some wonderful food. It is always good to be with family.

Gilbert started feeling poorly again after we got home. Part of it was exhaustion, I think. We were all tired. The boys went straight to bed when we got home, and we followed soon after. I think everyone was sleeping by 10:00! A great ending to a great day, even though Gilbert was still puny. 

Some pictures of our day:

Jacob, Matthew, Andrew

handmade glass snowflake, created by Matthew

My guys, Christmas morning

Realizing Santa brought them a Wii!!!

So proud!

All of my boys are taking piano lessons, and tonight was the Christmas party/recital. It was at the piano teacher's house, fairly informal, lots of party, a little bit of recital. This was the first time for Andrew and Jacob to play in front of anyone but their teacher or our family. They did so well! Didn't seem the least bit nervous! Andrew played Silent Night, and Jacob played We Wish You A Merry Christmas. Jacob was last, and the teacher had everyone sing the second time he played it. 

Matthew played also. This wasn't his first recital, but he hasn't done one in about a year, maybe more, so he was nervous. At least that is what he said. You couldn't tell it by looking at him! He had to play first, and his  piece was It Came Upon the Midnight Clear. He played beautifully!

I sang, also. It was a family affair! All we needed was Gilbert performing, and it would have been the entire family. I sang a lovely piece by Leo Sowerby titled Little Jesus, Sweetly Sleep. It is one of my favorites. I have performed it for the past two or three years at this party. The piano teacher loves it, too. She also asked me to sing a song called Old Toy Trains. I accompanied myself on the autoharp, and sang it mostly for the boys. Roger Miller wrote it, and it is a sweet, sweet song. You should look it up on google or youtube sometime and give it a listen! I hope to make a Christmas cd next year, and maybe I will put it on there. Gotta figure out copyright stuff first.

Anyway, the party was lovely, the food was great, the boys were fabulous, and we all had a wonderful time.

Saved in the nick of time

Last night, I thought dinner was doomed for sure. Spiraling down into the abyss of grumpiness that was Matthew. He had an issue that he just would not let go - thought he was being treated unfairly. Short story, his brother did something he wasn't supposed to do, then Matthew thought he should be allowed to do it. Ummm, no. We didn't allow Jacob to do it, he just did it. And got scolded for it, by the way. So, hell-to-the-no, you cannot do it too!! UGH!

But, lo and behold, all was saved in the nick of time! Andrew, with a mouth full of food, mumbled something that came out pretty much gobbledy-gook. Now, normally, he would have gotten the speech about talking with food in his mouth. But the mood was so dark already. Then Big Daddy, aka husband, chuckled. And repeated it back. Which made GrumpyPants, aka Matthew, giggle. I felt the mood lightening! So, of course, I have to go in for the kill, which meant telling stories of more incoherent speech, usually made by the boys at night while sleepwalking. They, having no memory of such things, thought this was hilarious. Oh, there was also the story of Husband and me waking up to find Matthew in our doorway, pretty much asleep, getting ready to pee. Thought he was in the bathroom, I guess! Anyway, riotous laughter and giggles was our dinner music for pretty much the rest of the meal. Hallelujah!

At one point, things had quieted down a bit (everyone was tired from laughing), when I hear Andrew going on about something. Went sorta like this:

"We ain't had nothing but maggoty bread for t'ree stinkin' days! Why can't we have some meat?!" 

Yes, Lord of the Rings rules at my house. For the next 15 minutes or so, Andrew, Jacob and Big Daddy recite every line in the scene from Two Towers where the Uruk-hai have kidnapped Pippin and Merry, and have stopped to rest. Some of the nasty guys want to eat the hobbits because

"We ain't had nothing but maggoty bread for t'ree stinkin' days! Why can't we have some meat?!" What about them, they're fresh!" "They are not for eating!"....all the way to "Looks like meat's back on the menu, boys!" (complete with accents)

It was rather impressive, I must say. And entertaining. Did I mention there were accents? 

So yes, Virginia, dinner was saved. In the nick of time. And we made some really fun memories in the process!

And I was like, OMG!

We were sitting at dinner tonight, having a pretty decent time of it, when Jacob (7) began to tell what happened at school today. To give a little background, Jacob and his brothers have all been taking piano. They seem to love it, if the constant battle over the piano is any indicator, and have readily learned to play each other's songs. Andrew and Jacob especially enjoy playing the other's Christmas piece. At high speed, usually, and with one or more deliberate bastardizations...that, however, is another blog entry.

Apparently, at some point in time, Jacob mentioned to his teacher that he plays piano. She, in turn, mentioned that he should play for the class some day. No more thought was given to it by Jacob...until this morning. His teacher suggested he play for his class while they were in the gym today (the piano is in a room off of the gym). He thought she was kidding, until she reassured him she meant it. And, in his very own words: "I was like, O M G!! She didn't mean that, did she?!?!" 

Now, here is the thing. Jacob is 7. And doesn't do email. Well, except to his grandmother, who has no idea, I am pretty certain, what OMG means. So I have no idea how on earth he has even heard of OMG, much less knows what it means. (I asked. He does. Oh My Gosh. At least it was the less offensive version.) I so wanted to LOL, and pretty much just ROFL. I restrained myself, FWIW. But it was sooo hard. 

KWIM??

Goofy twins

My friend, Liz, just posted about her son Samuel being silly. That reminded me of a couple of goofy things my twin boys have said recently.

I have to preface this with a touch of background. Andrew wanted to learn how to make coffee a few months ago, so Gilbert showed him a few times. One night while I was away singing in PA, so a couple of weeks ago, Andrew just got up, marched into the kitchen, and made the coffee. Gilbert noticed, was able to stop him before he started the pot brewing, and showed him how to set the timer for the next morning. It was a good pot of coffee, Gilbert said. Now both Andrew and Jacob want to get the coffee ready each night before they go to bed. Sweet! I love it when they take it upon themselves to do things.

Jacob, however, has not taken the initiative as often as Andrew, so he is a little behind in the coffee-making technique. One night he insisted it was his turn, so, off he went. Andrew was beside me on the sofa, and he leaned over to me and said, "He's a rookie." Well, as luck would have it, Jacob had a little trouble and needed Gilbert to help him. Andrew turned to me with a very wry look on his face and said one word. "Rookie." I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud!


The next goofy incident involves Jacob. Of course, they are always saying silly, funny things, but these two episodes stick out for me, at least this month! We were all just sitting around in the living room one night, just before the boys had to get ready for bed. Out of the blue, Jacob says, "I think I need to lose a few pounds, so I am going to lay off the chocolate milk at school." Then he got up and went to bed. (Keep in mind that you can see his ribs when he shirt is off, so I don't know why he thinks he needs to lose weight!)


They crack me up!