Christmas at Gma/Gpa Alloway's

We went to Mom & Dad's late the night after spending the day at Terry & Sherry's. It was sort of like when we were all younger, waking up at Mom & Dad's on Christmas morning (except it was Christmas Eve). Once again, it was really nice to not have to be in a big hurry and to spend the entire day with the fam. For lunch we had steaks, baked potatoes, greenbean casserole, Texas toast with honey, and homemade chocolate pie or Reese's Cup cheesecake for dessert. I'm pretty sure that I just gained a pound or two just from typing about that cheesecake, but man it was good!

Next we opened presents. The favs included KU basketball tickets and a telescope for Dad, an electric guitar for Matt, iPods for Katie, Ratchel, and Carrie, a battery-powered fillet knife for Tyler, a new camera for me (as indicated from a few of the pics above), and for the kids - a mini trampoline (for inside), the Smart Cycle game for the TV, MP3 players for the girls (fully loaded with music and pictures already, thanks to Grandpa), homemade doll clothes from Grandma, and way, way too much more spoiling to list. Refer to the picture of the loaded car with any further questions about how blessed we are. Keep in mind that we had to leave over half of it at Terry & Sherry's to pick up on Christmas day, as well as have Mom & Dad bring some of it over in their truck as well. CRAZY!!

We had all afternoon to enjoy our presents and each other. The kids were pumping on pure adrenaline, as they were on a three day high at this point. We hung out all day, shared a scrumptious cheeseburger later in the evening, and headed home to unload and make to midnight mass (yes, at midnight). The kids all stayed awake the entire way home from Parsons to Pittsburg at 10:00 pm that night they were so wound! Tucker made it inside the door to the little rug in front of the oven before he had to lay down. He was finally exhausted. Despite their sleepiness, they posed beautifully in front of the tree for me before mass, but they only survived about 10 minutes of mass before they were all out. Mom, Dad, and Carrie all met us over here at St. Mary's for mass - where the girls will attend school next year, so that was a nice tradition to start.

At about 2:00 am, Tyler & I set out the cookies and milk for Santa and the carrots for Rudolph (& 8 other carrots for the other reindeer, as Rayleigh diligently reminded me that Rudolph was not the only reindeer!) and headed to bed for our 5 hours of holiday slumber!

Christmas at Gma/Gpa Harrell's

We went to Terry & Sherry's on Dec. 23 this year. It was really nice that we got to spend the whole day there with them. Nick & Kelsey were already there, and we got there early in the AM. We opened presents first & then ate some finger-foods for lunch. Then we got to spend the whole afternoon playing with our presents. For dinner, we had BBQ ribs & KC strips with "trashed" potatoes (that's what Tucker calls mashed potatoes), green beans, salad, bread, and cheesecake for dessert. YUMMY! Kelsey wasn't feeling the best that day, as she is still in her first trimester of pregnancy, but she hung in there like a trooper.

Some of the favorite presents included Terry & Nick's navigation systems, Tyler's new Fossil watch, my hall tree, and for the kids: Puppy Grows, Baby Annabelle, a football punter (it's a little guy that actually can kick a mini football 10 yards!), housecoats for everyone, a Jayhawk football jersey, and entirely too much more to mention. As we got ready to leave, I was so proud, as all three of the kids made sure to Thank everyone without our prompting (Tucker led that trend). It is so nice to see that they are grateful for all that they got, and understand, to an extent, how blessed they are!

Christmas bribery . . .

As for Christmas, what a great opportunity for bribery! Tucker refused to stop playing earlier one evening this past week and take 3 seconds to go to the potty (we are still potty-training). Tyler proceeded downstairs and the phone rang a minute later. It was for Tucker, and who else was it but SANTA! When Tucker said "Hi" on the phone, and he heard "Hi, Tucker, this is Santa" coming from the other end, his jaw dropped & his eyes lit up like the night sky on the Fourth of July! Then he says, "It's Santa Clauses" in total disbelief! Santa proceeded to remind him to keep his pants dry if he wanted Santa to come see him and bring him cars. I'm not sure how successful Santa really was, but I certainly applaud his effort!



Also, it has become a great tool for keeping the girls' room picked up. Refer to the picture on "Signs of a good weekend" post on the blog site for further questions regarding the shape of the girls' room the majority of the time! They are convinced that Santa is not going to stop at our house on Christmas eve if their bedroom is not cleaned up. This morning we were headed to Grandma Sherry & Papa Terry's to begin the Christmas extravaganza. Rayleigh popped up in bed and spotted two books on the floor from reading the previous night (the only two items out of place). She immediately says, "Oh Mom, we better get those picked up before we leave so Santa can come!" Two weeks ago, those books could've set there until they rotted and no one would have picked them up - so kudos to you Santa; thanks for the help!

Prayer Request . . .

We found out today that one of my brother's (Matthew) very close friends was killed in a motorcycle accident last night. He was in Parsons, and apparently lost control of his bike and hit the curb. He was not wearing a helmet, so when the first responders got there, they treated him at the scene until life-flight to Joplin showed up. He was in the hospital for a short time, but due to his extensive head trauma, they were unable to save him.

I do not know the man, but my brother seemed to think a lot of him, so I am sure that he was a special person. I understand that he left behind a young wife and two small children, as well. Please keep his family and all of his friends in your prayers in the coming weeks, if you would. It is never easy to lose a loved one, as we have all experienced, but the holidays seem to be particularly a hard time. I know that they will appreciate ANY support that they can get, even if it is only a silent prayer.

Don't give up on me!!!

Yes, I realize that I haven't updated the blog site in a couple of weeks - so sorry! However, the kids will thank me later for working on their Christmas as opposed to working on this computer. Between the Christmas cards, the Christmas candy, the Christmas shopping & wrapping, and all the other Christmas cheer - I'm hyped up and ready to go! Is Christmas ever going to get here, Mom?

Anyway, please don't give up on me, as I have been keeping a list of items to blog about just as soon as I find a little time to sit down here & type! So for now - have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & check back with us in a few days!

Ta, ta for now! Hope Santa finds you sleeping!

Sitting on Santa's Lap

Tonight was such a nice evening! Bev (our daycare provider) & Dave, her husband - better know as "Butch", took the kids to the Mall Deli for dinner and then to see Santa at the mall. We feel so blessed to have such nice people to trust our children with every day - so blessed, in fact, that we even took them back at night!! The kids were faunching at the bit to go, as soon as Bev mentioned it, and they loved every minute of it. Not too many daycare providers would offer such a treat, as I know that I would be ready for some adult time after 9 hours of 10+ children five days per week. But Bev & Dave take care of them as if they were their own adopted grandchildren, and we are so grateful for that. Tucker has declared Butch as his best friend (that happened one day over an oatmeal cream pie when Tucker was barely old enough to gum one)!

That left Tyler & I alone to catch a quiet dinner, with quiet conversation, no spilled drinks, no cutting up three plates of food, no getting up to go to the bathroom (twice), etc. Just a nice, peaceful dinner. We would miss all of the other if it were so quiet all of the time, but every once in a while, it is just nice to get away! Thanks Bev & Butch for an enjoyable evening for all!

Light Dance

This was just too funny. The electricity was out all day due to the heavy ice storm that hit our little area of the world yesterday. I had so many plans for Christmas that needed to be done, but it is amazing how much our world depends on electricity these days! Anyway, buy the end of the dark day, after wrapping Christmas presents by candlelight for the past few hours & leaving the kids to entertain themselves in the confines of four very close walls, we were all about to choke each other. The energy that was being conserved from not having the lights on had all been transferred into my three children, I'm relatively sure, as they were jumping up and down on my very last nerve!

My solution: "Everybody up!! We're doing a light dance (like a rain dance - well, only for light - you get the picture)!" The kids looked at me strangely, but had no reason to argue as there was nothing better to do in the dark. So they all started dancing around like hyenas, arms going one way, legs pumping up and down, laughing and giggling and chanting "we want light, we want light . . ." all the while. Hey, at least they were burning off some of that bottled energy! You would never believe it, but the lights kicked back on while they were dancing! It was perfect. Tyler & I shot each other a look like, can you believe it, as we cracked up! Rayleigh is thoroughly convinced, however, that it had to have been the rain dance that saved the evening. So the next time your lights go out, just remember to do a little jig, and maybe, just maybe, they will kick back on!

Silly Putty Incident

Tucker has been potty training and yesterday morning, I was helping him while Tyler was in the shower. I thought he looked like he was concentrating awfully hard when I convinced him to go potty. He headed into our bathroom and beat me there, so he already had his pants pulled down and was ready to go when I got in there. I was relieved that I had apparently caught him in time and he had not messed in his pants, as they were clean. He went potty, we high-fived, he flushed, pulled up his own pants "by myself", and off we went.

In about 5 minutes, Tyler finished with his shower & I was finishing up my hair. All of a sudden, I hear, "Ah, Man - that's disgusting!" When he stepped out of the shower, he noticed some of the kids' silly putty on the rug in front of the shower. So naturally, he bent over and picked it up before it got smushed into the carpet. It was in the perfect shape of a ball, so the next natural instinct is to smush it in your hand, as he did. Then he thinks, that feels funny to be silly putty. So what would any normal person do but put it right up next to their nose and smell it. It only took one big whiff to convince him that it was indeed not silly putty as he screams, "Oh, God! It's a turd!" He runs for the toilet, runs for the sink, and frantically begins scrubbing, all the while making gagging noises, wrinkling his nose up, and repeatedly shivering from head to toe in disgust! I personally hit the floor in laughter! It may have been the single funniest thing that has happened to us during our short parenting career. Apparently, I hadn't caught Tucker in time, but he sure did a good job hiding the evidence!

A Nice Surprise!

While in KC, we called Leigh (my cousin) that is in Amarillo, TX right now with her new hubby. We haven't seen her since the wedding in April, and were missing her, so we dialed her up. Who would have guessed it, but she was actually visiting some girlfriends that weekend for their Christmas together in KC!! So, of course, we HAD to take advantage of our chance to hook up with her that night at the Levee, the bar that we had her bachelorette party at. After shopping all day and the Cheesecake Factory at 9:30 pm, we met up with Leigh, Andrea, and Jamie at the Levee for some cold beer & great conversation! It was SO, SO nice to catch up with her - we are just waiting for our chance to go to Texas now to see Ben as well. We're always looking for an excuse to get the heck out of Dodge, and I think Ben & Leigh are the perfect reason!

We also got a lot of great Christmas shopping done - thanks Grandma & Grandpa Harrell for keeping the kids for a nice get-away!

Tis' the Season . . .

Have you ever noticed that every Christmas present you buy always has all these required extras in order to make it work? You want to spend $50 on a gift, so you buy a fifty dollar gift. Then you spend $20 in cool accessories that it just wouldn't be complete without. Tyler & I actually experienced the funniest "suggestive selling" tactic ever while shopping for the kids at Toys R Us this season. We heard the last beep, beep, beep of the scanner and as the cashier reached up to hit the total button, she begins rattling off, "You need 24 AA batteries, 13 AAA batteries, 4 C batteries, & 1 9V battery." The computer actually kept track of it as she rang it up! The guy behind us in line cracked up as she rolled off the tally, and all I could do was finish her little jingle with, "and a partridge in a pear tree?" Just a little shopping experience to brighten your holiday season!

We're Going to Grandma Sherry's!!

Last Friday night, we started packing bags for our stay at Grandma & Grandpa Harrell's house. The girls are really quite helpful now, and can actually put together their own suitcase with a little prodding. You say PJ's and they grab the one's they want, you say shopping outfit, they grab the most mismatched outfit in their closet (and you agree that it is beautiful for the sake of saving an arguement), etc. They wanted to be sure that they had all the proper hair things and matching accessories as they are quite the little DIVAS - I have no idea where they get it.



On to Tucker's room: one pair of jammies, a couple of pull-ups, some big boy undies, one extra outfit, socks & shoes, and 14 balls later - PACKED. However, he was quite disappointed that he wasn't leaving immediately. He had doggie in his hand, and he was ready for night, night - at Grandma Sherry's, he thought! It took some convincing that we promised she would be here in the morning.



First thing he woke up, he stood up in bed and says, "I go Grandma Sherry's now!" So of course, we had to call her. Tyler was prompting him to say, "Come pick me up" and Tucker repeats him, "Come pick 'Daddy' up" It was really cute.

The kids seemed to have a good weekend with them, and Grandma & Grandpa didn't seem TOO worn out upon return, so all-in-all, it was a good weekend. Tyler & I enjoyed our annual Christmas shopping trip in KC as well and got a lot accomplished! Thanks Grandpa & Grandma for a great weekend away!