December 2010

GAK!

December was full of science projects. We decided that we needed to have fun activities for the boys during the cold winter months so they didn't go stir crazy. Our favorite experiment to date was making GAK. This is an A+ project in my book since it is clean, cheap, easy and provides endless hours of fun.

Gingerbread Cookies

Kara invited us over one night to make gingerbread cookies. The boys were stoked - first that they would get to see their cousin Max, and second that they would get to play with the rolling pin! Korben swiftly took over the duties of putting the cookies on the cookie sheet, and Logan was ready with fistfuls of flour - which made for some white dough and some very flour covered boys. It was a great night with family complete with very yummy cookies.

Temple Square

Mid-December we decided to make a spur of the moment trip to Temple Square. We ended up going with Kath & Jed, Mom & Dad Harrison and our nephew Andrew. The crowds were huge and with 6 boys to keep track of it was a little nutty; however, it was absolutely gorgeous and well worth fighting the crowds. The boys were in awe of all the lights and the nativity on the reflection pool took our breath away. We tried to get a family picture in front of the temple but the boys wouldn't cooperate - some day it'll happen right?

We were able to see the Christus - which Logan calls "Jesus in space". I loved seeing how the boys reacted to seeing the Statue of the Savior - it was so sweet how they were being so rambunctious and then immediately were quiet and reverent at the statue. The night should have ended there since it was bedtime and all, but we ended up going to Kathy's and making waffles instead. Our spontaneous trip ended up lasting all night. It's memories like those that make me so grateful to be by family again. Our First Snowman I'm sad to say that at 5 and 3, our boys had never made a snowman. We did have one snowfall in November, but the snow wouldn't pack well and the boys were devastated when we couldn't make a snowman. So when we had a storm a few days before Christmas with perfect packing snow, the boys could not be stopped from building the perfect snowpal. Daddy was good enough to oblige them with a ginormous snowbuddy complete with carrot nose, cardboard arms, and erector set parts for eyes and smile. He was immediately their buddy - as you can see from the hugs. Unfortunately the rain came that night and our snowman ended up being a melted blob by morning. Hopefully our next one will last a tad longer.

Harrison Christmas Party

On December 23rd we hosted the Harrison Christmas party. We ate yummy treats, had a talent show and watched "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" (1966 version). I adore Mike's family. They know how to relax and have a good time. One of the talents that night was performed by Doug's family (Mike's brother). It was so silly and fun and well worth being posted.

The most touching part of the night was after everyone headed home. Korben was sitting on the stairs crying and when we asked him what was wrong, he responded with, "I miss my family". This was the first time that Korben had ever called them his family instead of his friends. Just another good reminder of the importance of living near our family and the positive effect it has had on Korben. Christmas Our Christmas was fantastic. The boys had an advent Santa that they put cotton balls on for each day as a countdown. Every day I would hear, "Only___ many days left till Christmas!" I loved that they were anticipating the holiday. Korben even learned about Santa at school, so we implemented Santa's cookies and gifts this year. We had been undecided about whether or not to do Santa until he came home so excited about it. We wanted to make sure that the boys knew what Christmas was really about, so talked a lot about the nativity. Mom gave us a nativity set a few years ago that has each piece in little wrapped boxes and the boys loved opening the boxes and hearing about each person. After we had talked about them, Korben wanted to tell us the story. He set up each of the pieces as I had until he got to the "people that watch the sheep". Then he said, "Mommy, the people that watch the sheep can't see Jesus!" and turned the Baby Jesus so that he could be seen. Then he said, "Oh no! Now Joseph can't see Baby Jesus!" and ended up changing everyone so that they were in one straight line to see the Baby Jesus. It was so precious that he cared so much. When we finished playing we asked him what Christmas was about. He paused and then said in a very "duh" tone, "Jesus". Logan didn't quite understand who all the extra people were. He knew who Jesus was, but Mary was mommy, and Joseph was Daddy. I'm not sure if he thought they were us, or if it was just easier to remember them as parents. Either way, they loved the nativity, so thanks Mom! Christmas morning was so fun with the boys. They were excited for their gifts but were good enough to sleep in for us so we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn. Aren't they cute little dudes?