Toadfrogs and Elephants

It seems I am never happy with our Christmas cards. We always have grand plans and something doesn’t turn out quite right. Most of the time I have a problem with the quality of the printing (we always have a picture). Last year I have to admit the printing was good, but the cards weren’t delivered to me until the evening of 12/23 (I ordered on 12/9) which made it impossible for anyone to receive them before Christmas. Here’s what this year’s picture should have looked like:

Anyone want to recommend a place to print Christmas cards?

Wade and I made six loaves of strawberry bread. We had quite a mess in the kitchen but I loved the smell of the bread baking. After the bread cooled, we wrapped it up and tied the bows.

Then we all got bundled up to deliver the bread to neighbors. We made three out of five deliveries (the sixth loaf is for us).

If you know Wade, you know he tends to forget things. He’s always happy to help or run an errand, but I’m never surprised if he forgets to do something or comes home without an item on the list. Typical Wade behavior is also to come up with a plausible reason he doesn’t have the item – such as they were all out. He’ll always confess to the truth if asked, and I always ask.

Tonight he was making a run to the grocery for ice cream and I made two requests. I asked him to put the Christmas cards in the mail and to buy me some Harvest Bars. When he got home, I noticed there were no Harvest Bars in his bag. I asked and he told me there was a huge sale and they were all gone. I looked at him and asked if he forgot to buy them. He says, “I know my wife.” Then he pulls out his iPhone and shows me a picture of the empty shelf at the grocery.

Oops. He did remember and obviously knows me a little too well. I am still laughing about this one!

Alex has pulling up and standing down to a science. He was more than happy to have his snack at the coffee table – with Madison on clean-up duty:

Then he moved the standing over to the chair:

Then he decided to make a little noise with his tambourine/drum:

Wade and I worked in the church nursery today. We had our hands full with four little ones:

After we got home, we hung a magnetic snowflake to hold Christmas cards:

Alex helped Dad wrap a present (the present is for Alex):

Then we went across the street for Abram’s birthday party. Amber was able to get all the kids on the couch for a picture (Alex’s babysitter Naomi is holding him):

Then we have a typical Abram and Alex picture:

Happy Birthday Mary Ann!

What a wonderful Saturday – we had nothing planned. Alex had fun amusing himself in the living room.

First stop was his rocking chair:

Then he discovered Madison’s tags:

Then they were playing and I’m not sure who pinned who:

And the playing from Madison’s viewpoint:

Thursday night Wade and I got to play Spades! Jason and Alya (and their son Luke) returned the favor by coming to our house for dinner. Before they left we taught Alya how to play and got far enough along to know that the girls were soundly beating the boys! I see more card games in our future.

Today Amber and I loaded the boys up for a trip to the outlets. Alex took a nap on the way and Abram was happy to chat away. The boys did pretty well for being all bundled up in their strollers most of the morning (darn cold temperatures). Amber and I found quite a few Christmas presents and made a couple of stops in the children’s stores. It was nice to find a child-friendly spot in Gymboree for the boys to get out of their strollers. I have decided it is not possible to get a picture of Abram and Alex both looking at the camera.

Then it was home to wrap some gifts and try a new pizza place for dinner – Cranky Al’s. Wade and I loved the personal pizzas, but not the garlic bread.

Alex still makes a beeline for the dishwasher whenever the door is down. Now I just need to teach him how to carefully take the dishes out (or put them in).

Years ago my Mom began the tradition of basket presents for my sister and me. We each had seven small presents in a basket. We opened one each day for the week before Christmas. Before we could count or understand the concept of a week, we knew that the day we opened the last present Santa would come. Now Alex has my old basket and seven presents waiting to be opened: