3rd times a charm

A few days after Christmas I took Kelsey for her 3rd try at getting her wisdom teeth out.  The Dr. had arranged for her to be able to go to the hospital and get her IV put in by the specialists at the Infusion Center.  She checked in early in the morning and was surrounded by "needle experts" and a whole room full of elderly people having treatments.  There was an elderly gentleman seated next to her that was just the cutest carrying on a conversation with her.

The nurses tried to find her vein using their vein finder...with no luck.  I was starting to wonder if she was actually human.  My hope this was going to work really started to dwindle when they called the E.R. to see if the anesthesiologist on call could come take a look.  He had already left for the day and so she spent an hour being prodded before finally we had success!

Then we headed over to the oral surgeon.  It was over an hour and a half in the waiting room before they finally took her back...to wait some more.

My curiosity got the better of me while we were waiting.  I wanted to see what was under all those cloth sheets with her name on.  Under sheet number 1....

And part of what was under sheet number 2...

I tried not to show on my face to Kelsey how scary it looked.  I wish you could see how HUGE that needle was up in the top left of this picture.  I told her it just looked like normal dentist tools.  Finally the Dr. came in and took a look at the IV, and then it was time to get started.

I was sent out into the waiting room to wait some more.  These two were good about entertaining themselves (and getting comfy). 

It only took about 30 minutes and she was 4 teeth lighter!  She was pretty impressed at how fast it went and repeated this to the nurse and I over, and over, and OVER.

Looks like this girl may be ringing in the new year with some good drugs and a bowl full of pudding :)

Christmas Day

Christmas morning started before the sun was up at 5 a.m.!  Although exhausted, we were happy to see that Chase was feeling better.  Kelsey was not thrilled to be up so early (this is a good 6 hours earlier than normal).  We lined the hall and got ready to see if the big man had found us.

He had indeed!  Sadi was excited to see she got everything on her list.  She got a easel that has a chalkboard on one side and white board on the other,  rolls and rolls of paper that will keep her busy (for at least a few days),  art supplies, monster high dolls, a lego hotel that she has wanted for a LONG time, and some shopkins (if you have a kid under 10 you know these weird things are a huge hit right now).

Santa must have thought Chase was REALLY good this year.  Not only did he get the Wii U that was on his list and lots of games to go with it, but he got a flat screen t.v.!  He got lots of Infinity characters to play in his game, along with lots of books and games to read when Mom says enough :)

Kelsey wasn't really sure what she wanted for Christmas but, I think she was pretty happy to find a new Galaxy tablet with a keyboard that she can use for school/fun.  She also got some new luggage to tote her things back and forth from school, and a really nice heated blanket that we all enjoyed throughout the day. 

After we had some time to enjoy our gifts from Santa, we opened gifts from each other.  Kelsey knew just what these two wanted. 

This is the first year Chase and Sadi have picked out gifts for their siblings.  Sadi's idea for Kelsey was just so cute.  She wanted to get her a pillow since "she likes to sleep a lot".  She found this pillow and was adamant it was "the one".

Matt and I normally don't do gifts for one another, but we splurged a little this year.  I got Matt some noise cancelling headphones he had been wanting, and he bought me some new glasses and bubbly.

Of course there are some special gifts you just can't buy in a store.  Chase made me an armful.  A picture frame, and two new ornaments.  I love how my ornament collection grows each year, these are so special.

Kelsey bought me a beautiful University of Nevada Mom glass that is almost too pretty to use.

Kyle was able to come by for part of the day and spent time spoiling us all.  He brought gift cards for everyone, and toys for the little kids.  Brothers too know just what to buy.

He opened his Christmas gifts from all of us, and then he opened his birthday gifts.  We laughed and laughed at the fact that both sets of Grandparents picked out the exact same birthday card for him.  What are the odds of that?!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing, playing, building legos (we have lego building for days), and we even snuck in a nap...or 2.....or 3!!!

It was in the words of my kids "Best Christmas EVER"!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve day we were surprised to wake to falling snow.  The kids could not wait to get outside to play.  Our morning started out by catching a snowflake or two.

It quickly turned into a little brother/sister love.

Daddy even bundled up and got in on the fun (I was still recouping from the flu so I did not venture out). 

They worked hard building "Olaf" to look at us through the window all day.  Unfortunately we were out of carrots, so they had to improvise.

Then it was time to warm up with some hot cocoa and a puzzle.  What was suppose to be 500 pieces was actually 501... if you think having one duplicate piece would not throw you off so much, I challenge you to try it.

We baked 4 different kinds of cookies, because you really can't tell which ones Santa will like unless you try them all :)

Chase's little girl friend came by and brought him a gift (He had a big teddy bear on his list for Santa), I guess she took care of that wish.  He was ecstatic!  Not sure yet where this bear as big as him is going to go.

We made a bunch of different appetizers for dinner (everyone got to pick their favorites).  We had lots of food left over due to a few of us still having upset tummies.  Then we started our traditional Christmas Eve games.

We played Sadi's game first.  She had us put a plate on our head, and described to us how to draw Santa's face.  We all got a good laugh when we saw our "artwork".

Next Chase had come up with a Christmas Say anything game.  He had cards with a Christmas word written on that everyone but one person could see.  We went around a circle and you had to say what yours was like.  Example:  The word was Christmas tree.  You could say "mine is green", or "mine is smelly".  The person who did not see the card then had to guess what the word was.  It was pretty funny.

Matt actually came up with a game that wasn't thought of 5 minutes before we played.  He made a Snowman cootie game.  You had to use the spinner to get all the parts to build your snowman. 

My game was Christmas Scatergories.  Kelsey had made up a Christmas pictionary game that we played in teams.  Matt and Sadi vs. Chase and I.

We really found out who has drawing skills (and who doesn't).  We laughed and laughed, here is our duel of drawing the Grinch.  (Matt's artwork on the left, Chase on the right).

The kids got to open one present from us, new jammie's and a traditional Christmas book.  This year we got Olaf's night before Christmas read by Olaf himself.

While in the middle of the book we had a surprise visitor (one the kids have now been expecting).  It was Santa!  We all got to sit on his lap, and tell him what we wanted for Christmas.  He also brought each of the kids a little something to tide them over till morning.

The elves had brought a letter back from the North Pole that morning telling them they were allowed to hug and tell them goodbye before they went to bed.  We will be sad not to wake to these cute little faces every morning....although exhausting, they are so much fun.

The night was winding down quickly, and we all snuggled up and watched a Christmas movie together.

Then we picked out the best cookies for Santa (tested an approved) and got him a nice big glass of milk to go with it.  And then the children were nestled all snug in their bed....

Unfortunately poor Chase was not quite over the flu we found out about 11 when he puked from his bed, down the hall, and into the bathroom.  Once were all nestled in our beds (again) we were hoping for a better feeling morning.

Christmas Gifts

Each year I try to let the kids come up with a simple gift to give to their friends at school.  Although it is a simple gift, it means a lot to them to give to their friends.

Chase decided these Grinch pills would be perfect for his friends (and perfect for both boys and girls).

For Sadi's friends we found the perfect gift.  What girl doesn't need another chap stick?

Luckily she delivered her gifts a few days prior to the break since she got sick and had to miss the last day of school (that darn flu bug hit pretty hard).

We also made another version for them to give to their teacher's.

I seem to struggle every year with the teacher's gift, but this year I found a winner...

 

I bought their favorite wine, added a label with our kids picture on it with a cute little saying "Our kid might be the reason you drink, so enjoy this bottle on us".  I have never got so many compliments on a gift before, and every teacher wants our kids to be in their class next year.  WINNER.

 

I missed going to the kids parties, and felt horrible that Sadi had to miss her class party because she caught that nasty bug.  Normally such a fun day at school ended up being a quiet day at home.  Hopefully no one else gets that "gift".

Elfing around

It has been another fun month at our house having all our little elves keeping themselves busy at night.  Here are just a few things they have been up to.

 A late night game of scrabble incorporating Christmas words.

 They had the coffee ready to go one morning.

It was a busy night of toilet papering the Christmas tree.

Looks like they took the tootsie pop challenge to see just how many licks it takes to get to the center of the tootsie pop...well one of them.

 They found some vehicles to race through the kitchen.

 They were hanging out in the bathroom.

Poor little guys caught our flu bug I think...who knew elves puked m&m's?

Our house will sure seem quieter when these little guys return to the North Pole, but it wouldn't be Christmas without them.