Friday, January 2, 2009

Home for the Holidays

The boys gave their BEST effort to stay up and wait for Santa.
We made a bed by the fireplace and waited...and waited...
By 10:00 P.M... they were out.
By 11:00 P.M. the presents were wrapped and I was out...
James was at the hospital all night.



The boys woke up and were surprisingly patient waiting for James to come home. We ate breakfast...waited...shook all of our presents...waited...and talked about what they could be.
James came throught the door by 10:00 A.M. The party started.




The kids know that each year they only get three wrapped gifts under the Christmas tree...for that's how many baby Jesus received.
William has been crying about this for a month now. He keeps yelling, "I am changing our family rule. We get more than three presents under the tree. It's not fair."
They get stocking stuffers and this year we even gave them a present on Christmas Eve...but as for wrapped presents under the tree...it's three.
Amazingly, everyone got what they wanted and William even said, "this is the Best Christmas Ever."
Poor Scout...she only got one present. I somehow don't think she noticed.


Trauma began when we packed our bags and headed for Utah the next day.
We waited in the airport for 8 hours until they decided to cancel our flight. We all cried.
We waited in long lines of angry, crying people trying to see what they could do for us. It is so funny in a situation like this becasue every single person asks the very same question...all hoping to get a different response. Well..we got the same response as everyone else. They could get us out on Tuesday.
Considering James had to be at the hospital on Friday, it wasn't worth the money...or the stress.
Oh wait. THey did book a bus, that would have cost $50 extra per person. So, another $200 for us. The bus would have taken us to Chicago, however, there was no gaurantee that they could get us out of Chicago. That sounded fun...with three kids and 5 million pieces of luggage and three car seats. We would have taken up the whole bus..and then have no ride back home.
The kids were beside themselves about not seeing their cousins...and we promised them a water park the next day.
After finding out that the waterpark we had promised would have cost $185...we quickly looked for alternatives.
We found a local indoor pool with slides and fountains and the whole works. We all Loved it.


They did have one adult slide that the kids couldn't go down. I decided to try it. As I put my tube down and waited the the signal, I thoguht, "I gave this up when I decided to have kids six years ago." James and I don't do theme parks and waterparks very often...I guess never since we've had kids.
I got down the slide and swam over to James and the kids. I told James that I had the thought that we never do stuff like that anymore. I said, "I gave up that part of myself when I had kids."
James wanted to try it.
He came down the slide...swam over to us and said,
"I'd rather have kids."

Considering our whole week of "Family Bonding Time,"

He had plenty of time to play wth our new Christmas toys.



We went to the Cleveland Science Center. There was a fun ball pit for the kids. I don't know if they have ever played on one. I remeber my dad taking me down to Liberty Park and I used to LOVE the ball pit down there. My kids loved it just as much as I did when I was a kid. Going back is a must. Maybe tomorrow.





We also went to the Cleveland Natural History Museum. They had some hands on kids stations in the basement. We were in heaven.





Before we got to the Kid's Zone, our boys were about as interested as I was...
Actually, they really did enjoy it. Probably more than I did. Luckily, they take after James and have some interest in things besides shopping.



One of my favorite things we did was take the boys ice skating. It was William's school night at the rink and we saw many of his friends. We got a babysitter for Naomi and took an extra friend, Adam along. It was a blast.




Three kids who can't keep themselves in the upright position= serious laughs (for mom)

William and his friend, Adam (we car pool to school together)

And of course...what would Winter Break be without practicing some Yoga downward dog.

We are so grateful for this week to have been together. Every day I talk to my mom...I get a little bit sad. I hear noises and laughter in the background and think "I should be there."
With that said, this has been a magical week for our little family. We have gone out and explored something fun each day. The kids are getting along great and love each other. Nothing is better than spending time with the ones you love...and isn't that what Christmas is all about?
It was a perfect Christmas Vacation.

8 comments:

M & S Eagar said...

Hey - I'm happy to hear that in spite of all your "setbacks" you still had a great break together. Also - I've been meaning to apologize about our phone conversation the other day. I feel bad because when you told me what happened to you, I didn't even say anything and just skipped over it to ask James for medical advice. Please forgive me for my insensitivity. I'll see ya in a couple of days.

Sarah Hastings said...

Sorry you coudn't get to utah but it does sound like you have had a wonderfu christmas. You are such a cool mom, someday i am going to grow up and be a cool mom like you...unfortunately i think my kids will be grown up by then also. guess I will have to work on that one.

Natalie said...

What great fun! It reminded me of when we went to the hotel/water park in Iowa!
Spencer and I read a book that you and your kids would love- "Won't You Be My Kissaroo" by Joanne Ryder. So fun and cute.

lbb said...

oh, jess. even though i'm sad you're not here right now, i'm happy ya'll made the best of it. of course.
in a way, it probably just felt so nice to be ALONE with James+kids. no distractions...
love you and wish you were coming to dinner tonight. we'll order you a roast beef sandwich, just in case you show up.

Sarah C said...

I am glad you had a good Christmas. I am sorry you couldn't fly home. You are such a good mom. You made the sad situation into a fun week. It looks like you all had a blast doing all the great things in Ohio.

Katie said...

Jessie- how can you say you don't take your kids to do anything fun..there were like 6 different activities in that post alone! Keep in touch. We miss you guys!

The Allred Family said...

I love the blog and I love you! How come you never told me about the three present thing? That is a great idea, but too late for my kiddos. They have come to expect way too much now! I thought I knew all of your cool secrets!

Bradden, Sunny, Hyrum, and Olivia Cannon said...

James do I see an almost six pack? Hope all is well and miss you guys! I sure hope you guys missed the -47 degree weather!