Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Operation Onion and O Dark Thirty



So as not to ruin the big surprise for the boys, we referred to their new bicycles as 'onions' in regular conversation with one another.  The code was a success, they never suspected, although I'm sure they wondered why Mom and Dad were always talking excitedly about onions so close to Christmas time.

Daddy O assembled them late last night and I am happy to report that the strong smell of rubber tires is gone from my bedroom and that there is some walking room inside the closet once again.  As you can see, he was pretty excited and couldn't help but admire his work while we waited to make sure the kids were asleep.


By 10:30, everyone was sleeping, we placed the onions beside the tree, yawned and called it a night...


ZERO DARK THIRTY (FAMILY O STYLE)

1:00 am -  We awoke to a pitter patter of feet and a light knock at the door.  Foregoing any response from Mom and Dad, Boy O entered the room to inform us that he had fallen off the bed, hit his face, and  oh, by the way-Santa came!  We should all get up and look.

Daddy O took him back to his room and told him to go back to sleep.  On the way out the door, I specifically remember him saying not to wake his brother under any circumstance (they were sharing a room).

1:45 am -  I hear a small commotion and see a light on in Boy O's room while getting up to nurse Newbie O.  As Daddy O went to their bedroom to see what was going on, I caught a glimpse of Boy O fully dressed and Baby O stark naked.  I heard Baby O running around saying how he wanted to ride his bike.

Apparently, Boy O could not contain his excitement, immediately got dressed at 1 o'clock in the morning and  in the process accidentally woke his brother and decided that he too must be fully dressed to start the day.  Somehow he managed to get Baby O undressed, but of course Baby O lost interest  half way through-explaining the exuberant naked child jumping around the room.

I don't know how Daddy O managed to get them back to sleep...

3:30 am -  We were again awoken to children telling us it was time to get up.  I'm pretty sure I remember the response being something like, "GET BACK IN YOUR ROOM AND DON'T COME OUT BEFORE 5 AM!"

6:15 am - I truly can't believe they made it this long and it was finally time to discover and inspect.

Operation Onion in all its glory, Baby O no longer in his birthday suit and Boy O still fully dressed.



As usual the generosity overflowed and all my kids, myself included are incredibly spoiled.






I'm kind of hoping the kids go into a Christmas coma for the evening and sleep all the way through 'til morning.  Then my Christmas wish of just a few hours of uninterrupted sleep would come true....not likely but there's always hope I guess.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Anticipation

THE DAY BEFORE

Getting to Christmas eve is at least 1 month worth of preparation, assorted decorating, cookie baking, gift giving, and party going.  The anticipation is palpable and there seemed to be a huge sigh of relief today when grandparents arrived, the gifts around the tree grew substantially, and cookies for Santa (and a carrot for the reindeer) were placed on the plate.

We started off the morning with North Pole pancakes.  Sweet, but the boys seemed to appreciate it.


Then some sibling horseplay while watching the Polar Express.  Newbie O loves her brothers.


Making cookies for Santa.  I'm too cheap to buy the cake pop materials, so we just improvise with Popsicle sticks.  Works for us!


Later that afternoon, the boys played Beyblades with their Mimi up in the play scape while I had fun feeding her some butternut squash.  The squash was a big success.  Much better than last week's apples.


You would never know it by these pictures, but Newbie O has been feeling pretty cruddy-she caught yet another cold that was brought home from first grade.  I'm hoping it passes quickly.


Then it was time to change her into her new Christmas pajamas.  She's a big drooler, so bibs are necessary at all times now.  I think those teeth are beginning to push through.


And finally it was time to pick one present to open before bedtime-Baby O had his eye on this one for a few days and Boy O kept changing his mind until he finally settled on the pair of Spiderman pajamas.  They were both a big hit.



Boy O was so excited, he rushed to his room and put them on immediately.  Very sophisticated.  Daddy O commented that he now resembled Hugh Hefner.  Boy O responded by saying, "Who's Hugh Hefner?".  Never mind.

This gift is bittersweet-Boy O was just still fitting into a size 3T when he came home not even 3 years ago.  These pajamas are a good fit and they are a size 10.  He's growing like a weed.


It's 8 o'clock.  All the kids are in bed.  The cookies have been oh so carefully/strategically placed near the fireplace.   Baby O was so tired that he asked to go to bed before 7:30 and after Boy O spotted a bright red light traveling through the sky, he immediately turned off the movie we were watching and informed everyone that they should hit the hay as well.


From our family to yours, hoping your holidays are very merry!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The Advent Calender


The advent calender has become quite the fixture in the O Family household.  Boy O enjoyed it solo his first Christmas with us and last year Baby O was able to join in the fun.  Sometimes it's candy, sometimes a small toy, but I saved the miniature whoopee cushions for the 17th which coincided with a special visitor.  Such fun.




Their Grandpa aka 'Chief' also brought a larger version and we had fun with them for a couple of days until they kicked the bucket from too much use.  Nothing better than children erupting in giggles before you even have a chance to sit down. We also enjoyed subjecting Newbie O to the festivities.  I think she got a kick out of it as well.


Pffffttttt!

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Continuing the Tradition, Part Two


We created many new traditions a couple of years ago in this post.  Last year I was a little preoccupied with being pregnant and not being able to find any of my baking materials in my teeny tiny rental kitchen so I didn't document too much.  We did do a gingerbread house, but it was from one of those kits from the store.  And after trying to recreate year one,  I found myself thinking to myself many times that the pre-made kit is the way to go.  It's almost as if in the back of my head I think it doesn't count if there isn't some sort of serious painful labor involved.  


Since two kids would be participating this time instead of just one, I decided there would be less strife if there were two separate gingerbread houses.  This was a good decision.  Luckily, Newbie O was happy to just enjoy the show.


The gingerbread itself is hard as a rock.  I even told them that if they wanted to eat it, they could.  Both of them did their very best to try but found it much easier to eat the royal icing and bowls full of candy.  And that's exactly what they did.  More of it made it into their mouths than onto the house itself.





The finished products were pretty amazing.  And don't think for a moment I haven't noticed that M & M's have been slowly disappearing from the gingerbread village.  Normally my first suspect would be Boy O, who is tall enough to reach the counter, but I did catch Baby O this morning with a mouth full of something.  Later I noticed the kitchen stool had been placed right below these colorful creations....unfortunately, he doesn't yet know how to fold it back up and put it back in the pantry to cover his tracks.  I guess he thought the payoff was worth it...


Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Good Tidings of Comfort and Joy


This was given to Boy O last week by a very sweet teacher.  I laughed and laughed when I saw what he had done.  Apparently it just ate him up inside wanting to know what kind of 'joy' was inside.  He was so disappointed to learn that it was just a piece of Styrofoam.  He said he was sure it would be some type of candy.  In his own words, "Mom, it says that there is joy inside-but there's nothing in there.  You can have it if you want."

Hee, hee, hee.....still laughing.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Serious Business


I think I've finally met my match.  Competition wise that is.  This is how Boy O and I spend our evenings.  It's usually a five game minimum of the game 'sequence' for kids.  At the moment Boy O is ahead.  But there is always tomorrow....


Friday, December 7, 2012

Fabulous at Five Months


Another month for Newbie O.  She is slowly starting to get on a schedule (can you hear the angels in my head singing Hallelujah! in the background?)  She goes to bed around 6 o'clock in the evening and every once in a while will take two naps a day.  On one hand it's great, but on the other, poor Daddy O sees her for a few minutes in the morning and when he gets home at 5 pm, she is usually at her fussiest.  She still gets up several times a night, but I can take it if there are some breathers during the day.  I can't quite put my finger on what has changed-I'm sure it's a combination of just getting older and gaining some weight.


This month she started a slow introduction to solid foods with some pureed sweet potato and mushy bananas.  She doesn't quite have the hang of it and most of it ends up elsewhere, but it's a start.  She is also great at grabbing things now.  She could grab things before, but now the grabbing seems to have more of a  purpose.  Jewelry and hair are her favorites, so it's back to ponytails and no earrings for the next year or so (and I was just getting to know the contents in my jewelry box again).  She also likes to grab her foot and give it a good chew.  Oh to be that flexible again.


Miss Sassy Pants is finally figuring out her youngest older brother.  Up until now, she has withheld judgement, not knowing what to think of all the noise surrounding Baby O.  Now, all he has to do is jump up and down and it's a giggle fest.  She thinks he's the most hilarious thing ever.  Baby O loves the positive attention and carries on a full conversation with her all the time.  He does get a bit jealous from time to time and after the above 5 month photo session, insisted on his own.  With the 5 month sticker of course.


Unfortunately, he refused to wear the headband and bow combination-I thought it would add a more realistic touch, but he had other plans.  Such a handsome boy.

So, five months in a nutshell:  not sure if life is getting better or if I'm just used to functioning on an incredible amount of lack of sleep.  Thank goodness these kiddos are so cute during the day-their smiles make it all worth while.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Seeing Santa


Cowboy Kringle (as he is known here), started seeing kids at noon and although we had all intentions of getting there right away, 3' ish was about as good as it could get with our crew.  I don't have the end result in hand, but they were classic.  Newbie O's cowlick was in full swing,  Baby O's smile grimace was the biggest ever and Boy O spilled salsa on his brand new sweater not 10 minutes before go time.  But hey, no one cried so I deemed it a smashing success.

The title is a bit of a tease, but we were on the way to take pictures with Santa, so this is the best I can do.




And don't think for a second that Newbie O wasn't in on all the fun.


Just in case you think we are always rainbows and lollipops, I did not capture the two bestie brothers fighting/kicking/tattling on one another on the way home (I was too busy yelling).  Despite the typical sibling interludes, they sure do make spirits bright and it was a great way to start on the countdown.  More to come.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Thankful

I am most grateful for my family.  Some scenes from Family O this past Thanksgiving.

Singing 'the wheels on the bus' to his little sister.



Playing with play dough-pure entertainment for Newbie O and her big brother loves an audience.


Evenings on the front porch.



Is there any other way to spend the first night of Thanksgiving break than taking a bubble bath in Mom and Dad's tub?  Not in this house.


 These are supposed to be bunny ears, but I think they look like horns...


Tummy time with big brother.


My new running partner.


Big brothers wanted in on the action.


Boy O loves to play football with his Dad.  He's really good too.  Kind of scary how good.



Here's a family photo-not everyone is happy.  And yes, Newbie O's entire head of hair is one big cow-lick.   She prefers to wear hats most days.



From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!