December on FB

Chocolate and science advent calendars this year

First World Problem: shoe choice on a rainy day when you didn't realize the drive thru was closed at Starbucks 😆🤦‍♀️

For his birthday, Isaac got a Crunch Labs kit from some really thoughtful people which included the components of a disc launcher. He loved putting it together and loved playing with it.

Yesterday, he discovered that he can put several Lego heads in the launcher and shoot them all off in different directions all at once.

It's the gift that keeps on giving. 😆🙄

Isaac, hunched over a Lego building book, "I have finally found my purpose."

Christmas

Someday we may get to the point where we can open presents Christmas morning after the sun comes up, but this was not that year. Since we were doing this early in the morning, I must give a hat's off to our extended WA family who all would most likely still have been sleeping at 7am on a holiday but who were at our house right on time! 

I took this picture while the kids were squirming on the stairs and it was so lovely to have so many people here this morning that there was barely enough room for all of the stockings.

Did I say the kids were squirming? That may have been an exaggeration. One of the kids was squirming. The other three were struggling to be awake and coherent. Eight million pictures later and it was go time.

I put my phone away while we opened presents....and then for the rest of the day. But all the boys got at least one gift they loved (usually from their list) and one awkward gift. After all the boxes and wrapping paper were properly sorted in the trash and recycling, I took a long winter's nap before we went to Rachel and Nana's for Christmas linner. At which point we all ate too much delicious food, played JackBox, and then gathered for a group selfie with Nana's tree.

A great time together! 

The Eve of Christmas

We're specializing in low-key holidays this year since I struggle to breathe and Jason struggles to walk. This morning Jason and I put together a puzzle. The fun was irresistible to Ben so he joined us. No scissors were used in assembling this puzzle, but there were a few times that were tempted! 

Ben and Isaac were peeled from their respective electronic devices long enough to make a Gingerbread House of Horror. I don't know why one of the gingerbread people left a head on the wall, but I also am not willing to ask.

Michael went to his girlfriend's house for the evening, so it was just Josh, Ben, and Isaac here to open their Christmas Eve gift after our dinner of pulled pork hoagies and chips. It's always such a "surprise" each year what they get this night.

Okay, maybe they have a general idea of what they are getting, but not which specific pajamas. I was pretty pleased with my choice of pj top this year.

Michael had a fabulous time at A's house (exhibit A; the hat) so he got to open his gift alone. 

And then off to bed so everyone could be rested for the 7am wake-up time Christmas morning!

"Sick" Day

To be fair, Isaac actually does have a cold. But the question is: Is he sick enough to stay home from school?

Yesterday morning he sounded so sick that I kept him home for one more day. 

Almost 20 years into parenting and I have apparently forgotten that kids always sound sicker in the morning. I suspect that there is a biological explanation for this, although there may be a "I want to stay home from school" component as well.

After keeping Isaac home yesterday, the following things happened during the day:

• Isaac argued with me as he believes that a triangle can have two parallel sides (yes, he does know what parallel means)
• Isaac built himself a robot costume out of tape and the excessive number of Amazon boxes in the house
• Isaac discovered that the disc launcher (built the day before from the Crunch Labs kit he got for his birthday), if filled with Lego heads can shoot Lego heads in all directions at the same time

Isaac went to school today.

Isaac is 9

December is a great month for this kid. His birthday and Christmas are within 10 days of each other. Since this is an odd numbered birthday, this is not a friend party year. I was still planning on inviting a couple of his friends over for the dinner and movie night since his birthday was on a Friday. Sadly, he came down with a cold with nasty cough. So, no friends but he also didn't have to go to school. 

He ate chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast after sleeping in until 9am. 

He opened some of his presents that evening. The hand-directed drone was a hit! But not literally because it has sensors and so doesn't hit the walls.

 Family birthday celebration was this evening so we got to put candles in a doughnut.

He added the sprinkles after blowing out the candles and he was quite thorough about it.

His birthday gift from our WA family is a yearlong subscription to Crunch Lab - a service that delivers a STEM-related kit to your door once a month. It was difficult to drag him away from the kit to eat dessert, but he got his fill of sugar and then returned to finish the kit. This month is a disc launcher and is thrilled! It should be a great year!

Winter Fest

Two nights, so much music.

Round 1

Rachel joined me and Michael at the Koval Center to see Ben perform.

Ben performed with the Green Orchestra. We were very impressed. Perhaps so impressed as to imply slight insult. But, truly. Ben claimed that the piece was an easy one. I maintain that the key to a concert is to pick a music the group has mastered. The audience would prefer not to listen to the musicians struggle through a more complicated piece. 

This was a 2-in-1 event for Ben as he also sang with the Bass Choir. Impressively, he soloed in Latin!

Round 2

Rachel joined me and Ben at the Koval Center to see Michael perform.

Michael accompanied the presentation of the visual arts projects (not seen here). He was asked fairly last minute to play so I was quite impressed with his improvisation of uncharacteristically calm music. And even more impressed later when he told me it was all variations on the melody of Never Gonna Give You Up. I think an argument could be made that he Rick Roll'ed the entire audience.

Then he sang with the Symphonic Choir. He is always very critical of this group, but we thought they did well. Michael has such a beautiful, resonant voice that I can often pick him out even in a choir.

Both nights ended the same: we dropped off Aunt Rachel and went to Dairy Queen for Blizzards.

Holiday Lights

 This evening was dry and chilly with no swim meets or shifts working at the skate rink - a perfect night to drag take the boys to see holiday lights!

With hot chocolate and hot apple cider in our bellies, we drove north to Spanaway for the lights.

The response to this activity was mixed.

Josh invited his girlfriend so they spent most of the time chatting with Michael in the backseat.

Ben slept through as much as he could.

And Isaac excitedly pointed out everything to us for the entire drive. He may be the only one interested in going next year, but I am glad we went.

Decorating for Christmas

My semester ended on Wednesday so now all the holiday things can happen at the house. With the click of the "submit" button for my last assignment, I silenced my inner Grinch. School and swim still continue however, so we didn't get around to putting up the tree until today. I finally caved and bought a pre-lit tree after years of battling with the lights. 

The boys are giving mixed reviews: Ben says our tree is "basic" and that Nana's is way better. Isaac says our tree is "a million times better than Nana's!" Michael and Josh are (probably wisely) staying out of it. I guess we've figured out who my favorite child for the weekend is! 

Governor's Mansion for the Holidays

Another holiday themed event we enjoyed this year after a several year hiatus: a tour of the governor's mansion all dolled up (the house, not us) for Christmas. We were only allowed to take pictures in one room, but it was worth it because we were able to catch up with this beautiful, smiling face!

 Michelle was also in town, so we got a group photo with her and Elisabeth.

And another selfie

And another another selfie

A lovely way to spend a Wednesday afternoon.

Christmas Trees

Apparently the Christmas Trees at Providence Hospital is an event I can only get Jason and the boys to go to once. Since we already went (years ago), it was just me, Mom, and Rachel this time. 

The trees do not disappoint. While red and gold balls with white lights is about as far as my decorating skill set goes, I can admire the incredible skills of others. Some of my favorites:

Peter Pan

 This wreath I volunteered Mom to make for me

The Grinch

Elf-on-the-Shelf (who might be evil, but the tree was fun)

Rachel helped me out so I could get a picture of the boys with Santa and Mrs. Claus

And we even got Mom in a selfie!

Death By Chocolate

There is ::ahem:: a lot of testosterone in this house. Sometimes I feel like I am drowning in it. The poop and fart and penis and deez nuts jokes can be unrelenting.

So I decided to have a ladies' night murder mystery party. The kit comes with the characters, storyline, and detective Hercule McClue - all I had to do was invite the people and make the food. The kit also had a recommended menu, but that included 48 quail eggs (HAHA!) so I decided to go with a chocolate themed menu: Crunchy salad with cocoa vinaigrette, chicken mole, three chocolate ice creams (dark, milk and white), and hot cocoa. 

I don't know if it was the game, the company, or the chocolate, but everyone seemed to have a good time.

Some notable characters: Little Fitz and Ziggy (aka Isaac's Pikachu Rachel grabbed from his bedroom)

Dr. Doris Johnson, eccentric archaeologist

And Mike Bison, the murderer of the evening

I think I will do this again!

November on FB

Our amazing family photographer Rebecca Cornwall Photography is a genius who mixes serious with silly when working with our boys.

Dear Professor,

I apologize that I did not turn in my assignment on time. I did not have access to my computer. Unfortunately, I made a poor life choice: I let my 8yo use my computer to create a digital avatar of himself with Bitmoji.

With all the body and clothing options on the Bitmoji website there are probably millions of possible combinations. 

I'm pretty sure he went through them all.

Michael's Piano Recital, Featuring Ben on Cello

Michael's lovely piano teacher held a recital showcasing her studio of piano students. Her students run the gamut of darling little beginner to the impressive Michael Miller. At one of his lessons I had asked about duet music for Michael and Ben which then somehow translated into the two of them playing a duet at Michael's recital. 

If you combine this:  

with this:

you get Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel. Despite (or maybe because of) the grimaces of intense concentration on their faces, they both played beautifully. 

Then Michael showed us his wicked piano skills and played the intense, athletic, and amazing Csikós Post by Hermann Necke. 

Of course they were hypercritical of themselves, but the audience thought they did a great job - and not just the audience members who are related to them. I have always enjoyed watching the kids perform their instruments but they are just getting better and better and more impressive all the time. 

Turkey Day, Now Without Turkey

Once again we have lived on the wild side and rebelled against societal norms by having ham for Thanksgiving. You're welcome, Meleagris gallopavo!

The Millers were not hosting this year.  So after creating a schedule for our contributions to the main meal, I decided that Isaac and I needed to get some wiggles out. He may have more wiggles than I do, but it was good for both of us. I also decided that we were going to go on a "trash" walk and spend time making our little corner of the world a bit cleaner. We grabbed a bag and our grabber tool and went out the door. 

While I enjoy having a positive impact, it is also disheartening to see all the trash people just dump outside. It is so weird to me that some people thing the world is their trashcan or maybe that there is a cleaning fairy? In any case, we found a lot of stuff.

On to happier things - the amazing SPREAD!

Gotta dig in!

Our after meal activities this year were: photo scavenger hunt (see examples below), Airhead/Laffy Taffy taste testing, Kahoot, and JackBox games.

"Group selfie"

"Jumping"

"Hugging a tree"