He's Come a Long Way

Just check out Kyle before his mall (I mean, "North Pole") visit with Santa.

Big difference from a week ago when he was hiding under chairs!

Loves It!

December 1st.

Loves it!

Today we officially started our advent calendar, Elf on a Shelf, and Kyle and Reed's school had Polar Express day.

Yes!

I think I'm going to try and have all my December posts be Christmas themed, we'll see.

Kyle and Reed wore their pajamas for Polar Express day. They were slightly confused when they changed out of their night time pajamas into different pajamas, but since they're my children, were thrilled when I brought out of the bag of Christmas themed headwear.

The kids were asked to decorate a stocking "as a family" (you know what that means) and bring it to school today.

How did I do? 

(I'm pretty impressed with myself for letting Reed write his name on a "mom" project.)

Vacay Pics That Have No Home

So we didn't actually go anywhere, but with Christmas break coming to a screeching halt yesterday, it was quite apparent that those two weeks were a  nice 'vacay' time for all of us. 

I think we even got to sleep in a few days.

7:45 is sleeping in, right?

Just a few shots that didn't make the cut elsewhere:

Some Pictures and The People I'm Going to Start Stalking

Don't look now, but I think we might actually have some traditions on our hands!

Snowmobiling last Christmas eve was a great way to funnel some of JR's excited energy, so we gave it a go again this year.

My favorite part? I didn't have to drive!

JR begged and begged to drive, but he just couldn't with the many feet of new, fresh powder. 

He rode with Granny Sherry.

Our snowmobile group (Jason's parents)

Really, who could resist playing in all that fluffy goodness? 

And just like last year, that evening we rode the Polar Express.  

 

Reed received the "first gift of Christmas".

And who do you think the chefs picked out to dance with them?

My parents, of course!

See, I got my "fun" gene from both sides.

Okay. So this next part isn't a tradition, but I love a good overdone Christmas decoration, so I have to include these people.  

On our way home from town we always see a house with lots of lights up on top of a hill/mountain.

(Hill or mountain...depending on what part of the country you live in.)

JR kept asking to go, and we finally went by on Christmas Eve.  Now, if I'd have known it was going to be a-may-zing we would have gone up there every night!

 I so appreciate that they welcomed onlookers in full costume. 

Do you think these people would be scared if I informed them that they were my new best friends?

JR with my new best friends (plus a random girl).

Reed and my new best friends.

From A Galaxy Far, Far Away

There are days Durango, Colorado might as well be a million miles from Houston, Texas.

Some days, (like the day the Walmart worker told Kyle and Reed "Santa doesn't bring guns!" when she asked them what Santa was bringing them for Christmas) that I shake my head and think, "I'm just not cut out for this place."

And since Christmas time can bring out homesickness in the best of us, looking at this picture has brought more than a few smiles to my face this year.

Presenting: My favorite Santa picture. Ever.

Cowboy hat.

Shorts.

Flip-flops.

Merry Christmas from The Ingersolls!

Isaiah 9:6

 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

Come On In!

Jason and I hosted our Annual Christmas Open House last night. 

I had the camera set out so I would be sure and take pictures. 

But I thought, Hum, maybe I should take a picture of the table before everyone arrives.

And then I said, "Here Jason, take a picture of us...just in case."

 And those were the last two pictures taken. 

We had a great turn out, and so much fun!  I think we had about 30 adults and 20+ kids. 

Speaking of kids... 

They had their own little party downstairs in our play room. 

So it was with a deep breath that I went downstairs to check out the "damage".

I quickly started laughing when I spotted this.

A sock sticking out of the piano! 

Is this the kid version of the lampshade on the head?

I think it's safe to say we all had fun.

Lighting Up the Barnyard

The Tuesday night before Thanksgiving we all headed out in our shorts and flip flops to visit Santa's Town in College Station. 

Now If you're a non Texan you might be thinking...College Station? 

Yep, College Station.

 Home of Jason's alma mater, Texas A&M. 

And for you Aggies out there, I'm sure I was supposed to 'Whoop!' or 'Howdy', but as a Texas graduate I just can't bring myself to do it.

Now you'd think I'd come home from Santa's Town with a camera full of Christmas light pictures.  And though the lights were amazing, I have exactly one picture of the lights. 

I do, however, have tons of these:

Kyle with a goat

JR and Kyle with more goats

JR and Kyle with a llama

Kyle with a pig

Kyle with yet another goat

Now, besides being tired of seeing pictures of Kyle with goats, you might be wondering why Reed has no goat pictures.  Well, that would be because Reed looked like this the entire time he was in the petting zoo.

So to sum up:

Christmas lights great.

JR and Kyle love petting zoos.

Reed? Not so much.

I'm the Poet. And Yep, I Know it!

Twas the days before Christmas, and all through the town

not an Ingy was resting, too busy jumping up and down.

The skis were swooshing down the mountain with care,

much easier than snowboarding since they're a pair.

JR was nestled all snug in his coat,

as his snowmobile glided just like a boat.

With Jason at the wheel, he finally gave in

and let JR drive, now that's a big grin!

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

It was each one of the grandparents. Whew! That's a lot of chatter!

We loaded the car and headed on out.

It was -1 so we bustled about.

Waiting at the train station for our next ride,

The Polar Express we took mountain side.

When what to our wondering eyes should appear?

The North Pole! It was there, we could see it so clear.

He wore a big white beard and a bright red suit,

and then I saw those shiny black boots.
Of course, since this is Durango, he was also quite trim.

Could there be any doubt? It's Santa! I know him!

There were plenty of presents, lots of things to unwrap.

And so much food I really need to go run a few laps.

The kids were excited, in total Christmas bliss.

In fact, the whole time they just looked like this:

Nor-way, Jose!

I've written many times about my mom being a German-Jew-Presbyterian. My dad has always said 'Reynolds' is Irish, but I just think of us as being "Native Texan". So by my calculations that makes me a big ol' Irish-Texan-German-Jew-Presbyterian that's actually a Baptist-mutt. Which is why I always find it exciting that my kids are 25% Norwegian, thanks to Granny Sherry's 100 percentness. So last night we had a traditional Norwegian dinner. Actually, Sherry said we should be eating lutefisk for a real Norwegian Christmas dinner, but even Sherry isn't interested in eating fish soaked in lye. Instead, we ate homemade Swedish meatballs. And as you can see, Reed was a big fan of the meatballs. I guess he figured he better really enjoy the food since he hit the Norway genes jackpot as he inherited the bluest eyes and the blondest hair of the bunch.
I was most excited about having lefse for dessert. Now I'm sure the Rochester Cousins have lefse once a week, but it's actually a real treat for us since Sherry had to order it from Minnesota (the only place in the entire country you can get it).
All you other non-Norwegians must be wondering...what in the world is lefse? Well, the best way to explain it: it's like a really, really thin tortilla and you eat it with soft butter (apparently, the butter being soft is super important) and brown sugar. You can see the 50% Norwegian preparing his lefse here. (Soft butter in the bottom right hand corner.) Of course, this nonNorwegian- German-Jew-Baptist-Irish-Texan is happy to eat lefse whether the butter is hard or soft. I mean, can you really go wrong with any kind of butter...and brown sugar? I'm thinkin' not!

Norwegians eating meatballs.


Norwegians eating lefse.

Wrap It Up....Please!

I will not let you defeat me. I will not let you bring me down on this Christmas Eve. Instead, pesky Wrapping Paper, I am choosing to celebrate. Celebrate that I am the worst present wrapper in the entire world. Yes! I am the champion; the gold medalist. Release the doves, because I have taken my stance on the podium. With tears streaming down my face, I raise my bouquet of flowers in the air as the last notes of The Star-Spangled Banner swell. I win. Worst present wrapper. Ever.

I truly believe I might have some sort of depth perception problem. I always cut the paper just a little too short, or have enough left over to make myself a cute paper trench coat. I try my hardest to make the paper look smooth and pretty, I really do. But, as you can see, it always bunches up and looks puffy...even on easy small square presents. It's so bad, in fact, that my mom even says it's bad. And you know it's really bad when the mother of an only-child-daughter says so.

But this year I've had a revelation. It tells us in Luke that Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes. And though swaddling clothes sound really sweet and pretty, let's be honest, poor Mary was wrapping her new born Baby in whatever strips of cloth she could find. And if the Best Christmas Present ever was wrapped in a patchwork of torn cloth, then I'm pretty sure my wrappings this year will only remind us of Who we celebrate this Christmas Eve. That's right, I didn't just give up and start taping strips of wrapping paper to this box. Spiderman and Yo Gabba Gabba are coming together in a mishmash of messiness to point us straight to The Manger.

Merry Christmas!

Luke 2:11: For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

It Happens in Threes

Today was the day. The excitement trifecta:

Pajama day.
Party day.
Play date.

The Perfect Storm of activities which all converged this December 18th and jolted JR out of bed at 6:00 AM. It was almost too much for his little 6 year old heart to endure. But endure we did. And when I say "we", I most obviously mean "me", as JR was much too busy swinging from the rafters to notice The Storm he was riding out.

So let's start at the beginning.

Pajama Day.
And just to kick it up a notch...Star Wars pajamas.


School Christmas party.
Like Hugh Hefner, Kyle and Reed also enjoy lounging in pajamas all day, so it was an easy wardrobe choice for them on PJ day. As you can see, I didn't have any problems keeping them occupied while the kids were at the all school sing-a-long.


But when the party started it was a completely different story. Of course they were both insistent on sitting in JR's chair. And since JR isn't a little girl, he was having none of that. I finally satisfied everbody by pulling up 2 extra chairs.


And to complete the excitement trifecta: Play date.
It'd been a long day, so I took the liberty of taking the kids to Happy Hour. Now don't get all up-in-arms, I bought the first round! Sure I had 5 kids in the car, but nothing tates as good as a Sonic slushy after a hard day.

It's Play Time

This is my 300th post of the year, Yeah me! My goal was to have 300 blog posts this year, but don't worry, I won't quit on you now that I'm there. You know me, so goal and task oriented. (Is that laughter I hear out there?) I'm telling ya, being married to Jason for 8 years has really rubbed off on me. I was telling him the other day about a situation and the words, "and it's just so frustrating because it's so disorganized, and you know me, I really like having a plan" actually came out of my mouth. I started laughing as soon as I heard myself say it. I'm still the master of the multi-task, but my ability to make plans, to-do lists, and write things down has increased tremendously around all these A-type Ingersolls I live with. And what is the subject of my 300th post you ask? Oh just a few of my favorite things: JR, Kyle, Reed, and a Christmas play.

Isn't this the sweetest picture ever?! I know, I know I'm the mom that was taking pictures during the prayer instead of praying. But come on, how could I miss out on that little snapshot? So the Christmas play at church was really sweet. JR was very upset that Kyle and Reed were going to attend. He kept saying, "But they'll be bad, they'll make too much noise." Thankfully, they did a great job. They clapped and danced along with most of the performance (it helped that there were lots of songs), and if they even looked like they were thinking about "being bad" Jason and I handed them a cookie. Yes, our parenting skills are really quite amazing. Here they are dancing along. I'm not sure they realized they weren't actually in the play.

Here are some shots from the evening, and then a video with JR saying his big line. He was so excited to get "a part" and practiced and practiced. I kept telling him he got the best line in the whole play..."Jesus makes Christmas!"