Christmas Fun

We have been keeping very busy this holiday season trying to squeeze in all of the Christmas fun we can since it will be here before we know it. Here are some of the things we have been up to...

My mom wanted a picture of all of the babies born this year for her Christmas card. Sadly, this was the best shot we could get. The good thing is that they are all so cute that it doesn't matter if they are all looking or smiling!

Our ward had our annual Breakfast with Santa activity last week. Somehow it ended up that we were the first ones in line to see Santa so we didn't have to wait like we usually do. All three boys did so well- no crying at all this year! I was so proud!

Later that morning I went with the youth in our ward to the Veteran's hospital to deliver the Christmas boxes that we made for them. It was such a neat experience. We were assigned to the Hospice wing which was really hard for some of our youth knowing that these Veterans didn't have very long to live. We talked to a man named Bill who fought in the Korean War. He was the cutest old man and was so excited that we were there. It was really cool to be able to thank these Veterans for sacrificing everything for our freedom.

Later that night we took the boys down to a street nearby that has been nicknamed "Candy Cane Lane!" We usually just drive by and look, but this year we actually got out and walked by all of the houses. It was so much better to walk- you could see so much more. We will definitely be walking every year from now on. The boys loved it!

Nathan danced around to the Christmas music that was playing!

Jake ran around counting all of the candy canes- and there were a lot of them!

One of last week's projects was to get all of my treats delivered to our family and friends. This year I decided to dip Rice Krispy treats, Nutter Butters, Oreos and pretzels. It was a huge pain and ended up costing a lot of money, but I think they turned out pretty cute. Next year I will probably go back to my normal baking!

Nathan had a little Preschool Christmas party this week that the parent's were invited to. They had a gift exchange and sang Christmas songs. It was really cute. I'm glad that Nathan loves preschool so much. I think he was more excited to see Ms. Cari at our ward Christmas party than he was to see Santa Claus!

Last Thursday night we went with my family on a yacht in Newport Harbor and were able to be part of the Light Parade. It was so much fun. The boys ran from room to room the entire night playing with their cousins and looking at all of the lights. The railing on the side of the boat was pretty thin and so Jon and I followed close behind them the entire night to keep them from falling in.

We were on the boat for almost 4 hours and by the very end the boys had lost it. Luckily we were almost back so it wasn't too bad. I think that's a long time to be on a boat for little kids, but at least they loved it up until the end!

Max had fun crawling around on the floor and trying not to get stepped on!

They had a microphone on the front of the boat with an amplifier so that those watching the parade on the shore could here us singing and talking. Nathan took the mic and sang "Jingle Bells" about 15 times. I told him to sing something else so he broke out singing the alphabet followed by "Twinkle Twinkle" and ended it off with "I Am a Child of God!" I'm sure the people on the shore were a little confused, but at least Nathan was having fun!

We finally got around to decorating our gingerbread house today after church. I think this is one of the best ones we've done (which isn't saying much)!

Not pictured activities include:

-Going to a Live Nativity

-Disneyland at Christmas time

-Going to see the play "It's A Wonderful Life" with Jon

-Driving around looking at Christmas lights
-Reading lots of Christmas stories
-Christmas Enrichment
-Cookie Exchange party
Jon's work party (that I was actually invited to this year!)

-Making Christmas crafts

-Going to Sing Noel

I love Christmas time. I feel like this year we have been extra busy, but luckily it's been with fun stuff. I figure that I can sleep after the holidays are over!

A funny side note... Last Sunday at church we started singing the opening hymn. We looked up at the chorister who is a little bigger and noticed that she was wearing a red sweater with white furry trim and her hair was kind of around her face. Jake looked up at her and got all excited and exclaimed very loudly, "Look, there's Santa Claus!" Needless to say, Jon and I started cracking up, but it was still pretty embarrasing!!!

OUT OF CONTROL

I feel like this accurately describes my older two children right now. They are seriously out of control. I could bore you with stories of how they poo in their underwear/pull-up and then take it off, touch it and then spread it all over every surface of the house they can find. Or how while I am unloading the car they come in, start the washer and throw clothes, potpourri and our dustbuster into about a foot of water. Or how while I am talking to the neighbor and the kids are strapped in the car one of them reaches over and beats up Max causing him to have a black eye and bruised forehead. Or how every time I turn around all of my Christmas ornaments and decorations are on the floor including my Willow Tree shepherd that is now missing a hand and can't hold his staff up. BUT, I won't bore you with those details. Instead I will share one story in particular with you to help make my point.

I took the kids to the doctor's last week to get their flu shots. I was a little apprehensive about taking all 3 of them without any help, but I've done it before and they did pretty well. Everything was going fine until they called us back to our room. As soon as we got in there the boys were just bouncing off of the walls. The doctor came in and the entire time I was talking to her I was wrestling with Jake who was pulling all of the paper covering off of the table, pulling on the blinds, etc. Jake and Nathan got their flu mists first and then they did Max's shot. While I was putting on Max's pants after the shot the boys darted out of the room and down the hall towards the waiting room. I hurried out of there to follow them, but wasn't too concerned since they always stop to play in the waiting room on our way out and I can never get them to leave.

So I made it to the waiting room and realized that they weren't there. Everyone was looking at me and asked if the two boys that went running through there were mine. They then proceeded to tell me that they ran out the office doors, out the main doors and are now running around the parking lot. Frantic I went out there and sure enough they were running around on opposite sides of the parking lot. So I ditched the stroller and while holding Max with one arm I yelled at Nathan to get over here and I went after Jake. By some small miracle Nathan actually came over to me and followed me while I tried to catch Jake. The entire time Jake was laughing and thinking this is the funnest game.

I finally cornered Jake, grabbed his hand and dragged him (since he wouldn't walk) with my surgery hand all the way back to the car. When we got there I realized that my keys were with the stroller that was still by the door. So I let go of Jake and went running over there to get it. Sure enough in those 5 seconds Jake took off running again. I cornered him again, dragged him back to the car and tried to get all three of them in their carseats. Jake beat me up while I buckled him in and that was pretty much the final straw. I got in the car, drove by all of the people who were staring at me during this whole event and did nothing to help me, and cried hysterically all the way home.

I know that it is a challenge to have a child with special needs, but sometimes it just seems more than I can handle. The sad thing is that it's not just Jake. Nathan has a serious attitude right now and doesn't listen to a word we say. We've tried every discipline trick out there and nothing seems to be getting through. People say that boys get easier as they get older and seriously right now that is the only thing that is getting me through. These boys are a challenge.

On a brighter note, we have been doing a lot of fun Christmas activities that I need to blog about. So stay tuned...

Christmas Cards

I am trying to get our Christmas cards out in the next couple of days so if you have moved since last Christmas will you please e-mail me your new address? If you didn't get a card last year and would like one this year, e-mail me your address as well and I will send you one. My e-mail is swdraper@hotmail.com. THANKS!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We went to Delta this year for Thanksgiving to spend time with Jon's family. Nathan has been calling "New Grandma" every night for the last few weeks and was so excited to go to her house. (I'm not sure why Nathan started calling her "New Grandma," but my mom is wondering if that makes her "Old Grandma!") We hit quite a bit of traffic on our way up, but we finally made it to Delta Thursday afternoon in time for dinner.

The dinner was delicious and the best part was that I didn't have to make anything for it! Thanks to the Drapers for letting us just show up and eat.

There was a small casualty after dinner. Jake and Nate went in the other room to play and knocked one of the pumpkin pies onto the floor. I felt really bad, but was secretly relieved that it wasn't one of their nice decorations broken on the floor!

Somehow it has become a tradition for Jon and I to take a picture together at the table during Thanksgiving dinner so here's this year's picture!

The next day Jon's sisters, Annie and Heidi and I headed up to Provo to do some after Thanksgiving sale shopping. It was so much fun and we found some good deals.

Meanwhile Jon and the boys stayed back in Delta. Jon's mom had been saving bags of leaves ever since we told her we were coming. I think she had more than 25 bags of leaves! The time finally came for the boys to dump them out and jump in them and they were so excited.

I told Jon to make sure that he took lots of pictures and apparently he took his job very seriously because he ended up taking around 250! These are just a few of my favorites.

Where's Nathan?!!!

Max wanted in on the action!

Kathryn and Marc helped with the kids while I was gone. Sorry you didn't get your paper done, Kathryn, but I'm sure that quality time with your nephews was much more important!

Jake and Nathan liked playing on Jon's dad's truck that is affectionately known to the family as "Elmer!"

The next day we went down to the Delta city center and walked around the Festival of Trees. There were some really cute trees and some not so cute ones, but overall I was very impressed and hope that some day my tree will be half as cute as any of those trees!

The boys thought it was fun to walk around and see all of the trees and gingerbread houses. Jon's mom made one of the houses and it turned out so cute. Hers is the one covered in chocolate- now that's my kind of gingerbread house!

Another failed attempt at a family picture where everyone is looking and smiling. I am bound and determined that we will get one eventually if we just keep trying!

We then went back to the house and just hung out and relaxed. It's always so nice when we are around Jon's family because they are so helpful with the kids. I actually was able to take a nap one day and sleep in another day- both very rare things for me!

I love this kid's cheeks and his smile. Even with an ear infection he was still a happy kid most of the trip.

That night we walked down to Main Street to watch the annual Delta City Light Parade. The boys loved seeing all of the lights and had fun just being outside and running around.

After the parade we headed back to the city center and waited in line for over an hour so the boys could sit on Santa's lap. Unfortunately, by the time it was our turn both Jake and Max were asleep so Nathan was the ony one who sat on his lap. He told Santa that he wants alphabet letters for Christmas. Should be easy enough!

We packed up and left early this morning to drive back home to California. We apparently didn't leave early enough since we still hit horrible traffic. It took us 12 hours to make a 9 hour drive. Thankfully the boys did really well, but I was a different story! I hate sitting in traffic.

Overall it was a really fun, relaxing weekend. It was so good to see Jon's family and to get to spend some time with them. Now I am so excited for Christmas and all of the fun festivities that come along with it. Stay tuned...

Random Thoughts and Events From the Weekend

Here's what we have been up to this weekend...

Jake had his last soccer game Saturday morning and I'm not going to lie to you, I am very excited that the season is finally over. The first few games were great- Jake was totally into it and even scored a few goals. However he quickly decided that soccer just wasn't his thing and would just sit down in the middle of the field or behind the goal and say, "I can't do it." Either that or he would wonder off and one of us would have to go chase after him and bring him back. If you look closely at this picture you will see Jake sitting in the baseball stands with Jon and Nathan while his game is going on! I think this attitude change had something to do with the fact that there was a ball hog on Jake's team that would steal the ball from anyone that had it and dribble down and score a goal every time. The coach never told him to pass the ball so I think after a while this got really old for Jake (and me) so he just decided that he was done. Baseball starts in the Spring so hopefully it will be a better experience for him.

The highlight of the season was definitely getting his trophy- he was pretty excited!

After the game we came home and got everything ready for my whole family to come over and watch the BYU v. Utah game. The party was fun, but the game was so sad. Poor BYU.

After the game we picked up the babysitter and went with some of our friends to see Twilight. I couldn't believe that Jon and the other husbands agreed to go, but surprisingly Jon actually like it- more than I did. I thought it was way too over the top cheesy, but I still enjoyed it. I think for Jon not knowing anything about the story line was actually an advantage. He just found it entertaining and wasn't comparing it to the book the whole time. So it turns out that two of the husbands liked it and the other two were having suicidal thoughts the whole time! You'll have to see it for yourself and let me know what you think.

My hand is healing nicely, though it is still pretty sore. My hand is all bruised, but the doctor wasn't too worried about that. I go in Wednesday to get the stitches out. I just can't wait to get full use of it back- my left hand is pretty useless!

So we sat down at church today and I looked over at Jake and realized that the security tag was still on his sweater vest! Apparently Jon didn't notice when he put the sweater on him that there was a huge security tag hanging off of the bottom. I didn't know what to do about it, so I just left it on there. Our Primary chorister called tonight to let me know about the tag. She said that Jake was playing with it all through Primary. Great! Way to draw attention to it, Jake! So embarrassing.

Here's a close up of the tag just in case you didn't see it in the previous picture!

Nathan came home from Nursery today with this picture that he colored of Jesus. I'm thinking that we need to show hom more pictures of Jesus so that he can get a more accurate idea of what colors to use!

And last but not least, my sister put this picture of me on her blog today and I was laughing so hard when I saw it! It's weird that I don't look anything like any of my kids- it's probably better that way!!

And that's it for our weekend. Pretty exciting, I know!

And the list goes on...

• Tonsillectomy
• ACL Reconstruction
• D&C
• 3 C-Sections
• Thyroidectomy
• Chollisysectomy (Gall Bladder)
  
  and now...
  
• Carpal Tunnel Release Surgery

This is seriously the list I have to write every time I fill out a medical form that asks me to list the surgeries I have had. It's kind of embarrassing! Ever since I was pregnant with Jake I have had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my right hand and wrist. It has gotten worse with each pregnancy and isn't going away so I finally decided to just have the surgery and get it fixed for good.
The surgery was this morning at an outpatient surgery center. It was a fairly simple procedure- they made a cut at the base of my palm and cut the ligament back relieving the pressure on the Carpal Tunnel nerve. The doctor said that there was a lot more pressure than he had thought, but that everything went well.
Jon took the day off of work and has been playing Mr. Mom all day. He even found time to clean our bathroom! He makes this job look easy! Right now I can't use my right hand which is highly annoying, but they say that the recovery is pretty quick. Thank goodness!

Pre-surgery (sorry about the bare shoulder!)

Post Surgery (I actually didn't get nauseous with the anesthesia this time- I think my body is getting used to it!)

Anyone wanna fight? I feel like a boxer!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

I've been in sort of a funk lately and decided today that decorating for Christmas was just the thing I needed to get me out of it. Jon brought all of the boxes in and put the tree up while I worked on the garland and nativities. Jake and Nathan wanted to help as well so they took it upon themselves to go through the boxes and put some of the decorations up. I think they have a real knack for it!

If you look closely you will see their Nativity blocks and a few pinecones in between each banister- now why didn't I think of that!

Here's the view from the back. Notice the decorations carefully placed at the top of the stairs. And you can't really see it, but there are pinecones lined up behind the blinds!

Nathan was proud of this little display of the nutcrackers.

What? You haven't heard of the version of the Nativity story where the tiger came to visit the baby Jesus?!!! This was compliments of Jake.

And last but not least they decided to decorate the tree. What do you think? Should I leave it like this? We are in a recession, I could just say that I couldn't afford to decorate the rest of it!

Pretty funny boys!