Christmas With the Sharps

We had a very good Christmas this year. Kids actually slept in until 8:30, which was a great Christmas present for us, and they had a blast sleeping in the living room by the tree (this is a tradition on Cliff's side). It is tradition on my side of the family to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast Christmas Day. I have changed it to orange rolls because my kids don't do cinnamon, and because they are so easy to make when you buy the pan of Rhodes orange rolls. I know, I am lazy. Last year, we tried to do breakfast first and then presents, which was a bad idea, so we switched it around and opened gifts first. Still a bad idea. I think I just need to give up on my children eating a formal breakfast on Christmas morning.
The boys were great with presents. Brandon was hilarious, because he would hold a present up and say, "Megatron? Are you in there?" He is obsessed with Transformers right now. Benjamin just thought it was fun to rip something and not get in trouble. He kept looking at me like he was thinking, really? You're just going to let me do this and not say no?
My parents will get a huge kick out of this pic. Yes, I did it. I got pants for my daughter that reach up to her neck. Just like my dad did when I was young. Only mine were maroon corduroys, not jogging pants. Stylin', I know.
Nadia was a little puzzled by this present. "What?! You got me Caprisuns?!" We kept telling her to open the box, and when she finally did, she had shirts inside. Really, I'm not so cheap that I would gift my child juice for her lunchbox. It can get hard to find boxes around the holidays, and sometimes I have to be creative. They are very sturdy and can hold quite a bit. Plus, you have the great factor of surprise. I would recommend them to everyone.

After Christmas morning was over, we went to visit with my fam and sis for a few days. My bro who is also up here and his fam came as well, so we had a pretty hoppin' party in Cache Valley. We had ham, turkey with all the fixings, and all the baking that I did Monday. This included a cake pan of brownies, 16 cupcakes (we had to sacrifice a few for tasting purposes), 3 dozen cranberry cake mix cookies, and a cake pan of rice crispies treats with dark chocolate M&M's. The next day was turkey enchiladas which are a family favorite, and I won't tell you any more because I ate way too much and would rather skip the embarrassment.

Instead I will end with another great holiday story that we retell every year. Okay, not really, but it is pretty funny. One year, I chose my brother Steven out of the hat for Christmas presents. There are five siblings in my family, plus our own families we now have, so it tends to be easier to just pull a name out of the hat and buy for one sibling. Anyway, Steven needed a new wallet pretty badly. So I found a nice one for him, pretty similar to what he had but with a different coin pocket that had a flap so his change wouldn't fly out everytime he opened it. I thought I would be clever and play a little joke on him as well. Steven is a big cereal fan, and the tops for him is either Cookie Crisp or Lucky Charms. Well, this season they had just come out with Chocolate Lucky Charms, which was every child's and dentist's dream. Steven loved it. So I bought a box of it, CAREFULLY opened the flaps on top, and jiggled everything around in there to fit the cereal and the new wallet. This was harder than I thought. They pack those cereal boxes pretty full. Christmas morning, Steven sees his present under the tree, and thinks it's a shirt box. Until it makes weird noises every time it moves (from the cereal). I loved seeing his face when he saw the box. He was so disappointed but tried to look happy. Not really. Steven, don't ever play poker. I kept trying to tell him after all the presents were opened to have some cereal, so he would open the box and see the wallet, but without success. The next day I was not at all subtle about it and told him to open the box already. He did it grudgingly, and then found the wallet after I told him what I had done. He was pretty happy then, and thought it was very sneaky.

So this year, My sis and hubby decide to go in together on something really NICE for me. She found a very cute Coach bag and told Cliff she thought I would like it. So he told her to get it. Side note: he had no idea what Coach was, and thought it was like a saddle bag or some old stage coach thing, until my bro-in-law Scott got on the phone and explained it was like the Armani of the suit world. Then the big epiphany of "Oh!" She sent it in the Coach gift bag they give you when you make a purchase, telling Cliff I would never guess it really was a Coach anything. She was so right. So now I no longer hold the title of Sneaky Sibling #1. Which means you all better watch out for next year!!!

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing

Just thought I'd try to post two of our musical angels singing for Christmas. Number 3 thought it was more fun to look through the camera than do his thing, but he was leading the music for the two older ones.


Sorry I didn't post this sooner. We did this Christmas Eve, and then left for Cache Valley the next morning/afternoon to see the grandparents and my Sis from VA. They don't have internet access anymore since they are selling their house, so I had to wait till we were back home. Hope you all had a great Christmas holiday with your loved ones!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

The other day at work, there was an announcement. "Teachers, (they never include us lunch ladies) please excuse the interruption. The thermometer is reading -12 so recess will be inside today. We will update you if there are any changes." About 45 minutes later, recess was back outside because it was only -8.

Seriously?

Maybe it's because I'm not from Idaho, but isn't that still just frigid?

Today was not much better. The snow was beautiful, the sky was clearing from the last storm we had, and I thought, "What a pretty Christmas picture this is." Then I went outside to warm up the car. Big mistake. By the way, I don't curse. I Mormon curse. That's when you pick random words and assign them the same menacing under your breath voice you would use for real cursing. Mine are mainly the names of Italian artists. Try it. Mutter "Caravaggio!" under your breath and see if you don't feel better. Any way, after using all my Mormon curse words, where I sound like I'm in a Renaissance gallery instead of my driveway wrestling with the snow that keeps coming back instead of leaving like it's supposed to, it was time to drive Nadia to school. She had just been standing on the front step watching me battle the snow and wind (and losing) while she waited patiently for the car to warm up enough for the doors not to freeze open.

I am now determined to teach the dog to scrape off the snow and drive Nadia to school before coming back home so I can have a nice warm car to hop into for work. The time used for this extra training will be well worth it. I am just not made for this kind of cold.

Being an army brat and growing up in Germany, yes, it was cold. But not like this. Besides, I had those cool knee high socks that actually came up past your bum and could have reached your belly button if you sewed them together. They were great with your leg warmers and big balloon jacket.

Why can't a designer come out with a new line of clothing that is warm, fashionable, and maybe throw some knee socks in for the 3o something woman? Or is that just too juvenile for the mature woman?

Darn fashion trends.

Clarification

At work today, the subject of Christmas and Santa came up. Being the big dork that I am, I blurted out how my kids really don't believe and Brandon's need to correct everyone on St. Nick's dead/not dead status. I thought it was a cute story. Until I saw the other ladies' faces. They looked horrified, and asked when I had shattered the dream. There may be a new lock on the door Monday morning at the school.

So I feel I need to explain a little more about St. Nick and me. We don't have some terrible hate relationship because I was jipped as a kid or saw some awful Santa impersonator who ruined it for me. I really don't have it in for him. He just wasn't that important in the Christmas picture. So when the children started asking questions about him, I decided to keep it laid back and answer them honestly. And that just happened to include the question, "So if he lived a long time ago, is he dead?" asked by Darling Nadia. Brandon was in the car and heard the answer. I just couldn't say the bold face lie that he wasn't, or that he was special and could live forever because the other holiday mascots got together and voted him in. Does that make me a bad parent? Have your kids asked about how old he is and why he isn't dead yet? This was after discussing George Washington and why Cliff's grandparents and mine (except for my Gma Soelberg) weren't around to visit and send presents to them.

Great. Now I'll need to write ANOTHER post soon because I'm getting depressed about the whole thing.

No, Virginia, There Isn't A Santa Claus

This blog would crush the heart of that little eight year old girl who sent in a letter to the Sun newspaper asking if there really is a Santa Claus. My children do not believe in Santa Claus. He is dead. Now, before you decide to come over and tell me how awful I am as a parent for allowing this, let me explain.

Cliff was raised that the spirit of Christmas was sometimes embodied in the form of St. Nick, but the main focus in their house was always the birth of the Savior. His parents were really against any form of lying to their children. I was just fine with that when I married into the Sharp family. We also came from a very Christ-centered Christmas in my family, and being in Europe as a child certainly helped that. Santa just isn't that big over in Germany and Italy the way he is here in the States.

So when we started having a family, we focused more on the Savior than Santa Claus. We have talked about the nice man Saint Nicholas who loved children and was very kind to them, and how he died a long time ago. But we try to remember his kind acts when we dress up as Santa or do nice things for our neighbors and friends in the Christmas spirit. We try to tell the children it's okay if other people say they believe in him, but it doesn't always sink in.

Like when Brandon's Primary teacher asked everyone if anything neat or interesting had happened that week. Brandon raised his hand. "Santa isn't real. He died a long, long time ago." I am sorry if your child is in Brandon's class. I had no idea he was such a downer. He has also started a crusade to enlighten his fellow preschoolers. Again, I apologize if your child is in Brandon's class and needs help for their depression. We are currently working on his Christmas skills to try to remedy the problem.

Nadia is a little better, but not much. She doesn't announce the death of St. Nick like Brandon. She'll let kids talk about Santa and what they believe, and will do the "Uh-huh," like we all do to the telemarketer while we wait through the spiel to tell them we're not interested. Once in a while she'll say, "But you know he's not real, right?" A little bit of progress, but it still needs some work.

As a side bar, I think Nadia's cousin had almost convinced Nadia last year that St. Nick was real. Nadia was quite the follower of this cousin and had to be just like her. So when she said she believed, I think Nadia decided it wouldn't hurt to try. Then came the ward Christmas party. Nadia was very excited to see Santa. For the first time ever. Then she saw him and grabbed my hand. "MOM!" she whispered in that urgent whisper voice. "Who is that?" "That's Santa." "MOM! No, it's NOT! It's some guy dressed in a Santa suit!" She was very shaken that it wasn't the real thing. So much so that she wouldn't go near him. Until Brandon came back with a bag of candy. When she found out where he got it, she was all over it.

These pics are from last year. This year I couldn't take the shot. They both sat on his lap just long enough for him to ask what they wanted, shrug because they know HE isn't getting them anything, and ask for their candy. Hey, I may be raising unbelievers, but at least they are SMART unbelievers.

Happy Birthday, Brandon

Brandon had his 5th birthday on December 3rd. He was very excited about it and kept asking me, "Mom. mom, do you know what the 3rd is?" I would reply, "Tell me." "It's my BIRTHDAY!!!" I was also mean and in a hurry one time and just told him it was his birthday. "Mom, who told you? How did you know it was my birthday?" was the response that time.
This is Brandon trying to be patient with camera-idiot mom right before opening presents. Yes, all those in the background are his. He is a spoiled little boy with both sets of grandparents and an Auntie Marlene.


After opening presents, we went to Leo's Place. It's kind of like Chucky Cheese's with pizza and games, but the best thing is their huge play area, with a huge slide at the end. This is Brandon and his cousin Zackary going up the rope ladder to get inside the play area. They really just played and hardly ate any pizza. Natural behavior for a new 5 year old and his cousin. The two girls did a little better with the eating thing.

This is the cake. Yes, I freehanded the letters, which was a terrible idea, but maybe I actually did the messy writing on purpose so it wouldn't intimidate the rest of you. :) The idea originally was to have a few cars driving on a road, but then Brandon went with Grandma to the store to get cake decorating items. The road had to be a rainbow instead of plain brown chocolate sprinkles, and he also decided the cake needed a fish pond with fish and some gummi bears needed to be thrown into the mix for some reason, too. And it had to be white. Maybe next year he'll let me do it all by myself.

The Recap

Okay, I will do a brief post of Thanksgiving. All three of my brothers were able to come with their families except John, who is single ladies!!! ;) Anyway, the kids had a great time visiting with everyone when they weren't vomiting in my lap or all over their clothes in the car to SLC.
We played lots of games and watched movies in my parents cool new movie and game lounge downstairs, complete with bean bag chairs, wet bar and an air hockey table. We weren't the only ones with sick kids, and then my bro Jacob got the bug on the drove home. So all the way up to Idaho Falls on Sunday, Cliff and I kept asking each other, "How are you feeling?" "I'm just fine, how are you feeling?" and wondering if the other person really was fine, or if there would be an emergency roadside stop somewhere. But we both really were just fine, and so I get to bleach my house and hope the bug is dead.

Oh Tannenbaum

I was thinking about doing a post about Thanksgiving, but like Prince Humperdink in Princess Bride, thought it better to just skip to the end and so this blog is about Christmas. Here is our tree after the children put on the unbreakable ornaments. I love to see how high on the tree they are getting every year. It's also funny to see how they clump them together because they like to work together and see what the other is putting up next on the tree. Benjamin was too busy to help put on ornaments because he was busy with a call on the cell phone.
On the way home from Thanksgiving in Cache Valley, Brandon asked when we would set up the Christmas tree. No. he's really not that happy about helping set it up and putting on ornaments. As some weird mystic might say, there was a question behind this question of the Christmas tree. You see, if we put up the tree, that means his big train gets to come out, too. Brandon loves this train with almost as much passion as I love shoes. It is a tragedy when it has to go back in the box in January.

Brandon is very loving and actually lets Nadia have a turn with the "Polar Express" every so often. Benjamin just loves watching it go and will leave it alone. We put the presents inside the track, after I give up on that stupid tree skirt. Every year after the train is set up, I get the question of why can't we just have the train up all the time. He asked again today. Hmm, maybe because it's too big and I like having the couch in the living room. But then, maybe I don't have the right priorities for toys and furniture.