The Park Angel

Here's a little experience I've been meaning to post, and finally got around to it. Enjoy.

We went to the park as a family a few weeks ago. Lately Blake has been afraid to go down slides for some reason (we're talking months, here). Well, there was this really big family at the park--they had older and younger kids. Blake had climbed the stairs and was kind of lingering by the top of the big winding slide (the one that does loops to the bottom). Joel and I were just watching him there. All of a sudden, the mom from this big family, seeing Blake hesitate, climbs up the stairs herself, and says to Blake, "It's okay, you can do it! Go down the slide and your Mommy will be there to catch you at the bottom." So, without any hesitation this time, he goes down the slide, no problem! And he keeps going down, over and over, by himself. So, this park has 3 different playgrounds. One has a HUGE slide that loops to the bottom, probably 4 separate loops. It's very high off the ground. Normally we just go down with him on that one. But after this "Park Angel" instilled confidence in him, he later went all the way up to this HUGE slide and went down without warning. We were a little nervous, but he did it just fine. And again, he did it over and over. Since then, he has no problem going down any slide now. And that's the story of the Park Angel.

We have a winner...

It's going to be Four Redheads and a Fish. I don't know why I didn't think of that before. Joel hasn't looked at our blog for a while, and right when he saw the blank, he said "fish." And I said, "YES! That's it!" So that's our new title. No other big news here. Thanks for your ideas.

Our Christmas Top Ten List

Here's 10 reasons why our Christmas was so memorable this year:
10. Our neighbors across the street have a blow up nativity that Julianna got really excited about the very first time it was out. I had to explain to her that it only comes up when it's dark, and that we can't blow it up, only our neighbors. So every day, she would say, "It's dark! Let's see if Baby Jesus is there!" And most of the time it was, and that made her happy. Our neighbors even let her go touch the nativity.

9. Julianna and Blake got to play with their cousins, Will and Lily, again. My sister Callie and her family came down from Oregon for her husband's winter break from law school. It was fun to see them play together, especially on Christmas morning with all the toys. I wish I got a picture of all four of them together! But here's Blake with Will.

8. Julianna got exactly what she wanted for Christmas--a stuffed Spongebob doll and a DVD--she's pretty happy. She also liked the other presents--especially the magnetic dress up dolls.
7. Blake is OBSESSED with robots! He got a red robot for Christmas and loves it so much that the batteries have already died. He even got robot pajamas from Grandma and loves to wear them. If you ask him to be a robot, he'll move his arms and walk like one, and even make an "oo, oo" noise for you.

6. Blake really likes his Caterpillar dump truck. On Christmas morning, we caught him putting one of Julianna's new dolls in it and then dumping the doll, of course. He calls it his "big truck."

5. At my parent's house, Blake would go looking for Buffy, the cat, every half hour. Buffy likes to hide in the cupboard in the laundry room and lay on towels. Blake made it all the way into the cupboard just to pet her.

4. Julianna is even more scared of Santa this year--at the Ward Christmas party, she wouldn't even set foot in the same room with Santa. Some older kids tried holding her hand and pulling her in, but she wouldn't do it. Just cried and screamed. There's always next year, I guess.

3. Julianna keeps asking me, "Mommy, is it Christmastime?" I think she actually knows what that means this year, so maybe if I tell her it's not Christmastime, she'll understand why the nativity isn't across the street anymore. I hope so!

2. "The Polar Express" is a new favorite movie of the kids, especially Blake. He is mesmerized by Santa Claus and Christmas.

1. And the number one reason Christmas was the best...We got a trampoline from my parents! The kids love it! Too bad it's been so cold and rainy! But we all love it and finally have something in our backyard besides dirt and weeds. Thanks Mom and Dad! (This picture was taken in the assembly process--it now has an enclosure around it.)

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and that you have a happy New Year, too! Keep giving me ideas for my blog title! So far I really like using "minivan."

I decided to go public!

So I did it...I'm public again. Maybe this will make it easier for you to all read my blog. Here's my new blog url--so please change it on your lists! Sorry to do that to you, but I didn't want my name in the url:

www.thefourredheads.blogspot.com

I've decided to make my blog less personal, as far as names and profiles go. And you all need to help me think of a word to fill in my new title. It's like the movie title "Four Weddings and a Funeral," but I don't want to use the word funeral, of course. So give me some ideas! And enjoy the link for this really funny Christmas song! I heard it on the radio and had to find it on youtube (copy and paste, sorry, or go to youtube and search The Most Fattening Time of the Year). By the way, how do you put a whole youtube video on blogger?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNKearCSXXM

Christmas Tag!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?- Depends on the gift. A certain "SpongeBob" gift probably won't be easily wrapped, so a bag might work. Or it's fun to make a little poof of paper scrunched at the top and tie with some ribbon. Does anyone do that anymore?

2. Real tree or Artificial?- Haha, funny story about our Christmas tree. Last year we got a deal through Joel's school and had a real tree in our tiny townhome. It took up half the family room but it smelled great! We let the ward use our 6ft fake one for the giving tree. So this year, we have a house, but decide not to get a real tree, so we pull out the fake one again, only to discover that one of the plastic legs (is that what they're called?) is cracked. So I put it up carefully, hoping that it will last just one more year, and just two days later, I hear a CRACK and somehow the tree fell on top of Blake! He was okay--it's a small tree. So Joel decided to put our fake tree in our real tree stand. And amazingly, it worked! That's our Christmas tree story this year.

3. When do you put up the tree?- Either right after Thanksgiving or at least by December 1st.

4. When do you take the tree down?- January 1st or so.

5. Do you like eggnog?- YES! YES! YES! Except at Grannie's I tried Southern Comfort eggnog, and it was WAY to thick. But yes, I love egg nog. My dad sometimes puts it in his cereal. Haha. You should try eggnog ice cream, too.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?- I still remember getting my first bike. That was a big moment. And of course getting our first pet, Millie, in a box under the tree. I loved Millie, the black cat.

7. Hardest person to buy for?- My parents because they already have everything and always say they don't need us to get them anything, but you always feel like you should, because they're your parents!

8. Easiest person to buy for?- Little kids are easy--although Julianna is getting more specific now. As long as it's somehow related to Spongebob, she's happy. And when I ask Blake, "What do you want for Christmas?" he says, "A ROBOT!" It's cute.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?- Yes, one that is hands-off, and a few that are okay if the kids touch them.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?- I think mail is just more traditional. I'm sure I will get to the point where I will just email them. We'll see. Every year I think, who would even know if I didn't send a card out? But I always end up doing it anyway.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?- Can't think of anything.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?- It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street. Polar Express is my kids' favorite now.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?- The first week in December.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?- No, not yet. I'm like you, Katie, I have done that for weddings.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?- Fudge, Christmas cookies, those peppermint nougat taffy candies (my absolute favorite).

16. Colored or Clear Lights?- Clear lights this year, but I do really like red and blue. Especially on houses--I love seeing the blue, even purple lights!

17. Favorite Christmas song?- "Sleigh Ride." "O Holy Night" is good because it's so pretty, but also because when you hear someone singing it, you're just waiting to see if they can hit that really high note. I did this yesterday at our Stake Christmas Program. He came very close to the note!

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?- Family is always close, so we don't go too far! This year we will have everyone at my parent's house in Corona.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?- You know Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and Vixen, Comet, and Cupid, and Donner, and Blitzen--but do you recall, the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph...just sing the song!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?- Star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?- The kids get to open pjs Christmas eve and sleep in them and then we open everything else Christmas day. (ditto, Katie.)

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?- Crowds, long lines. People too concerned about shopping and not thinking about what Christmas is really about.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?- Red and gold, or red and silver.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?- Anything my mom makes is GREAT!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?- The TWILIGHT series of my own instead of borrowing. That's all I can think of.

26. White or Warm Christmas?- Doesn't matter to me. It can be Christmas anywhere, but if it's really hot, that wouldn't be fun. As long as it's colder, that will do. I'm so used to it, anyway.

27. Favorite thing about Christmas?- Seeing kids open presents. The feeling I still get waking up Christmas morning, even now that I'm a mom.

28. Favorite Christmas Tradition?- Just spending time with family and being together. Of course reading the nativity story from the Bible. Looking at all the Christmas lights. Building a fire in the fireplace.

29. Favorite Christmas Location?- Anywhere with family!

30. Who do you tag?- Callie, Karina, Cindel (if you two ever read my blog anymore!!), Katrina, Rhonda, anyone who wants to!

Un-private?

I have been toying with the idea of making my blog un-private, or public again. I think it might allow some of you to see it more often (because I know there are some out there that just don't want to take the time to sign in just to see my blog) so tell me what you think. Should I go public again? But what about all those weird people that could come across my blog? How do I make sure it's safe to be public? I might have to get rid of the Wiggles stuff.

Other than that, no big news here. Just waiting until Christmas break! 4 days...yeah! Then it's three weeks off for Joel and 2 weeks for Julianna. We're enjoying the rainy weather--it almost feels like Christmas here. What are all your plans for Christmas?

Julianna's Birthday

Yesterday Julianna turned the big 5! I still can't believe we have a 5 year old now! Wow. It really does go fast. We already celebrated her's and Blake's birthday in Arizona last week, but we still had to sing to her on her actual birthday so she could feel special. When we told her that she needed to come up to the counter so we could sing to her and she could eat her birthday cookie and ice cream, she threw a fit, so that's why Joel had to go over to her. The second picture is what she did in the morning before preschool when I asked her to smile for the camera on her birthday. She's got the tongue curling down! Just have to work on the smiling. And then this was her birthday hat she brought home from preschool. She also got to spend her $5 bill from Grandma Shaw (Joel's mom) at Walmart. She picked out a Spongebob coloring book (we actually didn't have one yet) and the Spongebob krabby patty candy. Yes, she still loves Spongebob. She had a nice birthday and kept asking, Mommy, can I be 5 now? I think she got so used to telling me that she's going to be 5, and when she actually became 5, she wasn't sure about it. We love our Julianna! She's growing up fast.