DPP pics from past years: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

This Christmas Eve saw the return of a few family traditions: new, matching jammies for all the kids, catching up on the Jesse Tree, and hot chocolate stirred with a candy cane. And we tried a few new things (all of which I think will be keepers): tempura for dinner, driving around to look at Christmas lights, and sleeping under the tree. I will not, if I can help it, be repeating the tradition of last-minute shopping on Christmas Eve (though I did actually enjoy the time out with my girl) nor the last-minute glue gun burns (though I dearly love my sister-in-law whose gift I was finishing when the burns were gotten).

DPP pics from past years: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

Tonight the children at Redeemer had their Christmas program. When I asked Simon if he wanted to have a speaking part, he said, “No, thank you.” How about just singing with the other kids? “No, thank you.” How about Ian? A polite “no thank-you” from him too. I knew it wouldn’t be worth it to push, but we showed up before church for the rehearsal anyway, thinking they might see their friends having a great time and want to join in. Right?

Yeah. So I took this picture shortly after Simon was told he wouldn’t be able to stand by his friend Josh. What a fine meltdown it was. (Actually, looking through the pics I snapped kind of breaks my heart and makes me giggle in equal parts. He was genuinely disappointed and so dramatically glowery.)

DPP pics from past years: 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

The boys have been begging to have a snowball fight. I’m not sure Ian knew what he was getting into. It ended with a snowball in his face (an accident).

DPP pics from past years: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

Sir Ian the Brave, ready for the end of the world

DPP pics from past years: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 (at first glance, I thought this was Clara), 2011

I wanted the boys to be able to play outside in the snow, but I didn’t want to have to bundle Clara. We found a workable solution: the boys played on the balcony, and Clara stayed snug in her crib. It took twice as much time to suit up and unbundle as it did for them to get cold outside. Sigh.

It’s a snow day! I’m sure that’ll mean a lot more to us in a few years when all the kids are in school (or out! as the case may be), but, still, there’s something about having a lot of heavy, wet snow on the ground, and we’ll make the best of it. On the agenda for the day: hot chocolate, The Grinch, homemade ornaments for Grandma’s tree (shhhh!), snowflakes and/or other paper decorations, more coffee, wrapping presents, chicken stock in the crockpot and a pork roast when that’s done, laundry, naps, popcorn, MythBusters. Not necessarily in that order.

DPP pics from past years: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

Lots of kids piled on the bed to watch a movie as book study was wrapping up this morning. The mamas were thankful to have a few more minutes to talk of things too heavy for little hearts and of the coming snow and of God, who holds all these things, and us too, in his control.

DPP pics from past years: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

Today we visited our friends in Plattsmouth, about an hour away from Lincoln. The boys wanted to know how long it would take to get there, and we answered using the standard unit of measurement when explaining time to preschoolers: two Dinosaur Trains (actually, closer to three, since we watch without commercials). This answer satisfied them until we were about halfway there. “How far is it now?” “Thirty minutes,” I answered, “One Dinosaur Train.”

But then the real trouble started when ten minutes later Ian again wanted to know how long it would be. I knew I couldn’t give the same answer I had just given, so I said, “Twenty minutes. Two-thirds of a Dinosaur Train.” 

Simon didn’t let “two-thirds” just slide by like I hoped maybe he would, so I tried to explain fractions. By the end, Ian especially was thinking hard (I assume about fractions), and the look on his face was so dear that I nearly had to pull over because I was laughing too hard. No exaggeration.

And so began our math game. Let me tell you, math with young kids is a lot of fun, both when they get it and when they don’t. It went something like this:

Me: If I have four eggs, and Ian gives me two more, how many eggs do I have?

Simon: Six! Okay, my turn. If I have three eggs, and Mommy gives me one egg, how many do I have?

This continued for several rounds. We also did some subtraction (If I have three eggs and two break . . .) and eventually changed from eggs to ornaments.

Simon threw me a couple of curve balls: “If I have a million ornaments and six break, how many do I have?” and, even harder, “If I have sixty, eighty, nine, and nine break, how many do I have?”

My favorite story problem of the day, though, came from Ian: “If I have two ornaments and Simon gives me one more and Mommy gives me two more and one breaks, how many ornaments do I have?”

Soon after that, though, the genius all fell apart into quarreling.

Simon: No, Ian! It’s not TWO!

Ian: Yes! It is! It is two! [It wasn’t. He had had several rounds of luck where the answers to his story problems were two, but Simon was right on this one.]

Simon: Mom! Ian says it’s two, and it isn’t. IT’S NOT TWO!

Ian: It IS!

Simon: Eeeeeooooon! Why is it always two?

Ian: Because I’m two.

Well, there’s that.