Santa came and look what we got!

Well, this is a little late in coming, but here are some pictures from our Christmas day. Santa came and everyone got a lot of presents! The kids got the things they wanted most from Santa, which was for Xander slippers and Hot Wheels wall tracks, a Captain America shield for Will and a Barbie camper for Grace. They have barely played with any of these toys, because they have been spending too much time playing the gift mommy and daddy got them which is a Wii!! They absolutely love it! Xander pesters us at every second of the day to play it, so we put a start and stop time on it so we don't have to listen to him (he is turning into his father's son in almost every regard!). They also got tons of other fun arts and crafts toys, some legos and other builders, games and movies. It was quite a haul. Thanks everyone for all the fun things!

We had a nice relaxing week at home, with Daddy off work for the whole week. We went to Superior one day, the kids spent some time with the cousins and grandparents and we played a lot. Brian and I got a couple of evenings out, one to ourselves and one with some friends from high school we don't see very often. We spent New Year's Eve with the kids, more on that in a later post. So, we had a nice time. Brian had to go back to work this week, but the kids and I are still off from school until Monday the 9th. It's a long winter break this year!

It occurred to me that while I have been posting a lot about what the kids are doing, I haven't posted much about them personally. So, here's a little paragraph about each one of them while I'm thinking about it.

Will: Will is still maintaining his role as the family clown. He is frequently silly, making noises, dancing and making up words (and frequently jokes about pee and poop, which they think are hilarious but actually don't make sense and are annoying!). He discovered "Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg...." this holiday season and sang it ad nauseum. He is an angel in school and is becoming very outgoing in places like church and school. Winter is hard for him, because he has so much energy and no place to expend it. Fortunatly, the weather has been gorgeously warm and I've been sending him outside to run and play (which he will for a long time!). He can get too silly sometimes and then we have to end the fun by yelling at him. He will frequently have to sit in his room to calm down, but luckily is able to get himself under control!

Xander:  November and early December were rough with this kid. His behavior was terrible here at home. He was in some phase where he wouldn't do anything we asked. He was constantly opposing what we asked him to do, would hit us and scream and just be completley difficult. The only thing that would seem to deter him would be time out. It was getting so bad we actually looked in to counselors we could go see. We knew he probably didn't have any diagnosable problems, because he doesn't have behavior problems in school. I have been around these things at school enough to know that they don't consider kids having a problem like Oppositional Defiant Disorder or something similar if they don't have problems in every aspect of thier lives. But, we were hoping for some creative techniques for dealing with him. In fact, I literally freaked out at him one Wednesday in December, I totally lost it. He was horrible at church when he should have been in choir and I was trying to teach piano lessons. I yelled and cried all the way home when I finally got him into the car (I was this close to leaving him there!). Brian had a talk with him that evening and it seemed like that was a turning point, because he's been great ever since. It's like a complete 180 degree change. He's been helpful, loving and following directions almost 100% of the time. It's pleasant, wonderful actually, and I like being around him now (when I didn't in November).

Grace: When Xander stopped being the naughty one, Grace took over for him. She's been a little pistol these past 3 or 4 weeks. She's been sneakily hitting or kicking the boys when we can't see. She's been refusing to practice piano and has been pretty stubborn most of the time. In fact, on Tuesday of this week, everyone had to practice piano and then we were leaving to go to Mahoney park for the day. Well, she refused to practice so she got left behind! The boys and I went to Mahoney and she stayed with Grandma Ellen and had to be bored. That consequence seemed to help her attitude a little, she's been more cooperative since then. She's also finding her bossy voice more and more. Especially when they're playing video games or pretend games. She is turning into her mother's child in almost every regard! (Boy, Brian and I are in for it! We've created monsters!) When she does practice piano, she does a great job and it comes very easy for her.

I will post more about them after their birthday on Sunday. I'll try to take some video again and post it like I did when they turned 4. Also look for New Year's pictures. Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season!