31

[Hey blog! I've missed you!]

So I had a birthday back in December... and I requested my usual bday traditions:
1) Drive around and look at the Christmas lights
2) Sleep around the Christmas tree

But this year I added a 3rd request to have Tyler take the kids for a few hours so I could wrap presents and get organized for Christmas.

When my sister found out my birthday plans, she tried to talk me out of it and told me that we should have a girls' day out. But I told her it was really my only chance to get organized before Christmas and that I was sticking to my guns and utilizing those 4 hours that Tyler was giving me.

So after Tyler left with the kids around noon, my sister came over and brought lunch to me! She stayed and helped me wrap presents and get things organized. I loved having another adult there to be a sound board as I was trying to figure out which present to give to whom etc. She was so helpful wrapping and making the time pass quickly!! I felt rejuvenated after getting everything wrapped, organized, and back in their hiding spots.

After my sister left, I fed the baby (Shannon had slept the whole time we were wrapping) and started to wonder where Tyler and the kids were. They had gotten in line at 3pm to see Santa, and when I called him around 4:15, he said he was still at least 30 minutes away from seeing St. Nick. I couldn't believe Tyler would wait in line for nearly TWO HOURS with the 3 kids!! I asked him if he had his camera, and he said no. I told him that if he had been in line for Santa for that long, he HAD to document it. So Shannon and I brought the camera over to the mall and met them about 10 minutes before they saw Santa. It was perfect timing!

Cole brought his Wii Batman lego game insert thing to show Santa EXACTLY which lego set he wanted:

Whitney kept asking me, "Why do we have to go see the FAKE Santa?!" in the most teenager-like voice when she found out Tyler was taking them to the mall. I told her that it was mostly for Cole & Annie and to just go have fun with daddy. She ended up having a great visit and told me later, "I think he was the real

Santa, mom!"

The only thing about not buying the official Santa photo from the elves is that Santa closes his eyes... on purpose!

Annie was almost apprehensive about the whole visit, but after seeing her 2 big siblings go first, she braved the couch. I love how I can see her face getting flushed in this picture below as she works up the courage to ask Santa for a "Pink Baw-bee."

When it came time for an official picture, Santa closed his eyes again:

That's okay Saint Nick, we forgive ya!

By the time they were done visiting Santa, the sun had set and it was time to go see lights! There's a home nearby that has one of those FM towers in the yard and you tune your radio to the station and the lights blink on/off in sync with the music. It's magnificent and is our favorite thing to see at Christmas.

As we drove, we had a "song-off" where everyone chooses a Christmas song to sing and you can't repeat songs that others have already chosen. As Annie was taking her turn choosing a song and totally understanding where we were going and what we were doing, it hit me that we have a big family! A dumb thought really, but it just made me smile as I listened to the chorus of kids in the back of the van belting their guts out to Jingle Bells (Batman Smells). I was in heaven.

We got to the home around 5:20, but felt dejected when we saw no other cars around and all the lights off!! Tyler suggested we wait a few minutes to see if they would turn on at 5:30, so we kept up the song-off. Sure enough, they did turn on at 5:30! We backed into a neighbor's driveway and had the best seats in the house! The kids took off their buckles and came and sat on our laps in the front seats. Whitney and Cole loved how cool it was that the lights knew "how to blink to our radio," and Whitney told me many times how lucky I was to have a birthday in December.

A few houses down from the synchronized lights was this house where they were showing a movie from Santa's sleigh, but it was sprinkling and the kids didn't feel like sitting on the wet benches.

Overall, it was a great birthday with some fun memories. We came home and ate cookie cake (which I didn't get a picture of -- Doh!)

After the bedtime routine, I tucked the kids & Tyler in under the tree and then went to work on my primary lesson for the next day. I fell asleep in my own room (this old lady has to sleep comfortably, right?), but around 4am I heard some crying. I discovered that a fight had broken out under the tree--someone stepped on someone else's hair and someone else was pulling someone else's blanket. Everyone went to their own beds after that. I'm not sure this will be one of my birthday requests next year! ;)