Gametes In Love

This year was the latest we hit up Eucalyptus ever. We went on Christmas Eve. Given how late it was, I was hoping it would be pretty empty, thinking people would be either at church, or with family. But… nope. It was as crowded as can be. And cold. Probably the fastest walk we’ve done on that block. But we did it. And the kids enjoyed their Eucalyptus trip hot chocolate 🙂

Hey I even got a smile out of Griffin. I had to ask for his “Now, show me you don’t want me to take your picture” look. Which you know is like… all the time. But after I kept asking for his angsty/mom you’re embarrassing me look, he couldn’t help with a smile. Gotcha!

Kids slept pretty late today. I had told them “no gifts before 7:30”, but it was 8 when Storm came down… and we had to wake Griffin up.

Oh, also, today marks the day I took one of my all-time favorite photos of my parents. Oh there will be a Christmas card of this next year. This I promise!

My parents brought a gingerbread house to make with the kids while they were here. It’s Christmas Eve. We’re home. What else better to do?

I offered G the job of beating the egg. He practices on the boxing bag a bit fist. And then gave the egg a talking to. Given how long it took it to get stiff in the KitchenAid, and Griffin’s first inklings of “I’m bored”, I’d still say the egg won ;p

The house didn’t last long. Kids wanted to eat it as soon as it was assembled. Verdict on the gingerbread? Good. Verdict on the fondant peoples? Well, just check out Storm’s face below.

Also, getting a “sweet” picture of these two together today? Apparently not happening. But… it is who they are, so unadulterated expressions are it.

Griffin. You have to choose your words pretty carefully with him, because he’s REALLY good at finding the line between what you say and what you mean. This SO does not bode well for us. Let’s share a story.

I’m in the car with the kids driving to school.

Me: Hey guys. I have a challenge for you. Should you chose to accept it…
Griffin: What is it?
Me: Ok, you have TWO days to complete this. If you see a kid in your school that is feeling down or sad, I want you to make them feel better. You know… lift them up.
Griffin: (after some pause) Can it be ANY kid, from ANY grade?
Me: Sure!
Griffin: Good! Cuz it’s pretty easy to lift a kindergardener. You just go behind them and pick them up.
Me: (head smack). No! “Lift up!” as in “lift up their spirits”. Make them happy, if they’re sad. No feet, on the part of the recipients can leave the ground.

Here is now where I’m seeing I also need to be more explicit.

Me: You’re also NOT allowed to make them sad first so you can make them happy.

Meanwhile, I know kid is cackling in the back. Sigh!

Three years ago I heard about Bethlehem A.D. It’s a re-enactment, of sorts, of the nativity story… except on a super big scale. Missed it the first year. Missed it the second year. This year, I set a reminder for myself to check out the event schedule and I put it on the calendar. Mom and Dad came in last night, and given the rain prognosis for today, last night was it. We hit up Old Spaghetti factory in downtown RWC for dinner. Shane had Griffin convinced for a little while that they didn’t actually serve spaghetti there: it was just called that (like “One Hour” dry cleaners…. how they’re never done in an hour?). Also that if they DID have any spaghetti, it was from left-overs… hence the “old”. G was borderline believing it.
Part of our dinner program included a study of Roman Numerals. Also a massive cheating scandal on Squares, where Griffin volunteered to play on my behalf, but did not honestly represent me. I* ended up with four squares, while Storm appropriated over 30.
We headed to after. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect. The long line was a bit of a surprise, but it moved quickly enough and it wasn’t too bad. The setup was really impressive. Clearly this is a massive production, with lots of community volunteers. I was very impressed. Storm was in awe of everything, and that just makes me happy: not too often to get a chance to show our kids genuinely different.

Oh, I will stop here and tell you that Storm did not pay his taxes. We are awaiting the Roman guard to come arrest him any minute.

I am also so impressed with the little kid that played Jesus. There was aa strong light pointed at it, so many people walking through, loud music…. and kid totally kept it together. It was even asleep at one point. Say whaaaat????

Note: Photos are barely edited… but these days, it’s how I roll. Better this than nothing ;p

G has been home for the past 3 days. He came home early on Mon complaining of a stomach ache. No fever. Then he came home yesterday because he decided that showing people the contents of his stomach while on the playground was a good idea. Ya, he yacked. So he stayed home today, observing the 24 hour rule. Can you tell he’s a sick kid?

I managed to keep him away from the screen time until after lunch. I’ll admit he was awesome about it: he helped me clean the room my parents will be staying in, rested a bit (ha!) and then helped build a robot.

Oh yeah, pretty sure this is not how you use boxing gloves ;p