Ward Party!

Our ward Christmas party this year was really fun. Clayton was really excited to go to the church and see Santa. He was really into the Christmas spirit this year and the prospect of seeing Santa was almost too much for him. Our ward party was actually a brunch. We had a lot of delicious pastries, cookie decorating for the kids, white elephant gift exchanging for the adults, and - best of all - Santa!!

Noah, sadly, wasn't feeling too festive. He was getting a little cold, so about halfway into the party he crashed. Sitting on Santa's lap didn't even appeal to him (you know my kids are sick when they don't care whether or not they see Santa)! Fortunately, neither one of my kids were - or ever have been - afraid of Santa. Sometimes I think they are a little TOO trusting, but I do appreciate that they don't scream and cry when it's time to sit on Santa's lap.
Anyway, here are a few pics:
Justin and Noah (you can tell he doesn't feel good).
Me and Clayton Clayton being silly.
Cookie decorating
Noah with Santa (this is a horrible picture, but I wanted him to sit on Santa's lap and this was the best he would do).
Clayton and Santa
Clayton telling Santa what he wanted for Christmas
It was a great party and, even though Noah wasn't really in a 'party' mood, it was a lot of fun.

Merry Christmas!

It was another amazing Christmas in the Smith house. I have decided that 4 is the BEST age for holidays. It was so magical to experience Christmas through Clayton's eyes. He was so excited and amazed at everything! The only thing that made me sad today was that my family couldn't be here to have this experience with us. As a late gift to my family, here are some pictures and some video of how our Christmas went (obviously I got a card reader from Santa - he always knows just what I want):




I took tons of pictures of Christmas this year so I will try to keep my commentary to a minimum. Here is the basic info: Clayton got everything he asked Santa for (a castle, a ship, and a new McQueen) plus a few books, a new toothbrush, and lots of new clothes. Noah got Rocket from Little Einsteins, a Diego Rescue Submarine, a new McQueen (because having just one would cause problems), a toothbrush, a coloring book, and some clothes. Both boys got the game Hungry Hungry Hippos and an awesome train set (thanks Grammy and Grandpa)! As for me and Justin, we each got some great stuff, but this year it was all about the kids! Okay, it's time for the pics (sorry, these are in no real order):
This was Noah's 'cheese' face all day. It was cracking me up (there will probably be other pictures of it).

This was the way the train set looked when Justin originally set it up (this set up only lasted about 10 minutes before Noah destroyed it).
Another one of Noah's cheese faces. I just can't resist!
Clayton LOVES this train set! (And Noah is a pretty big fan too.)

He was honestly doing so good playing with this until his destructive younger brother got his hands on it!


This is probably my favorite pic of Clayton from the whole day!
One more 'cheese' face - you know you love it!
Clayton's castle. Yes, it's really the bat cave, but he LOVES it! He said it was his favorite gift of the day. Truthfully, I think Justin loved it almost as much as Clayton did! It's totally old school. It has pulleys and levers and nothing electric on it at all! It's powered 100% by imagination!
Clayton made us this candle holder in school. So begins the Christmases with the handmade gifts. I really love it though!
This is Noah's Rocket. This was his favorite gift today. He's such a fan of 'Little Einsteins'! He wanted to sleep with it tonight and put up a pretty good fight when we didn't let him!

This was how Justin set up the train set after Noah destroyed the first set up. This set up lasted for a long time (about 2 hours, which is how long Noah napped today). The current set up is just a big, flat circle. The boys still love it though! (And Clayton can re-assemble it himself when Noah breaks it. Bonus!)

We played Hungry Hungry Hippos tonight after dinner. We played forever! I LOVE this game. Hands down, the best game we own! We all had so much fun. I love playing board games on Christmas - I grew up doing it. I'm glad that my kids love it as much as I do!
Clayton got this enormous candy cane from a really great guy in our ward. I had to take a picture of it because it is the biggest candy cane I've ever seen!
So there you have it. We had a great day. We all got great gifts, ate a delicious traditional Peterson breakfast, hung out with good friends, ate a yummy ham dinner, played games, and watched Kung Fu Panda (which, by the way, is AWESOME)! I feel so blessed that I got to spend Christmas surrounded by the three guys who mean the most to me in this world. We had a cozy day of family togetherness and I think that's every parent's dream! I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours!

Just a short rant

While I am really excited for all my peeps in LV who are getting lots of snow I just have to say that yesterday, while my family in the desert was enjoying building snowmen and having snowball fights, I had to shovel the driveway TWICE before 11:00a.m. That's right folks, once at 5 in the morning and once again at 10:30. The boys played on the lawn while I did this and the snow came up to Clayton's thighs and Noah's waist (poor kid couldn't move). Needless to say, I am NOT dreaming of a white Christmas (and perhaps I am the only one)! I also had to laugh that they (LV) got a snow day. I realize that LV isn't prepared for any snow at all, but 6 inches here is nothing. It takes multiple feet for them to cancel school (which did actually happen this week). I don't mean to be a downer, but I had to share my thoughts on snow. Here are a few things I've learned about the snow (so pay attention Las Vegans, I'm imparting my wisdom):

1. Shoveling snow when it is still actually snowing may seem idiotic, but it isn't. If you wait for it to finish snowing before you shovel you end up having to dig yourselves out of 6 feet of snow (true story) which took Justin about 5 hours.
2. If you don't buy your children their snow pants in October, don't bother getting them any at all. If you wait until it has started snowing to buy them their snow gear - you won't be able to find it.
3. Don't buy snow boots at Wal Mart. Yes, they're cheap - but they are useless (although, I probably should have known better).
4. Don't ever scrape your car without gloves on. I don't care how careful you think you will be or how "macho" you may think you are, it's cold and cold sucks. Don't attempt putting your hands in your sleeves and scraping that way - you'll just end up with snow inside your coat. Put on some gloves. Cold hands are not that much worse than cold feet (although cold feet and a cold neck are the two worst).
5. Wear snow boots to church. Yes, it's a lovely fashion statement (that I make just about every Sunday in the winter) but ladies dress shoes are NOT designed for winter. You may think that your lovely dress boots will be fine, they won't...they will be SLIPPERY!! I've learned - wear your big, nasty, ugly snow boots to church and just carry your pretty ones and change once you're inside. SO much better (even if you look like a fool for a minute)!!
6. Finally, when shoveling (can't you tell I just did this) shovel EVERYTHING! Even if it's the part of the driveway that you never use - it will inevitably be the part of the driveway that you slip and fall on later.

You are probably thinking, "wow she's so wise, does she know more?" Yes I do, I have decided that I am a snow genius (although Justin will probably wet himself from laughing when he reads that). In fact, if you have any snow-related questions, feel free to ask and I will impart my infinite wisdom on the masses. But for now, my Vegas friends, I hope my knowledge has helped you out.

**On a totally unrelated note, our PC died last week. It was very tragic and we are still mourning its loss. Therefore, I have to post from Justin's laptop. It has no card reader (yet) so I am unable to post pics. Hopefully we will get one (a card reader) soon and the pics will be back.**

What do YOU really need?

I feel like, around the holidays, I get so stressed out. I love the season and I enjoy all the hustle and bustle, but between buying and wrapping gifts, holiday baking, making sure the Christmas cards get sent out, mailing packages, etc. (on top of everything else that a mom needs to do in a day) I get a little frazzled sometimes. This week has been one of those weeks. It seems like there have been a lot of things that have just not gone the way I planned! I keep thinking in my head, "I NEED to...". Needless to say, my fuse has been a little short.

I know that, when people are stressed, they tend to take it out on those closest to them. I am certainly no exception. My poor boys have born the brunt of my frustrations this week. I keep telling them things like, "just wait a minute - I NEED to do..." or "please go play for a while so I can...". Yesterday though, I received an early Christmas present - PERSPECTIVE!!! From my four-year-old no less!

I was upstairs trying to get some presents wrapped so I had settled the boys downstairs with the cartoons. I was getting into a rhythm when I heard the sound of Clayton coming up the stairs (it's interesting to me how you can tell which child is coming by the sound - my mom used to be able to do that and it always baffled me...but now I get it). Anyway, I could feel the frustration start to set in because I wasn't done with the wrapping and I didn't want him to see what I was doing. I hurried to close my bedroom door before he came up the stairs. When he reached the top, he started calling out for me. Through my door, we had this sweet little conversation:

Clayton: MOOOOOM!
Me: Clayton, mommy's kind of busy right now, what do you need?
Clayton: Mom, I just need YOU!

I can't tell you how fast I put my wrapping down and went to open the door so that I could give Clayton a big hug. As we sat there on the floor of the hallway holding on to each other I realized that THIS was what I really NEEDED! Everything else, while fun and necessary, is just not as important! My family is the most important thing in the world to me and I need to make sure they know that. They aren't going to learn that by eating holiday cookies or opening presents, but by the amount of quality time that I spend with them.

Now, these are things I already know. It's just nice to be reminded of them every now and then. I am so grateful to my sweet Clayton for re-teaching me such an important lesson and giving me some much-needed perspective. Thanks Clayton - I know what I really NEED now!

I have to include a couple of pictures. We have been out to play in the snow a couple of times and it has been a lot of fun. I am not a snow person, but seeing how much fun my kids have makes me like it a little (or, at least, be able to tolerate it).
Clayton had been dying to make snow angels, but he didn't really know how. It was fun to be able to teach him. Of course, Noah would not be left out! He wanted to make them too!

He was so proud of himself for making a snow angel! I was pretty impressed myself - it turned out really good!
The things I REALLY need (pretend there's a pic of Justin in here too - I kind of need him):

The kindness of strangers (and some not-so-strange)

Today I am reminded of what exactly I love about the holidays - the caring attitudes that people have towards strangers (mostly)! My car has been on the fritz since Sunday which scares me. We have always said that we would leave the car in VT and just buy a new one when we get to residency, but right now I am just praying that this car will last us another 18 months!! Justin got my car to start on Sunday - then he drove it. Monday, the boys and I didn't go anywhere (it's been snowy and cold, so why leave the house) so I didn't need to try to see if it would work. Today, however, is a different story. Clayton had school at 9, then I needed to go to the post office before hurrying over to Noah's Dr. appt. (2 year check). Then we desperately needed to hit the grocery store before going back to get Clayton at 12. So, needless to say, busy morning. To add one more obsticle for us to deal with, today is nasty outside - cold and snowy and windy and just a mess. Not ideal driving conditions!

Anyway, after bundling the kids up and making sure that I have all of Clayton's snow gear (I miss Vegas) we get in the car. It started right up! Yay - right? Kind of. The car started, but nothing else seemed to be working. This wouldn't normally be so bad except that Justin was the last person to drive my car and the seat (which is electric) was all the way back. I am 5 feet tall and it is insane to expect me to be able to drive like that! However, we had things to do, so I ghetto-drove all the way to Clayton's school ('ghetto-drove' - sitting so low in the seat that I can barely see over the steering wheel). When we got there, Noah was screaming and I was about ready to explode myself! We dropped Clayton off and I began to wonder how I was going to get all my stuff done.

Enter the kindness. I called my friend, Missy, in a panic and she kindly offered to let me use her car to run my errands. Her car has 4 wheel drive, so it was actually a huge bonus! But I wasn't going to be able to pick it up until after we went to the post office (the PO is between Clayton's school and her house - so it just made sense).

So Noah and I went to the post office. Since it's the holidays the line was quite long. I was worried about how Noah would do since his day didn't get off to the best start, but he was SO good!!! He played with the bells on the door and the rope partition thing. He was having a good time and not disturbing the other customers so I was content to let him play! 15 minutes later, I get to the front of the line to mail my package and the mail man GOT MAD AT ME!!!!! He told me that I shouldn't let my child play with stuff around the post office and that he could get hurt or hurt someone else. Keep in mind, I was already close to tears! At that moment though - all the other people in line behind me (which was about 8 people) CAME TO MY RESCUE!! They insisted that he was fine and no one was getting hurt and no one was going to let him get hurt either! There was even one man who told the mail man that my son was being very well behaved and I was doing my best under the circumstances and that there was no need to be rude! On my way out of the PO, these same people offered me words of kindness like, "you're doing great", "he's such a good boy", "don't listen to him, he obviously doesn't understand going places with little kids". I was so happy! These people didn't know me - they were just as cranky as I was about having to stand in line at the PO. They could have just kept their mouths shut and let the mail man get angry at me, but no - they stood up for me. On a day where nothing seemed to be going right, this was such a blessing! It seemed like such a small thing for people to do, and I'm sure they don't realize how much it meant to me, but it was something that I really needed today!

Anyway, thanks to the jolt of Christmas spirit that I unexpectedly received at the post office and Missy for letting me use her car, I had a new attitude. I was still a little grouchy, but I was able to run all of my errands and still be done in time to get Clayton! So, even though today is a crummy day, it's nice to think that there are people out there who are willing to help me (whether they know me or not). I am also really grateful that we didn't have anywhere to go this afternoon!

Here are two pictures of my kids in the snow (they're random, but Anisha likes pics - so these are for you Nish)! These were taken Sunday night and Monday morning - as you can see, it's definitely winter here!
Side note for those who are interested, Noah weighed in at 26 lbs (25th%) and I forget what he measured, but he's in the 75th% for his height. So he's kind of long and skinny. Perfectly healthy though - which is what really matters!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Last week we put our Christmas decorations up. I love this time of year and always have. I think there is something so special and magical about it. I think that (for the most part) people are kinder, the music is so cheery and uplifting, and things are just prettier! There's something about the holiday season that puts a smile on my face and joy in my heart. However, this year I am especially loving the season. That's because Clayton is TOTALLY into Christmas this year!! When we decorated, he bounced around like he was on a pogo stick chattering non-stop and asking all kinds of questions about Santa and reindeer. Every morning when he wakes up, his first question is, "Is it still Christmas time in the living room?". We also have an advent calendar that he has taken it upon himself to be in charge of. As soon as he bounces out of bed he informs us that it's time to open number (insert the date). He then tells us, we have to wait for the 24 for Santa to come but it's okay because we are getting closer! His excitement is very contagious! Everywhere we go, he points out decorations and tells us, "Look, it's Christmas over there too!" I'm trying to get him to focus more on the real meaning of the holiday, which I believe he understands on some level, but at this age - he is just brimming with enthusiasm and questions about Santa and reindeer. We've had so many fun and funny conversations that I thought I'd share my favorite one so far:

Clayton: Mom, is Santa coming tonight? (This was the night that we decorated.)
Me: Nope, we have to wait for the 24. And even then, he only comes when we're all sleeping.
Clayton: So where is he now then?
Me: He's at home watching the boys and girls to see who's good and who's bad and making toys for the good kids.
Clayton: Where does he live?
Me: The North Pole.
Clayton: I don't want to go to The North Pole!
Me: You don't have to. Santa will come here.
Clayton: How will he get here?
Me: He will fly in his sleigh.
Clayton: Why doesn't he just slide down his pole?

I had to stop the conversation at that point because I was laughing so hard! It makes total sense though! I love how into the holidays he is this year. Being able to see it through the eyes of a little child just makes me that much more excited about the season. It's so fun as a parent to be able to tell your child all about the holidays and make up little things to answer all of their questions (like the fact that Santa has magic binoculors that help him to see all the children). Anyway, I wanted to get a couple of pictures of the boys in front of the tree this year. Clayton, of course, was super excited to do this. Noah - not so much. I didn't get a really good one of the two of them together. I did, however, get some pretty good shots (I think). Here are a few of my favorites:

This is the best I got of both boys.
Noah was fascinated by the tree. I let him touch a few ornaments (hopefully this won't come back to bite me later) and once I did, I was actually able to get some pictures where he wasn't crying!


Of course Clayton wasn't about to let Noah be the only one who got to touch the tree!
This about sums up what Clayton has been like the past few days.
I am so grateful for Clayton's excitement this year. I know that the closer we get to the 24th, the more fun it will be. I want to freeze him at this age. He's so full of wonder and I can tell that this time of year is truly magical for him. I hope your holiday season has gotten off to a great start. Ours sure has!

Thanksgiving

I didn't take too many pictures of Thanksgiving this year. I intended to, but when it got down to it, I was having too much fun being with family and friends and EATING!!! This year for Thanksgiving we went over to the Petersen's house. We spent the holiday with Missy and Chase, Rick and Vanessa, Aaron and Savannah, and Savannah's sister Heidi. It was a packed house but it was great! Justin, once again, made the most delicious turkey! He likes to make the turkey every year and I am not going to be the one who stops him. He started brining it two days before Thanksgiving and it was so juicy and tender that it was so hard to carve because it kept falling apart! Yum! After our meal, another couple from our ward came over for dessert and brought these huge chocolate turkeys for the three little boys. Clayton dug in to his turkey and (I am pretty sure) ate his weight in chocolate - he may look like Justin, but his chocolate eating ability comes exclusively from me!! We spent the rest of the night playing games, eating the delicious pies that Vanessa made, as well as snacking on leftovers, and sitting around in food-induced comas. I was really glad that I was wearing stretchy maternity pants!!! It was an amazing holiday full of delicious food, amazing company, and lots of laughs. Here are a few of the pictures that I DID remember to take:

Justin making the gravy. He makes this delicious turkey gravy (that goes really well with his yummy turkey). He is such a good cook - if the medicine thing doesn't pan out, he'd make a great chef!!
Missy and Savannah preparing the food, the dangerous thing about this was that, as we would prepare the food, we ate almost as much as we put on the tray!!
Noah eating a pear. He is so cute!
Clayton eating his massive chocolate turkey (parts of this turkey were solid chocolate). He ate about half of it before I forced him to give it to me. He ate the other half a few days later. Justin tried to get him to eat some fruit but he told Justin, "I don't like fruit. I just like chocolate!"
I'm not sure what exactly he was sad about here, but his face cracks me up. Isn't it the saddest face you've ever seen!?!
The day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Missy and I got up at 3:45 to get to the mall by 4. We also braved Toys R Us and walked into Wal-Mart (and promptly walked out because it was a zoo). It was an early morning, but we both got most of our Christmas shopping done! I am so happy to be done. I love to shop, but going out around the holidays isn't as fun for me - there are just too many people and not enough parking. That same day, we decorated for Christmas. I don't have any pictures of it yet, but they're coming. I love it when our house is all decked out for Christmas, it makes me so happy! Anyway, that was our Thanksgiving weekend. I hope yours was as wonderful as ours!