Festival of Lights & Extended Family Time

Samantha: 54 Months, Week 4

Aedan: 19 Months, Week 2

On Tuesday morning Samantha had a dentist appointment, so we all made the trip there by 9:30. I was a little concerned with how Aedan would do waiting, but he was fairly calm that morning, enjoying playing in the waiting room and then watching all the hustle and bustle in the area where Samantha got her teeth cleaned. Everything checked out well, they said she's doing a good job brushing her teeth, and we will bring her back in six months for another check-up and cleaning. Since we have Samantha and know what to expect and how to take care of teeth, they said they don't really need to see Aedan until he's about three years old. After the appointment we made a couple quick stops to pick up dry cleaning and then a few items at Kroger before heading back home for lunch and nap time.

In fact, as we were on our way home and talked about how nice it was outside, Samantha suggested that we go to Hanover Park. At first I was going to say no, but then I thought, "Why not?" The kids were in good moods, and it was in the mid-50s and sunny in December. The kids were so excited to run around and play, go back and forth on the swings, and play in the tractor and boat play sets. It was so beautiful out that I almost didn't want to leave the outdoors. I like having snow at Christmas time, but I have to admit that I'm enjoying this warmer weather where we can be outside more without being bundled up.

While I was putting Samantha down for her nap that afternoon, a package was delivered to our house. I knew that it was a present from Great Grandma Donna, but I didn't tell Samantha that. However, I did tell her that she could help me open it when she woke up. So after watching her show, we opened the box, and I took this picture and video of her opening her present. Samantha is a big train enthusiast right now, so she was excited to see the Christmas train. It was very thoughtful of my grandma to send it to her in the mail, and to let her open it before Christmas so that she could enjoy playing with it more between now and then.

As we were opening the box, Daddy arrived home from campus, so I let him take over putting the track together and getting the train set up. It took a little work to get the wheels set just right and to figure out how to turn the train on and off without knocking it off the track. This is definitely a train track that you need adult supervision to operate, but Samantha was so excited when it got started. As you can see in the videos below, she really enjoyed watching it go around and around. She even tried to set it up like a train station where Little People from our nativity set took turns riding around on the train. We left it in the kitchen for that night, and then we decided we would move it up to her room and set it up for her to play with.

Sometimes Aedan will sleep close to three hours in the afternoon, and Tuesday was one of those days. We leave for small group around 5:15, and sometimes we even have to wake him up if I get him down for a later nap. Even when he sleeps that late, he still is very ready for bed at 8:00 or sometimes earlier. His second year molars are still pushing their way through, but they seem to be bothering him less this past week. He has been sleeping more normally with better nights and less interruptions. I'm not exactly sure why Daddy took this picture below, but it shows our little guy all ready for bed in his comfy footie pajamas and his trusty pacifier. He only gets his pacifier at nap time and at bed time, but he sure does like it. We had a green one as well, but I realized it had some cracks in it, so we threw that one away. Now this blue one is the only pacifier we have left. Hopefully it can last until we decide to phase the pacifier out. It will be interesting to see if it's challenging to get him used to sleeping without it. Samantha has her blankie as her comfort object, and I feel like Aedan's pacifier is his comfort object.

On Wednesday Samantha went to preschool like usual while Aedan and I stayed home together, playing, doing laundry, and changing all the sheets and towels. I think by the end of the day that day I had done six loads of laundry. I don't know how people do it when they have five or six kids. The amount of laundry one accumulates must just be massive. Aedan enjoyed playing in the various rooms as I worked. At one point he went to the bathroom to get Samantha's step stool, brought it into her room by the closet, and then stood on it as if to reach something. I don't know if he was trying to reach her hangers or the new train that we put on the top rack of her closet, but either way it was cute to see him coming up with this idea on his own and also copying Samantha because he has seen her do this in order to reach things that are too high up. I just love my little guy, watching him play, hearing him talk, and seeing the way he learns something new every day.

That evening it was going to be warmer than normal for this time of year, so Daddy suggested that we make a family trip to the Cincinnati Zoo to see the lights again. He came home from campus a little early that day, and we ended up having to wake up Aedan so that we could get on the road. We planned on eating pizza at the zoo and were excited to visit on a day when it wouldn't be as crowded as when we went on the Member's Preview night.

Samantha wanted to see The Polar Express at the 4D theater, so we split up when we first got there so that Samantha could stand in line to see Anna and Elsa while I took Aedan to get tickets for the show and then order pizza before meeting back up again. It was so nice just walking through the zoo without crowds of people, being able to hear the Christmas music playing, and seeing all the colorful lights everywhere. Here is Samantha posing with Anna and Elsa, as well as saying hello to Olaf.

We had a great time walking around the zoo together that evening. We had a little confusion with the 4D show because we ended up going into the theater too early and were sitting for a different show, so we left the theater and waited in line again before returning to the theater for the correct show. They were running behind schedule so it was difficult to tell what show they were seating for. The Polar Express was much more crowded, so Samantha ended up just sitting on Ben's lap which worked out well for her. She got a little surprised by some of the loud noises and flashing lights from the train in the show. Aedan, of course, didn't keep his special glasses on, but he did fairly well sitting on my lap for the fifteen minute show without getting too fidgety. Samantha really enjoyed seeing the show and for the week after that was extra interested in reading our Polar Express book at home, as well as talking about what it would be like if a train really pulled up in front of our house at night, how loud it would be, and how it would shake our whole house.

Samantha's other favorite area was the gingerbread people and gingerbread houses. Aedan got in on the picture with Samantha. :)

Down by the reindeer they have little gingerbread houses set up with windows on the sides where you can peek in to see what's happening in the little house. One has them baking, one has them sleeping in their beds while elves deliver presents, and one has them decorating their Christmas tree. Aedan, especially, loves to go up to the windows and have me lift him up so that he can have a better view through the little windows.

Last time we were here we skipped the carousel, so we decided to ride it on this night since the line was not very long at all. Aedan looks very spacey in this picture below. You can tell it was getting late, and he was very tired. However, when it was time to get off the he cried and held on to the bar for dear life because he wanted to stay on for another ride.

After the carousel, we got holiday cookies to share before walking toward the petting zoo area. Both Samantha and Aedan love to pet and brush the goats. In fact, we often have to tell Samantha to stop trying to kiss and hug the goats. Aedan doesn't know quite how to hold the brush in the proper way to actually brush them, but he still enjoys wandering around and seeing all the goats.

We checked on the train line but it was so long and neither kid was in the mood to wait in line for that long. We had ridden it last time we were here, so we decided it wasn't that important to do it this time as well, especially since we saw the 4D movie and also rode the carousel. So instead, we decided to walk down some fun pathways with pretty lights, leading us to watching the light show around the pond from a different view. It was almost just as nice as watching it while riding around on the train.

It was already close to 8:30 and time for us to go home, so we headed out after a fun family night at the zoo. It was much better going on a weeknight because it was so much less crowded and more enjoyable.

We had a more relaxed morning on Thursday, playing around the house, and getting ready at a more relaxed pace after our late night out at the zoo. Samantha usually does a pretty good job of playing with Aedan and keeping him occupied while I finish getting ready. Well, at one point, it got really quiet in his room, which usually is a bad sign that they are getting into something. In this case, however, I saw them both calmly sitting next to each other in the glider, reading books together. Samantha loves to try to read books to Aedan, and Aedan more likes reading time to be each person with a different book sitting down to read books on their own. I just love these two. :)

After awhile, we took a trip to the library. We had to return a few things, plus they have a toddler story time on Thursdays that I wanted to let Aedan try out to see if he would like it any better than the Tuesday story time that is geared more towards preschoolers. I took him to the toddler story time once over the summer, and the librarian that did it then was very interactive with the kids with lots of singing and dancing and instruments, as well as play time with toys at the end. However, this librarian was just not the same. She seemed very unsure of what she was going to do next or even how the songs went. She was soft spoken and not as engaging with the kids. So, as a result, she lost Aedan's attention quickly, and he wandered around the room just like he does on Tuesdays when we go. It was fun to try it out, but I think we will stick with the Tuesday morning story time because Samantha enjoys it so much and really story time is more for her than for Aedan anyways.

After a late night on Wednesday, and of course our kids waking up at normal times in the morning, everyone was tired and cranky on on Thursday. Nap time was very welcome, and our evening was low key having dinner and playing with trains before I left for my Bible study. We set Samantha's new train tracks up in her room with part of the track circling underneath her bed. She thought that was pretty cool, like it was going under a tunnel. This is what they were playing when I left, and it ended up being a nice distraction for Aedan who usually gets upset when he notices that I am leaving. This time I was able to sneak out, and he didn't even notice I was gone. Samantha also said some nice thank-yous to Great Grandma Donna for the fun train set.

On Friday I was invited to a fun Christmas cookie decorating play date through the PATS Facebook group I am a part of. At first I was hesitant to go, as I always am with events like this, but I decided that it would be good to get out with other moms, to continue meeting people, and to let Aedan play with other kids in a new environment. It was so fun to be able to just take Aedan somewhere, and the event was at a house with plenty of space for the kids to run around and play. Aedan's favorite activity was playing with all the balls in the basement and trying to shoot baskets in a big-boy hoop. He did help decorate one cookie, but he was more interested in eating the toppings than the cookie.

From the play date, I met Ben on campus to do the kid swap so that I could go to Zumba. Ben decided to just bring the kids home for lunch and stay home for the afternoon. I stopped by the post office after Zumba and thought that the Saturn was making a much louder noise than usual, which is really saying something considering how loud the car normally is. Well, I was just driving along, crossing the railroad tracks on Chestnut Street, not going fast or anything, when I heard a loud clunk and then something underneath the car scraping along the ground. I pulled over on the closest side street to the right, turned the car off, looked underneath, and noticed that a large section of the exhaust pipe had broken off and was dragging along the ground. I tried to get a hold of Ben, but he was in the middle of putting the kids down for their naps. Eventually, I called the shop we usually take our cars to, and I asked if it was safe to drive the car to the shop which wasn't too far away. They said it would be fine to drive as long as I went slow. Oh man, those ten minutes it took me to go those few blocks were agonizing. I was so afraid that something worse would happen to the car, cars were tailing me since I was going ten miles per hour down the road, and I had to cross two sets of railroad tracks to get there. As I went over the tracks, I went extra slow because I was very nervous that the exhaust pipe would somehow get jammed in the space between the wooden and metal parts of the track and then I would get stuck on the tracks. I finally made it there and was so relieved. The next problem, since our day wasn't already stressful enough, was that I needed a ride back home. Ben had already put the kids down for naps, and then a man showed up at our house to repair the leaks in our shower. Luckily, the shop offers rides so I was able to get home after a very long and stressful (and hopefully not too expensive) diversion.

On Friday night we were invited over to a friend's house for a bonfire and s'mores. The weather was so warm that you could almost be outside without coats on. There were several families from our community groups that were invited over, and it was such a fun time of hanging out, talking, and watching our kids play. I'm so glad that we are involved in this new community group and that we can get together outside of our weekly meeting to hang out and get to know one another more. It is such a blessing having so many connections in such a short time here in Oxford.

We had plans to visit Ben's Grandma Dorothy near Findlay, Ohio on Saturday. It was a two and half hour drive, so Ben and I got up early to be ready before the kids woke up so that we could be on the road by 8:30. Both kids did pretty well in the car, even though after about forty-five minutes you could tell Samantha was getting antsy. We decided to set up the portable DVD player for both Samantha and Aedan so that they could watch a movie to help pass the time. It's nice to be able to have this as an option for long trips. Samantha picked Monsters, Inc., I gave them pretzels in a snack cup as well as their drinks, and they were mostly quiet and entertained for the rest of the trip. Aedan thought it was pretty cool that he got to see the show as well, as this is the first time I figured out how to hook it up for the second screen.

We arrived at the house around 11:15 and made our way in to greet the family. Samantha vaguely remembered the house, and Aedan had fun discovering a new place and opening doors more easily with pull knobs. We played down in the basement with toys until it was time for lunch. Samantha got to sit at a table with Alaina and Grandma and ate pretty well. Aedan, on the hand, was just too tired to eat very well, plus he has just been really picky and particular about food lately. He just picked at his food no matter how hard we tried to get him to eat, which is fine, he'll eat when he's hungry. After lunch Aedan was getting tired and getting into everything. He tends to be more his "monster" self when he's tired, so when Matt and Crystal's girls offered to take Samantha, Alaina, and Aedan over to see their chickens, we took them up on their offer. It was a beautiful day outside, warm and 65 degrees, which is so unusual for mid-December. We took a walk through the woods, watching Aedan pick up and play with various sticks as he walked.

At Matt and Crystal's house we got to see ducks and chickens, Samantha got to climb and swing on their play set, and Aedan even got to ride around on a vehicle (I don't know what to call it) with Ben's Uncle Merle driving. In fact, Aedan was extremely upset when he had to get off and his rides were over. Eventually the girls meandered into the house and found Emma and Abby's room full of fun things to play with. They disappeared, playing happily and contentedly with dollswhile I got a chance to talk with Crystal for awhile. I always look forward to our conversations when we come for a visit. She is easy to talk to, friendly, and very encouraging in her words even though we don't talk to each other often and only stay in touch through our postings on Facebook. Eventually Ben and Aedan came in the house as well, and Aedan had fun discovering all of Bella's toys that light up and make noise.

We had a great afternoon visiting, but it was late into the afternoon, our kids were tired, and we needed to start making our 2 1/2 hour trek back to Oxford, so we made our way back to Grandma Dorothy's house to visit for a few more minutes. In fact, Great Grandma Dorothy even bought gifts for the kids. She gave the girls an ABC writing book, and she gave Aedan a soft and cuddly teddy bear. It was so sweet of her to think of the kids and give them something special to remember her by.

The girls also recorded a few songs so that Crystal could play them for Bella since she loves watching videos of little kids singing. We have two good little singers. Their voices are so sweet and innocent. I love it. Here they are:

After that, we gathered up our things, took bathroom breaks, and made our rounds of good-byes with Aedan very cutely going up to each person and hugging their legs. I love that our kids are so friendly even with family that they may only see once a year. It is heartwarming to me. :) Before we left, the girls posed for a picture with Great Grandma Dorothy. Isn't it precious? Grandpa posted it to Facebook with the comment, "Ninety years difference in age, but connected by love."

Then we were off in the car, hoping the kids would take good naps. Samantha had her blankie, and Aedan had his new teddy bear. It didn't take long for him to be out like a light, all cuddled up with his teddy bear. It was so adorable. Then, a few minutes later, Samantha was fast asleep as well. We wore the kids out after a long, fun day, and we were glad to see them sleeping. Aren't they so cute while they're sleeping? I love the pictures of Aedan all snuggled up and sleeping on his bear.

The next couple of days went by like normal with going to church, volunteering in the children's department, and hanging out together at home. It's nice to have this small reprieve of Christmas break where Ben is not teaching classes. He still goes to campus to work on his papers for the conference in Puerto Rico in January, but he has less work to do at home in the evenings or on the weekends. It's nice having these evenings together, like Monday night, where Samantha and Aedan just had fun playing together. Samantha had the idea to build a fort. She was trying to drape her Frozen blanket over the chairs for the kitchen table, but it wasn't working, so I suggested we try it upstairs in her room.  She then even invited Aedan to come into her fort with her. They just sat like this for quite some time. They will carry on a conversation with each other, even though Aedan will be looking right at you babbling and you can't understand what he is saying most of the time. They sure do love each other. It's these moments that I want to just soak in and freeze in time. Ben and I just sat there watching our two kids interacting with each other, and we couldn't help looking at each other with joy in our hearts. We have a wonderful family, what more could we want, really?

(Blog about December 8-15, 2015)