Aedan's First Lost Tooth, Our Family Christmas, and Leaving for Christmas in Upland

Samantha: 103 Months, Week 1
Aedan: 69 Months, Week 3
Owen: 27 Months, Week 1

This week was a busy one, as it always is going into the week right before Christmas. Ben was trying to finish up grading, we were still working on getting things ready for going out of town and working out respite care arrangements, and there were lots of Christmas activities and things going on that we needed to prepare for.

Church was difficult with our two new little kids. The little boy cried for awhile when we dropped him off, and we almost had to go back and get him. Then, toward the end of the service, we were called down to the kids' room because the little girl was running and hiding, disrupting the class, and trying to get out of the church building. Ben had to stay down there with her the rest of the time, and it made us wonder what we were going to do in the future about going to church.

Sunday was Samantha's last performance of her play, 'Twas the Week After Christmas. We dropped her off after church, and I picked her up when it was over. I took her picture in her cast shirt, standing on stage, and she was definitely sad that the play was over and expressed great interest in doing the next performance.

While we were at Great Wolf Lodge, Aedan lost his first bottom tooth overnight. I forgot to take a picture of it while we were there, so I made sure to take one that night as we were eating dinner. It's amazing how different (and older) kids start to look when they begin losing their teeth. I am a little bit in denial that this little boy of mine is growing up so fast. Sometimes, like in this picture, I look at him and see more of a big boy face, not as much of the cute, squishy, baby face he used to have. But nevertheless, he will always be my sweet little boy.

As Ben and I looked forward to our week, especially in planning on leaving to go out of town on Friday afternoon once the kids got out of school, we were running out of time to do the things we wanted to do. Thursday night would be busy packing and doing last minute things, Wednesday night was AWANA, and Tuesday night I had MOPS, so that only left Sunday and Monday night to do the family Christmas things that have become a tradition over the last few years. 

One of our traditions is letting the kids watch "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" and enjoying some Grinch Punch, which we make with Sprite, green sherbet, and green sprinkles put on top. Samantha and Aedan remembered this tradition from the past, so we decided Sunday night would be a good nigh for it. We played part of the movie, and then paused to enjoy our Grinch Punch because we didn't trust the little ones with a drink like that in the living room. Owen decided he didn't like the Sprite, so we just gave him a little sherbet in a cup with sprinkles, and he was happy with that.

I included these next couple of pictures because it shows how Owen twirls his hair. He twirls around and around in the same spot, and it's pretty cute to see how often he does it.

We let the kids watch a little more of the movie before having to stop and get everyone to bed. It was a school night, and most of the kids were fighting off colds or coughs. Everyone was tired and cranky and not feeling well, so we were praying that everyone would feel well enough before leaving for our Christmas traveling.

Since Ben didn't have classes or finals to go to on Monday morning, I decided to run out by myself on some errands while he stayed home with the two boys, hanging out with them at the house, and putting away all the laundry that we had done over the weekend. I had to buy dog food, pick up our groceries at Walmart, buy a few last minute Christmas presents, and mail all our Christmas cards at the post office. I had issues with our pick up order because they gave us six packages of plain bagels when I had only asked for one. I had to wait in the customer service line for a long time, and the store was just really busy with it being right before Christmas. However, it was definitely nice being able to do these errands on my own and not have to drag two little boys along with me.

The rest of the day went by quickly. We decided we were going to do our family Christmas that evening, since there really was no other better day to do it in our schedule. However, I hadn't wrapped any presents, so I spent the afternoon doing that before the kids got home from school, then I helped the kids wrap the presents that they got for people once they got home from school, and Ben was working on baking the ham and making mashed potatoes. However, the ham was taking much longer than expected to cook, so we decided to let the kids unwrap some presents before dinner while we waited.

Aedan passed out his presents for people first. He got Owen a soft, blue soccer ball.

He got the little girl a charm bracelet.

He got Samantha a pretty necklace with an angel on it. You can tell by the expression on her face how excited she is and how much she liked it.

These pictures of them hugging make me so happy because they love each other so much. They love picking out presents that they know the other one will like, and she was so sincere in her gratitude to him.

Aww! Will you just look at these two! I know I say this a lot, but I honestly hope they always stay this close and are always such good friends.

Aedan got me a special rose, and he was very excited to have me open it.

Aedan also got the little boy a squishy dinosaur toy, and he got Daddy a mug that says "Super Dad" on it.

Then, it was Samantha's turn to give out her presents for people. She got Daddy an ornament that says "My Hero."

She got the little girl a bracelet.

And the most special present of all, she made blankets for Owen and Aedan. I took her to Joann Fabrics about a month ago so she could pick out all the fabric herself, and she was was very particular about what she picked for everyone, choosing trucks for Owen and Pikachu for Aedan. Here are some videos and pictures of the boys opening their presents. I like that Samantha and Aedan have been able to pick out presents for people because they get to experience the joy of giving, and how nice it can be to pick something out that is special for another person. She was so excited to give her brothers the blankets she worked so hard on.

For some reason, Samantha was really worried that Aedan wouldn't really like his Pikachu blanket, even though I reassured her over and over again that he would absolutely love it. As you can tell by this video, he was super excited about this blanket. I had to cut this video short because of our new little ones was in it at the end, but he ran over to Samantha on the couch and gave her the biggest hug in the world. The look on Samantha's face was priceless. She was so happy that Aedan was so happy, and you could tell she was so proud that she made him something that he loved so much.

Samantha is so caring and loving. She is still so much of Aedan's world, and I love it. These pictures just melt my heart.

I think Aedan likes his blanket, and he had every intention of using it to sleep that night, too!

Samantha got the little boy a little monkey toy that grows larger as you let it soak in water.

And she got me a beautiful ring that came in a pretty clear box.

After the kids shared the presents they got for the family, it was time for us to give presents to the kids. Ben and I decided to do something different this year. First, we got the overnight to Great Wolf Lodge as a big part of their Christmas present. Then, we decided that we would get shared presents that all the kids would enjoy, so there wasn't as much of a desire to fight over things or not let someone play with it because it was "theirs."

The first thing they opened came in a couple different boxes. There was a lady selling a huge lot of Playmobil stuff on Facebook, and I knew the kids, especially Aedan and Owen, would enjoy all the rescue vehicles and people that came along with the set, so that was their first gift.

I then gave Daddy his present. Since we are going to Puerto Rico together in January, we decided that we wouldn't get anything much for each other, but we each got each other one little thing. I ordered him an apron off of Etsy because when he cooks he's always getting grease and stains on his shirts, so I thought it would be cute, funny, and practical. I got him a blue apron because blue is his favorite color, and it said on it "DADDY-HEAD CHEF-THE TOLL HOUSE."

Ben got me Norwex cleaning cloths, one microfiber one and one for cleaning glass and mirrors. My friend, Heather, is a consultant and posted about a sale that was going on, and I dropped the hint to Ben that that would be a good, smaller thing he could get for me. I have always wanted to try Norwex cloths, but I have had a hard time justifying the price you have to pay for them.

The other shared presents the kids got was a new CD player to keep in Samantha's and Aedan's room. They were using mine that I had in college, and it wasn't working very well anymore. They love to play music in their room and dance around. This one has more advanced capabilities to grow with them as they get older, too. They were pretty excited about that. The other present was two Lego tables for them to use to build on. I bought these from a lady on Facebook as well. They are basically side tables that she glued Lego base plates to, and the kids were actually really looking forward to using them. They are always wanting a place to build where things would be more secure and wouldn't slide around or get knocked off, so I thought this would be a good gift that they all could enjoy.

After they opened those presents, I let them open the Legos that I got them with the present money from my grandma. I bought a Frozen set for Samantha and Aedan to share and a Duplo train set for Owen, so that way he didn't feel left out. It was so hard for them to have to wait to open and play with the presents another day.

The ham was finally done in the oven, so it was time to eat dinner, but in the frantic nature of the night, Ben accidentally dumped cloves into the mashed potatoes, instead of chives. He tried to scoop out as many as he could, but he had already stirred some in. The clove taste was much too overpowering, and most of us did not eat our mashed potatoes, which was sad because he took the time to peel them and make them from scratch. It was much later than we usually eat dinner since the ham was taking so long to cook to the right temperature, so we basically ate dinner and then it was time for everyone to go to sleep, as it was a school night.

I know I have said this before, but particularly on Monday night, I just felt like life was just so crazy and busy. I felt like I had not had one minute of downtime. We did our family Christmas and presents that night, but everything felt really last minute and rushed, which is not how I like it to be. (One example is that things have been so busy that I forgot to renew all our library books, so I had to pay a $15 fine.) I just felt so flustered and there was just too much for me to remember and keep track of. I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and every night I went to sleep exhausted.

We were gearing up for leaving once the kids got out of school on Friday, so we only had a certain amount of time to get things taken care of. I told Christy once that she is lucky to not have to travel to see people during the holidays. It's just either we do that, or we don't get to see anyone, but I am definitely getting tired of all our Christmases feeling rushed and busy and tiring. Sometimes I just long for a Christmas where we can spend time at our own house, do more of our own family traditions, and have family come and stay at our house instead. It would be nice to have a break from always being the ones traveling. It's just a lot of work getting ready to go out of town, trying to take care of everything before we leave, and then spending money and most of our time over Christmas break traveling and making a big trip.

We got some snow overnight into Tuesday, so school ended up being cancelled, and all the kids had a snow day. Because of that, we contacted the kids' caseworker about getting a visit set up for the kids, since it would be a day where the girl wouldn't be missing school. Ben had a few things he needed to do down in Wilkes-Barre, so he dropped them off and said it was interesting to see how the little girl tried to run from her mom several times while they were waiting for the visit coordinator. We can't decide if it's just a game she plays with her mom, or if she subconsciously feels uncomfortable with her, but it's definitely not a good sign.

The other good news of the day was that I finally got word from the transportation company for the little girl, saying that they would pick her up between 7:30-7:35 to be taken to school. I was glad that this finally was going to be taken care of and having that taken care of would be one less burden on us in our every day life.

Here is some work the kids brought home from school.

Here's a Social Studies test that Samantha got 103% on. She was proud to show it to Daddy because it was all about the government.

And here's some work from Aedan with color words, the letter Dd, working on putting words together into a sentence, adding numbers together, matching words that are opposites, and more work with the letter Dd. I love being able to see a glimpse into their day by seeing the work that they bring home. Both of them are doing so well in school this year, and I am so proud of how well they are doing.

Snow days in Pennsylvania are kind of funny to us, since we just spent our last three years in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This is how much snow/ice we got Monday night into Tuesday morning. There is definitely not that much, and I could see how the layer of ice on top of the snow would make some roads pretty slippery, but I didn't quite understand how it would necessitate cancelling school for the day.

The day went pretty well, even though the kids were all home from school. Samantha and Aedan went into their room and put together their Arendelle castle that morning. Owen got out his Lego train, and everyone just had fun playing with the new toys we opened up the night before. After how chaotic the night before felt, it was nice to have a relaxed morning at home, especially for the kids who so badly wanted to play with their new things.

We were able to get a visit lined up for our two new little ones that afternoon, and I let Samantha and Aedan watch a movie and eat popcorn while Owen napped.

There wasn't enough snow to play in outside, but it was a nice, relaxing day nevertheless, just what we needed.

Tuesday was a MOPS night, and Ben was okay with me going again. It was our Christmas night where we brought a gift to exchange, made a Christmas decoration, and shared yummy appetizers and finger food with each other. Even though it's a smaller group than what we had in Michigan, I have enjoyed getting to know other moms in a more intimate setting. The evening went well for Ben putting all the kids to bed on his own. After having a whole week of taking Samantha to play practice and having to do a lot of bed times on our own, one MOPS night didn't seem to be too big of a deal, but I was very appreciative that he was so supportive of me being able to go be a part of this group.

Wednesday was back to our normal routine of school, but we only had a few more days left before Christmas break, and everyone was getting excited for our travel plans to see family. Here is some work the kids brought home from school on Wednesday. Aedan did some work with ordering numbers, addition, and writing Christmas words he saw in the room.

Samantha brought home a mid-chapter checkpoint test and a weekly math quiz that she did a really good job on.

Wednesday night was a special night at AWANA where the kids all met at the Lehman Nursery for activities, crafts, music, and stories all about the birth of Jesus. We decided that there was no way our two new little ones would be able to handle this event, especially after the little girl's behavior last week, so we decided that I would stay home with them while Ben took our three kids. The kids got to see farm animals, too, as well as drink some hot chocolate. It was a fun night, and they came home bubbling with stories to tell me.

The two new little ones had a good night playing in the basement. The little girl drew pictures on our easel with chalk, and the little boy played and wrestled with Izzy. It was a good evening, and even though I would have rather been with Ben and the kids, it was much better to just get the other kids to bed at their normal time.

That evening I read a devotional before bed that really helped my perspective after a rough and busy few days. I was definitely trying to rely on my own strength and not God's, and I was so thankful that he can use me even though I am weak and imperfect. I definitely needed the reminder to obey, despite my fears and inadequacies.

Thursday was my day to do laundry and work on the list of things that I needed to do before we left the next afternoon. I was definitely feeling ready to get out of town and be away from home for awhile, to hang out and spend time with people, and to get away from the daily grind of life with five kids.

We had our Bible study Christmas party at one of the mom's houses that morning, and it was a great time of just hanging out, talking, enjoying good food and coffee, as well as sharing in our gift exchange and giving our notes out to people. We got back home a little later than we would have liked, and I got the boys down for their naps before trying to work on some more packing. Owen hasn't been napping long lately, some days barely making it an hour and a half, so I knew I didn't have too much time before my productive time would be over.

Here's some work the kids brought home with them on Thursday. I love seeing how much Aedan's handwriting is improving, as well as his letter formation.

Here is Aedan's test on the letter Dd. He did a great job!

Thursday after school we had a lot of last minute things to do like getting the boys' hair cut, returning books at the library, (paying my large fine), letting the kids get new books to bring on our trip, and buying a cheese and pepperoni tray for Aedan's Christmas party the next day. Ben stayed home with our two new little ones, and we all had leftovers for dinner to try to clean out our refrigerator as much as possible.

The respite care they lined up for our two new little ones was about an hour and a half from our house, so they came to pick them up on Friday morning to drive them out to respite. The little girl was going to miss school that Friday and the following Monday, but there wasn't much we could do about that. Luckily, Ben was able to stay home and help me that morning with getting packing done and everything loaded up in the car so that way we could leave as soon as the kids got home from school at 1:00.

We were all excited to hit the road that afternoon. We all went to the bathroom and piled in the car, excited and ready for our adventure. Ben and I were able to sit in the front and talk while the kids were quiet in the back of the car. Aedan and Owen took naps, and Samantha enjoyed some quiet reading time. The rest of our car trip went well. The kids got to watch a movie and everyone was happy.

We drove to a hotel in Ohio, where we picked up pizza to eat in the hotel lobby. We got to the hotel in enough time to let everyone go swimming for awhile, and it was an enjoyable evening. We had adjoining hotel rooms, and our room had a large bathroom that we were able to fit Owen's pack and play in. It was amazing how much easier it felt going down from five to three kids!

The last week or so, it was going better with our two new little ones, especially with finally getting the little girls' transportation set up. Our biggest issue was that she just doesn't understand much. She has major issues with paying attention and retaining information. The little boy is easy to take care of, and Owen is calling him "my brother." Aedan and Samantha are doing better with handling the little girl. We try to explain to them that she just doesn't understand and and doesn't act her age. We also are trying hard to give the kids space when they want it, so they don't always fell like the little girl is up in their business. I think this time away will be really good for our family to reconnect again. Aedan is already praying for the next kids we will get, and when we told Samantha we will probably take a little break once they go home, she said, "Why? Why wouldn't we just take kids again right away?" So I think they are starting to realize that it's hard but good. It's hard and sometimes I doubt why we are doing it, but I try to remind myself that God said in this life we will have trouble, but also that he will equip us for the things he calls us to.

We had a decent night's sleep at the hotel, and then we got up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and got on the road to Upland. We stopped for lunch on our way there, and Owen took a little bit of a nap in the car but not very long, which was unfortunate. However, once we got to Upland it didn't matter because the kids are always so excited to be there, to see Ema and Papa, and to spend lots of time playing outside. They still had a little bit of snow on the ground, so the kids had fun playing, building a little snowman, and Samantha hit the ball around with Ben for awhile. We just had a blast playing and spending time together. It was so good to have this family time for us and the kids. I was so glad that everything worked out for respite care so that we could still take this trip.

(Blog about December 15-21, 2019)