Here Comes Santa Claus!

Santa knew that Jonas wasn't going to be home on Christmas morning, so he left him this note the night before Christmas Eve:

From December 2011

Jonas was super excited when he read the note.  He left some cookies, M&Ms, and milk for Santa, some reindeer food for Rudolph, and headed to bed.  He told me he was just going to pretend to sleep so he could see Santa come....and promptly fell asleep within 3 minutes.  Grandma and Papa came over early Saturday morning to watch Jonas open presents.  Here's Jonas when he first woke up - 

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All Jonas asked for from Santa for Christmas was a blue stuffed bear...he got 4!  Now he has a little blue bear family.

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And of course, he got many more presents that he was super excited about.

This ultra excitement is over some little capsules that turn into tiny sponge animals when you put them in warm water.

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Wrapping paper angels!

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Operation - love this game!

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Beyblade battle with Papa

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It was a great morning, and Jonas went to have even more fun with his daddy Christmas Eve night.  Merry Christmas, everyone!

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Jonas Claus

Jonas was having some fun in his bubble bath making himself look like Santa Claus!

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Festive Friday

Today was Christmas party day at school.  Which basically means super hyper children super excited about Christmas!  It's my favorite day of the year...here's a picture synopsis of the day.  Enjoy!

We start in the morning with some play time and gift exchanging.  This year I got each of the kids a light-up Christmas necklace and a fun Christmas headband.

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Then we meet up with our Special Friends for a pancake breakfast in the gym.

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Singing some Christmas carols

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Santa came to our school!  He handed out all the presents to each of the children.

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Jonas' special friend got him a really cute "lion monkey"!  Jonas loves it and has carried it everywhere with him since this morning.

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The classic "Throw a wet paper towel at the snowman" game...needless to say, the kids loved it.

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My adorable class

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We made "reindeer food"...this is the kids doing the reindeer dance to mix everything up!

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Decorating Christmas cookies

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Story time with Mrs. Lindsay..."The Grinch"

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Making wreath ornaments

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Many, many thanks to Mrs. Lindsay and Mrs. Becky for planning activities for today.  We all had a great time!

Christmas Celebration

Jonas, Bethany, and Bekah participated in Trinity's Christmas Celebration last night.  They did an awesome job, and Jonas couldn't wait to go on stage!  (Mommy, when's it our turn??)  Can't wait till Christmas!

Hayden watching the festivities

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Super handsome and ready to go on stage!!!

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Bekah playing with her bells and nose instead of wearing them while she sings "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer"

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The Kindergarten crew singing "Go, Tell it on the Mountain" and dancing to "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas"

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When it was all over Jonas wanted to know if he could have another turn on stage...I kinda wish I knew what he would've done if I let him go back up there :-)  4 more days till Christmas, everybody!

Christmas Pageant

Jonas was an angel again this year in the Sunday School Christmas pageant.  Although Giraffee had to be with him most of the time for support for some reason, he did a really good job!  Unfortunately, I couldn't get very many pictures since I was directing the kids.  This will give you an idea of the overwhelming cuteness, though :-)

From December 2011

Christmas Spirit

Jonas was getting into the Christmas spirit today.  He got some cookies as a gift and shared them with all his friends!

Quote of the Day

Jonas:  Do you want to know what "tig" is?  "Tig" is "Hello" in my make-believe Spanish.  "Scada" means you're beautiful.  You're beautiful, Mommy.

Sick :-(

Monday night Jonas woke up with the flu, and was sick from 10:30 until 3:30 in the morning.  We took yesterday off to recover, and headed to school today.  No fever, says he feels fine...but...does he really??

Festival of Lights

We brought the kids to the Festival of Lights on Saturday.  I actually didn't get any pictures of lights...weird huh?  But...here's some other cute ones!

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This snowsuit was like a baby straight jacket on Abby...hilarious!

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Great Grandma Vera and Jonas in line to see Santa.

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The kids list for Santa - gum, pickles, a blue bear.  I kid you not...our kids are weird!

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Jonas was picked during the game show to be a contestant.  He had to throw and try to catch a big blow up rocket.  He didn't catch it, but he had a great throw that his teammate caught!  

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Team huddle:

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They also drove through a big light show, saw a magic show, and saw some reindeer...but somehow I forgot to take pictures of all that!  We had a great time, as always!

Swim Class

Jonas just finished his first round of Level 1 swim class.  He learned a lot since the beginning, and overall did a really good job.  To pass Level 1 he has to be able to swim the width of the pool with no help.  He's not quite there yet, but take a look at how close he is!

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Christmas Time is Here!

Jonas and I decked the halls last week...well, we decked our apartment :-)  Jonas was a little distracted by ALL the BOXES full of COOL STUFF!!!....so, he wasn't actually very helpful.  But, we did have a great time dancing to Christmas music and getting in the holiday mood!

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December Randomness

My sweet little baby

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Working hard at school!

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Pasta fingers!!

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And...we're back!

Yes, I know have neglected this blog for 2 months now.  I am not going to post everything we have done in that time, but feel free to click on any picture on this blog to link to our Web Albums page and take a look at some of the pictures :-)  I am, however, going to re-commit to keeping the blog up to date again from now on.

A few funny conversations that have happened recently:

Me: Hold onto your balloon when we go outside.
Jonas:  Yeah, cause if I let go its gonna fly all the way up to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit!

Me (trying on new clothes): How does this outfit look?
Jonas: It's kinda good.
Me: Remember to tell the truth.
Jonas: It's actually kinda bad.

Jonas (talking about Lucky the Leprechaun that visited his classroom last year on St. Patrick's Day): Remember that guy that spilled green paint and left footprints all over our classroom?
Me: Lucky? What about him?
Jonas: Is Santa going to bring him presents?
Me: I don't know, what do you think?
Jonas: I think so, he wasn't being bad, he was just being funny like me.

More posts to come, promise!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving morning I had one of those moments when I almost overflowed with pride and love for my son.  As a family (grandma, papa, Jonas, and me) we delivered 6 thanksgiving dinners from the City Mission to people in need. I explained what we were doing to Jonas, and he decided that he wanted to hand out the bags of food. So at every door, Jonas cheerfully handed over a bag of food, while announcing "Happy Thanksgiving!" to each person. He even let an old lady hug and kiss him (twice). It was almost as if he sensed that these people needed cheering up on a holiday, and he was right there stepping up to help as best he could. These are the times when I am reminded what a good, sweet boy I am blessed with. City