Zackorating

I expected to have some trouble from the four year old when I put away the Christmas decorations. He was surprisingly helpful. He likes to keep our holiday decor up to date and was all set to bust out anything that looks Valentines-y. I reminded him that we needed to celebrate New Year's first, which put him in a dilemma. What is appropriate New Year's decor? Anything new. That was interesting. He put a wreath on a little tree and using Bendaroos, put up some balloons and fireworks on the walls. It's always interesting to see what he comes up with.

I mentioned that we could leave out a few snowmen. That gave him this great idea.

This tree was the source of more than one disagreement. It's also the tree that he put the wreath on. While my parents were here he wanted it as the centerpiece on that table. It was too tall and annoying, but he wouldn't let us move it. I tried to get him to use it as a cornerpiece, but he wasn't having it. He can be very stubborn.

His main focus this year was the table centerpiece. We lost one glass vase to his creativity so he learned to use plastics.

When Dad was visiting, he put this watch on the candle because it was almost "time" for Christmas. Zack enjoyed the symbolism so I dealt with the watch on the candle for a few days. I really thought that Matt would put his watch on but he didn't and I eventually ended up putting it away.

While I was digging the van out of the snow in the driveway. Zack was inspired. It snowed (kleenex) inside too.

He was actually pretty clever with this one. He tore an edge off the snowflakes and wrapped it through a hole in the bottom of the blinds.

Matt helped him set this up.

I think he dreams of ways to make our house look pretty. Lucky me.

Christmas Stresses

Have you seen the commercial for Bendaroos? It's magic wax. Zack decided that he wanted it for Christmas, so we suggested it to PaPa and NaNa. They ordered it, but we weren't sure if it would make it by Christmas. No big deal; it's always fun to get a present in the mail after.

I normally take the kids to visit Santa early in the season so that he has plenty of time to get what they ask for. This year, we didn't go until the 22nd. While we were waiting in line, I asked them what they were going to request. Noah and Ben had decided on Zero Gravity Micro Racers. That's what Zack was talking about since the first of the month, so I was a little shocked when he said he was asking for Bendaroos. I quickly tried to talk him out of it: Bendaroos are not available in stores. Santa might have a hard time getting them this close to Christmas. Wouldn't he feel sad if he didn't have a car to race? I was working hard & I thought I'd convinced him to ask for the race car. But Zack will do what Zack wants to do. He asked for the Bendaroos.

The original arrival date for the Bendaroos was on December 23rd. Curse the snowy weather all over the country. No deliveries that day. And the weather wasn't improving much. Things were getting a little stressful. Zack just knew Santa would bring Bendaroos. I was coming up with explanations and preparing for a Christmas morning meltdown.

Then the most glorious sound-the doorbell. I'd had a few false alarms during the day and maybe I looked a little let down when friends dropped off various Christmas goodies. But at 6:30 pm on Christmas Eve and Fed Ex pulled through. I wanted to kiss that guy.

I still had a few things to work out, like the fact that Noah and Ben had prior knowledge of PaPa and NaNa's present. Fortunately Santa is all knowing and wouldn't bring something that someone else had already bought. It was just essential that we had it for him to unwrap. And so Christmas morning was a happy time.

Even if he had a to wait a few minutes to get what he wanted most of all.
And by the way, the Bendaroos are really fun. Among other cooler things (which I don't have pictures of) he set up an obstacle course on the hallway wall for the race cars, which also work. Can't ask for a better Christmas than that.

Pretend this came in the mail…

Merry Christmas!

Love, the Francis Family

Visitors from Up North

We were happy to have Grandma and Grandpa come visit us for the weekend. We don't usually get to see them before Christmas. Grandma brought some fun things to do.

Grandpa got caught up on his teasing and play doh-ing.
A few weeks ago, we let Zack draw a snowman on the window. I should say we didn't freak out after he drew on the window with marker. I told him that when I was little Grandma used to paint a Christmas picture on our window. I should have known that he would remember that. He commissioned a picture of Santa for Grandma and he painted an elf.

He is so proud of their artwork that I am afraid we'll be doing Valentine's pictures, Easter pictures, St. Patrick's Day pictures, because he feels like it pictures...

We Believe

We took a drive on Sunday night to look at Christmas lights. We were told that there was a really impressive house in Alpine. The house was pretty, but paled in comparison to one house sitting near the top of a mountain that was so lit up we could see it from miles away. I told the boys that it was so bright that it might be Santa's house. As we were trying to figure out how to drive to it, we nearly hit a little deer crossing the street. That was all it took to convince the boys that we were almost at the North Pole and en route to Santa's place. Zack was especially excited because "there are deer that can't fly and that was probably Rudolph's friend and it is a good thing we didn't run over it or Santa and Rudolph would be mad..." As we wound around the mountain road, the kids were more and more excited to see where Santa actually lived. And then we saw it: thousands of brilliant lights, a huge house, big gates--definitely Santa's.

The next day we went to see Santa at the mall. Even Zack knows that a mall Santa isn't the real guy. But there was still some hope as Noah was telling the boys that Santa picks a different state to visit personally and maybe he was in Utah. Lucky for us, this Santa was the real deal. He said all the right things, had a real beard, wore jingle bells and, according Ben, he had a twinkle in his eye.

So close...

Today it snowed like it was going out of style. We drove down to Provo to help Kelli move. The 25 minute drive took an hour. Being the snow driving veteran that I am it wasn't too bad.

I did get stuck. The first time (it happened more than once) I was leaving Kelli's apartment, but Dad was able to drive out of it. It was very impressive. It's a simple matter of not giving it too much gas and just letting the car get itself out. It also helps if you aren't afraid of sliding around in what appears to be an out of control manner until the car rights itself. The second time I didn't fare so well:
I thought I paid attention to Dad's lesson. Maybe the van (like horses and tractors) has more respect for my Dad. It just wasn't wanting to get itself unstuck. Perhaps it felt like it was close enough to home. Whatever the reason, I am grateful for neighbors who were willing to help shovel and push.

Sick Kids Day 2

This may sound weird but the kids are home sick and I'm pretty happy about it. I have an iron clad/guilt free reason not to be at the elementary school, grocery store or anywhere else. Home confinement has forced me to do all the little house projects that I have been neglecting. Yesterday, I cleaned out three closets, my laundry room, and a cupboard. I'm not sure how they ended up in such a state of disarray, but now I just want to sit and admire the linen closet. It looks so neat and tidy. I've filled three bags of stuff for the D.I. and I'm just getting started. Today I plan to tackle the boys' bedrooms. I'm giddy just thinking about it.

Here's some unrelated stuff

Matt is our ward committee chair. That is what I get for making dumb comments about how I would like to invite more people to our little street parties, except then it becomes a ward party and that is not my calling. Which technically it still isn't my calling, but we all know how that goes. All things considered (no committee members, limited budget, three weeks notice) Matt did a good job on the party. He really did do most of the work, I only helped on the jobs that I wanted to do. He even decorated.
It's a good thing we have Dave, the fireplace facade guy, to help create a good ambiance. It's also a good thing that Lyn is our neighbor and was willing to provide the musical entertainment. She and her friends Melanie & Paige were absolutely amazing. She even busted out a hot pink electric violin. I'll bet you didn't have that at your ward Christmas party... but you might have been served dinner. We're just glad it's over and there isn't another party for awhile.
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Today was one of those days that I wonder why I live in a state that gets so cold. But Noah is still a die hard when it comes to sports. I can't convince him to play downstairs but maybe this will: Remember I am a horrible sports photographer and my camera is incapable of taking a good action shot. The net is frozen so the ball got stuck.
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The pinewood derby was last week. Noah's car looked cool (winner: most authentic car) but was not fast enough to win. Apparently the competition is stiff in our ward. The guy who runs the track said that our ward has the fastest cars out of all the races he has run. The winning car was nearly as fast as the world record holding pinewood derby car, which was made by a professional. I suppose if the Francis boys are going to compete they are going to have to stop building cars two nights before the big race.

Great Expectations

I admit to being a frugal person. I get a ridiculous amount of joy in finding a good deal so I rarely pay full price for anything. When I do pay full price, I expect it to be worth it. For school, in a moment of weakness, I shelled out 50 bucks for Ben to have a pair of Skechers Z-straps. I think it is the most I have ever spent on kids' shoes--I rarely spend that much on my shoes. But I figured they would last longer. Three months later and they look like this:


Here's the kicker: he was only allowed to wear them to school. He does walk to school which could account for excessive wear, except that he almost always gets a ride home. Besides, Noah's shoes are still in mint condition (Adidas, $13-amazing sale). And Noah is harder on shoes and doesn't have designated play shoes. Matt did try to take them back (as any member of the Francis family would) and was refused. What chaps my hide is that Ben's $8.00 Kmart play shoes I purchased last spring are in better shape than these. I tried to sew these junkers back together. See the thread? I am not a shoemaker! I am going to have to purchase a thimble or have some little elves help me out because I don't have the finger strength to push a needle through the leather.

I think it is reasonable to expect a pair of kids' shoes to last for a school year or, at the very least, for half of it. I did not get my money's worth on these crappy shoes and that drives me crazy enough to write about it. Take my advice, don't buy Skechers, or don't pay full price. They aren't worth it. Now I feel a little better.

Farewell November, I hardly knew you...

Last month went by way too fast, probably because we were so busy.

Noah is playing Futsal. One of these days I really do plan to read the rules so I can explain the difference between it and indoor soccer. It is much faster paced than outdoor soccer. Noah's footwork and passing has improved because they are playing on a small court. I just like sitting inside on bleachers.
All of the 4th grade classes put on a Utah program. I thought it was well done. It started on time and was short which is a recipe for success. You can spot Noah because he is one of the few kids whose Mom didn't care enough to find pioneer clothes. It didn't really bother me until I looked at the picture and now I feel like a slacker.
They did some square dancing at the end. Noah does a mean dosado. It was his first time dancing with the ladies and he was pretty shy about it. I remember dancing the Virginia Reel in grade school. I always wanted Anedru Firth (correct spelling, I would know because I liked him all through grade school) to be my partner. I couldn't get Noah to reveal his favorite partner, I wonder if it's on a doodle somewhere. Do boys do that? I wasn't going to put this video on but it's sort of amusing. First, Noah turns bright red when he has to sashay down the aisle. Then watch the kid in green fall after he goes under the bridge. Good stuff.

I was walking down the first grade hall of the elementary school and saw a bunch of turkeys hanging on the walls and panicked. My plan to hang a turkey on the fridge to remind me to help Ben with his disguise a turkey project back fired. It's a good thing I go up to the elementary school everyday or my kids might never have their homework finished on time. It's also a good thing that it wasn't due until the next day. We decided to disguise his turkey as a basketball player from Turkey: Memo. I think it turned out pretty well. You can barely tell the difference between the turkey and the real guy.

I went with Zack's preschool to the dinosaur museum. I've never been there and it's pretty impressive. It was also fun to watch Zack interact with his preschool friends, especially all those girls. I drove and had a car full of girls who all wanted to ride with Zack.
The best part of November was Thanksgiving. Emily dazzled us with her turkey and decadent desserts.
Check out Noah and Ethan's dinner. They were going to town on those legs. Yulk! I avoided looking at their end of the table. It grosses me out think about it. So, no, I don't eat the big turkey legs they sell at Disneyland, but you can guess you does...
This is one of the many reasons we like getting together with Matt's family. The cousins all get along really well together. About the only time we see them is when they are hungry.
This is fog and fog is fun to play in.
We took a risk taking 10 kids bowling, but it turned out to be really fun. Except that Zack really wanted to win and he isn't very good. Everyone else was happy though.
Before we left Vegas we hit the Coke factory and sampled drinks they sell around the world.
Zack looks sweet and innocent, but don't cross him. Ethan tricked him by giving him a drink he said was Sprite but in reality was Beverly (the nastiest drink on earth). Ethan was given quite a tongue lashing from Zack, who does NOT like to be tricked. He got off pretty easy though, for a minute I thought Zack was going to spit it out on him.
The last stop was the M&M store where we managed to not buy anything and watched a lame (if you are an adult) 3-D movie. The kids liked it and Sam and Noah were awesome in their front row seats.
Decemeber is here and I am hoping it will move at a more reasonable pace. I'm also hoping it won't snow, but I doubt I'll get either wish.