Merry Christmas!

William enjoying his dinosaur playmat from Grandma:
Henry and his Sugar Bowl shirt:

Christmas morning came early for us:

Setting out cookies for Santa:

Clowning around with pillowcases made with love by Mom:

We've hunkered down for the day -it's been snowing all day here in Cache Valley so there will be lots of snow for sledding this weekend. Jay is taking the boys to a Utah Jazz game on Dec. 26th - Santa brought tickets for the Wright boys to enjoy. We are so grateful for family and friends this holiday season and especially for the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Tracking Santa

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html

We love checking this link periodically through the day on Christmas Eve. The kids like to see what country Santa is visiting. They have cute videos and it's a good chance to not only check on Santa's progress but learn about geography as well.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas Eve.

Stream of Conscious

Conversations with 2 year olds are always interesting. This is a very close approximation of a fairly one-sided conversation with Tessa the other day at our house:

"Mama, why you yawn? Do you need a nap? You can't sleep in my bed. You are too big for my bed. You share with Daddy. Daddy at work. Daddy home yet? Daddy need to eat dinner. What's for dinner? Chicken is yucky. Vegetables are yucky. Potatoes are yucky. I love caramel popcorn. Can we make some? I want some candy. Can we have some now? But I want some! Is Henry home yet? I want Henry. Where is Puppy? I go see him. Bye, Mama".

All this was said about 6 inches from my face as I was laying on the couch. It's a good thing she's so cute because she sure can be exhausting, especially now that she doesn't nap anymore. Afternoons can seem really long sometimes.

**Note - she often refers to William as "Puppy" because she had a hard time pronouncing his name when she was learning to talk. She calls him William more these days, but still reverts back to Puppy as well.

Holiday Highlights

The holiday season is in full swing. We've been playing holiday music in the car - the kids seem to favor our Harry Connick Jr. Christmas CD. All of our Family Home Evening lessons this month have focused on Christmas. We have enjoyed giving small gifts to friends, neighbors and teachers. It's been fun to enjoy all the treats and fun activities that go along with the holidays.

Still, sometimes it's hard to remember amidst all the commercialism and craziness that is December that we are celebrating the birth of the Savior. Such a significant and sacred event feels misplaced among all the hoopla that is Christmas in 2008. It feels like a difficult balance to achieve, the balance between the sacred and the secular. We're trying - I guess time will tell if we succeed.

Winter Wonderland

We had our first big snowfall of the season today. Here are a few pictures:

Self Esteem

Overheard last night at our ward Christmas party:

Nice lady: "Henry, you look so handsome in your new glasses."

Henry: "I know."

Sigh.

Note to self - teach Henry that the appropriate response to compliments is generally "thank you", not "I know I'm so smart/handsome/fantastic/fill in the blank."

Brotherly Love

Some days it's nice to get a reminder that our children love each other, despite the bickering, teasing and arguing that occurs on a daily basis.

Today was a sick day for Henry. He was up during the night with what seems to be a 24-hour stomach bug. William had preschool this morning and when I picked him up, he asked me if Henry was still sick. I said, "yes, a little"; William's response was "good". I told William that it wasn't nice to want his brother to be sick and he replied, "I don't want him to be sick, but I like it when he gets to stay home from school so that we can be together."

Of course a few hours later they were whacking each other with pillows and fighting over what show to watch on TV, but it is occasionally nice to get a glimpse of the love they have for each other.

.

Glasses

Today Henry got glasses. We knew this day was coming. He had his first opthamologist appointment last summer and his eyes were "borderline". The doctor said that when (not if, but when) he started complaining of not seeing the board at school or headaches to bring him back. Fast forward to the week before Thanksgiving - Henry said he was having to squint to see things at school and he complained of a few headaches at the end of the day. So we took him back to have his eyes checked (they had slightly worsened) and ordered his glasses. He'll only need them for schoolwork and watching TV or movies for now, since he's nearsighted. He probably won't need them to read, but we'll encourage him to wear them most of the time to get used to them and to prevent eyestrain. He won't need them for recess or sports right now.

He seems OK with getting them; I think his eyes are bothering him enough that he knows it will help. I think he is a little worried about what people will say, but his best friend wears glasses and so do some kids at school, so I'm sure once he realizes that it's really not a big deal he'll be more comfortable. I just hope he is careful with them and doesn't lose them!

Happy Birthday, William!

Today is William's 5th birthday. He was born at 1:03 p.m. on December 2, 2003.

He opened his presents this morning and was a happy camper. He got some sports cards from Henry (chosen with care from his personal collection), a dinosaur computer game from Grandma, a dinosaur book with trading cards and a pretend fossil to dig out of clay from Mom and Dad, and tickets to go to the Walking with Dinosaurs Live Show in January with Henry and Mom. He also received a $2 bill from Aunt LeClaire and Uncle Heath, which was a big hit. We're having a dinosaur cake after dinner (are you catching a theme here?) and will celebrate with the Wright Family later in December.

He's a great kid and we love him so much.