Happy?

Happy New Years?

I 'm not quite sure what was going on in my house this morning.

...but they weren't fighting so I really didn't care.

Steve and I were up until 2 am last night.

We ventured WAY out of our comfort zone and had a small New Years Eve party.

I laughed so hard my stomach muscles still hurt today.  (I have stomach muscles??)

The boy's green accessories were left over from the white elephant gift exchange. 

The party was great.

My house still smells like grease from the maple bars and egg rolls.

I'm crazy tired, but determined to have the exact party again next year.

AND...I'm already brainstorming on ideas for next years gift exchange.

It's going to be GOOD.

Christmas Morning

If Christmas morning had to be summed up in one picture, this would be it.

Christmas at the Dixon home was good.

...and this crazy mess is why I tell Steve every Christmas that we need more kids.  I don't ever want this Christmas disaster zone to dwindle.  The wrapping paper-be careful or you will lose your gifts-mess is what I live for.  

I love the excitement...the new pj's...the torture of making them sleep until 7:30...the try and make them open one gift at time...the sugar cereal....the try and get them to eat waffles after they have had five bowls of sugar cereal...the sit around in your pajamas and talking about cleaning up the mess...I love all of it!

Here are some highlights of the craziness.

 The best gift ever!

Yep...Steve helped Santa with this one.

..and this one too!

I helped with this one!

I had a good Christmas.

A VERY good Christmas.

Steve...not so much.

Just kidding.  

But Andrew did pay for this himself.

And in my defense, Steve got three new shirts from REI, a Sherpa hoodie from Eddie Bauer and a Settlers of Catan game.  

Santa also brought him and his boys a flight simulator for the computer.

The Easy Cheese was just the "icing" on the Ritz cracker.

My parents spent the morning with us and brought gifts for eachother.

We laughed pretty hard after both long skinny boxes were open.

(I love my parents!)

...next year I'm asking for a pellet gun.

Christmas Eve

Dear Santa,

We're ready.

We ate our Christmas Eve dinner at Uncle Michael's house.

We read the Christmas story.

We sang Jingle Bells about a hundred times...with alternate lyrics.

"Dashing through the snow,  On a pair of broken skis,

Crashing through the trees, Broken both my knees.

The snow is turning red,  I think I'm almost dead...

All I want for Christmas is a hospital bed!"

We opened and put on our Christmas Eve pajamas from Grandma Walker.

We have new Star Wars pillow cases on our pillows.

We left you gingerbread cookies and the reindeer carrots.

We've been very "good" this year.

Please leave us lots and lots of good stuff.

Love, the Dixon kiddos.

Tomorrow is the day before the....

Carter came to me this morning and said, "Mom!  Tomorrow is the day before the day before Christmas!"  

It's getting close and the kids are excited!

If only they were acting like kids in story books do the week before Christmas.  I thought kids were supposed to be on their best behavior.  

Hopefully a few knock-down-drag-outs and shouting fights won't keep Santa away.

...but it might. (me)

...no it won't. (Steve)

Even with all the excitement, things are still nice and slow around here.

The kids are out of school, the house is a mess and we're listening to Christmas music.

What more could you want?

Oh?  Some pictures and happening from the last few days?

Here you go.

 Saylor Girl has cut here fifth tooth this week.

She has been grum-py.

And she started running a fever yesterday- poor little girl.

We all look forward to Steve coming home at night because he is her favorite and can always make her happy.

She says "Da", but not "Ma"

...but she also says "hello" and "slug bug"- both are long stories.

 My darling friend Alysia sent our family Star Wars pancake molds for Christmas.

They have been well used already- but I still need a more practice.

If you can't make out who these figures are...you are NOT a Star Wars fan!

Thanks Alysia!  These have been SO fun!

(Yes these the storm trooper and Yoda look like they have been horribly scarred.  But when you have to butter the pancake mold to keep the batter from sticking, browning happens.)

 My Christmas dream came true...Carter lost his other front tooth two days ago.

Perfect timing.

He still refuses to sing the song.  Dang Him.

Colby discovered a great hiding place to sneak treats; under the bar in the far corner.

I was cleaning out my pantry and noticed a box was missing.  

I found it- and the sneaky culprit.

He was pretty surprised when I didn't get mad, but just got out the camera.

No surprise he wasn't hungry for lunch.

 Andrew and Carter are doing the dishes while they are out of school.  They need to work to keep them out of trouble.

They informed me that taking your shirt off makes it easier to do the dishes because it keeps your clothes dry. 

This is a trick I will not be trying.

(thank goodness)

I made gingerbread cookies like I do every year. 

Do my piping skills improve from year to year?  Apparently not.

Here we have a normal gingerbread "person" (it's gender is in question according to Colby), Santa and a missionary.

But these crude excuses for decorated cookies did not satisfy my boys.

For some reason, they are not happy until I make Ramses and Nacho.

It's just not Christmas without them.

...even if Ramses has a gimpy leg.

tidbits

Non-verbal communication:

I usually have a good attitude about my husband's calling.  Being the ward clerk has tied up most of his Sundays, and now that tithing settlement is in full swing, twelve hours of him being gone is not uncommon.  I try to remember that I'm not the only woman in the world that is alone on Sunday- all Sunday.  Today however, my eyes flashed to the clock all afternoon in hopes that my husband would be home at a decent hour.  He walked through the door around 5 pm and asked if it was alright if he went to the Stake Mens Choir practice.  It think the full out thrashing on the floor-feet kicking-arms pounding by yours truly painted the perfect picture of how I felt.  A temper tantrum is worth a thousand words.

Reverse Psychology:

Our kids were not pleased with dinner tonight- what else in new?  As they gagged down their fried rice, (heaven forbid I feed them vegetables) I asked them what they thought were the most disgusting meals I have ever served.  Andrew could read my mind and smartly tried to pull one over on me.  He wickedly smiled and replied, "Pizza Mom.  Your pizza is disgusting!"   ...don't throw me in the brier patch, Brare Fox, don't throw me int he brier patch!


Fulfilment:

I think all my hopes and dreams in life have come true.  Tonight, Saylor picked up her baby doll out of it's stroller, promptly kissed it on the face, and put it back.  I think I could die from the overload of cuteness.

Exclusion:

While cleaning up after dinner, Steve and Carter simultaneously let out what could only be described as dueling belches.  Burps would not quite cover what came out of their mouths.  I looked at them both in disgust and Steve retorted, "Hey...you can't get mad, were not at the dinner table anymore."  Silly me for thinking otherwise.


Inappropriateness:

We drove around with the kids tonight and looked at Christmas lights.  We made a game out of it and counted lighted reindeer in people yards.  We counted 47.  Steve and I discussed how we love to have these reindeer in our yard at Christmas time, but we never could due to the fact that we would most likely put them in "compromising positions."  We have for years wanted to do that to someone else's lawn deer, but didn't want to be arrested for destruction of property and/or lewd behavior.


Expectations:

I have been hinting for weeks now about what I want for Christmas.  Granted, all my holiday wishes have already come true...ie the table and other things I won't admit purchasing.   However, I read recently that men, generally speaking, want woman to tell them what they really want.  So Steve, this is for you.  I really want presents.  Good ones.  Fabulously wrapped presents under the tree that I can open Christmas morning.  And to help you out here is my list, Santa Baby.

1.  Ann Taylor Loft, Striped Lounge Pant Sleep Set, size small.  As of today they were 40% off.

2.  Dillard's, Nurture "Danah" Boot, brown, size 8 1/2.
                                  or
                   Nurture "Drake" Pump, red, size 8 1/2.
                                  or
                   Nurture "Gem" Loafer, tan, size 8 1/2.
                                  or
                   All Three

3.  Pottery Barn Kids, Star Wars Flannel Sheets, Twin, three sets please.  (this is for the boys...I'm being   unselfish here)

4.  Gold- dangle, but not goddy, earrings with matching bracelets- bangle like, but please remember I need ones that clasp open and close or that are stretchy.

my own personal comedian

Colby lately is honestly the funniest thing I have ever experienced.

I wish I had a tape recorder to capture his every deep thought and opinion on life.

Such as...

Last night he had a 15 minute monologue on how after he marries his one true love Sydney, he wants to dance with her.  And in order to dance, he has to buy a "dancing sweater." And this dancing sweater is blue but then magically turns red...and on and on an on.

"Mom, will you buy me a dancing sweater after I marry Sydney?'

You bet Colby.  I'm sure I can pick that up anywhere.  Maybe it can be found next to the "Mr. Rodgers Singing Sweaters" at our local JC Penny.

And then this morning, he borrowed my huge flashlight and took it downstairs.

Seriously, the flashlight has to be half his body weight.  I don't know how he made it downstairs without killing himself.

He came up later and told me all about the monster shadow he saw and how it was super scary and how the monster was going to stomp our entire house.

Give me my flashlight back Colby, so the monster won't have a shadow at all.  That should solve the problem.

Next, there was the conversation while I was flat ironing my hair and he was using my facilities.

"Mom, I'm really sorry, I've got diarrhea in my stomach."

No Colby...I'm the sorry one.  I'm the one that has to wash you.

The best of all however, is how he tries so hard to do what he knows is right, and tells everyone else in the house to follow suit.

"Mom, it is VERY import-tent that we read our scriptures EVERY DAY.  Heavenly Father wants us to read them EVERY DAY."

Priceless.

But this thirst for righteousness also has a sneaky side with an alterior motive.
"Mom, Jesus doesn't like it when we yell.  And and he doesn't like it when you yell at me.  It makes him very sad."

Guess what Mr. Goody Tooshoes?
   Jesus doesn't like it when you don't do what I ask the first clear through the fifth time I ask it.
Maybe...if you did what I asked the first time, I wouldn't have to yell.
And maybe...if you don't quit trying to manipulate me, I'm going to put you in the basement with the shadow monster.  I've heard he likes the taste of cute little boys especially when they wear magic dancing sweaters.

High above Twin Falls

The Dixon family had a sweet opportunity yesterday.

One of the nicest men I have ever known, Glenn Arrington, invited us for a ride in his helicopter.

YAHOO!

(that needed to be added)

I had the pleasure of knowing the Arrington family well when I was a freshman and sophomore in college.  They were wonderful then and they are wonderful now. 

Obviously.

Originally, the invite was for Andrew and two guests.  Andrew invited his best buddy in the whole world, Walker, and his dad.  JaNae and her kids drove down from Poky for this crazy fun opportunity. 

 Who wouldn't really???

The younger Dixon and Johnson crew had strict parental instructions that only Walker and Andrew would be going up, but they could come and see the helicopter.

However, because Glenn nears sainthood, he took ALL OF US up for trips around Twin Falls.

It was an absolute blast.

Better than Disney Land.

The entire Crew

Restrained Jubilation

Not So Restrained Jubilation

My Steve wishing his helicopters were real...

and not just remote control.

Oh yeah, and Saylor Girl.

This was my FAVORITE shot of the entire evening.

Glenn was giving the kids safety instructions.  I loved his expressions and how the kids were still like statues listening to him.

I think I might invite Glenn over to my house when I'm having parental difficulties.

I'm happy to report that everyone was on their best behavior and neither JaNae or I have to die from embarrassment because of something our kids said or did.

...this time.

However, after seeing my son's hair in this picture I am shaking my head a little.

Carter, I know you want to be Ron Weasly more than anything, but you really really need a hair cut.

It's getting ridiculous.

 The beautiful Whitney.

We waved to Moroni.

The best part, other than flying into the Snake River Canyon and over Shoshone Falls (which by the way was AMAZING.  I sat with my mouth hanging open in awe, not able to say anything...and I forgot to take pictures), was flying behind my parent's home.  If you look really close, you can see my parents, Colby and Wes waving to us from the back porch.

Thank you so much Glenn for the ride of a lifetime!

My kids talked for HOURS after their ride about what was their favorite part.

Santa will be in trouble this year.  He will never be able to top yesterday night!