Messages from Santa

This year the boys received a couple of correspondence from the one and only Santa Claus.

First they received a letter that gave them a gentle reminded to be good and to listed to their parents.  He also said that Santa was watching. Perhaps it was because Santa had seen their listening slip a little and their tendency to argue with each other and their mom and dad increase.   It is amazing the timing of Santa's letter.  Just a few days earlier Jarrett and I were having a conversation about the good old days when the boys would jump up and do what we asked right away.  And then, just a few days later, boom, a letter from jolly old St. Nick came to our rescue.

 The letter helped, in fact the boys insisted they would do what ever it would take to avoid getting a lump of coal for the holidays.  It was great, we'd ask the boys to get ready for bed and before we knew it, they were changed, had brushed their teeth, gone to the bathroom and were in bed waiting for us to say their good night prayers.  Glorious!

And then within a week of Christmas the boys received yet another message from the big guy at the North Pole.  In case you'd like to view the video yourself, here are the links to the message from Santa to Gabriel and one to Michael...

Michael's message from Santa: http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/m1xzW6Yh5sTF_uHOz3ShsjA
Gabriel's message from Santa: http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/mktODwkGoA2SgnnTa8nzXKw

The videos are pretty neat and I was excited to see Gabriel and Michael's reaction.  In fact I recorded their reaction because, well, how often do you get a personalized message from Santa. 

I enjoyed watching the boys watch Santa talk with them and we hope you enjoy also...
Gabriel got to watch his video first and then Michael. 

Gabriel's reaction to watching Santa's message...http://youtu.be/fETtTQ6VZDQ
Michael's reaction to watching Santa's message...http://youtu.be/2Y3PB_SsAiw

We will cherish these videos for years to come. And I hope someday, if or when the boys are all grown, ask what they thought of Santa as a young boy, I'll be able to show them the video that I think captures the beauty that is the wonder of Christmas.

Until next time,
Angie  

Christmas at Nana and Papas...

The Christmas festivities started out Christmas Eve morning at Nana and Papas.  We had a lot of fun playing with the cousins and seeing all of Jarrett's family.

The highlight of the gathering was the gifts.  This year the boys were given a beautifully handmade Firemen quilt and pillow which they adore and love.  Nana spend many a hours making the quilt for the boys and they said that each time the boys wrap up in the quilt that they should think of Nana and Papa and that they are wraping their arms of love around them.    This quilt is actually the first quilt the boys have ever received.  From the little bit I know about their past, I do not believe they had a specific baby quilt or special blanket.  I'm so happy to say that they now, thanks to Nana and Papa, have their very own special quilt.

Gabriel now refuses to sleep under his comforter and sheets and insists on laying on top only to be covered by his special quilt.  And his pillow rests atop of his other pillow and although it looks like he'll wake up with a terrible neck ache, from the angle his head rests each night, he loves his special gift.  Michael enjoys them the same and always sleeps with them, each and every night. 

Here are a few photos to recap the Christmas Eve morning fun with Nana, Papa, Uncle Nolan, Uncle Jeremy, Natalie and the cousins...

We tried to take a few pictures before opening pictures. 

Julia and Michael are good buddies...

The boys practicing how to sleep with their new firemen quilts.

And thanking Nana for all the hard work put in making the quilts.

And chillin with Uncle Nolan.  Nope this isn't the Christmas quilt Nolan got. :-)

Until next time,
Angie

Roly Poly

Over Christmas break we decided to provide respite again for our agency. Although I said we were “retired” from providing respite after the last experience, I once again ate my words and we agreed to give it another try. This time we were able to provide care for a baby almost 6 months old who will be from here forward known only as “Roly Poly” Roly Poly turned out to be the sweetest and most adorable baby we could ever have imagined. Roly smiled and cuddled with us instantly. Roly hadn’t yet mastered the art of sitting up completely, but had moved onto the art of crawling. Never having had an infant ourselves, were unsure what we were in for, but we did know we do not have a baby-proof home, especially one where the baby could crawl to items of their desire.

Before agreeing to watch Roly Poly we asked the boys what they thought and if they wanted to do it. Jarrett and I agreed that even if we were okay with it, we were not going to say yes unless the boys were okay with it too. When I presented the situation to them and asked them for a response, they immediately shouted yes and jumped up and down asking when the baby could come.

And so for Christmas not only did the boys wake up to presents from Santa but they also went to bed with the babbling noises of coos from Roly. The week Roly spent with us was a lot of fun with the boys getting the chance to help change dirty diapers (thanks Michael) as well as help with the bedtime feeding( thanks Gabriel). Also thank you to my Grandpa who helped on numerous occurrences with playing to feeding and entertaining while I was taking care of other things.

The boys instantly connected to Roly Poly and enjoyed playing together. Michael’s favorite thing to do was to stick his head in Roly’s lap to give Roly the opportunity to pull his hair. For some reason it made Michael giggle like crazy. And Gabriel’s favorite part was yelling for me when Roly had reached the edge of our carpet and was on the verge of entering the tile. Gabriel, the alarmer, made sure Roly stayed safe. Also, he became a master at making Roly giggle. From peak-a-boo to talking in silly voices, Gabriel has a natural ability at connecting with babies and younger children. Jarrett and I told him he will be a wonderful father someday (AFTER HE GRADUATES FROM COLLEGE, HAS A GOOD JOB, AND IS MARRIED). He agreed, even on video.
Although Roly was with us for 6 days, the impact made on our heart will be forever. I think I’ll forever wonder what Roly is up to and we pray that Roly’s life is blessed with a wonderful family and a life full of love. We hope Roly knows that for those 6 days we shared our love and our hearts and considered RP a member of our family. Although we were supposedly giving the foster family some respite and Roly a gift of love, the truth is Roly Poly gave us the greatest gift.
To see my Grandfather down on the carpet playing with the Roly was wonderful and for a few moments I saw a glimpse of the light in his eyes he had when my grandmother was still alive. And Roly Poly taught me a lesson I didn’t even know. I’ve always been afraid of agreeing to be a foster parent because I am afraid of growing too attached and risking true heart ache when the child returns to their birth family or to another family. The truth I learned is that although the heartache will be there, the joy and love we would gain during the process would be worth it in the end. I’m not going to lie, it was difficult to say goodbye to Roly and know that we may never meet again, but if I were to go back and do it all over again, I think we’d all say yes in a moment again. We had a lot of fun and will forever remember Christmas 2011 as the year Santa and Roly Poly came to town.
Until next time,

Angie

Where have we been?

It is hard to believe the last post I was able to make was before Christmas. In many ways it seems that Christmas was three months ago not just three weeks. Thankfully the last three weeks have been filled with the fun hustle and bustle the holidays typically bring. In the next few posts, I’m going to attempt to relive and highlight the Christmas and New Years Eve that was 2011.

Until next time (very soon),

Angie

Starbucks... oh my.

I think I was 25 when I experienced my first Starbucks drink.  Today, we made the mistake of getting the boys a Starbucks hot chocolate.  As a quick reminder, they are 6 and 4.  Parenting mistake #4345... and counting.  I don't know what we were thinking, but it didn't take long from them to go from their normal state of extreme energy to go a level of hyperism (think I just made that word up myself), that I've never seen.  Thankfully we were outside and their loud blurts of random words, phrases and shouts, didn't bother the passerbyers on the sidewalk.

And to make sure Jarrett and I don't make that mistake again, we photographed our mistake. The boys look awful darn cute, but let me tell you, wow, what ever they put in their hot chocolate is powerful, that must be why I love them so much. 

What we thought would be a nice special treat...

soon became apparent was a bad mistake on our part...

as Michael spilled half of it on his head.

but as the chocolate kicked in and they started dancing around in circles...

and screaming like college freshman boys at their first bar party...

we soon realized we had made a BIG mistake.  Even though their cups were not empty, we found the closest garbage can and tossed them away! Notice Mom was still waiting for the drink to kick in. 

Lesson learned.

Until next time,
Angie

Christmas Baking...

It has become an annual holiday tradition to bake Christmas cookies and candies.  My mom use to do it with her sisters and girlfriend when I was young and now it is something that we continue with our family members here.

This past weekend we got together and made all sorts of goodies and it was a lot of fun.  Even Uncle Nolan from New York came in for the baking weekend and it was great having the kids around to help be taste testers.  Turns out some of the adults were great quality control testers as well, but we won't name any names.

Here are a few photos that I was able to snap in between cookies and candies...

Making cinnamon cutout ornaments for the kids

Nana and Ava helping make chocolate cookies

The boys being boys and playing video games

The bakers admiring the finished products



Jarrett trying to decide what to "taste test" first.


Until next time,
Angie



Christmas Doggie...

The other night I was in the kitchen while Jarrett was working in the office.  The boys had long been in bed and I was on my way of going to bed also.  On my way out of the kitchen I looked on the couches to see if Jack was passed out asleep and to my surprise he wasn't there. 

I immediately went in search of him and it didn't take me long to find him.  As I went in the front living room I found him curled up in his bed (which he dragged out of our bedroom and into the living room) and staring at the lights on the Christmas tree.

I immediately thought to myself that I needed to find my camera and without saying a word to startle him I was able to snap a few photos...

After snapping a few pictures, I called for Jarrett to come out and see what Jack was doing. When Jarrett came out Jack turned his head around, looked at us and gave us an expression, almost to say, "Who says a dog can't like Christmas too?"

Until next time,
Angie