December Home video's

Here's a few videos to share with you. Mostly some snippits from Caleb's preschool program from yesterday. He had fun even though he seems a little bored in it. They sang a bunch more songs too and Santa came at the end and he got a new book (I'll post that pic later). I just couldn't post all of the video's on here. Then one of Zaden doing what we call his "mean face". He's been doing it a lot lately and has started kinda doing it on cue when we do it to him, he thinks he's a pretty funny fellow. Mike thinks he looks like Popeye when he does it and I kinda have to agree.

Caleb's Letter From Santa

Caleb got a letter in the mail from Santa yesterday. He was busy watching some afternoon cartoons so I am not sure how much of it he really listened to when I read it to him. After I was done all he said was "that was nice" and ran back downstairs so he didn't miss one more minute of Author. We'll have to try again today to see if he wants to re-read it. It's kinda lengthy so I didn't scan it in readable, but if you really want a copy to read, just let me know.

My Funny Kids!

Yesterday was a funny day here at the house. Each of the kids did something to cracked us up. I only have pics from one of them but still funny.

Caleb- Yesterday was delivery day here at the house. We got packages in the mail first from my friend Shelby in Arizona. Well Caleb was dying to open his and I told him that if he did he wouldn't have it for Christmas but he started tearing into it anyway. Well then he dissappeared before I even saw what it was. I asked him a few minutes later what he got and he said nothing. I said yes you did, you unwrapped it. So he went into the living room and I followed then was all sad. I asked what the matter was and he said that he wanted it for Christmas and I said what and he pointed at the present he had opened. He had tried to re-wrap it! So it's there right next to the tree with shards of wrapping paper over it. So wink wink.... I can't tell you what it is cuz it's a surprise ;).

Zaric- We also got a delivery of three boxes from UPS. One of them was from Great Aunt Peggy in Omaha. Mike called her last night to tell her it made it here and thank her for the extra huskers stuff that she threw in the box (pics to come). Well while he was talking to her he was holding Zaric. Zaric kept reaching for it with one hand then with the other he kept opening and closing his hand in the "give it to me" motion. We had never seen him to this before so it was making us laugh. We've always said he's a talker, guess he just wanted to say hello.

Zaden- After Zaden got home last night and woke up a bit, I was holding him and drinking a pepsi. There was a straw in it so he kept reaching for it. So being the goof I am I said sure have a drink and put the straw in his mouth. He had never used one before so I thought there would be no harm since he didn't know how to do it. Well boy was I wrong, he took a few good sucks on it and sure enough got a little swig of Pepsi. He didn't like that one bit and pulled a nasty face. We had to bring our jaws up off the floor! It took Caleb forever to learn to drink from a straw, but this kid gets it on the first try! Brilliant I tell ya! Then he wanted the straw again. So I put it in some apple juice they sent him home with from the hospital and he continually kept drinking little sips through the straw. Well that was great and we were enjoying his new "talent" until he blew into the straw instead of sucking and blew bubbles into the apple juice which then spilled over all over my lap. So I was wet and sticky, but I really didn't care cuz we were all laughing too hard.

What fun these boyz were last night!

They're Ready

These babies are ready for Christmas. With the snow we were finally able to break out these bear suits. They are toasty warm for any outings and adorable as can be.

This morning Zaric was rolling around the rug in the living room and decided it was time to open presents. He particularly liked this gift bag for the present to the old babysitter from Caleb. He dumped all the contents on the floor and just played and played. I figured he really wasn't hurting much so just picked up the contents and moved them away and let him play for a while. I hope she doesn't mind the tag being a bit chewed on. I did move the wrapped present out of his reach since he started tearing it open. Who knew he would get the present bug so soon?

And of course for breakfast this morning, I had to put on their Christmas bibs. They have been sitting there waiting and for the life of me, I can't figure out why I waited so long to use them. Too cute.

Get ready Christmas cuz here they come!

On another Note: Zaden had another followup echo and ekg today for the Kawasaki's. Mike took him to it so I could stay with the other boys. I just got word from him that everything is still "normal" so that's a good sign. The Dr.'s also decided that we probably don't need to do the next echo that they had planned on in 6 months. Hooray! A little early Christmas gift.

Christmas Spiders

Caleb and I made a dozen of these little guys last night as a Christmas craft. Ok well I did most of it since it was working with hot glue. But Caleb put the heads on about 3 of them and the legs on 1, so I am counting it as something we did together. I still need to clean them up a bit from the excess glue and put on some ribbon to hang them with. He wants to give them to his teachers and then I thought we could walk around Dad's work next week with them and hand them out to some people there. Caleb thought they were awesome and took one to his room to keep for his own.



He lined them all up as I was making them and called it a spider parade. I thought it was funny so I took a pic.

Here's the official story...or at least what I found on the web.

THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS SPIDER(A folk legend from Germany and the Ukraine)

Once upon a time, long ago, a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year.... The day on which the Christ child came to bless the house. Not a speck of dust was left. Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner in the ceiling to avoid the housewife's busy cleaning. They finally fled to the farthest corner of the attic.
T'was the Christmas eve at last! The tree was decorated and waiting for the children to see it. But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree, nor be present for the Christ child's visit. But the oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep through the crack in the door to see him. Silently they crept out of their attic, down the stairs, and across the floor to wait in the crack in the threshold. Suddenly, the door opened a wee bit and quickly the spiders scurried into the room. They must see the tree closely, since their eyes weren't accustomed to the brightness of the room... so the crept all over the tree, up and down, over every branch and twig and saw every one of the pretty things. At last they satisfied themselves completely of the Christmas tree beauty.
But alas!! Everywhere they went they had left their webs, and when the little Christ child came to bless the house he was dismayed. He loved the little spiders, for they were God's creatures too, but he knew the mother, who had trimmed the tree for the little children, wouldn't feel the same, so He touched the webs and they all turned to sparkling, shimmering, silver and gold!
Ever since that time, we have hung tinsel on our christmas trees, and according to the legend, it has been a custom to include a spider among the decorations on the tree.

Holiday Getting to Know You

Ok Missy, I'm no scrooge! So here it goes!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate! Have to have it every time it snows. Just had some today for that very reason.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or sit them under the tree? Nope just leaves them unwrapped
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White on tree/both on house
4. Do you hang mistletoe? We used to have a silly one that sang but it broke and we have never gotten any more.
5. When do you put your decorations up? The day after Thanksgiving
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Honey Baked Ham
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Can't remember one
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? When my Mom's friend brought over the puppy I was getting for Christmas and I heard her come through the door crying, I wasn't asleep yet. I was probably 8 or so.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I like to but Mike doesn't, so he usually wins. We will with Grandma this year though and I think I will let Caleb open one from us.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? With ornaments galore and white lights. Angel on the top.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it if I am not driving anywhere. Hate it when I have to drive in it.
12. Can you ice skate? Yes but haven't for a long time. I really want to soon.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? No, I like them all.
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? the food
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Cherry pie then cookies
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Driving around looking at Christmas lights with the kids and Mike. My Dad used to do that with us as kids. Watching A Christmas Story.
17. What tops your tree? Angel
18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Definitely the giving, but getting isn't so bad either :)
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Sleigh Ride by Lorrie Morgan and Christmas Cookies by George Strait
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yum!

The Artist

I thought Caleb had grown out of this but yesterday when he was at preschool, I went into his room to clean it up so I could vaccum and low and behold this was staring right at me. The red crayon was still lying on the floor. I had wondered what was taking him so long to get dressed up there. Well apparently he had an art bug in his pants that was dying to get out. Not only did he get his dresser, but he got his new play mat from his birthday and his car garage that he uses with his hotwheels.


So of course, being the mean mom I am, I made him clean it up after school. He actually thought it was kinda fun so I don't know if it taught him anything or not.

All I can say is the person that invented these magic erasers deserves a medal of some sort. Maybe one, drawn in crayon, from a 5 year old.

My 3 Angels

Yesterday when I went to check my mail, there was a tiny package in there. It was from Great Grandpa Howard and Great Grandma Sandy in Nebraska. Caleb and I opened it up right away and inside were these cute little angels with the names of my 3 angels on them. Caleb ran them straight to the tree and hung them up. I had to take them back off to take a picture this morning. Thanks GGH and GGS for these cute ornaments, they'll be on our tree for years to come.

Christmas Movies

Like I said, Caleb is really getting into Christmas this year. He's been walking around the house and singing songs and singing loudly in the car every time we are in there. He's excited that his preschool class gets to sing at the mall this week too. He's been getting into Christmas movies too. This morning he asked me to sit on the couch with him and watch "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown". I am still in my pj's and should be getting dressed and ready to go today but how can I resist that request? He even told me I could borrow his dinosaur blanket. So here we sit. We have watched quite a few already this year and last night we stopped by TRU to look for something and they had Rudolph playsets. He was in awe and we stood there while he told me about each and every character in the set. So fun that he's watching these and really understanding what they are about and what happens in them. Here's a list of my all time favorites:

A Christmas Story (already watched this year)
National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (watched last night)
It's a Wonderful Life
Rudolph (already watched this year)
Elf with Will Farrell (already watched this year)
The Grinch (already watched Jim Carrey's version this year ....Love it!)
Miracle on 34th Street
Merry Christmas Charlie Brown (watching right now)
Pinky and the Brain- A Pinky and the Brain Christmas

We have a few more that I like but these are my absolute fav's. Let me know what yours are so I know if I am missing something wonderful.

Christmas Cards

I really did attempt to make my Christmas cards this year. I started and got a few going and then ran out of materials. Between finding the time to go get what I needed and the crazy time constraints with these boyz, I decided it just wasn't happening this year. So I logged into Walgreens, threw on some photos and abra cadabra! an Ouren family Christmas card. I have gotten most ofthem sent out now and if you didn't get one it could be for one of these very good reasons:

a. I don't know you
b. I forgot
c. Your name has officially landed on my "shit list" notepad that Allison gave me for my birthday
d. I don't have your address

For most of you the answer would be d....but a for a few maybe c ;). I do still have a few copies so if you are dying to have one, send me an email beccaouren@gmail.com with your address and I'll do my best.