Baby's 1st Christmas

Here's my story...

While in Leavenworth, WA a month ago we did a little shopping. We browsed through a really cool store called Kris Kringl. It's one of those stores "where it's Christmas all year long." A huge, fantastic store full of all things Christmas. Up to this point I had been looking ALL over for the perfect ornament to celebrate Robyn's 1st Christmas. It was at this store that I found it. It was inexpensive and absolutely what I had been looking for. So, we purchased that along with a couple of nativity sets. The stuff that we purchased was put into a big red "Kris Kringl" bag and there it all stayed until we began packing to head home to Texas. We could not take take the red bag with all the newly bought Christmas items with us. We were going to have to "stuff" our purchases in all the nooks and grannies found amongst our luggage. We succeeded in doing that and promptly used the big, red bag for garbage...

Two days later I was putting all the luggage away and trying to account for everything. The ornament was nowhere to be found. In my head I packed and repacked the luggage over and over again trying to remember where it had gotten put. Then I remembered the big, red bag. The ornament was MUCH smaller than anything else in that bag...it never got taken out and thus became a lost treasure at the bottom of the bag with the garbage. When I discovered the "fate" of that perfect ornament I did literally burst into tears. Oh how could I have been so careless with such a perfect treasure?! It was obvioulsy a bigger deal to me than I ever thought. I frantically began trying to find a replacement for it with no luck. That ornament only exists in Leavenworth at that store.

I did recall the web address of this store (as it was printed on the outside of the big, red bag). I went there only to find that they don't sell such novelty items on the website. So, I emailed them, wrote my sob story...hoping they could help. Even though I couldn't remember exactly what the ornament looked like--only what it said on it and that it was pink. And, I could tell you where exactly in the store it was. The store owner at the other end of my e-mail was gracious and very understanding. We wrote to each other back and forth for several days. She found that same ornament again and even had Robyn's name put on it. She even called ME to verify my address, etc. because I just wasn't getting around to it.

The ornament arrived in the mail yesterday...as perfect as I remember it. It costs more money than the actual value of the ornament to have it shipped to me. But, it was worth it. And now Robyn has the perfect "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament...finally. And, thanks to Kris Kringl it's here with us and not lost in some garbage dump up in Washington.

Of course, a picture of it doesn't do it justice.

Speaking of Robyn, she's six months old now!

It's fine being 29 in 2009!

It seemed selfish to wish myself a Happy Birthday but I have to say Happy Birthday to my beloved twin brother way up there in New York.

Back when we were still innocent in 1982....

Pink Ladies

There were some perks while living in Washington State. And one of them was definitely the variety of apples one could find at very inexpensive prices. If you know our Hunter you know that he's "the rabbit" of the family. The only fruit or vegetable he won't eat are green beans. In Washington one of his most favorite things to do was to go to the local Yoke's Food Market and be completely mesmerized by the selection of apples. He wanted one taste of every apple available. We did indulge in trying Winter Banana, Cripps Pink, Honeycrisp, Cameo, etc. After careful sampling he decided that his favorite variety of apple was Pink Lady. This became one of his first "nouns" that he learned as a toddler. It wasn't just ANY apple. It was a Pink Lady apple.
Since being down here in Texas the variety of Apples have been limited. We do miss our Washington Apples. Hunter is always asking me when he can have Pink Ladies again. Every time I buy apples he will always ask if I got any. And every time he's saddened when I say no.

But, the other day I started noticing them in stores. I HAD to buy a few just for him. Even if they are a bit more expensive down here. When he discovered that we had Pink Ladies in our fridge...his face lit up and I got the biggest hug ever. That moment was priceless!

See, you just need a few Pink Ladies to brighten your day.

The Wimpy Kid

For a long while we couldn't get Aidan to read "a book" to save his life. He's an excellent reader but he never seemed interested in reading just for fun. He was limiting himself to The Friend and the scriptures. Not that those choices aren't good choices but I really wanted him to read other things...and the cereal box wasn't satisfying. Anything we tried to suggest to him just didn't hold his attention. He was bringing books home from the school library that at the time just didn't impress me. Then, Jaren and I stumbled across this article in our Scouting magazine. Nothing too "eye-opening" but it made me stand back and just pay attention to what Aidan really liked reading. He was reading. He just isn't the type of kid to tell you about what he's reading unless you ask. So, I found out what he's into. And, it is this series of books that got him hooked on reading:

Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney

The 3rd book in the series was such a big deal for him (as it just came out)! He thought he was going to die if he couldn't get his hands on it right away! For the first time, he was up into the night reading a book from start to finish! He feels like the coolest kid on the block because he's read it!

I will tell you that these books are full of cartoon-like, black and white pictures and the text is written "kid style". The lack of full page "traditional" text is what made me weary at first. I thought, "This isn't a book!" But, it is. There is a beginning, a middle and an end. There are life lessons learned in these books (believe it or not). They're presented in a way that's interesting and fun for a 2nd grade boy. And, right now that's all that matters to me.

The Do-It-Yourself book is kinda cool because you can write your "own diary." A neat way to get a boy to start a journal.

So, they're not Hardy Boys but it was so awesome to watch Aidan be so excited to read! Whatever works!

My New Invention

Okay, to all you mom's out there, I'm sure you've had the same problem that I've encountered. Those dang burp cloths...can't go anywhere without them. However, I seem to get home without them. They tend to get lost or dropped along the way without anyone noticing. And, why not? They are practically weightless!

Robyn and I (she was in the sling) were walking home with Hunter from school one day. And the burp cloth was dropped along the way. Course, I didn't notice it was gone until I actually needed it. My third burp cloth "lost" this week. Time to do something.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love those toy links and blessed are the toy makers who make toys that can be clipped to those links! With that in mind, I just simply sewed buttonholes at the corners of my burp cloths so they too could be attached to those links which can be clipped to my sling, my stroller, my purse, her car seat, etc. No more dropped burp cloths!Honestly, there's nothing fancy about this idea. But, I think it's pretty clever! I just wish I would have thought of it sooner!

Vacation Memories

We are home from a trip to Washington. I just want to post a few highlights. Know that this is just a small bit of all that we did. And, since I like lists--here we go!

1. Already blogged about Leavenworth so I won't post anymore about that. But we took some FUN family photos while there!
2. Going Sledding on the snowy sand dunes!! (By the time we left Washington, most of the snow was gone and the sand dunes were once again just sand).
3. Eating with chopsticks is a favorite thing to do at our house...though I haven't mastered them yet. For Christmas the boys got some "trainer chopsticks". Aidan had to eat everything with them after that! (Sorry about the red eyes--didn't take the time to fix that)
4. Riding the four-wheeler in the snow.
5. Aidan's baptism in Pasco, WA.
6. Time at the park. (It was VERY cold out but I could not get my boys to wear their coats...crazy kids).
7. Spending time with Grandpa (the other kiddos are cousins--Robyn is the baby). Grandma was fun too!
8. Having a "sleep over" every night.
9. Building and playing with the LEGO castle.10. Spending time with friends and family that we hadn't seen since 2006! (Unfortunately we were having too much fun that I didn't take many photos of ALL of us!)

Thanks Mom and Dad Fort for making it possible for us to come visit. We definitely made some wonderful memories!