The ultimate Christmas Train

A while back Aidan was talking to his Grandpa Fort on the phone about when we put up our Christmas Tree. Grandpa excitedly asked if we had a train going around it. Course, Aidan has to sigh a disappointing "no."

Mmmm....what a good idea!

We do have plenty of train track to make a track around the tree thanks to our insanely huge collection of GeoTrax that we've acquired over the years (we're addicted to them I think) . But, those tracks weren't "Christmasy" enough. So, this year we added a Christmas Train set (two actually) to our holiday decor. Using those, plus borrowing track from what we already owned, we went to work. Sure, we let the kids play around with the idea and create whatever they could come up with. But, once they went to bed Jaren and I gave it a shot. We certainly weren't okay with just a simple circle. We had to get extravagant! We are no engineers and never could quite figure out how to get the track just the way we wanted it. But, I think we did a pretty decent job!


So, yes--we DO have a train going around our tree this year! It's complete with 2 Santa Claus', elves, presents, holidays lights, wreaths, it's own roadside decor, 2 Christmas Trains, an ice rink, a toy shop--even borrowed the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh, what fun!!!


This picture doesn't quite do it justice because the details are lost. It would be better if we took a video of this fun toy!

12 Drummer's Drumming

For the past 12 Days, we have found a "gift" on our front porch put there by a mystery someone. Everything from chocolate to DVDs to gift cards. While I could post about our whole "12 Days of Christmas" adventure I will only really share day 12.

This is what we found on our front doorstep this morning:
It's the Glockenspiel that left me the most dumbfounded... Coincidentally, this is the EXACT instrument we wanted to get Hunter for Christmas. So, I'm sitting here trying to think who I've relayed this information to. Mmmm--very few.

I want to publicly say to this mysterious giver: Thank you for all the excitement that you've brought to our mornings these past 12 days. As I sit here with gratitude in my heart for your love, kindness, thoughtfulness and beloved friendship, I can't help but be completely overwhelmed with emotion. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We're sad to see it end!

We plan to "pay it forward" next year!

PS (just in case the giver is reading): Though the insanely huge 4 Calling Birds gift was a bit surprising he's been "tamed" and has become a welcomed addition to the family.
PPS The boys are absolutely fascinated with the 10 Lords A-Leaping gift. Who knew?? Hope you enjoyed the cookies!

Happy Holidays!

Family pictures are always a disaster...someone ends up in a bad mood half way through. I'm still working on Robyn's dress (haven't even started it yet) to do formal family pictures. So, this year we just did pictures for our Christmas cards. And for the first time, it was a success and went rather smoothly! Even Robyn cooperated more than we expected!

The Christmas cards will only have the family picture but I wanted to share the other poses for your enjoyment.
She is just so darn cute!!!! Goodness, I have a good lookin' family! Don't you think?!

A Week in Pictures

I was going through my camera the other day and noticed quite a few that I didn't take. The boys have gotten quite comfortable with snapping a few pictures here and there without asking permission. Here's a few for your enjoyment.

I've had several people ask me what my hair was like right after taking out those "Jamaican" braids. It was not fun taking them out. Even though I liked not having to deal with my hair for a week...it was greasy and still smelled like the shampoo that I used on the cruise ship! Ick.
It took several washes and a few head massages to get my scalp and hair back to normal.


Our little secretary. She's obsessed with "sharpening" pencils. At least trying to.

Our Christmas tree. Notice what Robyn's role is this holiday season? It's fun having a toddler around. I should care that she takes more ornaments off than she puts on. I really don't. It's just not a battle that I want to fight so I make sure I don't have to. Yes, I find them all around the house (even stepped on a few). But, 98% of our ornaments are nonbreakable. The other 2% are up higher. I don't care if she's content with taking my ornaments off. She can stand at the tree for quite a while admiring/handling those ornaments. There may be a small pile on the floor UNDER the tree when she's done but...oh well. Some do still get broken (or pulled apart). Nothing a little glue can't fix...if I even bother.

The World's Smallest Nativity. I really wouldn't know but that's what this little set has been named by all of us in the household. The tallest figure stands about as tall as your standard paperclip.

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!

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!