Reindeer Games

We were very excited to have the opportunity to meet REAL reindeer in our very own town!  Please meet Nicholas and Noel.  These two gentle souls are 8 and 9 years old and traveled to Montana from Washington state.  It was a lot of fun to see them, though Kailer kept wondering why Rudolph wasn't here?

Nicholas

Miss Noel

Dash Away,Dash Away,Dash Away All

I'm sitting in my living room this Christmas morning - the tree is lit and the house is silent.  There seems to be a gazillion presents under the tree and I'm thinking, "Good thing the kids don't need anything,"  For the fist time in 13 years, Dan's parents are spending the holidays in the United States; quite possibly experiencing 'climate' shock' - with the cold weather and snow.

 

I've been reflecting on our visit from Bruno and thinking about the Spirit of Christmas and how we've seen it come alive these past 24 days since his (Bruno's) arrival.  Every morning Kailer anxiously spied down Bruno and excitedly shared his many adventures with all who would listen.  The innocence of his heart brought back vivid memories of Christmases long ago when my own spirit wasn't hindered by the reality of growing up.  Even our sweet Aylah has taken to pointing to Bruno and saying "Brew" with a big grin on her face.

 

Dan lost a friend/coworker this Fall from a rock climbing accident - a man who truly represented the way we should live our own life. He loved his family, friends and most importantly God! On my 33rd birthday I sat in a room surrounded by 100s of people who came to honor this man. I listened to his family, friends, co-workers and his amazing wife give a testament of his life and the type of person he was.  I embraced my children tightly as we left the church that day and thanked God for providing me with more than I will ever truly need.  It was humbling to listen to the life of this man - a man with honor and grace - and I reevaluated how I was going to live my life.

 

On this morning, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!  I pray that at some point today, amongst the chaos of the presents, cooking, putting together of new toys, laughter, family and friends; you are able to step away from it all - step into a moment of silence - and reflect upon the true meaning of Christmas! It's so easy (guilty as charged, I am as well) to get caught up on the hustle and bustle of the holidays and lose focus of WHO we are celebrating today. 

 

 

Bruno departed last night on the North Pole Express - suitcases packed he headed home.  Good-bye little buddy, we look forward to seeing you next year!

 

Testing the Goodies!

It was a welcome surprise to find Bruno back in the house this morning - he was missed by all, and most especially by Kailer!  Bruno decided to make sure that the cookies and milk that we had for Santa were satisfactory.  Thankfully I believe they passed the test.

 

Tonight Kailer told me that he's "not sure he's ready for tomorrow night," .... "because Bruno is leaving and he will miss him!"  Wow, what a way to pull at my heart-strings!!

Ooops!!

Dear Kailer & Aylah,

            I'm sorry to report that I was unable to return to your house today.  Santa has asked me to let you know that there are some things that he REALLY needs for you to work on in order for me to come back and for you to stay on the Nice List.

            Santa noticed that you have been climbing on the furniture and running around the house being loud when both Mom and Dad have asked you to stop.  It's important that you listen to them - no one wants to see you get hurt; loud voices and running are for when you are outside.

            It is also very important that you always remember to use your manners, say "please," "Thank-you," and of course always apologize if you do something wrong or hurt someone.

            Santa understands that this is an exciting time of the year, but that does not mean that we get to break the rules.  Please do your very best to do better so that I can come back to you house.  I miss you a lot!

 

Please:

                1) Stop climbing on the furniture

                2) Use an indoor voice/don't run

                3) Always use your manners

                4) Listen to your parents (pick-up toys, brush your teeth, get ready for bed)

                5) Don't argue, whine or throw tantrums

Presents!!

'Tis the season to pull out the scissors, tape, wrapping paper, ribbons and bows!!  Even Bruno took part in the wrapping this year!

Oh Christmas Tree

Well, we finally did it - we got our tree up (Don't judge)!  Yes we are fully aware that we did it with less than a week until Christmas, but sometimes that's just the way we gotta roll around here.  The good news is that when you get them that late you can get a pretty steep discount! 

 

Our tree top angel?

 

Kailer sizing up the tree

 

And this is how Dan gets our tree - puts these two nice ladies to work while he holds the measuring stick.
(To his defense, he did offer to help, but they said they'd do it.)

 

Bruno enjoying the sights from a-top the tree!
The tree decorating experience was interesting to say the least - Kailer was so very, very excited to put the ornaments on the tree and just as fast as he was putting them up, Aylah was taking them down!

Naughty or Nice

Bruno didn't have any issues putting his own name on the Nice list .... Thankfully, by the end of  the day, both children also had their names added to that list.  Though, we're still wondering how Aylah managed, given the scene below?!  It must be her star personality when she's not screaming?!  Hee, hee!

Pink Pig Bandit

Bird brain

It appears that Bruno thought it would be a real hoot to try and catch one of our bird friends - he got close, but as of tonight, the bird is safe and sound!

 

 

 

What is it with Tuesdays?  This morning I promptly slept in an hour later than I had planned (oops), got the kids to school and stood in line at the self-serve line at the post office for 35 minutes before heading to work.  I'm just getting settled, preparing myself for a busy day when my cell phone rings .... my first thought as I look at the caller I.D. was: "Are you kidding me?!"  I skeptically answer the phone and hold my breath as our daycare provider tells me that Aylah's eyes seem glassy, the outside of her left ear looks a little red like she'd been scratching it and she's got pinkish hues under her eyes.  I explained that indeed she was sick this weekend and the rubbing and draining from her eyes caused dry spots, hence the discoloration and then I asked, "What do you want me to do?"  That's when she told me that she wanted me to take Aylah into the doctor, as they had her in a playpen playing by herself to keep her away from the other children!  I just pictured my little girl sitting all by herself and it broke my heart.  With a patient sitting in the waiting room and my next one driving in from 5.5 hours away I told her I'd do my best to figure something out. I was perplexed, she seemed fine this morning.  So I texted Dan and asked him to call me ASAP when he woke up.  Thankfully it was about 45 minutes later when he called.  I told him what was going on and he went and got her.  I drilled him for a full report: how did she look, was her ear red, did she seem cranky/ill, were her pigtails crooked (okay, maybe not) ???  He said she seemed fine and off they went to run errands and Christmas shop for the day.  It was just weird overall that there was a huge "panic" over nothing and when I got home she was happy as a lark (Definitely happier than the lark Bruno was trying to catch) and she and Kailer went to playing and carrying on like they hadn't seen one another in a week!  I'll have next Tuesday off from work, so hopefully this cycle will end!

Peek-A-Boo!

I thought that today's location might be a little tricky, but I was wrong!  Kailer had Bruno spotted before I was even able to wipe the sand out of my eyes!  He was playing a little game of peek-a-boo with the kids today!

 

The scab ... we call that 'paint table diving'!  This child has very little fear, which fills me with a lot of fear!!

 

This little boy can be rough and tough but his tender heart shines through every day!

 

Here the kids are watching their Portable North Pole videos from Santa  .... they watched them over and over and over!!!!

I was highly disappointed that I had to spell Kailer's name WRONG to get the pronunciation right and poor Aylah, well she just has to be called "My friend," because Santa didn't have a good option for her name.

http://www.portablenorthpole.com/watch/ghvqj9xBZoKVyAp-Y8XNwfw

http://www.portablenorthpole.com/watch/giIgwUsjOBldfNfzeSB_WZA

Pancakes, anyone???

 

Wow!  Bruno really outdid himself this morning......he made an honest effort to make breakfast, but lets just say it was an epic F.A.I.L.  Kailer was not very happy that I cleaned off the skillet to make our own breakfast, "Mom, Bruno is going to be mad," and he didn't think I should clean up the pancake mix and egg, but there's no way I could leave it all day.  As it is, the egg had been cracked and placed last night, which meant by this morning, the egg was good and sticky and dried-on - ugh!  It actually took me back to my high school days and "egging" during Homecoming (Oh wait, did I just admit to that?!) :)

 

 

 

The best part of this has to be what Dan said to me .... he told me that he just about had a heart-attack when he got home from work at 3 a.m.  He said that when he first went into the kitchen and saw the mess he didn't see Bruno immediately, so after seeing the mess he instantly thought that maybe something had happened to me and he was about to rampage through the house looking for me.  It took about 10 seconds for him to process the scene and realize that Bruno was there - the guilty party!!

Merry Okee

If there was just ONE thing that Kailer wanted today for his Dad's birthday, it was his microphone (which I strategically packed up after last Christmas....it was a weak moment/tactical error-purchase on my part a few years ago) to sing "Happy Birthday"!  Well, wouldn't you know it, Mr. Bruno came through last night and got out Kailer's microphone, but the best part is that not only did he get the mic, but he also decorated the house!  The excitement this morning when Kailer turned on the living room light and saw the decorations was priceless!  He could hardly contain himself and all day he kept asking/saying, "When is Dad going to be up,"  "He's been sleeping a long time."  I finally asked him why he was so excited for Dad to get up and he said, "Because I want to show him what Bruno did (decorating)!"  The spirit of Christmas is definitely alive in Kailer's heart and I LOVE it!

Because of Dan's ongoing health issues, we decided not to make a traditional birthday cake, but instead made gluten-free brownies --- not a cake, by any means, but it worked.  Because Kailer can't comprehend the idea that someone wouldn't possibly want cake for their birthday, we called it a "brownie cake" and he did the decorating. 

Bruno held onto that mic pretty much all day.  That is until Kailer was asked to clean his room and when he did so without arguing, he put the mic on the counter with a note that said, "Good job cleaning up!"

 

Thing 1 pouring on the sprinkles (quite literally) and Thing 2 eating the sprinkles that she managed to open and completely dump out! (Poor Thing 2 looks like she's been in a bar fight - dang cold is making her eyes so red.)

 

Aah, yes, the finished product.

 

Proud little elf!

Monkeying around....

Naughty List

 

 

Today Bruno hung-out with Jake and The Neverland Pirates! It was an exciting day of trying not to "shake Hook!"

Kailer spent the majority of the morning "playing elf" (Yes, this is his elf costume, I think he's even got a twinkle in his eyes) - building toys, but more importantly, making a "naughty list."  He told me that if you're on the naughty list you will get one marker and yarn!  He also told me that for his 5th birthday he is going to have an Elf party, Santa and all. I'd say he's a bit obsessed right now with the elf idea!

Star Gazing

Something tells me that Bruno had an insight to how our day was going to go.  We woke up this morning to find him set up on the end table, ready to star gaze!  He even went so far as to pull out an astrology book!  We glanced at Bruno as we scurried around this morning trying to get out the door ... mornings that involve us leaving the house before 7:30 a.m. are always tricky, but we managed, sort-of......

 



Star light, Star bright

 

 

The day started off like any other Tuesday - me at work, the kids at school and Dan (not a typical Tuesday) wearily getting up extra early, after working last night, to go to court this morning.  I was plugging along at work with a laptop that I do believe crashed sometime between me shutting it off last night and trying to start it this morning - it will do NOTHING - when my phone rang around 10:30 .... the daycare name/number popped up! Uh-oh, that's never a good thing!  Kailer was complaining that his ear hurt, but wasn't showing any other symptoms.  By 2:00ish I got a message that Kailer had woken from his nap, was crying and wanted to go home.  Thankfully Dan was done with court, so he went and got Kailer.  I called him on my way home and Dan said, "Kailer said his ear hurt this morning, but this afternoon he was just tired of being at school and didn't want to be there anymore!"  Oh Lordy, please, not the excuses already!?  In his defense, his little eardrums are red as a tomato tonight.

 

 

So I go to pick-up Aylah tonight (she was sleeping when Dan got Kailer) and the first thing she asks for is her blanket, which we don't have in the car....make no mistake, that will NOT happen again!!  We usually have it in the car (she's doesn't take it to school), so she was fully expecting it tonight!  She literally threw a fit for 20 minutes, that is until I sneezed!  Then she stopped screaming, said "Bless you," and fell asleep.  I'm not kidding, it all happened that quickly!

 

It was just a wild night with two cranky kids and a husband who announced that he too is fighting a cold - oh, sigh, the biggest baby of them all! :)  Please pray for me and my sanity as I work though this month .... maybe Bruno has it figured out, just mind your own business, sit back and enjoy the scenery and don't say a word to anyone.  He must have seen the alignment of my day in the stars!  LOL



Just Chill-axin'

It was a busy day out of the house today for the Mayland children and Bruno decided to perch on his swing and watch all of the comings and goings of his family.  For those of you who don't know, 'yes', there is actually a tree in our house - actually two! 

 

 

 

As a side note Aylah had her 18 month check-up today along with two vaccinations.  It was interesting - she weighs 1 oz. less than Kailer weighed at this age and other than that they have identical 'stats'.  As our doctor said, "She's got this growing and developing thing figured out."  Thank God for healthy babies!!

18 Months

18 Months

Lightening Fast - Zzzooooom!!

Nothing is going to stop Bruno from winning this year's Piston Cup!!


This afternoon, in the subzero temperatures we ventured out for Gingerbread making - oh what fun!  Loads of candy, graham crackers & frosting all at the disposal of Kailer's little fingers.  He spent over an hour working on his creation --- "Just a few more sprinkles, oh and maybe another piece of candy,"  I swear to you, every time I looked at him his little jaw was just a moving away, eating up as many pieces of candy as possible.  But the most gratifying part of the day had to be on the drive home when Kailer said to me, "Mom, I think you were right, I ate too much candy and have a headache."  Oh the painful truth of admitting that, indeed, Mom was right! 

18 Months!!

Well here she is, our little firecracker - 18 months old - apparently going on 18!  She was having such a good time with the chap-stick she found somewhere in Kailer's room that I figured I'd just plop her into her chair and let her get after it .... in hopes that we could keep the waxy mess somewhat contained!  The only thing I said to Dan was, "I just wish it were lipstick, then we'd have a better glimpse of her make-up applying abilities!" :) 

 

She's ornery and a heart-throb all rolled into one!  She loves to be chased & tickled when caught, plays with babies & balls, hangs out with the boys (Kailer & Edward), steals Kailer's Legos (and runs!), colors and she will bring you lots and lots of books ... but finding more than 2.5 seconds to actually sit down to listen is nearly impossible!  She'll give you hugs & kisses (when it's her idea) and rarely likes to be rocked ... she asks to go to bed.  She's still a Mommy's girl, but she's her Daddy's world and I have no doubt she idolizes her big brother (they are quite the pair)!

Starting out ...


 

Oh yes, definitely put a little on the cheeks.

Fingers are good too ... natural moisturizer?!

All done!!

 

Our blue-eyed, pig-tail sporting angel!

 



Pearly Whites

Be true to your teeth and they won't be false to you. ~Soupy Sales

Too much sugar (marshmallow and chocolate - that Kailer has been feeding Bruno from his "Countdown to Christmas" calendar) led Bruno to the toothbrush this morning.  He achy teeth were longing for a good cleaning - with Aylah's toothbrush and Kailer's paste.

Our happy girl on a Saturday morning!

Dying to go outside ... he did, but quickly returned with a red nose, cheeks, ears and even the palm of his hands!
BRRRSSSS!!!

It's wonderful that Kailer is getting to the point where he can help with Aylah; though I'm not sure how I feel about his ability to get her up on the couch now!  Nonetheless, they both thought it was great and thoroughly enjoyed bouncing away - and once again I'm reminded, "This is why we don't have nice furniture."