Can you say, "precocious"?

We may be in for it. Just this morning, Ollie said these things:

1. While playing in his room, he told me "Shake your booty". When I asked him who taught him that, he said, "Daddy!" Later, Joel assured me he hadn't...hmm...Ava???? :-)

2. While we were watching Joel play basketball at the gym this morning, Ollie said "Peace" (you know, in that cool way) to some of the kids playing basketball. When I asked who he says that to (because he always says that to Joel when he leaves for work), Ollie said, "girls".

Oh dear.

Festivities

Here's our Christmas week:

Tuesday night we stayed up putting Ollie's tool bench (from the Smith's) together:

All the pieces...

Joel putting the tool bench together.

Wednesday morning: Our newest family tradition--Druber's for donuts!

Ollie was watching Santa saying "Santa, lap?" We told him he could sit on Santa's lap if he wanted to. He refused once we got up there though, which was fine. He kept saying later "scared". He already has a pretty good grip of reality though--on the way home he said, "Santa, wig?" Yep.The finished product from the night before.

Ollie playing with his tool bench. It was a BIG hit!!!!

Later that day we went to our church's Christmas Eve service, then to my parents for supper and opening gifts. Here's Ollie and Joel--my sister made this cute holder for Ollie! (I have no idea why this is all of a sudden underlining, but I can't figure out how to fix it.)
Ollie with one of the train sets he got--this one runs on batteries!

Grandpa ("J") and Ollie playing with the train Christmas morning.

We stayed at my parents house until Friday morning--enjoyed good food, lots of relaxing, and a wonderful time with my sister and mom and dad. Unfortunately, my brother and his family couldn't be there--but we did manage to get them on our webcam while we opened gifts--see bottom photo for more!
As you can see--we spent lots of time playing with toys--this is Joel and dad's tracks and racecars--Ollie LOVED them!

Here's our attempt at a family picture. You can see Tyler, Erin and Addilyn on the computer behind us--that's how we opened presents--we could watch each other. Then, Courtney "brought" them to our Christmas Eve service and they could "participate" in that over the computer. It was pretty darn funny though, to see them swaying to the music, clapping when appropriate, and lighting their own candles during the singing part. Funny funny.

Oh yeah, and do you see the guy beside me? The one with the rubber band on his head and a goofy face? He's the other one who is difficult to photograph...

Sweet Prayers

Each night when we put Ollie to bed, we pray. Tonight, this was his list of things to pray for:

Christmas tree and branches.
"J" (Grandma and Grandpa Johnson)
books
Maxi (a dog from one of his books)
dogs
his stuffed duck

It's so cute. And it makes me think that he's got it right--we SHOULD be so thankful for all those things in our lives.

Even the tree branches.

Snow. Bob the Builder. Ugly Sweaters. Cookies. Puke

That's our week in a nutshell!

Snow
We actually got a decent snow Tuesday--about 5 inches! It was beautiful, and stayed around for a few days until it got VERY warm and all melted OVERNIGHT. Weird, huh? I love the snow, but that's because I get to enjoy it from inside my warm house. Joel, on the other hand, goes in REALLY early when it snows to clear the Rec parking lot...and then comes home to do ours!

Bob the Builder
We had another fun Christmas party--this time with our small group--and had another White Elephant gift exchange. This year, we got Ollie JUST what he wanted! Bob the Builder slippers!!! Thanks Judah!

Ugly Sweaters
Oh yeah, and at our party we were wearing ugly Christmas sweaters--look what bargains Joel and I found at the Etcetera Shop! (As you can tell, my sweater doesn't really fit well--but who cares!)
Cookies
Courtney (Aunt Neenee) came over to spend time with us after getting back from Denver. She stayed 3 days and we loved having her! Ollie just loves her so much. We spent time baking lots of Christmas goodies and then she helped me yesterday at school make a Christmas craft--she's done this 5 of the 6 years I've taught! I was glad to have her there--that last day is always a little bit stressful, and yesterday was no different!
Puke
Well, it serves me right. I just got done telling people the last day or two how fortunate we were because none of us have been sick this year yet! Last fall, Ollie had ear infections and flu and all kinds of stuff--starting in September!!! So anyway, last night, after he'd been asleep for 3 hours--we were in bed and heard, "Dadd-y!!!" Joel went in there and sure enough, he'd gotten sick...all over his bed, blankets, mattress, clothes, hair...you name it. I tried to help, but couldn't stand the smell--it was AWFUL!!! (Sorry to those of you with weak stomachs, dad) Anyway--no more of that yet, and he's happier than he's been in days--so hopefully that was it. But, yuck!!!!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

We had a party tonight with other small group leaders from our Young Married class, put on by the two couples who "mentor" us couples. It was so much fun! As a part of the party--we OF COURSE had a white elephant gift exchange. (Why in the world is it called that?) We always look forward to this because it allows us to clean our house of junk... I mean, treasures.

First, the kids got a gift. Here is Ollie opening up a new truck!

Then, once the kids were downstairs playing, the real fun started! Here are a few highlights:
Joel's gift he gave: a packed lunch--sandwich, chips, pop, apple, and candy.

Jess's turban? and head covering.

John's "tooting" Santa. You pull his finger..of course...

The lovely wig I won...and Joel wore all night. Hmmmmmm.....

We had a great time--and had some delicious food! Thanks again, Grabers and Webers!!!

Alright, alright, I'll BLOG!!!

I've told Joel quite seriously that I DON'T make "to-do" lists anymore because I don't accomplish a single thing on it. My goal each day? Keep Ollie alive, and my house from smelling. Anything apart from that is a bonus.

Anyway--this helps to explain my blogging. I just can't get myself to do it more...this week's been so crazy!!

Last Sunday, though, Ollie was a part of his first Christmas program. His class of 1 and 2 year olds sang "Away in a Manger" and then another song while they rang bells. My pictures were so far away-but my friend Amanda took this one of him--and this is what he looked like the WHOLE time! Just watched the others sing. Yes, he knows the song. Yes, he knows the actions. He just didn't feel like performing, I guess!

They're Baa-a-a-ack!!!

Joel and Ollie finally got back Tuesday late afternoon. I was SO excited! Ollie did very well on the trip (at least traveling) and they had lots of great stories. Ollie continues to talk about the "plane", airport (port), "take off", "up high", etc. He had a good time. Anyway--as you can tell from the video below--he was so wound up that night! I think he was ready to be home and running free!


This next video is of Ollie making his friend Ava a birthday card. He's singing "Happy Birthday" to her as he colors.

Bachelorette-ing It

I'm just finishing Day 5 without Joel and Ollie. Thank goodness they'll be home tomorrow afternoon!!! I'm not one who does particularly well alone...

I had a super Thanksgiving with my family--my parents, brother and his wife, and their daughter Addilyn. She is super cute and very cuddly. I stayed in El Dorado until Sunday afternoon, then came home.
(Addilyn)

I will say though, that grocery shopping is easier without a 20-month old, although not NEAR as exciting.
Sleeping in is nice, but again, that can be overrated.
I cleaned last Thursday, and guess what? It's STILL clean!!!

Despite those few perks though, I desperately miss the boys. It will be good to see them again. To not sleep alone. To wake up to Ollie's "mom-my!". To have a meal where I can barely get a word in edgewise. To chase that boy all around the house. Ahhh...good times!