12 Days of Christmas

So I asked my girls to come up with a family for us to secretly give the 12 days of Christmas.

Then I brilliantly purchased a small nativity set with only 10 pieces and, well the 12 days of Christmas just doesn't seem so great with 10 days of stuff.

The older girls and I began to brainstorm.

Ariel suggested "We could give straw to lay in the stable for one night." Great idea! One more to go.

Aurora threw out the idea of baking cookies, yet that doesn't really tie into the whole nativity theme." Still one to go.

Next I sarcastically contribute "We could give them the mangled. stained, taped cardboard box it all came in!"

One cannot truly appreciate the velocity of the water that came through Aurora's nose without being present to see it. But hey, it's still fun to talk about.

Discipline By the Numbers

So recently we have established a countdown for Gdogs punishment. For instance when we were at Shawn's sister's house over Thanksgiving Gdog kept ringing the doorbell. (There is a little bench placed in the perfect position to allow this, and for the most part people smiled through the window at him when he did it, encouraging the behavior.)
In order to curb this behavior, when i saw him get onto the bench, I would say "Gdog get down." Then after a short pause "Five, four, three, two...." and I would stop the counting when he complied. If he did not get down I would put him in time out.
After seeing this done a couple times my nephew commented. "Are you trying to scare him?"
"No", I respond. "I am just giving him time to think about obeying, and then obey."
"Well the way I see it he is going to be afraid of numbers. He'll go into kindergarten and when they start counting he will freak out! (then he starts rattling off numbers) Five Twelve Six Three One!"

Say It!

So last night we are sitting in our bed, watching a show. Gdog keeps getting out of his bed and running into Jasmine's room. Both his Dad and I have put him back in bed numerous times. We hear him coming down the hall.
"Gdog are you out of your bed again?"
"Uh, I have something for you." says Gdog hesitantly.
"You need to be in your bed" I say in my authoritative voice.
The door pushes open slightly and Gdog squeezes in. In each hand he has a red santa hat with the white fur.
"I just wanted you to have a SANTA hat." (The word Santa is spoken with extra emphasis and reverence.)
"Thank you Gdog. Now if you get out of your bed you are going to be in trouble. Quick run to your bed."
"Okay" he says as he begins bolting back to bed. "Put them on and say Ho Ho Ho."
I smile at my husband, obediently put on the hat and say "Ho Ho Ho" even though I know he can't see me.
There is a moment of quiet from the other room. Then we hear "Daddy I didn't hear you say Ho Ho Ho."
Dad smiles an unseen smile and says "Ho Ho Ho. I love you Gdog."

Christmas with Meaning

So we challenged our kids this year to give gifts of meaning and memories. This as a whole seems like a great idea. And I am sure in the end will be better all the way around. For the mean time it is causing a problem because I have to come up with those kind of gifts too. So I pose the question. What were some of the most memorable/meaningful gifts you received as a child?

For me I remember getting my cedar chest from my parents. My Dad spent countless hours making it. It has much more meaning than a store bought cedar chest. I also remember the year my older brother gave me a large coin--yes I believe it was a 5" silver colored nickle.