Our First Christmas

For those of you who don't know, I am from Texas. Most of my family is in Texas. So I went to San Antonio for Christmas while Phil stayed in Illinois with the boys. Phil and I have only been together about 6+ months but during that time, I think we've all grown on each other. To say I have missed Phil and the boys, is an understatement. Before I left, the boys and I bought gifts for their dad to put under the tree. And, again, before I left town, one of the boys gave us this:

He said he is sorry for not getting me any presents "so this card is more for Jen than for Dad". Now, I don't expect anything from him or anybody else. This is just a super nice gesture and card that he made on his own.

On Christmas Day, Phil and I FaceTimed so I could watch the boys open their gifts. It was so great to be able to watch them open gifts and see their smiles on Christmas morning.  ❤️❤️

I hope everybody had a great Christmas with the ones they love! 

Grandma and Grandpa's House

We (all 7 of us) went over to grandma and grandpa's house this morning for breakfast and ended up staying ALL DAY. And yes, we ate ALL of their FOOD.   :-)

We went hiking at Forest Park Nature Center.

We watched the Bear's Football game.

Editorial Note/Update:  I forgot to add that everybody played TriOminos together while I took a much needed nap on the couch.   :-)  TriOminos is a very common game played at grandma and grandpa's house. The boys really love that game. I actually refuse to buy it for Phil's house so they can only play it at grandma and grandpa's.

Grandpa taught them how to play poker:

Grandma made dinner and I set the table for dinner... because that's what we do:

7 of us and 2 of them... makes 9 table places!!  :-) 

We left shortly after dinner with very happy kids and stuffed bellies. We loved hanging out with grandma and grandpa all day today.  :-)

Reading Is...

This evening all seven of us went to watch Star Wars for Phil's dad's birthday. There were a total of 17 of us in the movie theater (yes, we took up two rows).

After the movie, we were driving to Phil's sisters house for cake and ice cream when we pulled up behind a car with an interesting bumper sticker.

One by one, the boys started reading it... "Hey, look at that bumper sticker in front of us... it says 'Reading...' something"

Then another one said, "It says 'Reading is...' something"

Finally, the third boy said, "It says 'Reading is... OOOOHhhhhh!'"

Then the whole car goes "Reading is... OOOHHHhhhhhh!"

Yep, this was the bumper sticker:

Not ONE of those boys said the word "sexy"  :-)

PJ Day

So today is PJ Day at the grade school. When was this brought up? Why didn't they have it when I was in grade school?  I think the kids get to wear PJ's and then watch a movie. One of the boys mentioned Polar Express (I think?).

Maybe they created PJ Day to give parents a break in the morning from getting their kids ready for school. I mean it, it really saved time this morning. The kids woke up, rolled out of bed, had breakfast, and all that was left was to put on shoes! NICE!

Yes, let the kids have PJ Day at least once a week... my hair thanks you for the extra time.  :-)  hehee...

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

Phil and I finally got around to digging out and dusting off our Christmas boxes. Well... Let's put it this way. I had my ONE Christmas box. Phil had his THREE Christmas boxes. A Christmas tree, ornaments, and more Christmas decor. Mine simply has ornaments, Christmas quilts, and one ceramic Santa (mom, I thought I had more?).

Anyway. I put up my ONE stocking.

And then Phil hung up their SIX stockings.

I would say that I'm the "odd one out" but I think in this case, I am the "odd one in".

Merry Christmas everybody!... And, Happy Holidays!

Reflecting...

Last night, Phil and I went out for dinner and drinks with friends. We were introduced to a married couple who had five kids. We told them that Phil has five boys. So we ended up chatting about that for a while. It made me recall some of my favorite stories that I like to tell about when we split up and maybe at one point we only have three boys at one time, or when Phil takes some kids to basketball and I watch two boys.

For example...  a few months ago, for one reason or another, Phil and I only had "the bigs" (that's what I call his older three boys). ... My eyes LIT UP and I told Phil, "Let's go out for dinner tonight! We only have three boys!"  ...  So yes, we went out to Famous Dave's.

Then a couple nights ago, Phil took three boys to basketball and I watched two. Well, I had some errands to run at Target that evening, so I took the two boys with me. The oldest played his cards just right and said, "Jen, Can we get ICEEs??"  ... I was giving it some thought when he continued with, "Jen, you only have to buy TWO ICEEs... NOT FIVE."  ... Well played, sir, ... well played.  Yes, they did get ICEEs.  lol...

They Are Learning Well!

I think only the women will get this one...

This evening, I was doing the dishes (SO many dishes)...

PILE OF DISHES!

When Phil's oldest son walked into the kitchen. 

So that's when I said it, "I wonder if there are any dishes in the living room."

And he said, "I'll go check!" ... And he brought back several dishes!  (this is where women laugh)

This boy is being trained... umm... I mean... raised correctly!

Sidewalk Art

So yesterday afternoon, we had a BEAUTIFUL day in Central Illinois. It was sunny and ... I don't know high in the 40s or maybe the low 50s...?

Phil had taken one of the twins to his sisters house and then to Sam's. So I knew they would be a while.

The rest of us were just hanging out inside, watching a movie, and really just being lazy. So finally, I got up and thought, "this place needs to be cleaned."  I told the boys, "ALRIGHT! Whoever is in this house - you need to help me start cleaning!... Anybody else, go outside and play!"

Can you imagine what they did?

Yep, I was cleaning by myself.

BUT THEN today, I went outside to calibrate my Garmin GPS watch to my foot pod. And that's when I saw their drawings:

The Classic Hopscotch  :-) 

Counting from 10 to 100... 

A car in the driveway

And this one is my favorite. "I heart dad and Jan"

Super cute! I loved going outside to see all of these - they were great!  :-) 

Poopie Pants

There's really no way to write about this topic. I don't even know what to title this blog.

I was just in the kitchen minding my own business when I hear, "Jennifer?"... Where did that come from? Ah, it came from the bathroom... "Jennifer? Can you come here?"

"Sure buddy, what's up?"

It was the youngest one... He said, "I didn't make it to the bathroom on time and I..." and he rattled off. But basically, he pooped his pants.

Oh boy... Phil was at basketball practice with one of the other boys.

I had to do this.

I'm 35 with no kids. I've never changed a diaper. I've never wiped a butt.

Until today.

No... I didn't puke.

I actually had a really hard time trying not to laugh at the entire situation. And when I say "entire situation"... I don't mean him pooping his pants at all... I mean me, trying to clean this mess up without a clue what to do!

Luckily, he seemed to know what to do, so he was cleaned up, changed clothes, and back to playing with his brothers in no time.

Phew!