I was so caught up in the excitement of Christmas morning, I only took a few pictures and videos.
One advantage of buying pjs a few sizes too big is that they get to wear them two Christmases in a row.
This was Fletcher's face after he realized the really big present was for him.
They sat still long enough for a quick picture, then it was off to play with new toys.
These videos capture the personalities of our children when they wake up. We later found out that Fletcher had been up since 4 am (but didn't come out of his room until 7). We had to wake Luke up a little after 7 for fear that his brother might burst with anticipation!
Disney Hollywood Studios offers Jedi Training for kids who want to become Jedis. We thought it would be fun for Fletcher to do and Luke decided he wanted to do it too.
Luke was fine with the training part, but when the real Darth Vader came out he was terrified. He started crying and backing away. The helper was trying to get him by the hand to take him to Kevin but Luke thought she was trying to take him to fight Darth Vader and he started screaming and crying even more. Kevin and I felt terrible. He quickly recovered in the safety of Daddy's arms and enjoyed watching Fletcher take his turn battling the Dark Side.
Fletcher thought it was one of the coolest things we did at Disney (besides riding all the big rollercoasters).
Isn't this the neatest idea? I made one of these for one of our former college students who got married. Of course, I was so excited that it turned out so cute (since I have limited crafting abilities) that I mailed it to her and forgot to take a picture of it. The photo below was my inspiration. In case you can't tell, the strips of paper inside the glass ball are pieces of a wedding invitation. Isn't that cool for a first Christmas together? Makes me want to go find one of our old wedding invitations and make one for us too.
If all goes as planned...
Today the boys will wake up and eat breakfast.
Kevin will act like he is getting ready for a normal Friday workday.
Then we will get all serious and call a "family meeting".
Fletcher will read this poem*:
Then they will each open a package that has matching Mickey Mouse shirts and hats, a Mickey plush doll and the Mouse Ears hat we bought for Fletcher when we took him to Disney when he was 3 1/2.
We are going to try to discretely video tape Fletcher reading the poem so we can catch his reaction. Luke has never been to Disney World so he has no idea what awaits him. We've been working for months to plan this trip while keeping it a secret from the boys. They have absolutely no clue. We packed most of the car last night.
Not sure what posting will be like next week since I'm not sure of our internet access at our hotel.
Just know that we will be having so much fun in mid 70 degree sunny Florida.
Oh and that our house is guarded by a killer attack beagle and is surrounded by three former NY police officers.
*I must give credit where credit is due. I found this poem by a mom on the forums at intercot.com named "rjmdds". I modified it a bit to fit our trip.
We love our boys. We love being parents. We are not perfect. We don't know it all. We sometimes wish our kids came with "How To" manuals so we could figure them out. What we have realized is that kids go through phases. And just when you think that particular phase is going to do you in, they move on to another phase. Thank goodness!
Luke turned 4 in August. He is cute, loving and funny. He is also very opinionated about how his world should work. His way. Always. (I would use the term "strong willed" or "stubborn" but I want to avoid labeling my child). Lately, he latches on to something that he does or does not want and WILL NOT LET IT GO. Same question over and over. Not doing what we tell him to do no matter how many different ways we say it. We've tried redirecting, distracting, giving choices, time outs, other consequences, and even spankings. He still isn't getting the fact that he is not "the boss" (yes, he used these words with us -- "I'm the boss!"). It is sort of cute at 4, but it wont' be cute at 14 and it will definitely be problematic at 24 so we are trying to prayerful guide him. And it is wearing me out.
But I know this is just a phase. Just for posterity's sake, I am including this brief video as a reminder to me. We were coming home from the beach a few weeks ago. We have a DVD player in our van. Sometimes we let the kids choose the movies they watch. Other times I choose for them when they can't agree on something. I had chosen a movie (Veggie Tales Jonah which they had seen before and like very much). Luke decided my movie choice was unacceptable. For thirty minutes...30...half an hour...26 miles...this is what we heard over and over again. In case you can't understand it, he is saying "I want a different movie" over and over again.
He told me the next day, "Mommy, my throat hurts." Hmmmm...wonder why.
I'd like to say this was a one time occurrence, but yesterday after church, we went to lunch with some friends. Five of the seven of us were already seated eating our food when Luke decided he wanted to sit somewhere else in the restaurant. He proceeded to scream when we didn't move so Kevin took him out to the van and strapped him in his carseat (which he can't unbuckle). Kevin sat out there with him. We ate our lunch inside and came out about 30 minutes later and he was still screaming. Screamed and cried all the way home too. Part of me wants to just give in, but I know that giving in to his every ridiculous whim is not the best thing to do.
Like I said, I love being a mom. I am really hoping this phase passes very, very quickly. I heard someone say once that the Bible uses the phrase "and it came to pass" many times. That's because whatever trial or circumstance we are going through will pass eventually otherwise God would have used the phrase "and it came to stay".
