Christmas in pictures

Christmas Eve morning we hiked "A" mountain with Darrel & Trina. Alexander and Ben didn't want to go, but we all ended up having a blast.






Thank you for your help with Evan, Darrel! You saved him from certain death.




Later on, we headed over to my mom & dad's for great food and company. Per tradition, each grandkid got to open a present (which is a blanket). The boys look forward to it every year.



Evan was happy to finally be able to open a present.


All the boys love baby Molly.


Then we headed home and all the boys opened one gift (pj's).


Christmas morning we opened presents at our house then headed back to my mom & dad's.



It's tradition for my dad to read the Christmas story out of Luke. I look forward to it every year.


Then we headed over to Ian's parents. Sean re-built an electric scooter for the boys. They LOVE it!



Ian got a Star Wars pop-up book. That might have been his favorite gift.


Evan liked his playdough hamburger maker.


Sean and I took pictures of each other.


Meg read to Matthea


The boys got Rockband Beatles. WOOHOO!!!!


I couldn't resist this picture - look at those eyes.



Ian and Evan singing "Love Story" by Tayler Swift. It was priceless.



What they got:

Alexander: Fitzgerald football jersey, Wii fishing game, $ to Bass Pro Shop, a digital camera (grandma & grandpa), an electronic pinball machine (Nana & Papa) and a game (Sean & Meg)

Ben: Portis football jersey, Madden 10 for the X-box, a football, football cards (grandma & grandpa), Peterson football jersey (grandma & grandpa), a ds game (Nana & Papa) and a game (Sean & Meg)

Max: Taylor football jersey, Halo legos, a razor bike that does 360s (grandma & grandpa), a remote control car (Nana & Papa) and a game (Sean & Meg)

Evan: Batman big wheels, the Batcave, Lightning McQueen racing set (grandma & grandpa), a whole bunch of trucks that transform (Nana & Papa) and a hamburger/hotdog playdough maker (Sean & Meg)

All the boys got: a basketball hoop, Beatles Rockband (Nana & Papa), an electric scooter (Sean & Meg) and money (Nana & Papa).


They had a wonderful Christmas.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is my very own cell phone. If it's not too much to ask.

Love,

Ruby

Dear Santa,

I don't need anything for Christmas. I'm fine as long as my mom is holding me.

Love,

Molly

Dear Santa,

Ruby and Molly are the cutest babies in the world.

Love,

Me

times 2

The other night we went on our yearly visit to Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa. We go every December for Michael's birthday. When we were there, I couldn't help but notice how much Evan and Joshua love being together. It kind of reminds me of two other boys I know....

And speaking of Xander and Michael, guess who got the leads in the 6th grade play? That's right! The school is doing Bugsy Malone. Both Alexander & Michael's classes will do a production of it. I was so excited when Alexander told me that he got the role of Bugsy (he had been preparing for his audition by practicing monologues and singing for weeks). And even more excited when he told me Michael got the part of Bugsy in his class! They can't wait to rehearse and practice their lines together.

We have been listening to the soundtrack in the car - I love it! I can't wait!

Bugsy - x2!

*Note - the red thing on Alexander's teeth are his braces - he got red and yellow braces in honor of ASU and the Washington Redskins :)

Ben turns 10!

At 7:11 pm on December 16, 1999 Benjamin David Trezise was born. He weighed 7 lbs 15 ozs and was 19 1/2 inches long. I remember watching Friends while I was in labor. And I remember Ben came out blue. The nurses kept slapping his butt and finally they had to get the doctor to come over. Those seconds when Ben wasn't breathing felt like an eternity. I never thought I'd be so happy to hear one of my babies scream - but I was.

Benjamin is named after a character in The Work and The Glory books. After reading those books, I fell in love with that name.

Ben's favorite color is black.

Ben's favorite sports team is the Washington Redskins (he is really into football right now).

Ben's best friend is Christian. One time he told me that if he had the chance to spend time with anyone - including a famous person - he'd pick Christian :)

Ben's favorite food is pizza or shrimp.

Ben's favorite brother is Max (Max made me put that in).

Ben wants to either be a pro football player or video game designer when he grows up.

Ben's favorite band right now is Motion City Soundtrack.

Ben loves to play video games, play football or collect football cards.

Ben is such a blessing to our family. He is definitely the peacemaker in our house - he loves everyone and wants everyone to be happy.



Yesterday we took Ben and some friends bowling for his birthday:

James liked to bowl with a 13 pound ball! He definitely is stronger than he looks!

Ben flexing. The boy next to him was such a character. He was cracking Kim and I up the whole time.

Thanks to Trina who babysat Evan. It was nice to be able to enjoy spending time with Ben and his friends.

Crack ups:

-Cameron running and accidentally dropping the ball behind his back

-Max crying, "Ben says I suck!" to which Ben replied, "I said, 'Max - you're up!'"

-Michael has worn slip on shoes so long that he forgot how to tie his shoes - James tied them for him.

-When I asked the boys to whisper while singing "Happy Birthday" they screamed it instead. I was mortified at first but then joined in.

Christmas traditions

Last week we went to see the Temple lights with the Ganems. First we stopped at McDonalds for some hot chocolate then made the trek to the Temple. It was really crowded, but we still had a fun time.

Evan's favorite was the star over the manger. At one point he stood up in his stroller and walked through numerous people to the fence so he could have a better view. Quite a few people were annoyed by his behavior but I just looked the other way and pretended he wasn't mine.
Saturday was the annual cookie exchange. In years past Cathi & Laura have hosted it, but this year Tiffany and I took it over. We had a lot of fun.

Every cookie looked and tasted good. My favorite were the Oreo truffles and the ginger molasses cookies.

Sunday night we did gingerbread houses at my mom & dad's.

Ummm...I really can't handle this baby's cuteness (neither can Michael). She is adorable in every way.

Rowan was cracking us up - he'd pick up the candy with the tweezers and eat it. How's that for eye-hand coordination?


I love just being with my family and hanging out. They are my favorite people in the world. The best part was that because we did it on Sunday, Ian could come. This year Ian and I worked on the house together - which was an improvement from prior years when Ian's perfectionism got the better of him.

This is my dad holding Ruby before the "incident" in which my dad snuck Ruby candy. When Darrel and Trina found out it wasn't pretty although grandpa is now Ruby's favorite.


The finished houses! You gotta love our ghost/snowman. And Kim's white trash front yard (it kind of looks like my front yard).

Max did the bloody gingerbread man. We were very proud of our house and are already thinking of ideas for next year.

Our Christmas traditions make Christmas more real for me. This week we will be going to Organ Stop Pizza, having my family's adult Christmas dinner and going Christmas caroling. I can't wait!

Always Be

Right now Ben and I love Jimmy Eat World. I don't have all of their albums, but my favorite one that I do have is Chase This Light. I love every song on the album. My favorite song is Chase this Light. I just love his lyrics. I couldn't find that song, but Always Be is another one of my favorites. Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Evan...

has a girlfriend.

She's bilingual.


She loves animals.


She likes to hike.


She's friendly.


Inquistive.


Nice.


Every morning they have a date.


Evan is never late.


because


she's muy caliente.

Tidbits

-Yesterday I was able to go in and help Ben's class make gingerbread houses with their "buddies". Their buddies are kindergarteners. I loved seeing Ben help his buddy make his house before Ben even started on his. It made me proud to have a son who is happy to help others.

-When I was walking the halls at the boys' school I saw a lot of art work on the walls. I was able to find a picture that Max painted showing perspective - a road leading into a bunch of trees. I continued on and caught a glimpse of a beautiful landscape (think Bob Ross). I looked and saw that Alexander had painted it. I almost teared up I was so proud. I'm so glad that the boys go to a school where all parts of their brains are learning :).

-Kneeling in family prayer, Max looked around and said, "Wait - our circle isn't complete because Dad isn't here." Even though he can't be home as much as he would like, my boys really love and admire their dad (so do I).

-Evan's new phrase is: "pretty please?" The sad thing is - it works.

While I'm speaking of Evan - he is still prone to throwing fits when we go places. It's really bad. I've tried: suckers, binkys, positive rewards...nothing works. He screams and screams when he doesn't get his way. Any suggestions?

Soccer, an "incident" and Serranos

Today marked the end of soccer. WOOHOO! It's not like I haven't enjoyed it - I have. But seriously, it's December and I want to sleep in on Saturdays.

Brief recap:

At Max's final game he accidentally "headed" the ball. Kahea got it on video - it was awesome! I told her to post it on youtube. They won! Max loves to win. After the game the coach handed out trophies and we ate these Little Debbie Christmas cakes that are now the Trezise family favorite.

At Ben's game they finally played a team that gave them a run for their money. It was close and very stressful but they won! During the game there was an "altercation" with Evan and Max in which Max "allegedly" threw Evan down on his head. Ian "supposedly" witnessed this and went over to beat I mean punish Max. Max was so upset, so of course he started screaming at Ian (we are such a spectacle wherever we go). Ian started to go towards Max to calm him down and Max screamed, "You've got 5 seconds to get your yellow-bellied keester off my property!" Veins were popping out of his forehead. Luckily he didn't see me laughing so hard I almost wet my pants.

Alexander's team played their arch enemy's yet again. The team won with a penalty shot - which was very upsetting and not fair. I'm pretending Xander's team won - because they were the better team and played clean.

Afterwards we went to Serranos with my mom and Kim, Brian and Joe. We ate our fill of chips, salsa, beans, rice & sopapillas. Alexander celebrated soccer being over by ordering the most expensive thing on the menu (garlic shrimp) and daring everyone to eat a really hot pepper. Ian was the only sucker who took that dare. We had a really nice time - we didn't have to yell at the kids even once. It was an exhausting but nice way to spend the day.

P.S. I forgot my camera today but when Kim posts pictures I'll steal them from her blog and post them here. Stay tuned...

Dr. Jeckyll or...

Yesterday I felt like giving up. The first part of the day was nice - productive even! Then the kids got home. As soon as Max jumps into the car after school he turns into Mr. Hyde. Maybe it's because he has to be good all day, I don't know. I'm embarrased to even write some of the stuff he does. He screams. Hits. Punches. Everything makes him upset. He starts 75% of the fights in our house. It's bizarre to me because one minute he can be this witty, loveable kid and the next he's this monster. Where did I go wrong? And how do I fix it? (seriously, any advice would be wonderful).

By 6:00 I'd had it with both Max and Evan (because sometimes Evan = Max x 10). I told Max he wasn't getting anything for Christmas. If he wanted presents he'd have to earn them with good behavior. And by the time Ian got home Evan was so upset over something (I can't remember what) that Ian locked him in the garage for a few minutes - just so he'd calm down.

We all went to bed last night crying our eyes out. Later I laid in bed I realized my mistake - in my prayers the night before I asked for patience with my children.

Never again.

Dear Santa,

For Christmas this year I would like a crock pot to replace the one that Evan smashed to pieces. I really used to love putting a roast or stew in the crock pot before church and coming home to delicious smells and a ready-made lunch!

I want rollerskates so that I can become a Roller-Derby queen. I can use it to let out all of my pent up aggression.

Please bring me The Proposal on DVD or Blue-ray. Ian and I laughed our heads off when we watched it together - It's one we should own.

Alexander and I both would like a box of Cellas dark chocolate covered cherries. They are heaven in a box and really hard to find.

A gift certificate to Amazon would be nice - I love ordering books from them and everytime they come in the mail it feels like Christmas!

Santa, I feel like I've been pretty good this year. My children are all still alive. My husband is well fed and his laundry is done. My house is clean at least once a week. All in all I'd call it a successful year.

Sincerely,

Me

P.S. didn't Ian do an awesome job on the Christmas lights?