Merry Christmas!

This has been "the best Christmas ever" according to Max and Ian. They have been discussing Santa Claus and the logistics about how he gets around all month. They argue about how he has time to get to all the houses, which one of them is going to get coal for being naughty, if Santa has magic powers like superheroes, etc. They are starting to understand the true meaning of Christmas as well, which makes me happy. Some things I want to remember about this season...

-Ava dancing around the house singing snippets of Christmas songs over and over. "Jingle all the way, jingle all the way, jingle all the way!" and "Ho, ho, the mistletoe...Ho, ho the mistletoe..."

-Ian (in true Christmas spirit) telling Max that me has to share his toys with him because "Jesus said we have to share with everyone". And Max responding with, "No Ian, that's not true. He just said we have to love everyone."

-Ava waking up one morning after the tree had been up for a couple of weeks and randomly saying "Hey dad, did you see the Christmas tree? It's just beautiful."

-Max wearing his Santa hat everywhere we go.

-Explaining on every snow day that "No, today is not Christmas. Just because it snows does not mean that it's Christmas." And without fail, the next time (and every time) it snowed they all asked, "Is today Christmas?" Only to be sorely disappointed each time. It didn't actually snow on Christmas, but we are still covered in a thick blanket of white. Much prettier than dead grass I suppose.

White Christmas

We had our first white Christmas this year. It snowed last week and the kids have been out playing in it every day. It's too dry to build a snowman, but they could spend hours digging around with their little snow shovels. Notice Max dodging the snowball his Dad chucked at him in picture #2. He is not a fan of snowball throwing. He inherited that from me. I am no fun in the snow. In fact, I took most of these pictures from inside, nice and warm in my layers of thermals.

Outtakes

I realized today that we are not going to get family pictures taken in time for Christmas Cards this year. So after school I dragged everyone outside in attempt get a "kid" picture. Total fail. Ava didn't stop dancing around, and I couldn't get them to look at the camera at the same time. We'll try again another day.

I have been meaning to write down a few funny things the kids have said lately...

The other day Max was sitting at the table doing his homework. Ian was sitting next to him working on "homework". Ava walked by the garbage can and after seeing an old worksheet in it, she pulled it out and said "oh yeah, I forgot, this is my homework" and sat down and started scribbling on it.

One night after Ava turned two I asked her how old she was. She blurted out "twenty!" without pausing to think. When I said "no you're not!" she started laughing so hard she couldn't catch her breath. Like she had just told the best joke ever. Then I said "Ava, you're two!" She immediately countered with "no I'm not, I'm three!!!"

After seeing "transformer" on Max's Christmas list, I asked him which one he wanted. He immediatey responded with "Octopus Crime!"

Today at Home Depot, they gave us a flyer to come see/take a picture with the Grinch on Saturday night. When I told Ian and asked him if he wanted to go, he turned white and with obvious panic in his voice said "but mom, I hope it's not a real one!"

This morning Max set his breakfast down right next to Ian and said "I'm going to sit by Ian, because he's my best friend. And I love him." I wish I had that one on video.

Two!

Ava turned two a couple of weeks ago. Life has been so busy and crazy that I haven't even been able to wrap a present or bake cupcakes until today. She didn't get an elaborate tea party this year, as all of our attention has been dedicated to making our house liveable, and dealing with all the curve balls life has been throwing us.

I haven't even scheduled her two year check-up (stats to come), but I do know that she is a big girl. Tall and skinny. Already growing out of her 2T clothes. She is too smart for her own good, and talks like a grown-up much of the time. She has also developed a penchant for expressing an extreme range of emotions within a small time frame. When she is mad she will pinch, bite, hit, and yell " I don't like you...you're dumb!" Two minutes later she will wrap her arms around you in a tight-as-possible bear hug and say "I love you! You're so pretty!", as she plants a fat kiss on your cheek. I don't know where she learned the word "dumb" (nobody else in this house uses it), but we can't get her to stop saying it. "Mmm...don't like that shirt mommy, it's dumb!" Or, "I don't like this store, it's dumb!!!! Want a go home!"

Despite the occasional undesireable vocabulary, she is such a delight to have in our home. She gives the sweetest hugs and kisses. Her enthusiasm is contagious. Her creative play is genious. I love to listen to the conversations between her dolls, or the way she "reads" her books. I love the way she plays with my hair and whispers secrets in my ear. I love the way she screams, squeals, and hyperventilates with excitement when her daddy walks through the door. I love her encouraging motherly words... The other day we were searching high and low for her snow boots, then I finally remembered that they were in the car. When I told her, she said (with all the demeanor of a 20-year-old) "Hey! Good thinking mom!" Another day after helping frustrated children get their gloves on, I quickly put mine on and was immediately applauded with a "Great job mom!!!! You did it!!!"

Happy Belated Birthday to our sweet little sugar plum! We are elated to have you in our family!

halloween

Halloween crept up on us this year. I normally like to come up with homemade costumes ahead of time, but this year we were lucky to have costumes at all! Things have been super crazy around here, and I had to run to the supermarket (yes, the supermarket) a couple hours before trick or treating to buy Ian a costume. Luckily they still had a few left. The boys are obsessed with Marvel Comics these days, so that influenced their costume choices. Aunt Marlene sent Ava a pretty princess dress for her birthday (thank you!), and that took care of her costume. It's hard to believe that we have been here a little over three months and still aren't settled. Hopefully soon...

And these were the best shots I could get...the boys are fighting/wrestling in most of the pictures and Ava was casting spells with her magic wand.

Ava- 22 months

How can it be that my baby is almost two! She is a delight to have in our family, and I don't know what I would do without her. Things that I want to remember about this age:

-She changes her clothes about 30 times a day. Roughly every 5-10 minutes. She tells me, "MMM...don't like this shirt. I need a new shirt." And so forth.

-She takes her diaper off the second it's no longer dry. She says, "Mommy, i peed. I need a new biaper!", as she hands it to me. Or she says, "I pooped. Change my biaper. My bum hurts."

-She loves to sing and dance. She will spend an entire day singing "the itsy bitsy spider" while twirling around in circles until she falls down. Then she giggles, gets up, and does it again.

-She loves to follow her brothers around the house and boss them around. One day Max was playing quietly outside by himself. She poked he head out the door and yelled "Hey Max! NO fighting!!!"

-One day I forgot to strap her in her car seat. She didn't say a word, just waited until we were on a very busy street, quietly climbed up the back of my chair, poked her head around to face me and said "Hi there, mom!!!" I almost crashed and she couldn't breath she was laughing so hard.

-She can count to 13 without help. Then it's "16, 14, 17, 13". Counting is her favorite part of hide-and-seek.

-She says please and thank you without being prompted. She also spontaneously tells us that she loves us. Melts my heart.

-She talks really well. She surprises us everyday with her vocabulary. She will randomly come up with ideas, and I have no clue where she gets them. The other day she said, "Mommy, how bout when daddy gets home, we make doughnuts?" Which was interesting because I have never made doughnuts.

-We battle everyday over outfits (when we have to leave the house). She refuses to put on things she doesn't like, and never wants to wear anything weather appropriate. She is very skilled at dressing herself. She will even change her pajamas three times before she goes to bed!

-She always refers to our house as our "new house". She will say "I don't like new house, mommy." Or, instead of saying "I want to go home", she says "I want go to new house". One day I was changing her diaper and she said "Um, don't like new house. Want build nother house!"

-She is my best eater. She loves food liker her Momma.

-She climbed out of the crib after her nap a couple weeks ago. When I saw her walking down the stairs, I said "Ava, how did you get out of your crib?" She thought about it for a minute, then said "Mmm...Jump!"

p.s. The only way I could get her to stay still was to give her a cookie...I took a lot of pictures without realizing that the camera was on manual (all blurry). By the time I figured it out she had no more smiles or patience. And she ripped out her pretty barrette.

Mt. Evans

J-P's business school friend from Kazakhstan came to visit us this weekend. His name is Sasha. He is a scientist(physicist), who did the international MBA program at Duke. He brought us some fantastic gifts, including some matryoshka dolls that Ava loves. Ava did not, on the other hand, love Sasha. She wouldn't look at him or talk to him the entire time. She is super shy and doesn't really like any men other than her daddy and her grandpa. It was pretty funny. They went to climb Mt. Evans on Saturday (14,265 ft), and when we were looking at the pictures we pointed to J-P and asked her who it was. "That's daddy!!!" When we pointed to Sasha and asked her who it was, she said "Ummm, that's nothing!!!" She wouldn't acknowledge him until he walked out the door today to go home. She said "thank you for the baby dolls!!!", and finally smiled.

preschool

Today was Ian's first day of preschool.  I am doing a co-op with with some friends from church. Ian has been begging to go to preschool for a couple of years now (he talked really early). He wears his backpack to take Max to school everyday, and he wears it to pick him up. He wears it to the park, and he wears it to store. The day after we bought it, he put it on as we were running out the door to take Max to school. "Mom!! I think Max's friends are going to LOVE my backpack!!!" He has worn it proudly everyday since, always looking around to see if people are noticing it.

This kid still LOVES to talk, and follows me around the house all afternoon chatting up a storm. He is always on the go. I don't think he stops talking or moving all day long. He is my best entertainment.

Berry Picking

Last week we drove to an organic berry patch with some of our new friends. The kids had a blast riding the tractor to the strawberry/raspberry fields, chasing the free-roaming chickens and pigs, and eating just about as many berries as they picked. Whoops. It was so nice to squeeze in a fun outing before Max had to go to school. Afternoon kinder is not turning out to be that bad after all!

First Day

Max's first day of school was a few weeks ago. I was very sad to leave our schedule-free life of spontaneity behind and enter this new phase of life. Max, on the other hand, had zero apprehension. Just 100% unabashed excitement. He absolutely loves kindergarten. He comes home everyday with stories and details about his day. He already has several "best friends" that he loves to play pirates with and chase girls with at recess (yes he is already chasing girls...at least he tells me about it, right?).

I am thrilled that he is doing so well. Especially after chatting with other parents that are picking up/dropping off their kindies and telling me that they hate school, cry all morning and say they don't want to go because they don't have any friends. Max has come SO far in the last couple years. I am so glad that he is thriving. And I am also so glad that providence brought us to such a wonderful area. We live a rock's throw away from a bus-free, blue ribbon elementary school that is supposedly one of the best in the country. I am overjoyed that my children have the opportunity to go to such a great school. And I love the bus-free atmosphere. Reminds me of my days in Beverly Hills USD.

Ian BEGGED me to let him stay with Max at the school. "Please mom, I want to go to kindergarten too...Please!?!...I already know my ABC's--watch this A, B, C, D...." After much begging, wailing, pleading, etc., I was able to drag him out of Max's classroom. It's going to be a long couple of years before he gets to go!

Family Reunion

We had a Scoville family reunion in July. Our moving company was a tad late getting here with our belongings. We missed the first day of the reunion, and literally locked the door immediately after they brought in the last box and jumped in the car. We were so exhausted. I spent a few hours in a laundromat the night before so we would have clean clothes to take. It was awesome.

We made it without falling asleep on the drive. Barely. We were a little worn out and I didn't document the event with nearly as many pictures as I should have. We had a very nice time in Midway. It's such a beautiful place. J-P's cousins were very generous and allowed us to stay in their beautiful vacation home. It was so nice to all fit under the same roof. We went for a lovely hike (forgot the camera), swam in the beautiful pool (notice the views of Mt. Timpanogas), played games, chatted, and went for a tour of J-P's late grandmother's property and neighborhood. Luckily we remembered to get a picture of the siblings and grandchildren. It was a much needed break from all of the moving hoopla.

p.s. I love the cousin picture of Ava screaming. Perfectly captures what happens if she is more than a few feet from me. Her separation anxiety is intense. More on that later...