Day 3 and 4

Our Christmas Countdown Continues.

I had visions of getting out of the house early on Saturday and spending hours scrapbooking. Didn't happen, the night was a disaster. I did eventually get gone but then had just one bad misstep after another, almost comical. I did eventually get a good couple of hours of work done at home after the boys went to bed. Going for a redo sometime early in 2012. I made it three times total in 2011.

Anyway, since I was hoping to get out of the house I went with something easy for our countdown and something that had to get done anyway.

Day 3 - Write letters to Santa.

Reactions were what I expected. Ryan went running for the paper (which is why we ended up with neon green) and was so excited. Reid was disappointed. He said something like "I thought these events were supposed to be fun." Poor kid, he HATES writing. It literally took him about an hour and lots of urging from me to just do it and be done.

Ryan's:

He actually wrote all of the things he wants and then told me what to write to Santa at the bottom. His writing is getting so good:

Reid's:

At first Reid just made a list like Ryan but I told him he actually had to write a letter. That's when he came up with "Hi Santa. I can't wait till you come"... such an overachiever... ha ha.

Ross:

Whenever you ask Ross anything he ALWAYS answers with "I don't know" first and then tells you the answer. He doesn't know what he wants for Christmas though. He does know that there are presents downstairs, he's already started unwrapping a few of them. He also knows he loves Christmas trees. He should be a lot of fun come Christmas morning!!

On Sunday Russ was gone all day. He left for a coaching clinic before the boys and I were out of bed and went right from that to his 5:40 hockey game.

Anyway, I thought about the calendar several times during the day but just didn't have the energy to do anything big. Earlier in the day I had hired a neighbor boy to watch the kids while I stole some time to go on an 8 mile run with Suzanne and her husband. We tackled some major hills and I felt drained. It had already been a long morning of house cleaning, grocery shopping, etc and I didn't have lunch until 3:00. So, I just kept putting the calendar off. Finally, I realized it was getting late and we needed to do something so we made cookies.

Day 4 - Make Cookies.

Of course the boys were thrilled when they opened this slip:

John had played four games in St Louis this weekend and had JUST gotten home from the trip and said he was wiped out. Thankfully, he still helped me scoop dough so the boys didn't go too nuts waiting turns.

The cookies weren't great. I think I remember us having this problem last year too. I went with the lower temp and they just weren't done enough... still doughy. Our last batch was the best as I left them in longer but next time we'll go the higher temp and longer time recommendation. Doesn't matter, we still ate them.