Funny Words

Here are a few of John's funny comments:

1. Upon arrival at his friends house for a play date he says; "My mom has a bad case of the diarrhea's, so my dad brought me." Such wonderful honesty! Of course it was the mom that told me this. Good thing we are good friends : )

2. While putting on his pajamas; "My bottom's face hurts when I sit down like this.(sits down) But when I stand up (stands up) it says "Oh thank you! That feels better."

No More Pony Tails

Well our little girl is growing up! She has been telling me for a month now that she wants to get her hair cut. She wants it short like mine and her friends Ella and Kaylee. Dad did not want to loose his little girl and neither did I. Besides, what will I do with all of the cute hair bows and clips I have for her? So we let her get her hair cut. And isn't she just the cutest thing ever! We think so. Although dad is still trying to adjust to her new look, she is very proud of it and admires herself ever time she is in front of the mirror.

Alison painting bags for her teachers Christmas presents. The before look.

Best Buddies

Her new look!

Our Singing Star

On Saturday, December 8th we went to John's school for Breakfast with Santa. The kindergartners performed three songs at 8:30 am. We were nervous if John would get up to perform, but to our amazement, he got up and in the front row! He did a wonderful job. Here are some pictures and video of the kids singing. Enjoy!

Proud John

So proud, he got to hold the biggest bells!

John waving

Can you guess which reindeer is John's?

Did you get it right? He said, "I cut his head off so I made two."

"Jingle Bells"

"Snow Pants"

"Must Be Santa"

The "Real OC" Tree Lighting Cermony

On Saturday, December 1st we went to downtown Oregon City to watch the tree lighting ceremony and see Santa arrive on the Firetruck. We went with our best friends the Edson family. Their dad works on Saturdays (he is a Sheriff) so Mark got the honor of being the only man in the group! Both moms were glad to have him there, especially when we needed someone to walk back to the car in the rain and bring it to us!

So the night was typical Oregon weather, rain- rain- rain! We bundled up in our warmest wear and took umbrellas for all. We took the elevator down to main street. If you don't know we have a public elevator that takes you from the top of the hill to the bottom of the hill, and it is free and has an operator! With the wind blowing and Mark leading the way we arrived at the same time as Santa and Mrs. Clause. The crowd, rain and noise started to get to John, so we almost did not hear the count down to the tree lights. With a flip of the switch it was done! Alison loved it and wanted a closer look. John did not and from that moment on complained, whined, and was just a true joy to be around.

Santa moved across the street into a furniture store where you could stand in line, outside, to wait to sit with him and take your picture. It took about what felt like 10 min. for our little group to agree that we were going to stand in line to wait for Santa. That began the 45 min. wait which was accompanied by John's endless, and I do mean endless, complaining about anything and everything! We tried to leave but he would not have it! He was going to see Santa and complain the whole time. At one point the mom behind us told her little girl, "I can't hear you because of the whining boy in front of us!" How rude : ) It only hurt my pride a bit because it was true. And

I knew for sure that when we got up to Santa, John would refuse to sit by him or talk to him.

Boy was I wrong! John and Alison both went up to Santa and sat right down. He even knew their names and called them over to him! Not bad for little Oregon City! When asked what he wanted for Christmas, John replied, "Things you don't know about." He was referring to his wish list that he had left at home. But with some prompts from mom he was able to say Transformers and was shocked to discover that Santa know about Transformers and had seen the movie!

Alison said, "Lots of things." Again with my prompt she was able to name something off her wish list. All in all it was a cold, wet night I did not want to repeat any time soon. That night when I was putting the kids in bed, they both had only fond memories of the night and how much fun it was. At least I have 365 more days before we get to do that again.

Alison, Mark and John
Loves from Daddy
Jennifer, Alison, Santa and John
Kids in the rain
Kaylee, Jake and John
Alison and Kaylee
Jake and Kaylee showing how all the kids felt waiting in line!
Alison, Mark and Santa

Our Ballerina Star

On Friday, November 30th and Saturday, December 1st our little Alison was in her first performance of the Nutcracker. To be in the audience or back stage with the girls (and some boys) was a "Crackup". For most of the kids performing they had only had 10 weeks of dance lessons. Alison was a solider and a great one at that. She received a ballerina Barbie from Dad and Mom after her Friday performance and her friend gave her a Dora balloon. On Saturday, John gave her a little ballerina Barbie. She was all smiles and talk for those two days! I thought she would never go to sleep on Friday night. So without further adieu, here are the highlights from Alison in the Nutcracker........

Alison is on far left. Keep your eye on LaRue to her right and her pants!