Ben's New Pants...

Christmas Greetings

When I was a kid we often made videos of our Christmas celebrations to send to our grandparents in Samoa.  Well, we did the same last night to send to our family in Denver, Virginia, Florida, Pittsburgh, and everywhere else.  With LOVE!  Enjoy.  It is right up there with Pinecones and Hollyberries, for those who have had the privilege of seeing that amazing vocal number by Trish and Rachel.

Randall Family Talent Show

I realized my youtube account was eligible for videos longer than 15 minutes, so here is the epic Randall Family Talent Show from the reunion in October.  LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

Ben on the MOVE

Ben actually got to the presents yesterday.  He chewed on only one package before I grabbed him.  He army crawled all the way from the family room to the presents.  Luckily there are only a couple more days or I would have to move all the presents.

He also got himself into trouble crawling under the saucer.  He got stuck. 

Holiday Traditions

There are certain holiday traditions in the Randall family that are very important.  Making gingerbread (graham cracker) houses is one of them.  This year I just figured I would let that one go though, because I have been so busy and we didn't have an FHE time when we would be home for it.  But on Monday afternoon, Libby asked if we could make gingerbread houses as a surprise for daddy.  I was just cleaning up from a cooking project, so I jumped at the chance to make another mess, and we went for it.  It was mostly me making my house and Libby's, but Sarah dictated where I should put the "glue" and then she added the candy.  They both ate about a gallon of candy and we had a blast.  When Derek came home we shut off the lights and then flipped them on and  yelled "surprise!!!" over the houses.  SO fun!  I am loving having kids that are a bit older.  (We also watched a Randall Christmas classic that I just bought on VHS--The Night They Saved Christmas!  It was a bit distracting for the girls.  How could I expect them to focus on houses when such a masterpiece of acting and script writing was on the TV?)

Incomplete weekend and -isms

A weekend just isn't a weekend with a blog post.  So, it is Thursday but I still feel like it must be last Sunday since I never posted.  It looks like life as a YW president might be a bit more complicated than I originally thought.  But maybe it just seems super intense right now because I have Christmas shopping, wrapping, baking, etc. on my plate.  Oh yeah, and sick kids.  Actually we have had a few barf-free days.  Amazing.  But Sarah was up early this morning saying her tummy hurt, so who knows what we are going to go through today.

Anyway, we have had a fun week.  Lots of parties and events.
Sarah told me the other day, "I am not a child anymore!"  I said, "Then what are you?"
"A silly adult."  Clearly.

Libby told me last night that when she grows up and has children, she is going to let them say "shut up."  I think I might have said the same thing when I was a kid.  But it sounds so yucky coming out of the mouth of a child.  I told her she will probably change her mind.

Rachel and Brad sent the girls videos from Santa.  They were so enthralled.  Santa speaks to them and they started talking back to him.  I had to leave the room to change Ben's diaper during Libby's video.  She started hollering to me--"Mommy, I AM ON THE NICE LIST!!  HOORAY!"

Libby also showed me yesterday how she can help Ben sit up (by grabbing his hands and pulling him up) and help him move by grabbing his hands or feet and dragging him around.

I have also been unhappy with another of Libby's new tactics to clean.  Shove everything under the living room couch.  I clean out from under the couch at least once a day now.  So irritating.  Almost as irritating as the way she is ignoring my potty etiquette sign in the bathroom.  Instead of wiping, flushing, shutting, and hand sanitizing, she simply leaves the bathroom, shutting the door (light still on).  So, every time I walk by the bathroom and the door is closed and the light on, I have to haul her in, have her go through the flush, shut, wipe ritual.  Sometimes it seems like diapers were easier.

Santa Ben

Hooray that he has figured out how to sleep on his stomach.  For about a week (or maybe a bit less) I would put him down to sleep, he would roll over and start freaking out because he couldn't go to sleep or roll back.  Whew for getting over that hump.  He is now eating two solid meals a day.  (Small amounts, but he is getting there).  He has been eating his last bottle at night right when I have given up and am planning on going to sleep.  I get in bed, close my eyes and he starts to cry (lately usually around 11pm).  I sigh, get up, and feed him 8 oz or so and he sleeps through the night.  That works.  

Dance Recital!!!

I have to start this post with a very sad announcement.  I forgot to turn on the video camera for Libby's performance.  I am devastated.  Luckily there will be a DVD I can buy.  But, here is Sarah.  She looks pretty deadpan.  I don't think she sings much.  But it is fun.  And, no crying.  Whew.

Sarahism

Yesterday I said, "Sarah, get in  your car seat."
"I can't," she said, "Kermit is in there. I don't want to sit on  him!"
She has imaginary friends all over the place!
After I "moved" Kermit then she said that Scooter and Gonzo were sitting next to her.  They have been watching the Muppets take Manhattan, can you tell?

My Little Cheerleaders

We finally made it to a Shorewood match!  And, it was a great match.  Shorewood beat Mariner for the first time ever!  The girls looked SO cute!  My visiting teacher Lisa actually made the outfits for me this time.  I just didn't have enough time to do a good job.  They are perfect outfits.  

The cheerleaders invited Libby and Sarah to cheer with them.  Libby only lasted a few minutes.  Sarah stayed with them the whole match, including helping them clean up their mat :)

This is probably one of my favorite pictures of Sarah ever!

BODYPUMP AIM

I took an amazing training on Friday.  It was crazy difficult to spend a whole day away from my 3 kids--and it went an hour and a half longer than I thought it would, but it was well worth the challenges.  The AIM stands for Advanced Instructor Module.  It challenged me physically and it challenged me to think about  my teaching. Can I just say I love my teaching job?  LES MILLS is a great company to work for.  The trainer was Susan Renata whose teaching I have been admiring for years on our training DVDs.  It is always fun to meet one of your heroes!

Ben on the MOVE!

Last year I decided to get a big Christmas tree instead of a little one sitting up on blocks.  I decided the girls were old enough to handle not touching the tree.  They were great.  I think they started unwrapping one present, but over all the tree was safe.  BUT...what was I thinking?  We had another baby on the way.  Maybe I was thinking that he would only be around 6 months old and wouldn't be crawling yet.  Boy was I wrong.  It isn't traditional crawling, but it is definitely an attempt to get around and get at things--like the Christmas tree.  My oh my.