The Cookies for Santa

Last night Addie and I made cut out cookies to decorate with our friends this morning. I love how excited she was about it - the picture with me rolling the dough shows it. She was all giggles and so good at cutting out the cookies.

We had 9 kids here around the table decorating their cookies this morning. Jack was unusually sad (maybe teeth?) so when I wasn't helping Addie ice her cookies I was helping him not cry. Thus, I didn't get any cute action shots. Just picture various green and red forms of sugar all over the place with very loud soundtrack to accompany! I LOVE the memory making. :)

The Christmas Cards

Every afternoon the kids and I venture out to the mailbox to check the mail. This month it's been especially fun because of Christmas cards. I think I have more fun with it than anyone! I love sending them out and I love receiving them. It's so fun to see pictures of everyone and hear what they are up to.



Addie has been intrigued by this process. She regularly asks me after we've opened our mail and put the card up for display "why all these people send us these?" I answer the same each time - because they are our friends and they want to wish us Merry Christmas!

Jack simply enjoys the walk down the steps to the mailbox and the games/antics he plays as I try to get him back into the house. Sometimes he'll carry some mail and get pretty excited about it. Just wanted to record that he is present! :)

Thanks to all of our family and friends for sending the wonderful cards!

The Santas

Santa is everywhere!! The mall, bass pro, church...

Uncle Dan and Aunt Amber took Addie to Bass Pro Shop on Friday night to meet Santa. Incidentally, Addie has seen Santa at Bass Pro more times this year than any other place and she seems to think he lives there. The picture is worth a thousand words.



Everyone confirmed that her request is still the same: Bicycle and a fishing pole. The next morning she said, "Mommy, your little girl was very brave last night!"

Addie was further mesmerized by Santa when he showed up at church in Houston on Sunday. Who knew Santa went to church? He made a special point of coming over to talk with Addie and I think the non-confrontational location made it especially easy for her. Santa is EVERYWHERE!

The Angels

Angels from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

The Encounter

Grandpa Berg and Sharon took Addie and Jack to Santa's Wonderland at Bass Pro Shop on Saturday. As you can see from the pictures, there is still an obvious distrust of that Santa person.

Grandpa said he had a hard time getting Addie to stop looking over her shoulder to keep an eye on Santa for this picture.
They had a great time as long as they steered clear of St. Nick.

The Message

Addie is obsessed with THIS. She watches it over and over again and you can hear her giggles all over the house. Watch it w/o your kids around and then make them one. Thanks Melissa for the great idea!

The Anonymous Treat Run

We had some fun tonight doing an anonymous treat drop off at three houses. The first house had too many windows to go to the door and ring the bell, so we put it in the mail box. We called them, gave Addie the phone and in her cute little voice she said, "Check your mail box!"

For the next house she and Anthony were all hyped up to ring the bell. Apparently when they got to the door she chickened out and refused, so Anthony did it and then carried her back to the car for our getaway. On our way to the last house she asked if we could just make another phone call.

As we drove home through neighborhoods full of Christmas lights, Addie pointed out everything she saw and Jack joined in the excitement.

Addie: Santa!!

Jack: YEEEEEEEEEE

Addie: Baby Jesus!!

Jack: dugga dugga

We pretty much heard the same dialog back and forth until we got home. What can I say...it's good to be back in a land where Santa and Jesus get equal rights. On that note, I thought Addie and I could go over the story of Christ's birth tonight before bedtime. The seriousness of my intentions was thwarted as she stopped me and said, "Mom, I saw baby Jesus tonight and he was NOT moving. There were lights everywhere and he was not moving." I was all out of smarts, so we sang a song and said good night.

The Slip

This doesn't really have anything to do with my kids, but I must share this story as my Christmas post of the day.

Anthony was sitting in his recliner after dinner tonight thumbing through our bank account on his iPhone when he started grumbling about all the different places money had been spent.

Anthony: Aveda? What did you buy at Aveda?

Yes, Christmas shopping is SUPER fun at our house!

Me: Um, nothing.

Then I saw his nose flaring a little, which is what he does when he's trying to hide something. I had to strike, it was too easy not to.

Me: Ooooh, so you bought me a Christmas present at Aveda?!!

The nose is flaring more. He's trying not to smile.

Anthony: Maybe.

I laughed some serious tears.

The Letters

Family Home Evening tonight was letter writing to Santa, whom we are hoping to bring back into good graces in the next three weeks.
Jack wrote:
Addie wrote:
And what kind of fun-filled Christmas family night would it be at our house with out a little Glenn Beck? My favorite three people enjoying the children's version of The Christmas Sweater.
*I know the black and white pictures are a little drab for a Christmas post, but Addie's clothes were hideously mismatched and I just couldn't stand to document her that way. Today was laundry day though, so there's hope on the horizon.

**Just looked over the blog after posting this and realized I shouldn't be bothered by Addie's clothing today considering what she had going on in the other pictures this week.

The Baking

"Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them."

~Antoine de Saint-Exupery, "The Little Prince"

We had a great night of Christmas memory-making tonight as we baked peanut butter cookies topped with Hershey's Kisses, then watched our church's First Presidency Christmas Devotional. I feel like Christmas is really in our home now. The above quote from "The Little Prince" was from President Dieter Uchtdorf's talk. He beautifully pointed out the ways in which we miss Christ in our lives and even in Christmas. President Thomas S. Monson's talk just made me cry - worse than the best Hallmark movie. If you are looking for a way to bring the spirit of Christ into your home this Christmas season, this devotional will do it.

Addie enjoyed unwrapping the kisses and took the task of pressing them into the cookie very seriously. I remember that being my job when I was a girl, so it's fun to do it with her. Jack was just excited to be part of the scene.
(Sometimes he was a little too eager to be a part of the scene.)
Christmas has always been such a special time for me, but each year as a mother has become more precious than the last. There are things you "give up" when you have children. Sleep. Carefree long hours at the gym, mall, movies, insert most of your favorite things... Not so with Christmas. At Christmastime it feels like children make every aspect better.

The Meeting

We're on Day 5 of the Christmas countdown and Christmas joys have been stifled already. What, you say, could have done such a thing? Meeting Santa, of course.

Anthony took Addie and Jack to a local tree lighting last night. There was music, hot chocolate, cookies, lights, and apparently a much dreaded Santa. Anthony told me she went completely nuts, in a bad way, when Santa appeared for the first time and all other subsequent run-ins produced screaming and fearful tears. On the way home Addie told him that she didn't want Santa to come to our house this year.

Soooooo, what do I do NOW? I've heard of many a child freaking out when they have to sit on Santa's lap, but they seem to recover and still think he's wonderful as long as they don't have to touch him. I don't know that I've seen a child so fearful at the sight of him and I've never heard of this "thanks, but no thanks" response!

The No

This is a "No." I'm sure you've seen one before, but most people call them Christmas Trees. Jack walks up to ours, points, and says "No!"

Then he proceeds to do this:


Not sure he's getting the right message!

The List

Addie's Christmas "list" has been set for a few weeks now and she is chomping at the bit to write a letter to Santa. I haven't done it yet because we just finished Thanksgiving and I kind of thought she might change her mind. She appears to be committed to her choices, and she has her reasons. She wants a bicycle and a fishing pole. She needs the bicycle so that she can ride it to the water and go fishing. Oh, I should mention that it's a pink fishing pole and a Disney Princess (insert gag) bicycle.

I should add that Anthony has now decided he needs a fishing pole too.

Christmas Blogging 2009

This year I've decided to blog the Christmas experience through the eyes of my children. The wonder of Christmas has definitely returned to my life with the addition of children to our family and I can't think of a better way for me to explore it than to focus on it more each day.
Hope you all enjoy!

If you are new to my blog and wonder what I'm talking about...I did a Christmas Memory blog every day of December last year. I loved how it brought the Spirit of Christmas into my heart and others seemed to enjoy it too.

Thanksgiving 2009

This Thanksgiving the Wilson, Berg, Brenner, and Gardner families were at our house, and what a time we had! Thursday night we had nine adults and nine children under one roof - 6 of them in cribs! It was so much fun, but so crazy that I feel like it flew by!

We cooked and cooked and cooked...
(I love how it looks like I'm bossing people around in this picture...like THAT would ever happen!?)

Then we feasted. Apparently everyone ate too many appetizers prior to the feast though, because 75% of the food we cooked was still untouched after the feast! It was good though, even for someone like me know cares very little for every Thanksgiving food other than the cranberries.
The highlight of the week: SuperNana rented a Disney Princess bounce house. The kids bounced all the time! It was great. Both mornings that we had it there was at least one child out on it before breakfast was over. Definitely a hit. Here they are on Friday morning in the Christmas jammies Nana and Pops bought for them.


I love this picture of Brooke - such a happy girl!
The beauty of the bounce house was tired children at the end of the day. That seemed to help them get over the fact that "bed" might be in a closet or on a floor. :)
Tired cousins snuggling.
Silly princesses at bath time. Every time I tried to take a picture Emma either looked away or made a crazy face. Reminds me of someone...oh yeah, her father!

*Sorry to disappoint, but I left the backside shots of our meager "Turkey Trot" ranks out. Melissa...that was some brilliant photography and I know you tried hard to take pictures that would make us all look 10 pounds lighter from the seat of your bicycle but they were still unusable. :)

The Simple Things

The kids were having a great time at the Arboretum yesterday running around, checking out the water features, going in fairy tale houses, etc. Then they found this little bench and it was pure joy. Why is sitting on a bench your own size so much fun? What would the world be like if every adult sitting on a bench was this excited about it?

Shopping 101: 2009 Version

I went out on Thursday night in search of a dress for the Holiday party Anthony's work is hosting this year. It was a last minute outing, so I was on my own. I was struggling to make a decision, so I did the only logical thing: take a picture of myself and send it to my mom, sister, and sister-in-law.
After confirmations of my good decision, Serena calls me to discuss shoe options. She immediately starts emailing me links to different shoes she's found at the store I'm in. So I pick one and show it to the sales associate in the shoe department.

The shoe she emailed me was online only, so they brought out a few different ones. I snap a picture of this one and send it back to Serena.

She confirms, I'm happy, my mission is accomplished. On the way home Serena says, "Thanks for taking me shopping with you tonight! I really needed a girls' outing!" I am in Dallas, she is in Houston. Technology is a beautiful thing!

*I promise NOT to make the strange face in the picture above when we go to the party.

Boys and Cars

Jack said goodbye to a well-loved friend today:

And hello to a new one:

We've searched high and low for the perfect size to fit right into his little hand. Ahhhh...if only it would always be this simple!


He's currently rolling the car on EVERY surface in the office: desk, filing cabinets, the wall, books, chairs, me... What is it with boys and cars?

Halloween Bash 2009

The Calm Before the Storm

The Anticipation








The Storm


We had a blast this morning getting some good use out of our Halloween costumes. I think I counted 21 kids! It was the very definition of crazy fun. We decorated cupcakes, bowled, made spiders and decorated foamy pumpkins. In her usual form, however, Addie still woke up from her nap and immediately asked, "What we going to do fun for me today?"

Cleaning Out the Phone

I looked at the date of my last post and thought, "what did we do this month??" Alas, my dear iPhone holds the answers.

We took a trip to the Dallas Arboretum to kick off their "Autumn at the Arboretum" season. The weather was perfect, though a little warm for the fall clothing I insisted on my children wearing so that I could get beautiful pictures of them with the pumpkins and such. Unfortunately, once we arrived I looked in my camera bag to find no camera. My poor hot children! I was wearing capris, flip flops, and a short sleeved polo. Addie was in a long sleeved corduroy dress (with a white tank under it for the "layered look") and boots. Jack was in the long sleeved shirt and tweed brown pants you see below. Priorities people.
My parents and grandmother came to visit us. All of us girls had some fun at Northpark mall (my favorite Dallas mall.) Four generations out on the town. Wow. The only one who came home with new digs? Addie, of course.


Addie tried out rock climbing, if you can call it that. There is a four foot "climbing" rock at our park that she's finally figured out how to get on top of. She has the scratches on her stomach to prove it, too.

Jack discovered a love of brooms. When in doubt of how to get him to stop whining or messing with his sister (something he is already a pro at), all I have to do is pull out a broom and the boy is happy.


Addie continues to be more stylish than her mother. This is a different corduroy dress than the one mentioned above...stinker. What can I say, fashion is very affordable and seems to always flatter when you are 3.



Feel good song: Ain't Love Somethin' - Sam and Ruby. Listen to it. Buy it. Whatever. It just makes me smile. :)