jumping for joy

Bailey and Papa W. supervising the assembly of the trampoline.

Now, Mrs.Santa had bought a trampoline about a month before Christmas, and Mr. Santa and the Elves were on a secret mission to set it up on Christmas Eve so it would be ready for jumping on Christmas morning...adding to the true magic of Christmas. BUT, the trampoline Mrs. Santa got was a big piece of junk and folded in half when the elves put it together! So at about 4:00pm on Christmas Eve, Mr. Santa called Mrs. Santa and informed her of the situation. Now, a trampoline is a big gift for a 4 year old and 9 month old, so Santa didn't get them much else. What was Mrs. Santa to do?? Both Santa's were panic stricken and disappointed because they knew how much Bailey had been begging for a trampoline. Luckily Mrs. Santa is an expert shopper and remembered seeing 'industrial' (aka: twice-as-expensive) trampolines at Sam's Club. Mrs. Santa made it to Sam's Club about 30 minutes before closing on Christmas Eve and made the purchase. (GULP!) Meanwhile, Mr.Santa and the Elves disassembled the worthless trampoline and returned it to Wal-Mart (where they found multiple trampolines had been returned already!). By then it was too dark to assemble it, so Santa left a note to Bailey and Benson explaining that a trampoline is too big to fit on a sleigh unless it's in a box, and the boxes were definitely too big to fit down the chimney, so he left it on the back porch and made a path out of wrapping paper to help find it. So if you see Mrs. Santa with a few more gray hairs (yes, more...meaning there are some already at 26! ugh! thank you Dowding genetics.), you'll know why. Did I mention that during all this Mr. Santa had violent case of stomach flu?

This picture makes it all worth it! Bailey (and Mom, and Dad, and the neighborhood friends) all have soooo much fun on it! And I can sit and watch from my "ninny chair" (recliner) inside!

"Mom, Come see my HIEROGLYPHICS!"

Yes, that is what Bailey hollered to me from the bath-tub on Christmas Day. She had gotten bath crayons for Christmas and made 'hieroglyphics' on the tile. I think she learned it from either Little Einsteins or her Jumpstart computer game, but definitely not from me. I didn't know what hieroglyphics were until I was like 10! Smarty pants!

Believe it or not, this is not his most impressive display of his tongue skills. He always gets shy when the camera comes out. When he's concentrating on something it comes out and is busy. It is so funny and cute to watch. It's the pointiest little (or maybe not so little) tongue I've ever seen!

merry monkeys

Here are some pictures of the Wallace cousins (Gavin, Benson, Bailey, and Isaac) on Christmas in their "Monkey Skins" (a term Brandon made up for the tight, body hugging jammies that our kids, aka: monkeys, wear).

Bailey doing her best to corral both of the boys for a picture by Guh's tree.

Gavin and Benz.

Becky told Gavin to take his fingers out of his mouth (he sucks them instead of a binki), and he didn't know what to do with his hand instead! I love the confused look on his face! Benz is just hamming it up for Guh. We took this picture because Gavin wanted to hold "BENCE!" (as he says it!) some more. Boy, is his soon-to-be little sister in for it! (Gavin LOVES babies!)

merry christmas!

Santa brought Benson a Winne the Pooh Walker and Tiger Basketball thing. He also got lots of fun new toys from us and the grandparents. He was pretty overwhelmed/dazed and confused by all of it.

Bailey was so excited for Christmas. She was too busy opening presents and didn't let me get too many pictures. She opened all of Benson's presents too! Santa brought her "Ratatouille" and a trampoline! (pictures to follow in another post!)

Bailey and Dad watching "Ratatouille." She was so excited to get it! It's actually really cute...probably one of my most favorite Pixar/Disney movies...right up there with "Nemo" and "Toy Story"!

ho ho humbug!

Brandon took this entire week off (woo-hoo!), and we went and got pictures with Santa at the Mall today. I have to say, I was totally unimpressed. I've seen much better Santa attractions, that are much friendlier and cheaper! This Santa was COMPLETELY LAME! He didn't even ask the kids what they wanted! He didn't even say "hi!" Bailey was a little confused, so she just told him what she wanted (a trampoline and "Ratatouille") and the Santa said, "Oh." !!!!!!! I was SO mad! He's on my naughty list!

We also saw "Baby Isaac," our newest Wallace cousin/nephew, for the first time today (check out the "STEWART SCOOP" link!). He's super cute and cuddly! Bailey ADORES him! She got to hold him several times. Now she's asking when we can see Baby Laura?, our newest Leseberg cousin/niece (who is just 2 weeks older than Isaac!). Whenever she sees pictures of her or Isaac, Bailey says, "I wonder what her hands feel like. She looks so soft." (Bailey has a thing for baby hands and grown-up feet!)