Perfectly Lazy

With the exception of a few outings here and there, most of the last two weeks have been spent lazily at home. And we have all LOVED it!!! Days of playing with toys, getting caught up on some organizing and enjoying each other have been just what we needed.

Here's what our Christmas holiday has included...

Christmas morning started with Clara climbing into bed with us at 6:15am. Jonas is a wonderfully late sleeper when given the opportunity and had been sick the previous few days, so we didn't want to wake him up just yet. Instead, we entertained Clara by talking about where she spent Christmas each previous year. Then we rolled out the traditional cinnamon rolls before getting Jonas out of bed.

We woke Jonas up and he immediately began clapping with excitement, although he looked very sleepy.


Clara was thrilled with what Santa brought her - an art easel for when she plays school. She sat next to it most of the morning.


Her other favorite present was the "lip balm" Santa brought her in her stocking. She has it with her at all times and often looks just like this...


Jonas? Well, he only wanted treats. All he wanted to do was eat his candy and preferred that to opening his presents.

Here are just three examples - from top to bottom - ring pop, soy chocolate, starburst.

Oh, and one more...his excitement when Devin found Swedish Fish in his stocking . I don't think the stocking ownership matters much to Jonas, he saw something he knew he could eat and it brought this look to his face.


Clara first wanted Jonas to open his present from her. She was very excited to see him open his new clay.


I was excited to see Jonas open his new potty. He found it very amusing, especially when the word "poop" was included in the description.


The kids wanted to play with each present after it was opened which made for a drawn out but relaxing morning - complete with a break in the middle for eating cinnamon rolls - then it was back at it!! :)

Books were a big hit this year.


Including the indestructible book we gave to the new baby Osterhout that you can apparently bite and it won't tear or get ruined. Even though I am pretty sure it was designed for babies, Clara just had to try it out.


Here I am quite excited to open my new wellie liners. Wellies are the things to wear around here with the wet weather but my feet F R E E Z E in them. Especially when I am waiting outside during Jonas' horse riding therapy. It takes about 45 minutes for my toes to regain feeling, even with thick socks. Good job to Devin for tracking down a good pair of liners to hopefully help my poor little feet!


One of my favorite moments was when Devin opened his new running watch and was explaining to Clara how it works and how it communicates with satellites. Pretty interesting stuff (to him at least)...I'm pretty sure she was sorry she asked. :)


My other favorite moment was when Devin opened the train from my parents for the Christmas tree. He and Jonas loved putting it together and it was so cute to see Jonas just sit and watch it for such a long time.


After presents and playing we were able to talk with friends and family which was really fun.

The week following Christmas was also very relaxing with the few exceptions - a trip to IKEA to get some new furniture in preparation for Jonas and Clara starting to share a room...scary!!! Here they are in their new chairs and while it looks like Jonas is excited to be there, don't let that face fool you. He is actually screaming but without video, it is hard to tell the difference.


It also included an outing to Valley Gardens to go "sledging" as opposed to "sledding".


Jonas went one time and chose to not go again.


Clara loved it and would have gone all afternoon if she hadn't landed wrong one time and hurt her tailbone. Poor girl!!!


She has completely recovered but it was a pretty painful landing.

And here we have Jonas giving you his new funny face (self-discovered), which he now does frequently (even with food in his mouth...so, you're welcome...I posted the clean version).


New Years Eve was really fun this year. We had a good time with friends but came home a little before 11 to get Jonas in bed. I didn't think Clara would make it to midnight so I had no problem telling her she could stay up when she asked me earlier in the day. Guess what? She made it no problem. We had fun playing Clara's new memory game, eating sticky toffee pudding and drinking apple cider together to toast in the new year. It was especially fun because you could see different fireworks from our front window. Too bad she didn't want to sleep in as long as we did the next morning though. (happens pretty much every weekend....)

To round off the week, here is Jonas after church on his first Sunday in Primary. He did really well except for when he wanted to repeatedly talk about the animals on his new tie. Clara sat behind him trying to get him to be quiet but it was in vain. I thought my chatterbox looked quite handsome!!