Annual Christmas Party

Todd and Ben hosted the second annual McMillan kid Christmas party tonight.  Todd's 9 invitees all attended, as did Ben's 2.  We had a good time.  Todd's planning was impeccable--he planned fun projects, crafts, and games.  When it came down to party time, though, he really wanted to wrestle and be absolutely crazy most of the time.  I guess multiple seven-year-olds in the same room bring out the insanity in everyone.  However, we did have a nice time.  

We made gingerbread (graham cracker) houses, ate pizza, played a fun (and exceedingly loud) game of Christmas Bingo, and attempted some crafts (Sam, Sophie, Mandy, Olivia, Skylar, and Ally actually did these).  I have to put in a side note here about Sam.  He was having a rough day when he showed up, but he probably enjoyed the specific activities more than any of the other kids.  It was fun to watch him meticulously figure out how to do each thing.  I was glad he came. 

After the unsuccessful group crafting, the kids watched Tom and Jerry Christmas, which they loved.  I'm glad that they can still get tons of enjoyment out of good classic humor that doesn't involve vulgarity. Granted, it does involved rather reckless constant violence, but I'm good with violence that squashes a character as flat as a pancake, only to have them inflated by a bike pump.  That kind of cartoon violence suits me just fine.  (How did this  become an entry about television?)

One of my young women, Allyson, came to help out.  She spent most of the night with the three little guests.  Ben thinks she is just about the greatest thing in the world, and she is so good with him.  I love it when the youth are good examples to my younger kids--it makes my job easier as a mom.  So, a shout out to Ally for helping tonight.  You're the best.  

Things I will change for next year's party:  Keep it simple.  Graham cracker houses, bingo, pizza, and movie.  Maybe make up a few crafts kits for those kids who don't want to watch the movie.  Serve rice krispie treats instead of brownies (chocolate mess).   Shorten the guest list (if possible)--13 kids turned out to be quite the party.  

But, all in all, I think the kids had fun.  Todd and Ben were both happy.  We'll try it again for our third time next year.  

Oh, on a positive side note (for those of you who are a bit insane like myself), I didn't clean my house before the party.  I straightened up and things, but I didn't dust or vacuum.  I figured I'd just have to do it after everyone left, and was I right.  The floor was a disaster.  Glad I saved myself some time.  And I can guarantee the kids didn't notice a thing :)

Cookies

I've had some requests for the yummy mint chocolate cookie sandwiches I made for Enrichment last week. Thanks to my NC friend, Emily, for the original cookie recipe, and to Nabisco for the inspiration to create a delicious mint filling.

Chewy Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches

2 ½ sticks butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ cup cocoa

Mix ingredients together
Refrigerate for ½ hour
Roll into balls and dip in sugar
Bake at 350 for 9 minutes
Will be a bit puffy and cracked on top and will fall when you take them from the oven—be careful not to overcook.

Filling: 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup cream cheese, 2 Tbsp cream, about 4 cups powdered sugar, mint (or vanilla) flavor, food coloring. Cream items together to desired consistency, and enjoy.

Spread between two cookies. For a fun flair, use some icing in a cake decorating bag to create designs on top, them sprinkle with colored sugar.

SNOW!!!!!

It was lightly raining at our house this morning when my friend Rachel called to inform me it was snowing at her house in Summerlin (across town).  By noon, she had convinced me to load up the kids for some fun snow time.  I'll have to admit that althought I rarely question Rachel's intelligence, I was a bit skeptical of this one.  "Probably a little dusting of snow hardly worthy of collecting my snow gear," I thought.  But we went, and our pictures are proof that occasionally it does snow in Las Vegas.  

So all y'all who have been touting your "first snows" and fancy "snowman building days," can just move right on over, because the McMillans have arrived.  We have to give the credit for Hawaiian snow lady to Livi and Rachel.  Todd was more interested in snowball fights, snow angels,  and rolling the largest grass covered snowmound (not caught on film).  It was a great day.  

For those of you who are faithful readers of my blog, note little Livi's pink cheeks.  She looked super cute/perky today and is even starting to grow back some hair.  It was great to spend some time with our friends today.  Thanks, Rachel, Livi, and Aaron for a fun snow day.

Quiet Night

Warning: Complainer Alert
It's been a bit of a long week.
Ryan's been gone quite a bit lately--a hazard of his part time job (hee, hee).
I babysat kids every day this week--and don't get me wrong. I'm glad to help people out. Don't read this and then never ask me to babysit your kids again. But you've been there. Extra kids are always extra kids.
I've been trying to finish up Christmas presents--not just mine, but a few commissioned pieces--once again, I underestimate how long school will take each day and how little time I'll have to accomplish other things.
And to top it all of, it's Christmas so I'm supposed to be happy, not grouchy. And since I come from a long line of guilt-mongers, I can even make myself feel guilty about not being happy and cheery when I should be.
Plus, we just found out that the local stake that has performed a beautiful live nativity for something like 15 years running is no longer performing, so our plans for tonight went out the window.
As a result, we ended up at home with each other. What a blessing. We snacked on my yummy guacamole, (courtesy of clearance avocados at Fresh and Easy--$.59 for 4) ate pizza, and drank Ryan's gourmet milkshakes for dinner. Then we snuggled up on the couch for a viewing of Polar Express. It was nice to stop for a few minutes and enjoy each other's company. If you haven't tried it in a while, just chill with your familly. It might make your Christmas season a bit brighter--Perhaps because family and love is really what Christmas is all about.

Traditions

For our third year in a row, we coerced an invitation from our great friends, the Joneses, to decorate gingerbread houses.  It is such a fun start to the Christmas season.  This year, Sarah and I actually undertook the project of baking the houses from scratch.  We decided the kids would really enjoy having their very own house to decorate.  I did recognize, however, that I need my own house next year as well, because I have some creative energy just dying to be spent on a house of my own.  We had a great time.  Ryan got to be there for the dinner part, but had to duck out for the fun decorating part.  Next year we'll schedule his time better.  Here are a few fun pictures of the evening.  

Good Stuff

This was after Thanksgiving dinner.  Great comic relief.

Thanksgiving

I have officially graduated to being a grown up, as I hosted a meal for 20 this year for Thanksgiving.  We had a wonderful time.  It was so nice to have family in our home to share the holiday with.  

My parents, my brother Scott and family, my brother Chris (missed you, Julie and boys), Ryan's parents, Ryan's brother Brandon and family (including 2.5 week old beautiful baby Samuel), and Ryan's brother Kalen were all here.  Some amazing friends lent their house to us for some extra sleeping room while they were out of town.  Thanks so much!

We had a non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner with tri-tip, southwest turkey, rice, beans, chicken enchiladas, and a yummy salad.  We did break down and have delicious cherry, apple, and chocolate pie with a side of cream cheese pumpkin bars.  Delicious.

We ate great food, played at the park, and had a little basketball action in the gym in the evening.  And, yes, I can still kick some trash at Lightning.  Anyone local up for a challenge?

Friday we thought we'd get away from the big city and we headed for the great outdoors at Red Rock.  However, we quickly discovered that the remainder of the city had the same idea.  The park was filled to capacity and closed.  We drove on to an overlook and ate our picnic lunch and looked at what might have been.

Then we soothed our grief with a seriously fun-filled afternoon of mini-gran prix racing for Kalen's birthday.  Todd has begged to go repeatedly, but as mentioned before, I am a cheap mom.  But, we went anyway and it was super fun.  The little kids couldn't drive, but they could ride along on the raceway, so I took Ben in my car.  He spent the entire drive holding onto my arm saying, "Really not fun.  Too fast.  Really not fun. . .really not fun. . .really not fun."  I will admit that I did not slow down.  I was having a ton of fun.

We had pizza and birthday cake to round out the day.  

The Play Station was a big hit with all ages.  Todd is still suffering a bit of withdrawal as he adjusts back to normal non-vacation restrictions on screen time.

Saturday morning, Aubrey and I finally got together for a sewing lesson (we've been trying for over a year) and Aubrey made a stinkin cute little purse as her first project.  She was a great student!

Scott and family left Saturday  morning, much to Todd's dismay (he loves Kyle) and Ben's sadness (he loves Lizzie).  Ben said, "I don't want to miss Lizzie.  She's my best cousin."

Glenn and Kathy left as well with Kalen and ran into brutal traffic on their return to California.

Mom and I hit JoAnn's for the sale day but refused to wait from number 9 until our number 58 in the cutting line, so we settled for a good buy on some notions.

The boys (Ryan, Brandon, Chris, and Kalen) played RISK every night and we women got some good Christmas present sewing (we won't mention who for) under our belt.  

It was a great weekend.  Thanks all, for coming.  I'll send the whole batch of pictures out via Picasa.

More Funny Ben

I know my last post was about funny Ben, but here are a few more tidbits.  Todd is equally fun to be around, but he's grown past the stage of saying hilarious things.

Yesterday afternoon, I was upstairs sewing and the three boys were downstairs rough-housing and playing some version of hide-and-seek, more like run-and-attack.  Anyway, I heard Ben say, "Hey, Bishop, come get me."

To which Ryan replied, "What?"

"Bishop. Over here."

Then, later, Ben was sitting at the table and I walked by, "Mom, the Bishop and Todd are teasing me."

We're not sure where he developed this fondness for calling his dad Bishop, but it is quite funny.

Today in church Ben decided that he didn't want to go to nursery.  He has only done this one other time, the day Ryan was sustained as bishop, in fact.  So I decided to play it Mommy Cool and let him come with me to Sunday School.  My thinking was that it would take him about 1.5 minutes to decide my class was boring and he'd want to return to nursery.  Wrong.  He sat and listened to the lesson and read his Friend magazine.  One brother made a comment.  Ben's little head perked up and he grinned, "That man just said yada, yada, yada.  That's funny."  I tried to take him back to singning time training in the "big kid primary" but he pitched a bloody fit so I dragged him screaming with me to teach my Young Women's lesson.  We were talking about careers while he drew Star Wars ships.  I casually said, "Ben wants to be a Star Wars animator when he grows up."  He looked at me, rolled his eyes, and said, "I want to be a Clone Trooper when I grow up."  I stand corrected.

Tonight, we attended the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.  With about five minutes left and President Monson speaking, Ben says, "I don't want to watch this show.  I don't like it."  Classic.

Benny keeps us on our toes.  

Funny Benny

Little man Ben is a hilarious kid.

This morning when I woke up I came out into the office to find Ben laying on his tummy with his legs kicking in the air, scoping out the Christmas catalog and eating a Dove chocolate.  "Hi Mom," he said. 

"Well, hello, Ben."

"I went pee in the potty.  So I got myself a potty treat.  You can get me my lego later."

Well, OK then.

Later this morning, Ben was showing Ryan all the toys he wants.  He pointed to one and said, "I want that one."

I don't even know what it was, but Ryan said, "I think not."

Picture Ben with his little expressive eyebrows, tilting his head to one side,  "Oh, I think so."

He's such a little spunky chap.

The video is just a funny little random movie that Todd made the other day.  

Springs Preserve

So, we're kind of a family of homebodies. Ryan spends a lot of time away from home lately. Todd just likes to be home in general. Ben and I are probably the most willing to go and do, but we even enjoy just being home.

Also, we're just cheap, as Todd likes to point out. We've had some very specific financial goals in the last few years, so we've lived within a tight budget (but we're happy about it, so it's OK).

Anyway, with all that said, we also realize that we need to take greater advantage of the amazing things we live around. We've lived some great places and haven't taken as many opportunities as we should have to see what's here. So, we're trying to do better. We visited Springs Preserve on Saturday, a local park/center that recently opened here. It focuses on desert landscaping and preserving water and natural resources. It was a fun couple of hours.

New Background

So I finally broke down and tried to figure out how to cutify my blog.  All I ended up doing was erasing my nifty contact list and the time index for when blogs were last updated and choosing a blog background that was difficult to read.  And now I don't want to mess around with it anymore, so it will just have to be that way until I'm not frustrated.  So, if any of you are techno whizzes and have advice for a novice, I'd like a cute background, but I don't want it to erase my contact list widget.  Period.

Humor in prayer

Not to be sacrilegious, but here are a few funny prayer moments from the weekend (ironically enough, they did not come from our children).  Sunday night I was saying our family prayer and mentioned something about being grateful for "a day of rest."  Ryan literally broke down laughing in the middle of the prayer.  Something about being gone from 7:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. didn't  feel restful to him, I guess.

This morning, Ryan was saying our family prayer and prayed, Please bless Todd that he will have no desire to torture."--not kidding.  Those were the exact words.  My laughter must have been a sign of a lack of faith, because we did not have a torture free day.  But maybe it was a bit better than usual?

Picture Tag

This is what you do:

1. Open up your picture file

2. Go to the fourth folder

3. Open the fourth picture

4. Post the picture on your blog and write about it

This picture was taken in 2003 when Todd was two.  He's sitting on his Grandpa Kevin's lap in the basement at my Aunt Shelli's in Dillon.  I'm not sure if it's Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Dad has always been such a fun grandpa, willing to build and play with our kids.  They all love him.  My kids are so lucky to have such good grandparents!

If you're reading this, and you want to be tagged, go ahead!  It was kind of fun.

Sharing

I sat down at the dinner table tonight and there on my plate was a pulverized biscuit, ripped into several pieces and a bit smashed.  I looked at Todd and Ben, who both had beautiful round biscuits on their plates.  Ryan's was empty.  

"What's up with this, guys?  Were you helping me out?"

Ben looked over and said simply, "That one wasn't working.  So I gave it to you."

The Negotiator

I write this entry regarding potty training not becaue I am obsessed with potty training (OK, so I am obsessed with potty training, but that's beside the point).  I write this entry just to show you Todd's skills.

The other day, I was trying to figure out what Ben's currency is right now, what I could use to bribe his stubborn little self to poop on the potty.  I realized that aside from candy, which doesn't work well for me as a currency, Legos are the big thing at our house right now.  So, I asked Ben how he would feel about me buying a Lego set and him earning pieces for using the potty, with a strong emphasis on me not scrubbing any more nasty stuff out of his undies.  He liked the idea. 

Todd, who had been listening in on our conversation, promptly piped up and said, "Maybe we could do an incentive program for me for teasing Ben.  You could give me Legos when I don't tease him and am nice and stuff."  (I'm thinking, "maybe you could just be nice, since you obviously recognize it as a problem.")

But I do have to admit the kid is quick.  Now if we can only steer his negotiating in the right direction. . .

More warrior

We didn't get many great shots last night.  The trunk-or-treat was calling our name and the boys just couldn't wait for the camera.  So I made them dress up for a little shoot today.  

Tantrum--his or mine?

So I had a not-so-amazing mothering moment yesterday.  We were finishing up our costumes (so they were a bit more work than I had anticipated, again).  Ben had already had treats that day because it was Halloween, because I am trying so hard to potty train him, because I was trying to get stuff done, because I was trying to be a good mom, for Pete's sake.  

So, to get to the point, he had just asked for more candy and was denied.  "But," I said, "you can have a healthy snack.  Apples, cashews, peanut butter spoon, cheese, milk.  What would you like?"

His response was to leave the room.  Which, at that point was OK by me.  

However, he soon returned with a bag of Cheetos, to which I responded, "Nope.  I said healthy snack."

"Cheetos are not candy," he informed me.

"But they're not healthy, " I explained, as I took them away and put them on a high shelf.

He proceeded to have a knock-down, drag-out tantrum on the floor.  I repeated my offer for healthy, delicious foods.  He kept screaming.  I kept ignoring.  Then he climbed up to get the Cheetos off the shelf.  

I don't know what snapped in my crazy mommy brain, but I grabbed the bag of Cheetos, held them up to his face and smashed them into little bits.  The screaming escalated.  "I want them, I want them.  Give them to me."

"No." I repeated.

It doesn't seem possible that it could have escalated more, but it did.  "Give them to me."

So I did what any reasonable mother would do.  I walked to the bathroom, opened the lid, poured the crumbs into the toilet,  and flushed the entire snack size bag of Cheetos down.

Why I thought this would stop the tantrum, I'm not sure.  It only served to turn the screams into gasping sobs.  

"I want my Cheetos."

I wish now that I could say I didn't say the next line, but Todd could confirm that I then said, "Then go lick the toilet bowl, because that's as close as you're going to get."

It wasn't my best moment.  I don't actually recommend trying to end a tantrum by flushing anything down a toilet.  Now you know.  

Is knowing half the battle?

Halloween 2008

It was a fun Halloween.  We had the annual trunk or treat at the church parking lot.  Our friends, the Ellisons came with us, as they had their trunk or treat last week.  Livi and Aaron were pirates. Todd originally wanted to dress up as Star Wars, but then he saw an activity in one of our school books for a Mycenean (Greek) warrior helmet.  The idea evolved, as did the hours to create the look.  Was it worth it?  You decide.

So, it turned out better than the first picture would indicate.  We had a great time at Disneyland.  Thanks, Kathy and Glenn for a fun family weekend.  Our sister-in-law, Lucy, was with us, along with her 2-year-old Filipe.  We were half expecting Lucy to deliver her second baby sometimes during our stay, but it didn't happen.  Brandon was being a responsible adult and working while we all played.  Also, Ryan's younger siblings Ashley and Jordan came along.  We had a great time, with an occasional bit of drama.  My pictures wouldn't pop up in the right order, so don't expect a chronological tour.  We spent Monday and Tuesday at the parks.  We stayed all day both days, from 10:00-8:00.  Ben fell asleep to the world the first night and we couldn't even get him to wake up to change clothes and take a bath.  I was a little grossed out, but figured I could loosen up once in a while.  Todd was a trooper and hoofed it all the way home with only a wee bit of complaining.  The second night, Ben was running on his fourth wind and he couldn't stop talking until his clean bathed head hit the pillow.  Then he was out like a light.  We had a great time and can't wait for October 2010. (ugh...that sounds like an awfully long ways away).

This is a very happy Ben moment--the morning after two days of Disney just lounging at the pool

No lounging allowed for Grandpa.  Todd was a little attack monkey.  But Grandpa thrashed him around with some washing machine action, so it turned out fair and square.

The turning point in the trip for Ben was hanging out with Grandpa.  Seen here on the last ride of the trip, Autopia.  Ben was a horrible driver.

What?  A ride together?  He was even a gentleman and let me drive. 

Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters.  Very fun ride.  Ryan and Glenn were just like two little kids.  I did, by the way, kick Ryan's trash this round (granted he took me on the Toy Story ride earlier in the day)

"Dad, you are so cool.  Let me tell you about my great day."

"Arrrgghhhh, matey.  I'm stuck in a ball of bones."

Evidence of the McMillan tendency to only produce males.  Cousin Filipe with Todd, Ben, Grandma, and Grandpa.  Wonder what Jeremy and Liz will end up with?

Another fun shot of Ryan and Ben.  Waiting for the parade.

Waiting for the play parade in California Adventure

Ben in the California Adventure Ranger Course

Todd eating his "Corn Cow".  Really, it's just too big to be classified as a corn dog.  Disgusting.

We loved this sign in the streets of the Hollywood backlot.  "Ben Hair"--perhaps only a McMillan can fully appreciate just how important it is to consider one's hair.

Todd and Dad queue up for California Screamin--simply the best roller coaster I've ever ridden. Todd's favorite thrill ride.