Christmas at Home

Since our family was going 2 different directions for Christmas, we decided to celebrate our own Christmas a few days early. The kids had a blast opening gifts and then playing with their new toys.

All decked out and ready to start opening!!


Alden looking serious about opening his gifts.

Serious Addie...

Alden LOVES his new toy!

Addie showing off her new chef hat and apron- modeling Mommy's new rolling pin from Grandpa Garrett!

Christmas Eve Adventure

In true Lisa fashion, what should have been an uneventful trip to Kansas City was far from it....

Getting up and to the airport went smoothly- as smoothly as it can when you wake up at 5am and then wake-up kids at 5:50am....

There weren't any lines at BWI, so I decided to save a few bucks and check my suitcase inside. Al offered to park the car and help me- but I assured him that I could handle the suitcase, car seat, large duffel bag, stroller and 2 kids- all by myself. He drove off, on to NY to surprise his Grandparents and to celebrate with them.

I got in line to check my bag when I hear those words you never want to hear from the lady behind the United Airlines counter- "Flight 641 has been canceled. If you were on flight 641, please move to THIS line to get rebooked." We were on flight 641- it had just been canceled due to foul weather in Chicago. After standing in the super slow line- in which I changed the kids out of their pj's and into festive outfits, all while juggling my ridiculous amount of luggage- I got to the counter. There the lady cheerfully informed me that I could be rebooked for a flight at 8am Christmas Day. WHAT?!?

After a brief conversation, I let the lady know that 1)I lived 1.5 hrs away, 2)my husband had just dropped us off and would not be able to be reached for another 4-5 hrs & 3)I really didn't care HOW I got to KC, but I needed to get to KC TODAY. If I was going to have to wait until tomorrow, I would appreciate either hotel room, or even a rental car so I could drive to another airport that could get me to KC. When Addie heard the words "tomorrow" she burst into tears "I wanna see my PopPop Old for Merry Christmas!" This, I think, moved the lady- who then gave me a voucher for a taxi to National Airport, where she had rebooked me on a flight to Chicago at 1pm, then finally landing in KC at 7pm. Not what I wanted- I was originally to land at 1pm so I would have all day with my Dad and would be able to attend the Christmas Eve service. Seeing that all the other people around me were being only offered flights for the next day, I took it! I saw it as a gift from God!

We rode in a taxi to DC- Alden in the 1 car seat I had with me, Addie with a regular seat belt. Evidently seat belt laws don't apply to taxis.... We arrived at National Airport in record time, were greeted at the door by a United Agent, who whisked my suitcase away! I tried to show him my voucher that I had paid for my suitcase, but he just waved me off.... So much for paying ahead of time! After making our way to our gate, we enjoyed some chocolate icecream and then boarded our flight. The kids were happy and sweet during all of this- this I attribute to all the prayers that were being offered up for us at this time!!

On this leg of the journey, we had been given the bulkhead- which was fantastic with 2 small kids! Alden slept the entire way to Chicago, and Addie fell asleep for about 30 min. Even though Addie's name was on the ticket, I put Alden in the carseat in that seat- he needed to be restrained more then her!

Once in Chicago, we relaxed and had some fun- we had almost 4 hrs there! Addie had fun "petting" a large dinosaur there, we had a McDonald's picnic, walked on the walking sidewalks, watched lots of "hair pains" (airplanes), and had a nice time! During this entire time, the kids were angels- happy, playing, singing, etc.

When it was time to board the flight to KC, I couldn't locate on the boarding pass, which Boarding Zone we were on, so I asked flight attendant. You can imagine my shock when he told me that I didn't have a "Boarding Zone" because I was in 1st class. I had him repeat it once more as I wasn't sure I would ever hear those words again, "Ma'am, you're in first class." Evidently, when you are rebooked due to a canceled flight, United often tries to put you in 1st class!! I was SO excited!! There I was, with a car seat, sitting in 1st class, sipping my Diet Coke in a REAL class- not a plastic one!! Getting off the plane, I had 1 of the pilots and a flight attendant help me get all my stuff together and to my Dad who was waiting for us.

It was a smooth and enjoyable trip. Up to this point, United Airlines has totally impressed me with all that they did to help me. It wasn't the trip I envisioned when I booked it 2 months ago- but at least we ended up at my Dad's house and were able to spend a great day with family today!! I just hope and pray that the trip home will be more uneventful..... When I return home, I have some great pics of this eventful Christmas Eve that I'll post!!

A New York Christmas

Christmas has come a little early for the Perreca Household! Since Al is now working retail, we knew he wouldn't have a weekend off over Christmas. We decided to not wait to have Christmas with his family until mid-January, so last weekend, the kids and I took off for NY. We had a fantastic time celebrating with Poppy and Nonny (Great Grandparents), MarMar and PopPop (Grandma and Grandpa) as well as with Aunty Jen, Uncle Frank and Cousin Nate. Al surprised us by being at Jen and Franks- he had been able to get Saturday off! We had a great time and made many happy memories!!

Addie doing her "cute" pose by MarMar's tree

Alden LOVES his gift- it's great to climb on!

Addie and her mountain of gifts!


Alden loves the tissue paper!

Sitting on their new stool reading their new books

Addie is really into opening her stocking!

Alden isn't too sure about his stocking- good thing PopPop is there to coax him!

That cinnamon roll is as big as he is- and yes, he ate it all!! It is from PopPop Old!

Cousins!!

Addie's gifts from Nate

Alden making confetti

Decorating cookies

Nate "helping" decorate with Alden watching on

Addie and Nate watching "Cars"

Attempting at getting a Cousins in their Christmas PJ's picture.... Alden wouldn't sit still...

Advent Around Our House

Starting in seminary, Al and I established a tradition. On each Sunday of Advent, we would do a reading, just us, and then exchange a simple gift that we dutifully called a "Sleigh Gift" because I had a small wire sleigh that we could place them in. We have kept that tradition alive with the kids- they look forward to hearing Daddy read the Bible and then getting to open little gifts. We hope this will help instill in our children a love of the true meaning of Christmas!
Waiting for Daddy to start reading!


Alden being silly while he waits


Addie showing off her new Little Pony from a Happy Meal, while she waits for Daddy.

Busy, Busy, Alden

Alden is a busy boy these days. He LOVES to help- from handing me ornaments off the tree, to pulling toilet paper off the roll and putting it in the trashcan. I am diligently working to help him learn what goes in the trash- so now he picks up any trash he sees and proudly hands it to me saying "ash! ash!" This is great, unless he's running around in public- he found all kinds of "neat" things on the floor at BJ's while I was standing in line at the deli counter....

The icing on the cake came last week. I was preparing to run some errands- a Wal-Mart run, exchanging a movie at Blockbuster, and going to the post office. Since I still have yet to regain my mind after giving birth, I dutifully placed all the items needed for the said errands on the desk, next to the front door that we would be walking out of in a few min. I selfishly stopped in the kitchen to top-off my coffee, when I heard the shredder start shredding and a faint "ash! ash!" I leaped with strength and skill I did not know I possessed- and this is what I was able to salvage.

Just the top 1" of the DVD was shredded- good thing Blockbuster has a very gracious policy and didn't penalize us for it!

Alden, as you can tell, is hanging his head in shame. When I yanked the DVD out of the shredder, he gave me "Aren't you proud of me, Mommy?" look. He was rather crushed when I strongly told him "NO! NO! We do NOT shred DVD's!" I didn't even know he knew how to push IN the switch and then pull it to the side (it's still tricky for me to turn it on!).

We all learned our lesson- and just to be safe, the shredder is now unplugged unless Al needs it!

Recent Addie Funnies

Addie has coined some cute phrases recently....

Addie: Mommy, I want dirty biscuits for breakfast.
Me: What are dirty biscuits?
Addie: You know, Mommy! The ones with brown and white on top!
Me: Oh! You mean cinnamon rolls!
Addie: Yes! Dirty biscuits!!

This can be heard multiple times a day around our house....
Addie: Mommy, I'm froggy green!
Me: What? You're a froggy?
Addie: No, I'm FROGGY GREEN! I want something to eat!
Me: Oh! You're super hungry!
Addie: Yes! I'm froggy green!

Life doesn't get much better then being froggy green and then getting to eat dirty biscuits!!

Addie's 3rd Birthday

Addie has had a Hanukkah-like Birthday in that she didn't just have 1 day of presents, but MANY days of presents!! Even though her birthday is only technically 1 day a year, she has been celebrating for several weeks! Her first gift (a bicycle from her PopPop Old and MarMar Young- explained and documented in an earlier post) came a few weeks ago, followed by many more over Thanksgiving (see the Thanksgiving post). This was great in that it allowed her to truly enjoy and focus in on her gifts instead of being totally overwhelmed the actual day of her birthday!

The day of Dec 4th dawned cold and clear, just like the day she was born! I walked into her room with Alden, singing "Happy Birthday." She just grinned and smiled and then promptly requested waffles for breakfast. As we were getting ready for her big party, several calls came for her. By the end of the 3rd one, she turned away from the phone, annoyed. "Mommy, they just saying the same thing!" she retorted! After this, anytime someone started to sing or say Happy Birthday, she would just give me a pained look and say "It's the same thing, Mommy!" The poor girl doesn't appreciate the same greeting from multiple people! Even when her Aunty Becca and Uncle Thomas sang to her in German, she still knew it was the same thing! Thankfully our little talk about being polite about it stuck until after her birthday party!

Her cupcake themed party was super simple and yet everyone had lots of fun! All her little friends have Mom's that stay at home, so her party was on her actual birthday during the day. The kids played in the playroom, taking a quick break for goldfish and grapes, then finally taking a bigger break to decorate cupcakes. The kids had fun AND it saved me from having to decorate a ton of cupcakes! Addie's friends gladly helped her open her gifts- some not even paying attention they were so engrossed in what they were playing with. In the end, everyone left with a cupcake and a balloon. We had a great time and are so thankful for all the fun and cool gifts!!

After a much needed nap, we went over to our friends' house for dinner. Then we packed up all the kids and went to a local Christmas Parade. Addie LOVES parades, so we thought it was a great way to end her special day! I'm not sure what she enjoyed more- the fact that her friend Grayson was sitting right next to her, the free candy canes that were passed out by the various floats, or all the bright lights and floats that were actually in the parade!

Now, Addie proudly tells anyone who asks that she is now 5. When corrected, she will admit that she isn't 5, but really 6. Nope- try again- now, on the 3rd try, she will generally admit she is 3 and hold up her 2 straight fingers with the 3rd finger, the little ring finger, still scrunched up, getting the knack that it is now included!

She is such a sweetie, this Adeline Rose. She fills our life with joy and gladness- as well as a daily need to depend on Him to sustain and love her.

Here are some pictures (ok, a lot of pictures) of Addie's birthday!

Feeding her Baby Snow White- her gift from Mommy and Daddy

LOVING her Baby High Chair and PJ's from Cousin Nate

Happy Birthday! One of the last times it wasn't "annoying"

The spread- notice the cupcakes on the table cloth- I traced a cupcake stencil all over it!

The Mom's chatting while the kids played

Controlled chaos

Blowing out her candle- and yes, she has 2 cupcakes- 1 she decorated the night before and 1 she did with her friends. No, she didn't eat them both at once... And yes, she has cupcakes on her dress!!

April helping Grayson decorate his cupcake.

Addie and her buddy Anna enjoy the kids table (Anna wasn't a huge fan of it at Thanksgiving) She is REALLY looking forward to her cupcake!!

Attempt at a group shot- there are still 2 boys missing...

Telling the triplets Thank You for the really cool Play-Doh Ice Cream Shoppe!!

Anna and Grayson "help" Addie open her gift from Grayson- doll house furniture!

Opening more family gifts after her nap

Sharing her new Legos from Couins Kuda and Annesu

Cheering for the floats with Grayson, Avery and Alden!