What Wii have been up to...

Christmas morning...




Bradley and his plugs...


This year we went with Charles' tradition of donuts for breakfast... he taught the boys to dip them in their milk... They LOVED it.


I told him, "Your tradition... your clean-up!"


Then we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Ashton's house for more Christmas fun...



Gone are the days of baby bear strollers and baby bear diaper bags (ah, Jaden)... it is clear, by the gifts this year, that I have a house FULL of boys...

LIGHTSABERS...

STAR WARS PJs...

Can you see the magic standing pants?

GUNS...

MR. DJ...

CARS...

I love this look... he hardly ever makes it.

CASH...

VIDEO GAMES...

I told Charles that the only way I would be okay with having video games in our home, is if we had a Wii, and they are playing ACTIVE games! And.... holy sore body! I had to take a 3 day break. The kids' favorite game to play is a fencing game. They play it like crazy... it's pretty entertaining to watch. The swords look like Lightsabers, which is a bonus!

HELICOPTERS...

battery is dying...

and... BOW AND ARROWS.

Other than "taking each other's lives" over and over, the boys have been busy keeping a shoveled patio...




... for a certain guest. :)


By the way, Mom and Dad, the New Year's fireworks are going off right now as I write this and CJ's not even flinching...

I opened up my fudge and pinoche and cut it up onto a plate, just for me... all alone... it's SOOO good! And Dad, if that roll of Fudge that was left on the counter was for me, thank you! If it was for Kare and you forgot to take it... I'm sure she wouldn't mind you made her some while you are in Arizona... he he he. :)

Oh- crap... there goes my crazy neighbors... okay, now CJ's shaking... and Bradley's awake... Dangit!

Ok, everything is good now. I need to go to bed. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

What Ever Happened to Cooties?

Mom, you know my friend Mason? As in "Big Caleb and Little Mason?"
Yes?
I can't believe Mason kissed a girl! He's only 3 years old!
Yeah, I know... he's kinda young for that, isn't he?
Yes!
He should wait till he's a man, huh?
Yes...
(pause for a little while)
I can't wait till I'm a man.
How come?
Cuz when you're a man, you can do what ever you want!
Oh? Like what?
I don't know. Whatever!
Are you saying that you want to kiss girls?
Are you kidding me?!

(I totally thought he was about to say no.)

Of course I do!
( I stifled my smile)
Besides, I already have a girlfriend.


Ohhhh my gosh this kid. Charles says Jaden is just like him was when he was a kid. Good... at least this isn't my fault! But it cracks me up whenever he talks like this.

To whoever this kid ends up with: You are one lucky girl, because he is the sweetest guy you will ever find. He always treats his momma right! :)

Class Parties

Today I went to Christmas parties for both Jaden and Kaleb. I'll start with Kaleb's party....

Kaleb's class got a special visit from the man himself. He called each kid up to sit on his lap and ask them what they wanted for Christmas. They each told him about 2 or 3 things... then Kaleb was called up. Y'know, I think this was actually his first time sitting on Santa's lap. He was so timid as he inched his way up to Santa. Santa lifted him on his knee and asked him if he had been a good boy. Kaleb barely nodded his head, yes. Then Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas... silence. Santa asked him again... silence. He just sat staring... (poor kid!) One of his teachers said, "Kaleb is pretty shy." Then his other teacher said, "Super-duper shy." So Santa asked Kaleb if he would like to be surprised on Christmas, and Kaleb nodded. Then Santa asked Kaleb to give him five... a high five, and a low five. Kaleb smiled while slapping some skin. I wish I had more pictures, but my camera battery was acting up.

(This is the only shot I could take, and it looks to me like Santa is saying, "Hell-o... Earth to Kaleb. But really he was just asking Kaleb to give him Five."


Jaden's party was probably the most elaborate class party I had ever seen. So check this out... The mom who planned this went to the classroom the night before to decorate. She moved the tables to form them into a train, and decorated each table to look like a train. She also put toy trains on each table as centerpieces, (but they were NOT aloud to touch them!.. hmmm)


Then she instructed them on how to make these candy trains.


Super cute... but they all looked the same... they had to do it exactly like she instructed.


(Check out the little girl squeezing the frosting right into her mouth. Nicely done.)


After that, the mom put on the movie The Polar Express. The kids watched it until they got to the hot chocolate part. Then she came out dancing, and singing "Hot Hot Hot!" and gave each kid a MUG of Hot chocolate. Not a little Styrofoam cup, but a MUG. Complete with marshmallows and a candy cane.



The kids drank, watched more of the movie until Santa gave the sleigh bell to the little boy. When that happened, each of the kids got their own bell from Santa's sleigh. The party took the entire 3 hours. Way too much time and effort, in my opinion, but the kids LOVED it. So "good job" to her.

(Funny story) I had just heard that my nephew Ethan had gotten one of those bells and was going around asking people if they could hear it. His mom Julianne said she could hear it, but his Dad, Bryce said he could not. So Ethan was all worried about Bryce because he didn't believe anymore. Well after school, Jaden showed me his bell and asked me if I could hear it. I thought I'd try and pull a Bryce, so I told him I couldn't hear it. He said, "What?! Try again... do you hear it?" I told him no. "Oh no! That means you don't believe in Santa anymore! Why don't you believe in Santa?!" I couldn't take it. I told him I was just kidding and that of COURSE I believe in Santa.

Anyway, later in the evening we decorated some sugar cookies with my beautiful friend, Mere. She came to visit for a couple of days, and I must say... she is an Ar-teest. All the professional-looking ones were done by her. You can probably guess which ones the boys did... they frosted and decorated them all by themselves.

Jaden's Big Date

My sister Alli was so sweet to take Jaden on a date last night. She took him to Wendy's and then... Ice Skating! It was his FIRST skating experience ever, and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed himself. To read more about their date and see more pictures, click...

Here.

Just for fun I thought I'd put a picture up of Alli and Jaden's FIRST date. It was in October of 2008, he was 4 1/2 years old. He was so excited to go. For a few hours before she came to pick him up he kept saying, "Is she here yet? Is she here?" He was already dressed, as it was about 5 in the evening, but he said, "Mommy, I think I need to wear something nice for my date." So he went into his room and picked out his outfit. A nice button up shirt, khakis, and... the best part... his Harry Potter glasses, his Thomas the Train conductor's hat, and his Barbie watch that came out of a cereal box. Who was I to tell him to change?


He said he was nervous and needed to exercise... So here he is using my resistance bands to "pump some iron" right before Alli arrived.


Jaden really loves to go on dates, so Alli, thank you! You are AWESOME!

Christmas Letter 2009

Dear Santa,

This will be my 2^nd Christmas, as I am already 16 months old. I remember you from last year. Sorry about our first encounter… but what did you expect? A big red jolly man with too much facial hair… kinda freaks a baby out! Anyway, I’m pretty much all grown up now. I’m walking and talking, er… well… my parents don’t think I can talk. Apparently all they hear is “uh-uh-uh, mama, mama, uh-uh-uh!” Whatever. They may not understand me, but I understand everything that goes on at our crib.

Take Kaleb for example… Dude’s barely 3 years old and everyone keeps congratulating him on finally talking at preschool. I don’t know what the big deal is… he’s always running around, yelling and causing trouble at home. I mean, I do the same thing, and no one’s ever giving me props. But Santa, I can tell you this… the kid’s obsessed with Spiderman. So if you don’t know what to get him, there’s your fallback.

Then there’s Jaden. Some strange things have happened to that 5 year old. First he’s all tough with earning a yellow belt in his Martial Arts class… but then he went and turned soft. I mean seriously man, there’s this girl. He met her at this place called Kindergarten. And he says he’s in love with her. They have decided they want to get married, and she even gave him his first kiss. Is this the kind of “tough” older brother I’m supposed to be learning from? Shoot, I give my Mama kisses all the time, and I don’t see what all the hooplah’s about. So for Christmas, do me a solid and get him something manly, like a wicked awesome lightsaber.

And my Ma… well, she’s all right. I mean she’s been there for me since the day I was born. No joke. Wherever I go, she goes. She’s like my little puppy dog. And when she’s not playing with my older brothers or me, she’s busy doing who knows what? But lately it’s been blogging. And my Mama says that if I don’t put a little plug in here about the family blog that I’m gonna get a timeout! So here it is Ma. Come visit us at charlesandcrissy.blogspot.com. Sometimes she gets so into blogging that I’m like screaming at the top of my lungs trying to get her attention. I mean, can’t a brother get a diaper change around here? But what can I say? I love her.

And last, there’s my Dad. Wait! I have a dad? Just kidding. He’s a great guy. He’s just a little busy right now. But I know that when April 27th comes around things will get better. That’s when the old man says he’ll graduate. Way to go Pops!

So Santa, as you can see, I got a pretty sweet thing goin’ on with the fam. I don’t need much. But if you have time, I’ll take a 55 inch LED TV and a Wii.

Love, Bradley

Merry Christmas, friends and family!

Love the Soccis

Charles, Crissy, Jaden, Kaleb, Bradley

Kaleb's Preschool Christmas Program

Can you tell how much fun he had?

(I'm the "happiest" Christmas Tree...)

Kaleb had his first Christmas Program this week. If we stay in Utah, he will have 3 years of preschool... so yes... he is probably the youngest one there. And as the youngest kid, I'd say he did a GREAT job! He sat where he was supposed to, he didn't need a potty break half-way through, and he put up with all the wardrobe changes! Good job buddy!

So if you were unable to attend, and would like a summary of the evening, here it is...

Kaleb waiting for the rest of his class to arrive...


The show begins, and here are a few of his proud supporters...

His first number... "Jingle Bells." He's having a hard time controlling his enthusiasm while ringing those bells.



Um... another song, I can't remember... but look! He doing a hand motion!


"The Days of the Week."




"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."



"I'm the Happiest Christmas Tree."



"I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus."


(This little girl's name is Allison... she sits next to Kaleb in class and always says, "Kaleb, I love you!" and gives him a big hug. His teachers say they have still not heard him respond, but he always smiles.)


Poor kid... :)



This is where they took a break to decorate the tree as their teacher told us what each kid's favorite thing about Christmas is. This was kind of a stretch, considering Kaleb has spoken only one word (Mayflower) since the first day of school. But they tell me that he will nod his head yes, and shake his head no, in order to communicate... maybe they just threw out some ideas and he agreed...



And his last song... I don't know the name of it... in fact I don't even think I've ever heard it before that night... But he made it through that last hoop. :)




Then it was lots of hugs and congratulations...



"I did it! Now it's time for chicken and fries!!"


Kaleb did great. :) We celebrated by taking him and Grandma and Alli to his favorite place to eat... Wendy's.