Hunter's gift

Hunter brought home a wrapped gift for John and I on the last day of school but told us we couldn't open it until Christmas. He also mentioned it was breakable so we did not put it under the tree for fear that the babies would get at it. Instead we put it safely up on top of the built-in stereo next to the couch. On Christmas day we didn't think to look up there and I actually forgot it was there until this evening. I remembered at about 4 p.m. and here is how my conversation went with Hunter right after I found this last unopened gift:

Me: "Oh my gosh! We forgot to open your gift from school!"
Hunter: "Open it!"
Me: "Daddy isn't home work yet. We have to wait for him to be here too!"
Hunter: "I'll give you a hint. It starts with an 'o'."
Me: (Thinking in my head that of course it is an ornament but I didn't want to guess it in front of him and ruin the surprise.) "Is it an owl?"
Hunter: "No."
Me: "Is it an octopus?"
Hunter: "No."
Me: "Is it an orangutang?"
Hunter: "No."
Me: (Now out of all "o" words.) "Is it an 'oogoo boogoo'?"
Hunter: "Ummm...that starts with a 'u'....and that's not even a word!"
Me: (Now laughing so hard I can't guess anymore.)
Hunter: "Mom...look at the front and that will give you a detail of what's inside."

I kept going with the "oogoo boogoo" idea. He must think I am so dumb but sometimes it's so much fun to play stupid.

Cookies for Santa

Tonight John made some cookies so we had some to put on Santa's plate. (This year we did not bake hardly anything.) Before bathtime Hunter and I started to prepare it together. I ran upstairs for a minute and came down to see Hunter had stacked five cookies for Santa and he was pouring the milk all by himself. I said, "Oh, ya gettin' the milk ready for Santa?" and he said, "yep...I'm givin' him lots because it's good for him!" I said, "Let's not forget the reindeer!" and started to get the celery out of the fridge and he said, "Actually, Rudolph likes carrots so you can give the rest celery but put some carrots on the plate." This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. There are so many that I cherish but this one is so simple and sweet. I still remember doing it as a child and being so excited about it.

Tude

Hunter was lucky enough to see Santa three times this year. The first was at an event put on by the Bartolotta's for the restaurant where I have a part-time job. The second was at the annual Children's Party at the Twin Club and finally, Santa came to Hunter's school and had breakfast with the kids. The second time he saw him he was sitting on his lap and Santa asked him what he'd like for Christmas. Hunter said, "Um...the Air Hog Helicopter and a science lab...I already told you!" Yep! My five-year-old giving Santa some attitude! Could not believe it. So when we got the letter from school asking if we'd like our child to attend the breakfast with Santa I was hesitant. However, I did not want Hunter being the only kid left back at the classroom alone. So I paid the $5.00 and hoped for the best. When John picked him up from school that day he said, "Dad, I don't think that Santa was real." YIKES! So John trepidatiously asked him why he thought so. He replied, "because he didn't look like the other Santas." John went on to say, "You're right Hunter. He wasn't the real Santa. Think about it...don't you think Santa is pretty busy this time of year? He has to make all of these toys (etc. etc.) so he has all of these helpers to pose as him for pictures all over the world." He thankfully bought it.

In the picture with all three boys you may notice that Hunter has a bandaid on his face. A few days prior to this day I picked him up from school and saw that he had a scratch on his face and asked him what had happened. He was clueless that it was even there and had to look in the mirror to verify that I was telling the truth. A few days pass and the morning of our day to meet Santa he decides he HAS to have a bandaid for his owie. Didn't need one the previous two days but okay!

Jail Break!

Tyler has figured out that he is small enough to sneak under the living room gate and he takes advantage of this newfound freedom frequently. We never had this problem with Hunter because he was much bigger when he was this curious age and wouldn't fit. This picture is deceiving. The bottom of the gate looks a lot higher off the ground than it truly is. I actually measured it (because everyone knows I have extra time on my hands) and it is only 5 1/2 inches off the floor. I guess leaving them with Hunter in the baby-proofed living room for 10 mins while I sneak off to shower is out of the question now.

Scan this Mom!!!

This afternoon while Tyler and Brody were napping Hunter and I were having so much fun in the basement. He and I were about to play "store" shopping at "guns and bullets" (he picked the name) with his play cash register and I realized that I should probably scan the barcodes that came with it before we used them all up and couldn't play with them anymore. So I introduced Hunter to the scanner. Who knew how much fun a five-year-old boy would have with this?! I wish I wouldn't have deleted all of the images he and I scanned before thinking it would be a fun thing to blog about and remember at a later date. These two images are the ones I hadn't yet deleted before that thought came to me. We had also scanned his fist, his face (I made him close his eyes) and some random things we found in the basement (all his ideas). He was laughing HYSTERICALLY! I love that little boy...