decorating the tree

The girls esp C were soooo excited to decorate the tree. C begged and begged to do it yesterday but the tree was wet from the rain so we didn't want to put lights on it until it dried. The first thing out of her mouth this am was "when can we decorate the tree?" As soon as J walked in they were ready to go. We listened to holiday music and had a great time pulling out all their ornaments. Only about 5 ornaments on the tree are J and mine. The rest are the kids. Each year I get them at least one so someday when they have their own tree they will already have a collection. So I guess someday when they all leave me my tree with be bare. (but they are never leaving me) They love seeing their ornaments from the past years. I love the holidays!!! We tried to take our Christmas card pic but no such luck. E was not a fan of decorating the tree. All we said all night was "no Everett" and everything he tried to touch was taken away from him. By the end he was MAD. Only his milk calmed him down.

Christmas tree

After driving all day Sat we turned around and drove an hour in the rain on Sunday to get our Christmas tree. We had to. J is having his big V this Friday so we can't do it this coming weekend. If we waited till next the kids and I would have one week to enjoy the tree before leaving for WV so it had to be yesterday!! So rain and all after our Sunday boot camp we headed out. We had the time of our life. It was like the best day ever. We arrive at Huber's and got all our warm stuff on. The girls and I have rain boots so they were perfect for the day. We loaded up onto the tractor and headed out to see the trees. We only say 2 other crazy fams out in the rain like us. It was kind of cold but super fun. We found a great tree, cut it down and then drug it back onto the tractor. J tied it to the roof and then we headed inside for some pizza and wine. There happened to be a group having a 60th bday party and a guy singing with his guitar so we joined right in on the dancing. We even got to play the hokey pokey and musical chairs. It was a blast. This is the second year in a row we have cut down our own Christmas tree. I love love love our holiday family traditions. Av was the only one that would go near Santa so she got her pic taken with him. E was way more into the tree than the camera so I could not get a cute one of the 3 of them and then he fell. Poor thing could barely move in the puffy jacket and the snow boots that were way too big for him.

Thanksgiving

We went all the way to WI this year for Thanksgiving. We went to see J's Mom, Aunt Chris, Uncle Mike, Aunt Kari, cousin Kallan, his grandma and grandpa. We had a BLAST! We left on Wed about 1. The kids were so good in the car. We only stopped twice for a 7 hour ride. Once for gas and to pee and the other time for a quick park stop and dinner. We arrived in Madison about 8. Our hotel was very nice and the kids were soooo excited. We got everything to bed about 10 (way too late but calming it down was hard). Nobody slept great and everyone was up way too early. After waking at 530 am (ugh) we made everyone lay there till they all fell back to sleep for an hour (E slept cuddling withe me. Best hour ever). By 8:45 we gave up and headed to IHOP for breakfast. The kids had never been. C and E loved it. Scarfed down pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs. Av refused to even touch the toast. J was not thrilled. E was being CRAZY and nothing I had or was doing was calming him. I finally gave in and let him play with a little creamer. Just as J said it ended up splattering all over John and a lady by us. Again J was not thrilled. Last time he will ever take us to IHOP. hehehh After that we went swimming. It was so much fun. Very nice pool. C was over confident in her ability to swim. She kind of forgot in the last few months so was very frustrated. We got her back in her water wings and she was fine after that. E does not love the water like the girls did. After that we got dressed and headed over to Aunt Chris's. We played and made crafts there. The girls loved Kallan (she's 8). After a very yummy dinner (which E slept through and the girls were not impressed by) and a little more playing we headed back to the hotel. We hung out as a fam for a few hours and then went to bed. The girls slept great. E not so much. On Friday I went shopping with J's Aunts and he went to hang with his uncle and let the girls play with Kallan at her house. By 4 we were back at Aunt Chris's for an early dinner and then headed into town to see the town's tree lighting. It was so fun. Perfect weather. First there is a parade of fire trucks that are all decorated with Santa riding in the last one. Santa is lifted up to the tree with a big ladder and after a count down the tree comes on. The kids LOVED it. They all saw Santa and ended up with 3 mini candy canes. They could not stop talking about how they got 3 candy canes. After that we went back to Chris's house for dessert and then back to the hotel. We got the kids in bed earlier (830) that night. They were tired. We all slept till 8 so that was great. On Sat Kallan came to swim with us. When C invited Kallan to come swim w us she told her, "the baby pool is hot." heheh No baby pool just a hot tub. C did a much better job swimming and was much more happy. We swam for awhile. E was much more happier when I let him just play and splash on the stairs. After that we grabbed lunch and headed over to J's grandparents. We hung with them for awhile and then said goodbye to head home. The trip home was as good as it could be. We only had to stop once!! We have some great car travelers.

e and his sisters

E gets mad when he does not get what his sisters get. My sister brought the girls a few little toys. She didn't realize he would notice but he sure did. He yelled and yelled until we found him something that he had not seen that could be his. heheh He wants it all and wants to be doing what they are. J left with the girls the other day and E acted like the world just ended. His little feelings were crushed. He is also bitting. Poor Av, yet again she is getting the brunt of it. She has a little bruise and blood marks in the shape of his little mouth. He does not do it to be mean. He just has not figured out yet that is it bad. Just feels good to him. He loves to rough house and tackle people but you better watch out. At any minute his little teeth can come out and boy do they hurt.

smart Av

Av is doing a lot better at school. I have had several conversations with her teacher and we have worked really hard at home. The teacher is pushing her more and every AM before school I remind Av of the Wilder motto "Wilder Wildcats always do their best." She is doing a lot less scribbling and her work looks better when it comes home. I think we are on a better track. Her report card came home and it was good. It even mentioned on it how she was playing soccer a lot. So cute. We will always have to work a little harder but the rewards will be that much sweeter!!!

e's blanket

Last night I laid down on the floor on E's blanket and he got mad. He didn't like me on his blanket. He came over and tried to pull it away from me. He got it and walked away from it. A few minutes later I asked him where his blanket was. He stopped, looked at me, looked at the blanket and then went and got it. So cute. Then as we were putting Av to bed we were covering her up with her blanket that is green. The same color as E's. All the sudden he got mad again and was trying to pull it off of her. He thought it was his. He is so smart!!

green, green screaming machine

and that would be Camille. She is insanely jealous of everything Avery. Av's bday weekend was a little rough on her. She wanted everything Av had and all her presents. I think she would have rather it be anyone else's bday but Av's. She was kind of difficult all weekend and demanded a lot of attention. Thank goodness G&PP and AA were here to give it to her. Today when we picked Av up from school she had a feather headdress on. She was sooo proud of it and instantly C was trying to pull it off of Av's head. She wanted it so badly. We headed home and made her one to match. She was pretty proud of hers too.