you know it's getting close to Christmas when...

the Langfords make cookies...

and our oldest is the messiest.

Carter has the great idea of making our chain for next year include the whole year.


Claire spends a whole day like this.

floors, ceilings and more

kitchenette

Allen's study-built-in desk unstained

coffered ceiling in family room

inset wood ceiling over table



front entry tile work

I am having so much fun seeing things happen to the house that I pick out!

my favorite santa

Jared was Santa in his 3rd grade Christmas play. If you know Jared at all this seems out of character. And it is. Jared is shy. Jared hates attention. Jared hates to do anything in front of others. So why did he try out for the part of Santa(that had 15+ lines) when there were other smaller parts like an elf with only 2 lines? We have no idea. He came home all excited and told me he tried out for the Santa part. I had a heart to heart with him about it. I explained that this play would be done in front of the kids at school and parents with 5 performances in all. He wanted to be Santa. I told him this wasn't something he could opt out of in the end, he couldn't get cold feet. If he said he would be Santa, he had to follow through. He said he understood all that and said that he wanted to be Santa. I asked Allen if we should tell the teacher to not give him the part-to explain how shy he is about this kind of stuff, that there was a good chance he would end up in tears on the stage. He said the teacher knew Jared and she would do what was best. He got the part. He memorized his lines, he helped with the backstage music and backdrops. I prayed alot for that boy the next several weeks. The day of his first performance he said he wasn't nervous. I sure was. When I picked him up he said he did great and wasn't nervous. So by time Allen and I went to see him my stomach didn't hurt and I just enjoyed the play and the wonderful Santa...who didn't look scared and who remembered all his lines. After the show I talked to his teacher and asked why she didn't give him a smaller part and wondering if she knew my son at all. She said she had the same reservations but that after he tried out (and he did good) she passed by him at his desk and heard him praying "please let me be Santa". And she said to me, "how could I not answer that child's prayer?" and so she gave him the part and hoped it would all work out. And it did.

my other favorite Santa

FDR

The 5th grade did a wax museum of famous Americans. Carter was Franklin D. Roosevelt. He had two pages of facts memorized and when you asked him one of the provided questions he would come to life and give you some interesting facts. Then he would turn to wax again. He did great. He especially enjoyed holding the chocolate cigar a mom provided for him. The rule was they could hold them but not put them up to their lips like they were smoking. Carter took this rule very seriously (like he does all rules) and panicked when he saw his best friend across the room with the cigar near his mouth. He called me over and told me to go save the boy before he got caught. His friend was actually eating the chocolate cigar so all was ok. When I delivered the news to Carter he was relieved. And then proceeded to eat his cigar.

santa and dreams coming true

We went to the mall to see Santa

As we were leaving Carter spots these bags of packing peanuts outside a store and says, and I quote, "wow, my dream come true". Allen tells him to go ask the store if he can have them. They did, they said yes, and the kids floated on air all the way to the car.



First they made a fort

and then fulfilled Carter's dream by sitting in the boxes of peanuts.

They are waiting for me to break and say they can dump them on the floor and roll around in them.

ringing that bell

This holiday season we got to do some community service. We spent some time in front of Earth Fair ringing the bell for the Salvation army. We had fun, it was nice to serve, and we got to keep the bell.

toothless-not really

Claire lost her first tooth. But she wasn't really toothless. You see, she is one of those kids whose mouth is too small and her permanent tooth decided to come on in right behind her baby teeth, aka-shark teeth. So when her baby tooth was finally out, the new one was almost in. She felt a bit robbed.

But she now has bragging rights among the Langford kids. She is the only child to allow her dad to pull a tooth. Yes, you heard correctly, Claire, miss cry on the fly, did not cry. And let Allen pull and tug on her tooth that still had quite a bit of root because of the misdirected permanent tooth. My thought behind all this craziness is that for the past 2 weeks Claire has asked us all to wiggle her tooth for her (she is the princess of the house) but wasn't getting the response she wanted. I wiggled for a moment or two. The boys helped out once or twice with little enthusiasm. So when dad actually put on gloves and started to work on it, Claire was excited to have the attention and was willing to deal with a little discomfort.

Once the tooth was out, Allen asked Claire what she was going to do with the tooth. She thought for a minute and said she wanted to put it in her room. With a little prodding, she remembered the tooth fairy and decided under her pillow was a better idea. All the while, Carter and Jared were giving knowing looks with big cheesy grins on their faces.

first snow

We had our first snow fall of the season and we are hoping it is just the beginning. We had Emma and Ben spending the night while Claire was at the Cruzes. The snowman kept falling down and ended up just being a ball in our front yard. Sledding in the back yard was pretty good. Making the snow forts for the snow ball fight was more fun than the actual fight. The fort and ball had so many leaves mixed in that they are now little piles of leaves in our yard.

trimming the tree

This year we went with a mini tree as it was the only one that would fit in our overly furnished family room. So, we all got to choose our favorite 10-15 ornaments to decorate the tree with this year. It was interesting to see what was picked: Jared went for size-the size being big. Claire went for pretty of course. Carter was pretty random, picking faves for all different reasons. Allen and I picked ones our kids made or ones with our kids pictures on them.

This tree trimming reminded me of a story I like to tell (stealing from Lori): The Christmas of Allen's second year of dental school. He was ending his hardest semester of his schooling. He was still hoping to make it to orthodontic school, so he wasn't just studying, he was studying hard. To make it into orthodontic school he had to be in the top 5-8% of his class, which meant he didn't just have to get A's, he had to get high A's. He would come home from school at 5, eat a quick meal, study, go to a study group, come home and study some more. So, when we looked at our week, we really couldn't see how we were going to get a tree up. The time just didn't seem to be there. And this made me sad. I was use to having him unavailable, and I supported his study habits, but I was sad. And really wanted a tree. So, I said I would go get one by myself, which no one should have to do. I went to Home Depot, found a cheap tree, put it on a flat bed, and struggled to push it to the checkout counter. As I was making my way, a man passed me and said (I will never forget), "oh, you're getting a tree all by yourself? how sad". "I know" I thought as I fought back the tears while I paid for my tree.

time capsule

over Thanksgiving, the kids (Carter) decided to make a time capsule

they filled it with treasures (junk they didn't want anymore) and labeled it

then found the perfect spot and buried it

Feel free to join us in 50 years as we trek back to our rental house and dig this up.

thankful

I am thankful that movie night always turns into this

Allen is thankful that his boys want to do this everyday when he gets home

I could never get tired of it

We just came home from a outdoor flag ceremony for scouts. When the ceremony was done, Carter rounded up a few friends and went to the road to try and see how many cars they could get to honk by pumping their arms. (remember this as a child on car trips with semi's?) As we get in the car to go home, Carter exclaims, "that was SO fun!!". I agreed that the flag ceremony was nice, and he said, "no, getting the cars to honk. We beat our record-we got 18 cars to honk!! I could do that all day...I could never get tired of it!" And the next few minutes were full of play by play honks. When this boy is excited about something, he gets excited.

finally, guitar

Allen and Carter finally started guitar lessons. Tuesday I walked into the house to see big smiles on Allen and Carter's faces as they were getting their first lesson (yes, at home-so nice!). I walked up the stairs to see Claire, in her new princess dress, sitting at the top of the steps with her guitar and the same big smile.

princess birthday

Claire celebrated turning 6 by being a princess the whole weekend. It started out at her birthday party which was a "princess party". She, along with 9 other girls, were in little girl heaven as they all got to dress up and have make-up and nails done. On her actual day she showed off a new princess dress that a friend had given her. She loved all the attention and after every present she opened, she said, "awesome" in her very 6 year old way.

a halloween memory

During our school's Halloween carnival this year, I remembered last year's carnival, and I want to write a memory down so my boys can read it and remember. Last year I was standing alone for a minute waiting on the Mimi to arrive. The kid's spanish teacher, Senora Cindy, came up to me and said, "I am so glad I caught you alone, I have been wanting to talk to you about your boys". She went on to say that in all her years of teaching she had never met such polite, kind, smart, friendly kids. At this time she had been teaching Carter for 5 years and Jared for 3. She complimented them and me for raising such wonderful boys. She said she had always wanted to tell me this, but when I was around her, other moms were always with me. She then said that the year before, when her daughter needed braces, she thought to herself, "well, if Allen can raise such fine young men, I know I can trust him with my daughter's smile" and she went to Allen's office. She told me how they talked about Claire all the time and she couldln't wait to have her the next year. I was use to their homeroom teacher's singing their praises, but this was extra special. She made my night. And I think I let the boys have an extra treat that night.

sheet rock and stone

Here are some photos I have taken in the last little while

(I am trying to show different rooms)

view from back of kitchen looking into dinning area

showing Allen's parents our master bedroom

bonus room and door to finished storage room

the stone is going up



I went by today to pick up mail and had to take a picture of the
trees that are next to our house-that you can see out dinning area windows
The last few weeks have been crazy with the house. Final ok's on cabinets and tile took
a lot of my time and sleep. Last week paint became the main focus...and still is today.
I found out we get a few rooms painted other colors in our budget-good news, but I wasn't
prepared to make those kinds of decisions right now. And we continue to debate the pool.
I am still enjoying the experience and even have had time to finish my Psych. 321 class.

All that Halloween fun

OK, here is our Halloween festivities run down:

First, Allen and Julie got to enjoy being Robin Hood and Maid Marian at an adult H. party

(do you recognize some super heroes?)

Next the whole family showed some Volunteer pride at the trunk-or-treat

Then it was time for the school Halloween party
(Claire decided to be a witch)

Last but not least the big day was here

Boy, I am tired.

fall fun

The other day the kids were out enjoying the nice weather and Carter came running in yelling, "mom, come quick!" and I thought- ok, I knew this day was coming, I knew one day someone would break a bone and today is the day. But then he said, "and bring the camera". I went outside to find the kids in the tree. They were so excited and proud of themselves, especially when they got Claire up. I am happy that this simple activity brings them so much joy.

good morning

I woke up today and found a witch doing dishes.

I hope she has fun at her halloween party today!

straight A doughnuts

I finally remembered to take my kids to Krispy Kreme on report card day to get free doughnuts. When the lady asked if they wanted the doughnuts in one/two big boxes or separate boxes for each child, Jared answered quick and loud-separate boxes! A new side of him I must say. And on the way home they all marked their territory. Carter was thinking out loud about when he could eat his stash, saying "...one for snack and then one for dessert tonight, then snack tomorrow and dessert tomorrow...". When I reminded him that he could have one for breakfast, he put two hands in the air and yelled "breakfast!! I forgot breakfast!!" Doughnuts are one of those special foods that are socially acceptable to eat all through out the day. And that makes us all happy.