I'll be home for Christmas...

We are currently in Arkansas!! It has been a great trip. We have gotten to spend a lot of time with our family and friends. The quality time with the people we love has been exactly what we all needed.

The kids and I were so excited coming home that we sang "I'll be home for Christmas" on the plane. We had a great time, but unfortunately, I do not think it was as enjoyable for our surrounding passengers. I almost had to go "Denver" on one old man, but in my Christmas spirit, I refrained.


The kids had a wonderful Christmas. They received LOTS of presents, and exactly what they wanted from Santa. As always, I am glad that it is over. Seriously, I think I am the GRINCH. It was difficult for me to muster excitement this year. I really need to work on that for next year.

Now we are facing the dilemma of finding a way to transport the toys, etc. home to Colorado. I think some of the toys will be left here in AR. Maybe it will be like a second Christmas when we return, OR we could re-wrap and re-gift them to the kids for their birthdays in June and July. It will be long enough that maybe they will have forgotten. Always thinking...

Going, going, gone

The best part of the gingerbread house is the EATING of the gingerbread house. Since we are leaving for Arkansas tomorrow, we decided to have a little dessert after dinner. The result was a completely destroyed masterpiece...a true work of art demolished.

Claire and Drew enjoyed the taste, but Braden didn't want any because he ate ice-cream last night, so he didn't want to eat too much sugar. IS THIS MY CHILD?!!!!

Dance Performances

I apologize for the quality of this picture. When I arrived to the performance I realized that my camera battery was dead; therefore, this picture is the result of a camera phone...not high quality.

Sunday, after Claire's busy week as a budding actress, her dancing career was calling. She has been a member of this dance team the entire semester. The three performances were Sunday. She did a great job, even though she was not feeling well and was exhausted from the week.

She can really shake her bum. It is precious how uninhibited the kids are as they groove to the beat. She took the performance seriously and put forth every amount of grooving effort she has. PRICELESS!!

Now let me add that the day could not have been complete without some diva drama. As you can imagine, a budding actress/dancer must practice her diva-ness and her mom was the target of her practice. It was all about the make-up. I had thoughtfully purchased (what I believed) to be appropriate make-up for her to wear. I then began to help her to apply the make-up. However, according to Claire, "I didn't know what I was doing." Therefore, I left it to her. After she was finished, she was completely mad at me because she wasn't happy with the results. It was all my fault because I didn't help her. EXCUSE ME?!! I thought she asked me to stop helping her...WHATEVER!! Sometimes you can't win, and even if you chose to fight, you must learn to "pick your battles."

Winter Park

Last weekend, our friends the Johnsons came to visit. We went to Winter Park for the weekend. It was a lot of fun!!

We rented a condo and the kids loved the excitement of the hottub. They thought it was so cool to sit in the hottub while it snowed. They would then take turns jumping out of the warm water and lying in the snow to make snow angels. I think everyone staying at the resort were familiar with us, between our screams and carolling in the hottub our presence was greatly known.

One of the highlights of the weekend was that we think Drew learned to stop on his skis. He went to ski school (again), and they let him go on the "big mountain." He was very proud of himself. The comments on his reportcard from ski school were as follows: fearless, quite a leader, ready to "rip" (aka go fast), and charming.

Justin and I were able to ski with Claire and Braden. It is such fun to ski together...when the kids are fed and rested. Justin (in true "type A" fashion), pushed the kids. They were not allowed to rest and barely allowed to eat. It was quite humorous. Finally, by the end of the second day, it was a disaster. Claire and Braden were both crying as they skied down the mountain. At one point, the kids were crying, and Justin had lost a ski in deep snow and was cussing. I made up a song at that moment to the tune of "Twelve Days of Christmas." The words were something like two kids crying, one dad cussing... Seriously, it is humorous when you make your kids miserable trying to make them have fun. ha/ha

Decorating the Christmas Tree

The kids and I decorated the Christmas tree. My OCD was having issue with their choice of ornament placement; however, I finally "gave up." The result was that I allowed them to finish their job, and then I quietly stayed up late that night repositioning the decorations appropriately. The next morning the kids commented and praised themselves on what a great job they did. If only they knew...wink, wink.

Gingerbread House

After school and play practice on Friday, the kids and I made a gingerbread house. Please do not be too impressed, we used a kit. I had planned (and even saved the boxes) to make our gingerbread village like we made last year. However, I haven't been motivated, and believed it to be a "sign" not to make the elaborate version when we received a kit from Nonna. The kids had a blast. The boys politely took their orders and creative direction from Claire. She really had them "in line" so I sat on the stool and watched. It turned out to be VERY cute!!

May I have your autograph?

This week has turned out to be quite a busy week for Claire. She auditioned and was chosen for the Missoula performance of "The Pied Piper." She was a townsperson, and let me say she was quite a little performer.

Missoula is an international drama company that travels to schools for one week, intensive drama workshops that conclude with performances. The kids were required to practice every night from 3:30 to 8:00 PM. As you can imagine, the kids were exhausted by the end of the week. Of course, in true "Seale" fashion, Claire had a touch of stomach virus during the week, just to keep it interesting and to add to her exhaustion.

Claire did a great job and really seemed to enjoy herself. She was very expressive in her speaking parts. I am amazed at her confidence. She is not shy or intimidated in the least. A packed audience affected her none.

As we were leaving the last performance, she and I were walking home. I asked her if I could have her autograph. She rolled her eyes and said "stop, please." I think she was a little embarrassed by her mom. A true star, a little annoyed by her fans.

DJ Jazzy Drew

Last night while Claire and Braden were doing their endless homework, Drew came to the table. He proceeded to "spin" cds while wearing my sunglasses. He then added sound effects like a rap star. WHERE DID HE GET THIS? His little mind... The scary thing was that he had a little rhythm and beat going. Can you imagine this kid as a teenager? I picture him at parties, "spinning a beat," and dancing on tables. He will probably be the life of the party. We better just hold on and enjoy the ride.

Winter, winter, winter...

I guess that I need to "put on my big girl pants and get over it." (that's for you mom).

Today, as I was following my daily routine of checking the unpredictable Colorado weather, it read "high of 24 degrees." There is also approximately 4 to 6 inches of snow on the ground. Now let me say that the issue I had this morning as I read the forecast was that I have my yahoo account set with the LR weather and the Denver weather to appear. You can imagine the sickness in my stomach as I read the high of 24 degrees next to the high of 78 degrees in LR. Oh how I wish I were in Arkansas!!! I am dreaming of wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt, WITHOUT the dry, cracked skin that we have acquired.

Skiing again...

On Saturday after Thanksgiving, we went skiing again. The kids wanted to show Gee and Pops what they had learned. Justin was working, so I was very reluctant to go without him. I must say, skiing has a new meaning when you go with three kids, versus the trips you take in college with your friends. It is such work, and I was completely exhausted on Saturday night. I honestly do not remember getting in my bed that night.

Claire and Braden learned to get on the lift, so we were able to ski the green slopes. They did GREAT!!! We saw some of Justin's friends on the mountain. They reported to Justin how "fearless" Claire and Braden were coming down the slopes. Kids learn this sport so quickly.

More Thanksgiving...

My theme for thanksgiving was "I was NOT dreaming of a white Thanksgiving." We had quite a bit of snow on Thanksgiving. It was very cold, i.e. less than twenty degrees.

We did have a great holiday. We had several friends join us for dinner, and the kids were very well behaved. It was one of the best days we have had in Colorado!

Martha Stewart Can't do this!!

Please know that I do not mean any disrespect or harm toward my idol, Martha Stewart. I LOVE her; however, I KNOW she can't do this. What I mean is you should have seen the "help" I had cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Claire, Braden, and Drew were "all in my business" while trying to cook. They had such a great time, and surprisingly, everything turned out ok, without foreign objects appearing in the food. LOL!! The kids helped in every dish. Their favorite was cutting out the leaves and pumpkins for the pumpkin pie. Aren't they cute. (On that note, I have to plug the gadget from Williams-Sonoma that we used. It was this cool pastry cutter that comes in a set of four. It was fabulous and the kids had fun using it. I highly recommend it).

I also have to mention that I kept waiting on someone to appear with the little dishes that had the ingredients pre-measured where all we had to do was dump the items in the bowl. Where do you get those people? I need a Wes and Angie like Martha has in her kitchen.

Seriously, I do not think Martha could have cooked Thanksgiving dinner while entertaining three kids. I felt very accomplished when we were finished...as did the kids.

WHY DO WE DO THIS?

How about "Have a 'rockin' Christmas"?
At this point we were thinking about omiting Drew from the picture and maybe drawing him in with a pencil.

The greeting for the picture above could be "Drew picked this card for you to wish you a Happy Holiday." The worst part is that in the following picture, please notice the position of his finger. We have caught him picking the booger and then eating it on film. What a memory!!!

My mom has been here visiting for the past two weeks. During her visit, my plan was to get as prepared for Christmas as possible, i.e. shopping, decorating, and...the dreaded Christmas card picture. Seriously, that is one of my greatest obstacles every year. It is a feat to get three kids, fed, dressed, and napped in an attempt to get the perfect Christmas picture.

Have you every thought about the concept of the Christmas picture? Honestly, we are trying to send out a little P.R. for our family each year. This picture is to portray the perfect family, living their perfect life, in their perfect house, in Pleasant Valley, on Happy Lane, etc... WELL, as I have mentioned before, we are no June and Ward Cleaver, and Wally and "the Beav" are not our children.

I am going to provide you with a little sample of my success (or lack thereof) in acheiving the perfect picture. Imagine me rolling on the ground to get the right angle, threatening my kids within an inch of their life to smile and to look like they love each other!!! What a pleasant experience. Mind you all of this was performed in front of a park full of people, quietly enjoying their Sunday morning...until the Seales arrived.

Skiing

The first opportunity that Justin's schedule would allow, we took the kids to the mountains to learn to ski. It was early (November 10), so there was not a crowd. The kids were able to have their own ski instructor because there were so few kids there that day.

Braden learned to ski on his third attempt. It was humerous because he was the one who did not want to go. He cried as we were walking to the slopes because he didn't want to do it. After he learned, he was "hooked." He loves it!

Claire learned very quickly also. Initially, she was a little frustrated. In true "Claire fashion", she felt that she should have been an expert skier on her first attempt. Of course she had to learn, which did not fit into her plan. She ended up doing very well.

Drew, well, that is where the story begins. He loved it!! He learned very quickly to ski; however, he failed to learn the important detail of stopping. We would have to stand at the bottom of the hill and let him impale us. Justin took the majority of the "hits," and he was very sore from it at the end of the day. In fact, he had something in his shirt pocket that was completely bent at the end of the day from the impact of Drew. It was so funny!! Drew would get to the top of the slope and point his skis toward the bottom. He would then race, as quickly as possible, to the bottom...smiling ear-to-ear. He would then slam into Justin or me to stop. Crazy kid!!

More Halloween pictures...

Here are more pictures from Halloween.