Owen's Letter to Santa

Owen dictated his Santa letter to me this year. I typed it up, read it back, and Owen made a few changes. Then, we took the letter to see Santa in the mall. Santa read the whole thing and talked to Owen for a little while about it.

Dear Santa,

This is Owen Wade Metzger. I was so good that maybe you could get me the presents I want. This year, I was good of sharing my pancakes with Sadie. Also last time I was helpful of putting the Christmas decorations on the Christmas tree. I know how to put dishes in the dishwasher and put stuff that's not posed to be out in the trash. I take turns with my friends really good. I try to do a good job listening at home and at swim lessons and sometimes Taekwondo. I can say the Pledge of Allegiance. And I already got a suprise from Grandma Liles, the Santa Buddies movie.

And Santa, can you bring me some Bakugans when you're on the way to give people some presents? Please do you know what presents I want? Do you know what Christmas is all about? It's about giving presents to somebody. And Santa, can you give me an outside pretend boat? It's a pirate boat, and you can sit in it. I saw it on a magazine.

Santa, I love you. I like how you say Ho Ho Ho. How do you get down the chimney? And guess what. I know some jokes. What did the ghosts give the monkeys to eat?...BOOnanas! Hahaha!

I want a couple of stuff. Maybe you don't know. There's a kind of one square Bakugan that I want. And a new book about Christmas. Maybe it would cost a lot of money. Maybe something like a checkers game that Daddy can know how they move.

Santa, could you bring me something that I really like that I don't have on my list, and can you try to know what they are? I think there is some presents I really like...and will be kind of fun to play with.

My brother Blake wants a stuffed dog and a blue bouncy ball. He likes your suit a lot. My sister Sadie wants a pink bunny and a bouncy ball and a girl toolbox set because Blake already has one.

Whenever it's Christmas, check my list twice. I'm gonna leave you some cookies, stocking ones. Have a safe trip. Buckle your seatbelt.

Love, Owen

Thanksgiving

This year, for Thanksgiving we went to Ohio and had dinner in Cincinnati on Thanksgiving Day. We've gone to Ohio to visit my family for Thanksgiving every year since we've been married, and I thank Tim for conceding this holiday to me. Thanksgiving with my side. Easter with his side. Here are some other things I am thankful for this year in no particular order (except for the first one):

1. Of course, my children. They are incredible kids, and my world would be a shade of dim without them.

2. We have enough. We are not living high on the hill and money gets tight, but when it comes down to it, we have what we need. And in an economical year like this one, I appreciate that on a new level.

3. The play yard gate. This massive baby gate is our saving grace on most days. We have half of the basement baby proofed and stocked with toys. I still have to be on my toes, but it is a million times easier with that gate.

4. My parents who have been so supportive in many ways this year.

5. Facebook. I know it seems silly, but for me staying home would have been very isolating without a way to interact with friends and family as the chaos allows.

6. Tim. He is a great friend, dad, and partner.

7. Digital camera. So glad that I can take 50 thousand pictures in order to get one keeper. It's nice to be able to document this time so easily.

Horrible Parenting Gone Wild

So a while back, I fell asleep watching The Daily Show. In the middle of the night, Owen got up to go to the bathroom and decided to check and see if I was home from teaching class. I had been through a long day and was completely exhausted, so I didn't even notice that he was laying over me.

Meanwhile, Tim had heard Owen get up, but never heard him go back to bed, so thankfully he got up to search the house for the little guy. I woke up to, "Jess! What are you doing!?" Dazed and confused, I found Owen, mouth agape, staring at a commercial for Girls Gone Wild. I was horrified! I don't even let him watch superhero cartoons, and here he was getting quite the eyeful of drunken idiots. I rummaged for the remote as fast as I could and turned the stupid thing off, but you just can't make a kid un-see things. Tim said Owen must have been downstairs for 5 minutes. We asked Owen what he saw, and he said that the people were acting bad. We agreed with him and asked him if he should have watched. He got embarrassed. He knew he shouldn't have, although I don't know of any kids who wouldn't watch at all. The new rule in our house for parents is set the sleep timer on the TV. For kids, if it's bad, turn it off.

Halloween

Cute little monsters aren't they?

This Halloween we went to the Yates house for dinner and trick or treating. They have become our friends over this last year. We met when Sam and Owen were in preschool together. Terri and I had the babies less than a month apart and took turns walking the big boys into school. The boys became great buds, we had some play dates, and now we've got real family friends of our very own.

Trick or treating with them was so much better than just going it on our own. I remember going as a group when I was little, all the neighborhood kids in a big bunch. It was a blast back then, and thanks to the Yates, this year was just like that. Terri invited a bunch of friends from preschool (even though Owen doesn't go there anymore, he still likes to see those guys), we had chili and hot dogs, acted silly and LOUD, and eventually made it out the door for some candy...except most of the houses were either not participating or had the bowl on the front step. The adults were all a little disappointed in this, but the kids could have cared less, and we had enough candy anyway. Blake fell asleep about 3 minutes in. Sadie stayed awake, but barely. Can't wait until next year!We tried to get everyone in a picture, but they were too excited to sit still. Here's my best shot out of like 20. Owen went as Spiderman this year, it's not my first pick because I feel like he's a little too young for all that kind of stuff, but I guess I'm wrong. He did look pretty cute in his little muscle man suit.

The kids were so done with taking pictures. Here's about half of the crew. Owen was so excited about his light up shoes because it was the first time he got to wear them at night, and it was the first pair I've ever let him get. I'm a basic style shoe kind of person, so Owen just got lucky that we only had 10 minutes until the store closed the last time we were at Stride Rite Outlet.

Good dads taking turns with the strollers. Two out of three were asleep. The boys were so excited they literally walked INTO a couple of houses when the people opened their doors. All of us parents were yelling from behind the strollers, "Get back! Take turns! Calm down!" which was kind of a lost cause. Speaking of which, the last house we went to was back to the Yates's, but a real live witch had snuck in to try to scare little boys. Didn't work, but it was fun.

Throughout October since Owen's not in school and we were in need of some quiet activities while the babies were sleeping, we made a haunted house. We worked on different parts each day like salt dough ghosts, pumpkin pie dough pumpkins, paper bag trees, and diaper box house. Nice to spend some time being creative with my little buddy.

Blake and Sadie's First Birthday

Okay, well, yes, their birthday was in September, but I got behind on the blog. Eh, whatcha gonna do? So, back in September, we had the twins' first birthday party which was a lot like Owen's first party. We had family over, and I cooked: ham, green beans, and mashed potatoes. Again, I probably went a little overboard, but honestly I really enjoy it. It was Yo Gabba Gabba themed because they dance around to the music on that show, and it worked out pretty well for a girl and a boy. I made t-shirts, decorations, and gabba-fied the presents. I think having decorations and little details makes the day feel out of the ordinary and special. I'm not Martha Stewart. I don't sacrifice enjoying myself in order to have everything perfect - just special. I'd probably even do it more often, but our house had a hard time accommodating even our little birthday crowd. It's not like the babies cared this year, but I love knowing that one day they'll have fun pictures to look back on. This first year with Blake and Sadie has been...a challenge...a test...a blessing. I love them so much. They've added so much to our family. One of the big presents from Mommy and Daddy was this teeter totter. I thought it was such a great idea for twins. It turned out I was right because they play on it everyday, but they also fall off of it everyday too. Maybe I should have waited a while on this one. We did cake outside to spread out the crowd, and hey, our house is carpeted. Owen was so excited to help. I think he really got into the idea of doing something special for someone else. He likes the role of big brother and felt just as special as he would have if it were his birthday.

Sadie didn't care much for the cake or ice cream (guess she's more of a chocolate girl like me). Blake, however, LOVED the ice cream. He didn't feel like waiting for Tim to give him a bite with the spoon. Just shove it all in, right?
Ha ha, glad Tim was the one holding Blake. I got the neat one this time.

Owenisms #4

While playing Bakugans, Tim said, "I'm pretending there are no bad guys." Owen looked at him, annoyed, "No Dad. You mean you're not pretending."

"I made up a joke. How do strawberries walk?...Somebody carries them."

Joke. "Why does the guy on a rope carry two things in each hand? Because that way he's balanced!" More of a fact than a joke really. Other fact "jokes". "Why are we sitting at the table? To eat!" "Why does a penguin walk funny? Because his legs are short."


I said the word butt. Owen shook his head at me. "Mom, you just said a bad word, and Santa probably heard you, so now you're not going to get anything for Christmas."

Owen LOVES to play Connect 4 - a lot! (Please Santa, bring him some new games already.) At Thanksgiving in Cincinnati, he was playing with my 21-year-old cousin, Ben, a really smart guy. Owen won two rounds and said, "Didn't cha ever play before?" He wasn't being snotty, just genuinely asking. Ben said that the last time he played was when he was little. Owen felt so sorry for him and goes, "Oh, but you never won?"

Speaking of Connect 4, Tim won a game against Owen and started doing a dance around the room. Owen was so disappointed in his Dad's behavior. He goes, "Dad, that's bragging. Bragging is when you cheer for yourself too much. It's not being a good sport." Good lesson Owen. But, by the way, Tim doesn't always win and we don't usually just let Owen win unless we're just trying to finish up so we can do something else with our lives. Owen has just gotten pretty good at the game and honestly wins just about as much as we do!

Yesterday he was pretending that our entire house was driving to the North Pole so that we could visit with Santa and the elves. He'd say, "Did you feel that bump?" According to him, the trip would take 25 hours and we would not be required to work in the workshop, just visit. I think he got this idea from a combo of Disney's Up and various Christmas movies.