It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Thanksgiving has came and we have a new visitor in our house until December 25th. His name is Frisky and he is Wyatt's Elf on the Shelf!

I have many friends who have done this tradition with their children. Last year, I finally decided that Wyatt is old enough to actually get into and decided to get one. Well guess what, I couldn't find one! So we fast forward to Christmas 2013. I knew I would have to find one early and did just that!

 

When we got him out and read the book Wyatt's reaction was not what I thought it would be. He was not amazed or excited. He asked me if I was fibbing because he wasn't a real elf and was just a doll. Yowza! This kid is tough! So I just said he was and then dropped the conversation to see what he would do. Wyatt went and played for a while and then started coming back to tell Frisky information about him. So I guess it worked and he's convinced now! The tv show didn't hurt anything either. That is what Wyatt wants to watch 24/7 now!

 

 

The day after Thanksgiving we got our tree out and put up. Wyatt had a blast helping with the tree and loved every second of it. This pleases me so much. Although when putting up our decorations I have decided that I hate 90% of what I have for decor and just want to throw it away and start over. Thinking this will be on the books for the clean-up after Christmas. 

Another tradition we have started is celebrating Saint Nicolas' Day on December 6th. Last night, Wyatt put his shoes in the hallway to see if he will receive a special treat from Saint Nicolas.

I made sure to put an apple and a juice in his shoe. Of course I forgot last night and had to run downstairs at 5am this morning to get his shoes filled before he woke up. Luckily I made it in time!

He couldn't wait to tell Mike and was sad to realize that he had already left for work. (Mike has always left for work when we get up for the morning but I guess he thought he should have stayed for Saint Nicolas Day.) Wyatt made me take a picture so he could show Daddy what he got before he ate and drank it. Needless to say, this was his breakfast!

Do you celebrate Saint Nicolas Day? Have an Elf on the Shelf?

Santa Came!

Christmas 2012

Khemometer

Wyatt brought home his present that he made at school for us. I, of course, had to open that evening and couldn't wait until Christmas. We loved it and we asked him what it was, to see if he really knew, and he told us it was a Khemometer. We could use it to see how hot and cold it is and then explained to us how the khemometer works and what the mercury would do inside. Love it! :)

Giving at Christmas

For the past three years we have adopted a foster child for Christmas and given them presents and necessities they have needed/requested. We try to get a child that is the same age as Wyatt so that he could feel a connection to the child and can help pick out toys for him/her. Each year we talk to him about how he is very lucky to have a mom and dad and family who love him very much and can be there for him. We talk about why the kids are in foster care and how this will make them happy because they will know that someone cares for them and is thinking of them. Well while we were shopping for our foster child today Wyatt decided to throw a royal fit! After he had picked out the toys for the little boy we headed to the clothes and shoe department when the fit throwing started. He kicked off his shoes and was just generally being a brat! The highlight was when he started yelling that he wanted to be a foster child and get presents! Yes, that's what he said! I talked to him in a hushed voice so that everyone couldn't hear the tone in which I was talking to him and then he said that he didn't want a mom and dad so he could get presents. Oy vey! Who's child is this, anyone? At this point he was about to become a foster child.
On Sunday he was happier about the situation and had turned around his attitude about being a foster child and not having a mom and dad. We packed up the presents and clothes for the foster child and Wyatt wanted to make sure that he had fruit snacks to eat, so we threw a couple of packages in for good measure. Here's to hoping that next year will go even better!

Christmas Program 2012

Wyatt's school Christmas program was tonight and it was fantastic! This year was even better than last year because he actually got to sing some songs, 3 in fact! He did such a good job and we couldn't be prouder. Of course he is the one that sticks out from the rest of the bunch! We had a nice outfit picked out for the program but when he got home he didn't want anything to do with it. I decided to choose my battles and let this one lye. I could careless what he's wearing to sing Christmas songs in and I wanted him to be comfy and enjoy himself, so we went with jeans, tennis shoes and a sweater. It worked out and everyone was happy in the end!

He even got to wear a hat to make him Frosty!

The tree is up!

Our Christmas

We had a very blessed Christmas this year in the Glotzbach house. We spent another wonderful Christmas at home enjoying the chance to lounge in our pajamas (until 11am), fixing a late lunch, and just being with each other without any sort of time constraint or worrying about being somewhere at sometime.

Combine and Tractor

Now he can cook while I'm cooking!

To finish off our Christmas evening Mike made us a Mexican feast and it was fantastico! He made jalapeno cornbread, Mexican corn, chicken nacho dip, steak and chicken fajitas and we even have the fixings for fried ice cream. We didn't have the fried ice cream tonight because we were all so stuffed from the dinner but I'm sure later this week we will break it out and have some. I think making a different meal for Christmas is our new tradition and an exciting one at that! Good thing Mike is such an adventurous and brilliant cook! :)

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Maple Hill Christmas

On Christmas Eve we go to my in-laws house to celebrate Christmas. This was a wonderful Christmas because of the addition of a new cousin for Wyatt and Adrian to play with, Bentley. Though he didn't play much with them because he so small. I'm sure next Christmas he'll be chasing Wyatt and Adrian around the house just like they were chasing each other around.

Animal puzzle from Nikki, Eric, and Bentley

Showing Grandma Audry the cool puzzle!

What every boy needs; tractors!

Unwrapping some more presents.

I think Wyatt's favorite part of Christmas was helping Uncle Eric pass out the presents. He helped my mom at Chanute Christmas but he really liked helping Eric because he knew what his job was and he fully dedicated himself to it. I think this is going to be his new thing at Christmas time!
Adrian and Wyatt had a blast playing with each other's presents. I think their favorite one was Adrian's stick horse. They both wanted to play with it but didn't want to let it go, so they both rode it taking turns being the one holding the reins. It was a hoot! :)

Santa's Little Helper

Helping Santa bring presents to all the good boys and girls!

Chanute Christmas

This weekend we went back to Chanute for Christmas. We arrived Friday night to a houseful of people and Wyatt got to stay up probably the latest he's ever stayed up. Once he finally went to bed my brother, Matthew, convinced me that we needed to go out to the bar. So we went to Rod's Bar played pool and drank beer until 1am! Trust me when I say that's the latest I've been up in a long time, probably years! Having a small child will do that to you.
On Saturday morning my dad and Grandma came over and we opened presents and ate lunch together. We were really excited to see how Wyatt would react to Christmas this year. Last year he wasn't really into it and just wanted to play with a single present once it was opened. This year was more like last but at least he opened the presents and I didn't have to do it.

Giving Poppa Flash his present.

Showing my mom his pictures.

Dump Truck from Uncle Matthew. Once he saw this the rest of the presents were over!

ABC puzzle from Poppa Flash.

Poppa Flash showing Wyatt how to open his car bank.

Opening Great Gram's present.

Getting jammies from Nana.

Wyatt and his Great Gram! My favorite picture of the weekend.

After our Christmas and lunch it was nap time. Everyone took a nap not just Wyatt, literally everyone in the house fell asleep and took a nap. Once we got up we headed over to see Stacie, Jacob, and Abraham. We played over there for several hours and had dinner with them. Then it was time for bed and we were all but happy to oblige and head to bed as well.
On Sunday we went over to my grandma's house for most of the morning and then went back to my mom's for a lunch of leftovers before we headed out. I had to get one more picture of Wyatt because my Uncle Tom has been in town and this was his first time meeting Wyatt, ever.

Uncle Tom and Wyatt

Secret Santa

This year I decided to ask my girlfriends if they would want to do a Secret Santa with the kids. They agreed so Landon, Layken, Hadley, Abraham, and Wyatt were onto the gift giving. I'm hoping this is something that we can do every year with the kids and hopefully this is a way for them to feel close even though we are all over the U.S.: NE Kansas, SE Kansas, Louisiana, and Virginia. I put everyones name into a hat and then sent a message to each person saying who they drew. Wyatt received his Secret Santa gift from Hadley today and he was psyched. He grabbed the box and drug it around the house wanting to open it. So of course we had to open it. (I couldn't wait until Christmas. I'm just as bad as a kid when it comes to presents.)

I wonder what this is?

Getting a little more into ripping the paper off.

Thank You Hadley for my Pizza Shop!

Christmas Card

Our Christmas Card

This year we wanted to send a photo card and as I was checking out my coupon sites I found a deal that I couldn't pass up. Cardstore.com was having a 70% off sale on their stock of Christmas cards! Hells yeah!! This is a sweet deal for me because we send 50+ cards, that's what happens when you have a big family. So I ordered my cards and entered the discount code and my total for 60 cards/envelopes and free shipping was: $17.82. Yes, you are reading it correctly! That's a savings of $41.58. I have to say couponing is paying off. It saved me a bundle on gorgeous cards to send everyone. Too bad the picture was the best one of the bunch to put on it. Yes, the picture of Wyatt not even looking at the camera was the best one! Trust me when I say if we ever decide to do a Christmas card of outtakes we would have too many to choose from.

Happy Holidays from the Glotzbach's!

Winter Program 2011

This year Wyatt was in his first Christmas program! His daycare put on the program for all the classes except the youngest one. Well he's in the second to youngest one. So I knew that it wasn't going to be a big production but I must say that once we got there is was a little more of a production than I thought. It was at the WHS auditorium and we got there about five minutes before it was to start. We walked in and the auditorium was packed! Apparently, this was going to be a big deal. And to think that we almost didn't go! We would have been THOSE parents!!! After the shock and awe of the packed auditorium I quickly got him to his teacher and they whisked him onto the stage. I wished I known the time for the curtain call.
They get situated on stage and the curtain pulls open and he's sitting there with the other kids ready for his moment. And boy did he enjoy his moment. The pictures don't do the performance justice. The shook bells to a recording of Jingle Bells.


Ms. Megan M's Class



Everyone is watching Ms. Megan for their cue!

Just to give you an idea of the stage and crowd.

Giving themselves a hand at the end!

Once Wyatt's class' performance was over they left the stage and the kids were dispersed to their parents. Well Wyatt was apparently only getting warmed up because he started crying and wanted to be back on the stage ASAP! He felt like his performance wasn't over and he needed more lime light. We eventually left because he kept crying and yelling to be back up on the stage to play his bells. He wore the bells that he had during the performance to bed that night because he wanted so badly to keep performing. That's my boy! :)

Christmas Tree, O' Christmas Tree

We have finally put up our Christmas tree. I realized this year that I have a ton of stuff for Christmas but don't really care for any of it! So our tree didn't get a lot of decorations this year and that's okay. If I could I would just put up a tree with lights but I'm not sure how long that will last. So there are a handful of ornaments on our tree.

Christmas Tree 2011

Happy Wyatt

Checking out the few ornaments that are on the tree.

Family Picture

 I have decided that it's impossible to get a good family picture of us. Last weekend when we went to Topeka to get my car we made sure to all dress the same so Mike's mom could get a picture of us. We all wore our KSU gear and the results were okay.

Wyatt isn't even looking at the camera and this was the best one!

Adrian, Me, and Wyatt

It looks like it's back to the drawing board for our Christmas card this year!