Christmas 2009

Where do we start - so many things to share on the blog.

December 23, 2009 - Logan is now "6"

Logan's week long present extravaganza began early with his birthday - the joys of a Christmas birthday. We celebrated with Shawn's mom, Jason and Matt. The boys had a great time playing with Jason and Matt. Star Wars was the theme as he got: a new Lego Star Wars watch, a stuffed Yoda, Star Wars Lego's, and Mario Wii.

December 23 was also the first day of a 3-day snow storm that kept us in the cities till December 26. Officially the news said Lakeville got 14.5 inches, but per the snowbanks on our driveway, Sara and I think we got about 16-20 inches. The pile was about 2 feet over our mailbox! It was a great snowstorm as the temps remained warm so we could play outside and build forts!

December 24
We celebrated Christmas Eve services at Hosanna! keeping our annual tradition of volunteering at a couple of the afternoon services. Logan loves handing out bulletins and ushering. The second service had over 4000 people....and that was only 1 of 6 services! They had a live manger on stage with 2 camels, 1 sheep, 1 cow, several ducks and chickens and some other hairy creatures. The kids loved it! I am sure they will have some pics on their website soon:

www.hosannalc.org/about/snapshots.html

We spent the evening with Shawn's mom opening gifts and having our traditional holiday Turkey. Here are some fun pics of the kids opening gifts. Favorite gifts of 2009:

Logan - Nintendo DS

Carter - Wiggles videos

We ventured up to Duluth on December 26th and 27th for the Mattson family Christmas. The boys loved playing with their cousins. Logan stayed an extra day with the Ball family and grandma/grandpa. It seems so quiet just to have 1 child!!!

Santa Visit

Here are a few pictures of the boys visit to Santa - Carter doesn't have the best smile....but what can you expect from a little boy with pneumonia. Yes, that is correct - Carter is sick again! He has been coughing like an eighty year old man all week so we thought we would bring him in. The x-ray showed a small case of pneumonia. FUN! In the past 4 weeks, our house has had:

(1) case of hand, foot mouth

(2) cases of strep

(1) case of pneumonia

I think I hear the CDC doing a drive-by in our neighborhood now.

2 more days of school and 3 more days of work till vacation! Looking forward to spending lots of time as a family skiing, skating, watching movies, wrestling, and eating till our tummies pop!

Other BIG NEWS in our house this week - yesterday Logan went down the biggest hill at Buck Hill and did great! Shawn gave him a little warning, "if you don't turn and bomb this hill we are going straight home." Yes, it was an empty threat, but most likely saved his life. He listened very well and turned back and forth all the way down. Upon celebrating with his happy dance, he said he wanted to go back to the green and blue runs so he didn't have to turn. Go figure.

Videos From Santa

Gone are the old-fashioned days of writing snail mail letters to Santa and never knowing if the mail got lost in a North Pole Blizzard. With the amazing invention of the internet, now your kids can know that Santa received their letter when he responds with a personalized video back to them.

Logan's Video From Santa:
http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/abb6a4dceda6c78c062f8b2a3a416bde

Carter's Video From Santa:
http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/79cddb8abc7a551fa5e9e0dfe04db53c

Granted Logan and Carter are still young, but they both were mezmorized watching these video messages from Santa. I highly encourage all parents to "connect" with Santa.

If the links do not work, cut and paste them in your browser and they should be good to go.

Electronic Snowflakes From Our House To Yours

One of our friends sent this fun, interactive website to make snowflakes.

http://www.popularfront.com/snowdays/

Logan's snowflakes: 8961670 & 8961740
Carter's snowflake: 8961787

Just type in their number under the "find-a-flake" tab.

The Advent Conspiracy

Christmas Can [Still] Change the World!

The story of Christ's birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love. So, what happened? What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists. And when it's all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take months to pay off, and this empty feeling of missed purpose. Is this what we really want out of Christmas? What if Christmas became a world-changing event again? Welcome to Advent Conspiracy.

http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

Hosanna! has been focusing on saying no to the materialism monster this Christmas season. We have been asking the question, "do you remember the gifts you received last year?" Most of us cannot - we just keeping feeding the monster year after year. Instead, this year focus on "becoming the manger" and giving the gift of hope, relationships and faith to those around you.

Merry Christmas!

Enter The Story

Logan's 6th Birthday Party

Logan celebrated his 6th birthday party yesterday with 12 of his friends at Chuck-E-Cheese. This was his second year having his party here and what a difference between 5 and 6. Last year the kids all needed their parents to stay with them and this year they were independent little boys and girls. It is such a blessing when you can say, "go wash your hands before pizza," and they all run to the bathroom and do their thing without any help. The kids were very well behaved and Logan had a blast.

In the afternoon Shawn and Logan went skiing at Buck Hill again and Logan went up the main chairlift and down the blue freestyle run. Today, Sara and Logan are going skiing and hopefully Sara will come back without a cast on her leg. It has been 9 years since she last skied! Logan has the stopping/snow plowing down and can turn when he wants - but of course he would rather "bomb" the hill and stop 2 inches before he hits someone or something....he has the need for speed! We are going to put him in a "mini ski team" for a couple of weeks. Figure they will help him with his turns and another great opportunity to meet friends with similar interests. Every night he wants to go skiing.

Everyone is healthy and we are getting ready for Christmas. Only 8 more days of work in 2009 and NO TRAVEL for Shawn for 4 weeks! Have to laugh, this week Shawn flew to Denver on Wednesday when all the schools were closed due to the weather and his flight was on time, but when it is sunny and 60 his flights are 3 hours late - oh the joys!

Mice, Mice and More Mice

Some may argue that Lakeville is farm country, but with 40,000 residents we thought we were moving to the burbs. Our little critters are starting to make us think otherwise.

The count is now over 10 mice (caught and executed)! Needless to say, the EXTERMINATOR is coming next week to hopefully resolve the matter once and for all. Even my vegetarian wife is starting to lose her love of "all" animals.

On a positive note, the mice have provided excitement for Carter who keeps saying "BIG MOUSE!"

The Quiet Blog

The Mayfield Family Blog has been silent the past 2 weeks as we all have been battling and recovering from various ailments. Carter started the fun with "hand, foot, mouth." The poor little guy suffered for 2 weeks until he finally returned to his normal self. Logan and Sara both were diagnosed with strep throat and were out of work/school for a couple of days each. And Shawn got a virus giving him a fever and sore throat. We became good friends with our local pharmacy. Finally everyone is healthy and happy again!

Fun events in our house since our last post:

1. SKIING! The weather has finally gotten cold enough for Buck Hill to open and Logan and Shawn have been out carving up the white stuff. Logan is in heaven on the ski hill and has no fear.
2. Birthday Party Season: Starting yesterday, Logan has a birthday party the next (3) Saturdays. Thanks to the Wii, bowling is also a new passion - maybe we should get him a bowling shirt for Christmas. His party yesterday was at the bowling alley and he was so excited b/c he got (3) spares. Next weekend is his "friends" party at Chuck-E-Cheese. We have (11) little people joining us for a crazy morning.
3. School Holiday Party: Logan had his "Parent Involvement Day/Holiday Party" at school on Friday. The kids sang (5) songs then made Christmas ornaments, decorated Santa cookies, and made a count-down calendar to Christmas. I am so happy he has a Christian teacher who keeps Christmas in the Holidays.
4. Potty training - Carter has been wearing underwear on the weekends and has been accident free. Day care is very strict and will not take them to the potty unless the respond "yes" when asked if they need to go. As a result, we have been waiting to the Christmas break to go 100% to underwear. Yes I know this probably goes against all parenting models but it seems to be working.
5. Christmas - the boys love looking at Christmas lights at night and are counting the days. Carter saw Santa at the zoo yesterday and was scared - maybe he will sit on his lap if Logan joins him.

Christmas Lists:
Logan:
1. Anything Wii related
2. Ski poles and goggles with an orange tint
3. Games (Surprise, Battleship, Bop It, Rainbow Fish)
4. Viking hat or jersey (don't ask)
5. Math books (K or 1st Grade)

Carter:
1. Anything Matchbox cars
2. Anything GeoTrax
3. Remote control car race track
4. Sticker book (Super Heros, Thomas, Dora, Scooby Doo)