Dickson Family

Dickson Family

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Snow & Company

Snow & Co sounds like a great new line of winter wear, but in actuality it's just the two words that sum up our after Christmas festivities. With our somewhat handicapped conditions--neck and pregnancy--we were not about to venture too far from home. Thankfully for us, however, that did not mean missing out on being with extended family over the holidays.  In fact, we were lucky enough to have company from Christmas until after New Years. 

After some disruptive weather my parents finally arrived Christmas afternoon to some big smiles and some even bigger mounds of snow. This was our first real snow and having it at Christmas made it even more perfect.

I don't have any pictures of Max sledding, because by the time I got my camera out he was frozen and done. (We are a little weak in the glove department.)

Ruby's favorite thing to do was to race Reed down the hill while he was sledding.

She was even happy to just race the sled. 

Reed is a great older brother to Ruby.
It doesn't hurt that he loves the snow and is clearly less sensitive to cold than I am.

In typical Ruby fashion, her excitement level started here...


but quickly turned to this when she realized that there was wisdom in wearing two gloves.

Reed had already been out for a while, so when Ruby was ready to go out again after recovering her other glove he wasn't anxious to go out again.  Luckily Grandfather was around to satisfy her snow cravings. Sometimes Grandfather pushed Ruby...and sometimes Ruby pushed Grandfather.

Ruby's sledding sometimes got a little out of control. (Dad: if you ever see this, this picture gives me flashbacks to you teaching me to ride a bike with you hanging onto the hood of my sweatshirt to slow me down.)


I'm pretty sure Ruby enjoyed being the pusher more than the pushee. She is lucky Grandfather was a good sport.
Later on Grandmother assisted inside with a warmer activity. Even with 3 very helpful children the gingerbread train turned out pretty cute.


A few days after Christmas, J.R., Casey and their family arrived. The kids were beyond thrilled to have cousins to play with. In fact, Ruby is still asking when they can come back. Our neighborhood is full of great sledding hills so pretty much wherever you go you can have the space to yourself.

We don't normally get a ton of snow, so I was really happy that Mother Nature cooperated and gave the South Carolina Dicksons possibly the most snow they will see all year.

For not having much experience with snow, Casey and McKenzie seemed to know just what do when it came getting down the hill as fast as possible.

Apparently, wearing Target's line of Shaun White clothes was enough to make a "snowboarder" out of Reed.





Although...not all of his runs were successful.

J.R. was a pro going down on his belly...

while Max went down on his back sled-less like a penguin. I'm cold just looking at him.

It wasn't all sledding. A snowball fight was also on the agenda. Casey didn't hold anything back...


and neither did my boys with their retaliation.

We even got enough snow for a replica of George Washington made from snow. Sam said I should have gotten a profile shot that included a pony tail to really do it justice.

Reed and McKenzie stayed out longer than anyone else and didn't seem to mind the freezing temperatures at all. Crazy kids!

Getting snow is always fun, but having family around to enjoy it with was the best. Thanks for making our "stay-at-home" Christmas a great one.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Christmas, anyone?

I know Christmas seems eons ago, but for me it's not over till the fat lady blogs about it--and at 7.5 months pregnant that would definitely be me. This Christmas was certainly a unique one. It was wonderful as always, but, with a few extra challenges, it was one that will stick out to me for a while. Being big and pregnant at Christmastime is never my idea of a good time, but combine that with a temporarily handicapped husband, and it was even less fun. I have never felt like I did so little for Christmas yet felt so exhausted by it all at the same time. The biggest handicap was Sam's inability to drive. That meant all errands and shopping and running around had to be done by me. Being on the go so often certainly made me commit to avoid leaving all my "Christmas to-do's" for December ever again. 

Beware..picture overload below (I'm trying to get this all done in one shot--it is February next week after all)

We started off the Christmas season right by making a trip to the Christmas tree farm early enough to enjoy our tree for the whole month. Since neither Sam nor I could carry the tree, the Bywaters were kind enough to meet us and help us get it home. The kids made a great team getting it down the hill.


 This was when Sam was feeling his worst, so after we got the tree home the kids decorated the tree almost completely on their own. Reed is getting taller and it showed in the more balanced placement of ornaments. I thought I'd do some adjusting later, but there really wasn't any need (or energy).

 In the midst of all holiday craziness, the Primary (of which I am a part) was in charge of the ward Christmas party. We switched things up with a focus on both the Bethlehem and Nephite Christmas story. It was a TON of work, but in the end things mostly worked out really well. I think my favorite part was the stellar performance by my boys in the Nativity play as well as our great last minute costumes. I'm pretty sure Sam's Korihor number was entirely held together by safety pins.


Here is my rumpled bunch after church on Christmas Sunday. I think next year I'll be sure to get a picture before church when shirts are tucked in, bows are not flopping and Reed looks a little less like Count Dracula. 


 Not a great picture, but my big belly photos are so few and far between.


 After all the exhaustion leading up to Christmas the actual Christmas Day was nothing but sweetness.

The kids coming down the stairs after waiting patiently for at least 30 minutes for it to really be "daytime".  (Not the best picture I've ever taken, but thanks to Reed how could I not include it.


Reading Luke 2. Max's very sweet primary teacher gave all the kids tiny copies of the New Testament. Max adores his and is thrilled to use his own scriptures at every opportunity.

Hands down my favorite part of Christmas gift giving is watching the kids be so excited about the gifts they are givingMax gave Reed a book called 1,000 Fantastic Earth Facts. He knows his brother well.

One of the sweetest gifts given was a bracelet and stuffed dog that Reed used all of his classroom auction tickets to get for Ruby.

Max gave me a toothbrush along with a lengthy explanation of why he thought it was perfect for me. I loved it--the toothbrush and especially the explanation of how awesome this model was.

Ruby was pretty adorable with her excitement level too.
Minute 1: Opening...

 Minute 2: Wearing

Minute 3: Rapunzel turned Xena warrior princess.

Every broken neck recovery deserves a new neck tie (and boy did he need a new tie.)

Reed got Max a Bey Blade for Christmas, but I knew he was worried he wouldn't get one to play with him. He was thrilled to find out he was wrong.

Our little ballerina now has real ballet shoes...and loves them.

Between the gifts they gave to each other,  got from us, and from cousins, the boys ended up with at least 8 new "amazing fact" books. They were in heaven and even weeks after Christmas I am still the recipient of an endless stream of random and usually unbelievable information.

For Ruby, you really can't go wrong with clothes. Accessories aren't bad either. She is definitely a little fashionista.

She may be a fashionista, but her only request for Christmas was "two dolls with squishy faces--one with brown hair and one with yellow hair." She never mentioned what size she wanted the dolls to be so when we saw an ENORMOUS brown-haired doll we just couldn't resist. (Actually Sam couldn't resist or stop laughing when he saw it. I, on the other hand, was embarrassed just to be standing in line with it. )

I don't think Ruby knew what to think of the gigantic doll. She looks a little skeptical here, but she has now become her welcome sleeping companion. It's actually pretty funny to check in on her at night and see her snuggled up with her using "Rosie's" face as a pillow.

I know from experience that some toys don't live up to your expectations--others exceed. Reed was very pleased with his levitating UFO.

Another one of my favorite gifts was the ornament Max made at school. You gotta love his hair in his picture. Doing Max's hair is always a battle--and he usually wins.


 But better than the gifts were all the hugs, and there were lots of hugs.



Phew! I made it! I made it through Christmas and this ridiculously long recap. On to 2013!