The Blog of Six Christmases Past

Well, it's been awhile. I am going to try to catch up on blogging this week. We have had a wonderful past couple of months at the Buss household. We were able to celebrate with almost our entire family for the holidays and made trips to Grand Prairie, Texas and Illinois. We were able to play in lots of snow and Aidan got to experience the joy of snowmobiling and sledding. We made it through a 20 hour drive to Mom and Tom's and a 22 hour drive back thanks to some slippery snowy roads. The kids saw all of their grandparents and aunts/uncles. The best way to sum it up would be to say we had a fantastic time with family. Here are some pictures of our holidays.

The kids were able to see Santa again at Grandma Buss' work. It was so amazing this year because Aidan was excited about going to see Santa and went right up and sat on his lap!! Last year he was a little scared and wanted Grandma to go with him. It is so neat to see him growing up! Asher was still enjoying Santa from a distance and didn't want anything to do with getting close to him. It was still a fun time for all of us and is every year.

What a big boy!
Loving Santa from a distance.

The kids with Grandma Buss.

We celebrated at Rob and Katy's near Dallas for Christmas this year because our newest niece, Lily, was due to arrive soon. Our family, Great Grandma Gloria, Matt's parents, and Rob, Katy, and Robby had a wonderful ham dinner before we dove into the presents. It was fun to watch the kids play with their cousin who is right between them in age. They especially loved playing in his play house upstairs. The guys walked to the park to test out Aidan's new walkie talkies from Aunt Katy and Uncle Rob while the girls relaxed at the house. Ashy liked her cut up fruit for her kitchen and Aidan loved his Toy Story figures, as well as all of the other cool toys and clothes they got.

The kids before present time.

Asher and Robby playing with Aunt Katy.

The boys had a good time playing the Wii.

Ash though Champ was her personal recliner. He didn't seem to mind.

I wonder what Asher was thinking in this picture...

Christmas number two was going over to Grandad, Nana's, and Uncle Zach's for dinner and presents. I was really excited to get my first house for my Christmas village. My dad always had a beautiful village when I was growing up and I look forward to hopefully adding a piece each year. The kids also enjoyed their cool retro gifts, a jack-in-the-box and a neat wooden top for Aidan that spins forever. It's really nice to see Zach more now that he moved here from Arizona. Unfortunately I brought my camera but forgot to take pictures.

The night before we left for our trip to Illinois we were able to have our family Christmas with just Matt, me, and the kids. The kids were both really fun this year and enjoyed opening and playing with their presents. They change so much every year! My favorite gift that Aidan got was his slinky dog. I had one when I was younger and loved it! I think the kids had fun opening presents before Christmas this year. We also ordered in Chinese food as a Christmas gift to myself!

Our family

Look closely and you can see Asher's first ever earrings - sticker earrings from Aidan for Christmas. She LOVED them!

The kids and Daddy with his presents from them.

I love getting earrings from Aidan. Matt says he is really excited to pick them out and I love knowing he did.

We got the kids in bed at a decent time and tried to be as ready as possible for the morning. We didn't end up leaving until about 11:00. Our trip actually went really well, although it was long! We hit some rain, but driving was still fine. I thought the kids did better in general this trip which I'm sure is because they are both older and Ash was able to watch the DVD's this time. Sleeping is still hard for them and Matt, although I slept great in the van! We arrived excitedly at Mom's at about 7am. They were ready for us and came running out to van. The kids were so excited!!! There was no electricity because of the ice/snow/weather, but that made it even more fun for the kids. We didn't waste much time and were at the big snow hill in Cherry Valley by 9:30 going sledding. It was awesome!

This is my mom racing down the hill with a look of pure joy. Who says you can't be a kid again?

Tom, Mom, Aidan, Asher, and Kaleb

Aidan was such a big boy and just climbed right up the hill. He LOVED sledding and had no fear!!

Christmas Eve we celebrated at my Aunt Mary and Uncle Gordon's. Our family always celebrates my Uncle Gordon's birthday Christmas Eve because his actual birthday is on Christmas day. It was so nice being there and seeing my aunt and uncle and cousins. We did our annual gift exchange game and then did another really fun gift exchange with the kids using a Christmas story that we read aloud and traded gifts while the story was being read. It was a lot of fun!

Aidan was dressing up Meme in a make your own snowman kit.

Uncle Kaleb and Aidan.

Aidan, me, Mom, Asher, and Jakey (as Asher calls him)

My Uncle Gordon and the kids.

Meme read them 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Christmas morning was a blast! Mom, Tom, Jake, Kaleb, Matt, Me, Aidan, and Asher had such a fun time being together. We read our traditional bible story and enjoyed opening presents one by one. The kids both got a castle to play with - Aidan's was a dragon castle and Asher's was a princess castle. Asher also loved her dress up shoes from Uncle Kaleb and here Baby Alive. Aidan loved getting Legos from Uncle Jake and later discovered that he really liked his first ever video game, a Leapster. The kids were spoiled and so were we!! Then we had our traditional orange cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

The family

Uncle Kaleb and Ashy
Daddy and Ashy

That night we had Christmas number six at Great Grandma Gus' house. The kids love seeing her and so do I! They got these really neat grass heads that you grow and then can cut their hair. The kids love them!

We had lots of Christmases, lots of great food, and spent time with those that we love so much. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family to share the true meaning of Christmas with!

All the single kids...

Along with 'Jesus loves me,' another favorite song for the kids has been 'All the single ladies' by Beyonce. They have been dancing to it off and on over the last couple of weeks. Asher has recently learned a few new moves to do to the song. Check out her hip action.

Jesus loves... duets?

Here is a quick clip of Aidan and Asher in rare form. They have been singing 'Jesus loves me' a lot lately and decided to perform a duet. You know things go wrong when you toe ends up in your nose.

A Day With Great Grandma Buss

Matt's Grandma Gloria is a wonderful piano player and has been playing since she was a little girl. Someday I would love for my kids and I to learn to play too, but for now we get to listen to Great Grandma play at the Georgetown hospital the first Monday of each month. The kids really enjoy it and so do I. As they have gotten a little older they have also gotten braver. The first time we went awhile back the kids pretty much would walk by and peek, or Aidan would stand next to Grandma for a minute. Now, both of them are sitting on the piano bench next to her pecking away at the keys right along with her. I even had to tell them to quite their "playing" down a little because you could really hear it! Great grandma got lots of hugs while she was playing too. I like to sit back and listen and sip on the great coffee they have at the lobby.

Our future piano player

Asher practicing her piano skills while Aidan gives Great Grandma Gloria a hug.

This was the best shot I could get of the kids by the beautiful Christmas tree in the hospital lobby. Too bad the outfits I picked that day didn't match!

Aidan and Great Grandma

After our holiday concert by Great Grandma we headed over to Super Salad. I love that place! It was a wonderful lunch. The kids ate some, I ate a lot, and we had a wonderful afternoon together. I look forward do doing this again next month!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

Well, snow has arrived in Round Rock, Texas. Unfortunately it was just flurries for about 20 minutes, but it was such a joy to play around in. When there is a chance of snow - any snow - everybody talks about it all the time. And when it arrives you better be out there enjoying it before it is gone! I am thankful that our whole family was home at the time and able to run out and play together. The kids had a blast.

Aidan catching snowflakes

Proof that there was snow! This is not doggy dandruff!
Look at the joy on Ashy's face! We were having races in our driveway. For this race Aidan was really sweet and wanted to let Asher win. What a good big brother!

Later that day we made sugar cookies, our first cookies of the holiday season. I think this year I may make one more batch of those since they were so yummy, lots of Mexican Wedding Cakes (Matt's favorite!) and Grandma Moore's cinnamon sugar pecans. The sugar cookies turned out great!! I was even able to make my first ever batch of homemade frosting that actually turned out right. The kids were the official sugar sprinklers, while I did the frosting part. Then they were both the taste testers. Later that night we shared some with our awesome neighbors: Katy, Elise, Lukey, Angelina, and Miss Debbie and Mr. Allen. It was a little chilly to be delivering, but still fun.

We had a bunch of different cookie shapes including a ducky, cross, tree, star, a bell, and hearts.

The taste testers seemed pleased with the way they turned out!

On Saturday we went to the parade in Georgetown. Growing up in Belvidere, IL in a town about the size of Georgetown, I went to MANY parades in town. I always loved it. I love being able to share that with my kids. It was VERY cold, but we bundled up with winter coats, hats, and a blanket in the wagon.

We are watching my favorite part, the high school band, walk by. I thought it was neat to be able to tell the kids that Daddy marched in this band in a parade just like this when he was in school.

Aidan was trying to say warm and Asher was finishing up a peanut butter and fluff sandwich while watching the rest of the parade.

We visited Bethlehem Village on the square in Georgetown. It was really neat for the kids to see what life was like at the time Jesus was born. Asher was given a headband that represented one of the tribes of Israel. That was neat too because she was named Asher after one of the tribes of Israel. Either way, she looked super cute!
I call this look Ghetto Eskimo.Matt is ready for lunch after the parade with a hot bowl of chili with a jalapeno face. Aidan actually had some jalapenos and seemed to like them.

While Asher napped, Aidan had it made watching Toy Story with his little DVD player, kettle corn, and a sippy while Daddy watched football. What a life!

I am loving our holiday so far. I really feel like we are having fun and making memories, but also taking it easy and not making it a holiday all about rushing around from this place to that. That is a perfect fit for our family right now. Hope you all are having a wonderful relaxing holiday season so far!

Ready for Christmas!

We are ready for Christmas here in the Buss household. The kids have had their little tree (Matt and my first tree in our first apartment) up in their room since before Thanksgiving. We put our tree up and decorated most of it the night before Thanksgiving. I really liked doing this and think it is going to become a new tradition. We have put up the rest of the ornaments, as well as inside decorations and lights on the house too. We have about 75% of our presents bought. We have also been trying to watch the holiday cartoons on TV and read our Christmas pop-up holiday books that were Uncle Zach's, as well as a bunch of other Christmas books. Our project for tomorrow is to make sugar cookies. I love the holidays! Merry Christmas everyone!

Aidan's Belt Test

Today Aidan had his belt test in karate. He had to do several strikes and kicks as well as answer some questions like "what does 'karate' mean?" Don't know? Well then you can't be an Advanced White belt like Aidan. By the way it means 'empty hands.'

Here he is getting his new belt. The old one is tied on the floor in front of him and is supposed to stay tied or else he will forget what he learned.

Showing off his new belt

Aidan with his instructor. She has done a great job teaching him.

The Karate Kid cont'd

Aidan was practicing for his belt test next week at karate class today. If he passes next week he will be considered an advanced white belt. Which means his belt will be white with yellow stripes. Here he is breaking a board.

Asher singing...

Here is a quick video of Asher singing "I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee." Sorry for the bad lighting.

Aidan's Wide World of Sports

Tiff and I have talked before that we don't want to sign our kids up for so many things that we spend all of our free time running from practice to games to whatever. Luckily enough since Asher is only 2 there isn't too much we can sign her up for.

So with that in mind Aidan had 2 big things today. He had a T-ball game at 9 and a Karate Tournament at 11:30. 'Karate?' you say. Yes he has been taking a karate class at the Clay Madsen Center in Round Rock for about 8 weeks or so. He was a little apprehensive at first but just like T-ball he got used to it and he began to enjoy it. And actually I think he might like it more than T-ball. His instructor is great, she is firm and doesn't let the kids slack off.

The T-ball game was an early one at 9, so both the kids tend to be a little tired when we are there. He did great though. He hit the ball off the tee 3 times with only one whiff. His fielding left a little to be desired. He tends to be a little shy about running up and getting the ball. If it rolls at him he will make a play for it, but if he really has to move to get it, there is a good chance that he won't. This is probably from watching the other kids tackle each other trying to get the ball. There are a few overzealous kids on his team. The other team today though only had a handful of kids so Aidan's team was divided to try to make the numbers equal. The only problem was with the shortened game they played 3 innings instead of the usual 2. This was a little upsetting to Aidan since he likes his routine and even more he likes his T-ball games to be done.

A couple of pics from the game today.

First at bat.


First hit, great camera work by Tiff.

Heading into home. As you can tell he beat the throw.

After the T-ball game was done we headed home for a quick stop for snacks, bathroom breaks, and a change of clothes. Aidan's first Karate Tournament was at 11:30 and we wanted to be a little early in the hopes that he could watch matches between other kids and adults. We watched one match between 2 adults and he paid attention, but he was ready to get this started.

A couple of quick notes about Aidan. Any of you that really know him know that he can be pretty overwhelmed by lots of attention. He can also become upset from a change in routine or being made to do something that he just isn't comfortable with or doesn't want to do.

With that said, Tiff and I were a little... no very nervous as to how he might react to this tournament. It was in a gym at a middle school here in town. There were 8 rings for the various levels and age groups. The bleachers, as well as most standing room, were packed with people watching. One of the things that we stressed to Aidan was that there was going to be a lot of people there but that they are not watching him. Which 99 percent of them weren't.

So Aidan lined up with the other 2-4 year olds at Ring 1. He had his mouth guard in, which he was not excited about, and was sitting patiently for his turn. There were several looks at us from Aidan which expressed his nervousness on the situation. I don't know about Tiff, but I was really nervous that he wasn't going to be able to do it, especially after the first match was between 2 girls that were both crying. I wasn't worried that he couldn't do it, but that his issues with attention and the unknown would cause him to shut down. It didn't.

Aidan putting on his pads. His opponent is standing next to him doing the same.

When it was his time to get ready he put on the chest pad, gloves, and helmet. This again could have been an issue since he had never worn the chest pad before and the helmet was a different kind with a plastic shield over the face. As he waited all dressed up with no place to go he seemed calm and collected. He didn't show any of those fussy signs of slouched shoulders or stomping feet. He stepped out onto the mat and stood on his square. At first he went a little early since Tiff had been telling him not wait for his opponent but to strike first. When the judges said go, he went straight towards the other kid and struck him right in the chest. The other kid, about half a head shorter than Aidan, looked to be having issues of the unknown himself. Start after start Aidan stepped forward and delivered a blow. The score was 5 to 0. You get 1 point for strikes and 2 points for kicks. At this time the 2 judges made an effort to help the other kid and led him forward and placed a strike on Aidan's chest. They did this twice which made it 5 to 2. I understand the purpose for them doing it and don't blame them. They wanted to help build the confidence of this other kid that was showing no desire to be there or do anything. For a moment I thought "surely they won't let this other kid win the match?" They didn't. Aidan must have been thinking the same thing because through the mask of his helmet I saw him look up at the judge that was helping the other kid. The look on his face was "how in the world is that fair."

So back to 5 to 2... just before they started the kids up again I yelled to Aidan "go for the kick!" I knew full well that a kick would push him to 7 points and the win. Sure enough he took one step forward, lifted his leg, and placed a kick right on the kids chest. 2 points, red wins.

Man I can not tell you how excited I was for him. He bowed and stepped over to the side, took off his protective gear, and got his trophy that says '1st Place.' And that trophy did not leave his hand until we got home after a stop at Pizza Hut to get him a pizza that he was asking for.

I think this is just before the kick to end it all.

Tiff and I are amazed as to how well Aidan did today. Was the match a little one sided? Yes. Do I care since the greater battle was between my son and his apprehension to the unknown? No.

A little later in the day I said to Aidan

Daddy: "Aidan, if you like karate you can keep doing it."

Aidan: "yeah Daddy, I want to get more trophies."

Pumpkin carving 2009

So we decided that tonight was our night to carve pumpkins before Halloween. We already had the pumpkins and I had been thinking about the designs I wanted to do for the kids. Aidan had picked out a 'bumpy' pumpkin with little to no stem. It was what he wanted and he was really excited when he found it. Asher's pumpkin was from a couple of weeks ago that I think Aidan had picked out since Asher was enchanted by the little pumpkins.

Last night I was searching around the internet to find some pumpkin ideas. When I saw Aidans pumpkin I thought it looked like a large cucumber, and reminded me of Larry the Cucumber from Veggie Tales. I mentioned to Aidan that I could carve his pumpkin to look like Larry, since he has been into Veggie Tales lately. He was down. So back to last night, I found these Mickey and Minnie Mouse templates and thought that they could be a good idea. Aidan and Asher were going to be Mickey and Minnie for Halloween. Aidan and Asher were already in bed so I went in there to ask him if he wanted Mickey instead. I had put them to bed no more than 15 minutes earlier and when I went in there he was out like a light. I tried to wake him up to ask him and got him awake enough to say yes to Mickey. So I was all set to todays carving.

Well as this afternoon rolled around Aidan mentioned that he was excited about Larry the Cucumber for his pumpkin. I reminded him about our sleepy conversation the night before, but Tiff said that he has changed his mind back to Larry that day.

We sat down in the kitchen floor with a plastic drop 'cloth' to start our pumpkins. Asher was interested in helping scoop out the guts. Aidan tried once and didn't think about doing it again. Asher did end up eating some of the pumpkin off of the 'cap' of her pumpkin. One of those things that we never had to worry about Aidan doing.

After the pumpkins were emptied we taped the templates on them and starting poking holes to trace the lines. Yes that's the big secret. So now you can do this at home. My intention this year was to use my Craftsman Rotary Tool (dremel). I thought that it would make it easier to do better designs. It helped a little. I didn't even use it on Ashers. So I ended up in the garage tonight using the dremel on the pumpkins. As I am typing this I have a fine layer on pumpkin on my face. I did wear safety glasses though.
I finally finished Asher's after she had gone to bed so she didn't get a picture with her pumpkin, but did see it while it was in the process.

Aidan and his Larry the Cucumber pumpkin.

Asher's Minnie Mouse.

The littlest gardener

Aidan and Tiff went to see Toy Story 1 and 2 in 3D yesterday afternoon. Asher was napping when they left but was up before they got home. After she was up we were trying to figure out what to until Aidan and Tiff got home. With the recent rains (and my lack of desire to do yard work) the flower beds needed a little work, so I decided to use this time for that. The weather was great and Asher loves to help us out with chores. Asher and I went out side to trim some bushes and pull some flowers that had become a little overgrown. I started with clipping some branches off a bush and would either hand the branches to Asher. She would then place the branches in the trash can. I then thought she might be ready for her own project, maybe she could handle pulling the flowers. I dug up her gardening gloves and put them on her. I placed the lid of the trash can on the ground for her to throw the flowers in and showed her what she had to do (notice how she shakes the dirt off the flower that she pulls up - she listened well). After the instructions I went back to clipping the bushes about 12' from her. She didn't really do too much on her own and actually spent more time smelling the flowers then pulling them up. In the end I pulled all the flowers, with the exception of the one that she pulled in the video, but either way we had fun doing it.

While Asher was sleeping...

Often wonder what Tiff and Aidan are up too when Asher is napping? I caught them in a middle of a shadow puppet in the downstairs bathroom. Funny stuff.

MNF

As you well know last Monday night was a great football game between the Minnesota Vikings and the green bay packers. If you didn't, now you know. I was of course at home watching the game, but with a few added teammates. Joining me was the trio of terror (that is my new nickname for them). Caden (6 yrs), Jack Gabriel (3 yrs), and Zambia (1 yr) Tucker came to watch the game with me. Tiff had a meeting with some girls from church so I was on my own. My zone defense was put to the test. All in all the kids were good. Zambia went to sleep so she was the easiest of the 4 left (of course I had Aidan and Asher with me too). The 4 left all played well together and there was sharing as far as the eye could see. Having the 4 kids to watch while I was watching the game helped out. Instead of watching every play and stressing about whether or not Minnesota was doing good I just saw the big plays when they happened. I didn't actually sit down to watch the game until the end of the 3rd quarter or so. In the end the Vikings were victorious and I put the beat down on some babysitting.

Here is the crew.

Caden and Aidan working on a puzzle. With a couple pieces left to go Caden said "Aidan, we rock this puzzle."

Asher and Jack Gabriel baking some cookies. At least they weren't baking brownies.

Great Hair and the Karate Kid

I absolutely love doing Asher's hair. I literally jumped for joy when I was able to do a teeny little ponytail on top of her head and again when I was able to do pigtails. I try to do new things and was excited to try something new. After her bath last night I put her hair in little buns. I think there were 9 or 10 in all. She sat so good and handed me the ponytail holders while I was doing her hair.

This is what her hair looked like before she went to bed. And this is what it looked like when she woke up this morning. As you can see, some of it came out of the ponytail, but all in all it stayed in pretty good.

And this was the finished hair do...

Lots of curls!!

And now for the karate kid... It was week 2 of karate and Aidan had his stylin karate uniform on and he was ready to go. The jury is still out on if he likes it (did last week, didn't this week...) but either way he looked so cute!

Practicing a strike of some sort.

Seriously, does it get any cute than this?

This is his actual instructor. She means business and seems very good. Here he is practicing a kick. I think it is funny that they have to keep one hand up by their ear. They look shy doing that....


And Happy Fall everyone!!! I was beyond happy that it was in the 60's today. Hasn't been this temperature since April! Here are my cuties dressed in pants and long sleeve shirts and they even have their Halloween socks on!

And this is Aidan's absolute favorite thing to do with Daddy - wrestle! So in this picture you see "El Padre Loco," "Wrestle Man," and "Wrestle Girl."

A double stack piggyback.

Asher's Birthday Blowout

We had Asher's 2nd Birthday party at Petland in Georgetown today. They have a party room in the back where they will bring animals in for the kids to pet and 'play' with. It was mostly puppies, but there was also a parrot, bunnies, and some guinea pigs. Asher really liked it. We have a lot of pictures to post but here is a quick video of Asher blowing out one of her candles. Still can't believe that she is 2.

Good hustle

We had dinner at my parent's house last month and ended up in the backyard playing some football. My dad, Aidan, Asher, and I were running around tossing the two footballs (one for each kid - supposedly). Aidan was more into playing keep away from his sister. Tiff caught a hilarious moment on the camera as Asher didn't give up and hustled for the ball. Watch as she turns on the afterburners, wobbling all the way, and makes a clutch play for the fumble.