Christmas Breakfast, pictures & Nativity

The Sunday before Christmas has come and gone, o'my! I didn't really do Christmas outfits this year, but thanks to Collin's mom, Peiton did have one. I always like to do a group shot before we head to church the Sunday before Christmas. This is how we roll with picture taking....

You have to somehow figure out a way to keep Coop from being a goof ball.

Bode had been crying so his face is covered in tears and snot...like I said, that is how we roll.

Finally Coop isn't so goofy, look how cute he is.

Peiton can't look at the camera, and Bode is doing one of his many facial expression and advertising for Bath and Body Works.

Getting closer.

I think this is as good as we are going to get. Pretty cute.

Collins mom use to make Christmas breakfast every Christmas morning. As our kids got older, we decided it is too hard to make it to Christmas breakfast. We just want to spend the morning, lounging in PJ's and enjoying presents. So she did Christmas breakfast on this Sunday, it is always such a treat.

Bode had fun with the train.

Peiton was off that day, but really when is she not off? I left church with her a fourth of the way through church because she threw a tantrum and would not stop. She spent 1 hour in time out, yes, 1 hour. After timeout she still didn't stop crying, but finally crashed. We got to Collin's parents and had to be held the whole time and whined, and whined some more.

She did have a minute to stop and give cute Lexie kisses...

and pose for a picture. We wanted to do a Nativity, Peiton was suppose to be Mary. I had an outfit already for her, and guess what? She wouldn't wear it, surprised? Not really. I had it though, she was screaming and throwing another tantrum so mom and Peiton went and sat in the car while the Nativity took place. Thanks go Uncle Mat who was able to calm Peiton down and mommy in the car. Thanks Mat!

Bode was a Shepard, wore the custom for let's say, one minute.

Here is the whole Nativity crew. Aunt Emeline ended up being Mary and the one Shepard was missing. Cooper did make a cute Joseph. Notice Cooper is the only Richards kid in the picture. Typical.

The night ended with giggles and ice cream.

and a quesidillia.:)

Bus

Okay, this is story that I have contemplated posting about, it is one that has ripped me apart and made me so frustrated, sad, angry, angry and angry! But, I am hoping one day, it may be a story we will laugh about, probably not for a long time, but hopefully. It happened over 2 months ago and I am finally to the point where I don't start to tear up, or start to shake when telling it. But I need to remember it (not like I am going to forget it, but just in case).

So here it is....

Back in September when Bode started Kindergarten, we were excited for him to start a new adventure. With that excitement came nervousness and everything that comes with your child starting a new school year. Bode does not do well with changes, he actually does awful with changes, so I know this was going to be a BIG adjustment for him. We were excited to know that he would be in a class with a wonderful teacher (she is amazing, he has always had wonderful teachers). That made the transition a little easier. With the classroom being new, there is also a new bus to ride on. The first couple days were very traumatic for Bode. There was a little boy that screamed the whole bus ride that really freaked Bode out, he did not want to get on the bus. And when he got on the bus, he moved himself clear to the back of the bus so he did not have to sit by this little boy. There alone made me feel bad about putting him on the bus, but I had to. Bode will be riding the bus for a LONG time and he needed to get use to it. Well the little boys crying shortened a little more each day. Finally Bode was finally getting use to going on the bus. Relief.

Well, the next week Bode got on the bus at his regular time. Off he went to school. Time passes and passes...the door bell rings, (3 hours after Bode left for school) it was Bode and his bus driver. Hummm...I thought, I asked "Why is Bode home, was it short day, did something happen?" The bus driver responded "No, the school called and wanted me to swing by and bring Bode home." Hummmm...weird, but okay. Bode comes in and of course I call the school to find out what is going on. The school answers, I say, "I am just wondering why Bode is home from school, was it short day, or something happen?" They responded, "Bode? Bode hasn't been to school all day, we have him down as an absent." Me: "What?" tears start coming, I am really freaked out at this point. ME: "Well where has he been?" So at that point the school called transportation trying to figure out what happened. No answer, finally they called me back and we discussed what had happened. I am really not going to go into detail of the conversations we had the next day or so, the transportation ended up working things out with us and there really is no reason to get into that. But to answer a few questions that may arise, here are a few answers.

Where was Bode for the 3 hours that he was on the bus:

Bode got picked up from our house, he is first. The bus driver then made the rounds and picked up all the kids. The driver drives to the school. All the kids get out of the bus. Bode stays on. Bus driver does not walk the bus therefore he does not see Bode on the bus. I am not sure if Bode had fallen asleep or what, but Bode did not get of the bus. The driver then says that he went to the transportation garage, ate lunch and read. The time came for the drivers next pickup and that is when he/she realizes that Bode is still on the bus. The driver freaks out, brings Bode home, makes up a story and leaves.

Was Bode alone on the bus for some of that time?

We are not sure, but we are guaranteeing that he was. Bode probably did fall asleep for the first 45 minutes, but for the next 2 hours 15 minutes he had to have been awake. And if he was awake, the bus driver would have noticed him. But since he was alone on the bus, nobody noticed him. This leads to so many more what if's, that we just can't even go there....we are so glad that he is safe.

Is Bode okay?

Well, besides the traumatizing effect of being on a bus for 3 hours, he is okay. We feel very strong that it was a BIG mistake and the driver did not handle the situation like they should have. Bode seemed fine when he got home, just a little dirty from all of the dust on the bus and everything checked out okay at the doctor. The fact that he did not want to get on that bus for at least 2 weeks was a little difficult. I felt as if I shouldn't be sending him on the bus again. But again, he will be riding the bus for a long time and it is something we have to get use to.

What happened to the driver?

I am not sure, I know that he/she is still driving. I was running about 1 1/2 months ago and there was a bus pulled over to the side of the road (6:15 am) and I looked up and it was the driver. My heart started pounding and I felt all the emotions that I felt on that day. This was the first time I had see the driver since this all happened. So yes, I believe they still have a job, which I am glad for. I don't want anyone loosing their job during these times, but I sure hope that he/she is not driving special needs kids that cannot communicate.

Did he get a new bus driver?

YES! That is the one request we had. We did get a new bus driver and they are amazing! We love them and we love the driver that brings him home. I feel very comfortable putting my son on the bus with them. He is now to the point where he loves (well most of the time) to get on the bus and go to school. Happy times!

So that is my crazy story, not one that I enjoyed one bit! But like I said before, we know Bode was okay and it could have been much worse, so we are grateful for that. The things that Bode puts us through and the experiences we have with him I guess they make us stronger people. The long nights, the early mornings, the making quesadilla after quesadilla, the taking him to the potty, the screaming, the stubbornness, the language barrier, the messes, etc, etc...don't even match to the huge smile, the giggles, the dancing, the loves, the kisses, the snuggling, the "No's", the sweet little hands, the singing, the playing and all the joys he brings to our family. There are days, probably at least one or two a week, that I just say..."Do I have to do it, I can't do it today!" And then he will do that little something that tells me it is all worth it!

December Update

It is the middle of December and I have not posted anything about our fun Christmas Chain activities...reason being...we really have not done any. Ba-Humbug! I was discussing last night with my sister that sometimes we try to fit so much in that it seems to be a bit overwhelming, I have decided that I am overwhelmed and that is why not a lot has gone on here. But a few things have. Kind of. Here is a recap:

First, I thought I would take us back to November for a little Thanksgiving fun. The whole Van Wagoner side gathered at Stacy's for Thanksgiving dinner. We are almost outgrowing Stacy's house, we have become so big! Her and Shawn our fabulous for letting us come and invade her home, paint her bathroom with finger nail polish, get wood stain all over her wood kitchen floors and steal Buzz and Woody while we are at it. :)

The Catmull kids made enough place seating tags for everyone, that is 20 something tags...they were busy.

Stacy and mom had the table set beautifully...

Peiton was in a good mood for most of the time...shocking!

The whole crew

After dinner, laziness and crafts, we decorated the gingerbread houses. Ours did not win, am I surprised? No. But it was really weird, Corey's gingerbread house had like 30 votes, more than what was possible. I would have to say, Casey and Rachelle's was once again the cutest, but then Cru isn't old enough to decorate a tree yet. Just wait. :)

On to December we go...

*We did the Elf on the Shelf, which Peiton is still extremely scared of the Elf. Crazy girl.

*We read The Last Straw. This is a tradition that I had growing up and we have continued to do it in our family. We have been doing it for over a week now, and I think there are 6 pieces of straw in the manger. YES, I know, we are really good at doing things for others. I also decided that we are not going to draw names, just when you do something nice for somebody, put a piece of straw in, this will make my job much easier, since I am doing all the work for Bode and Peiton too.

* We (Coop and I) went to the Neighborhood Christmas Party. It was fun to sit and chat with good neighbors.

*Make Christmas suckers. Didn't happen.

*Read Christmas story. Check!

*Van Wagoner adult outing-Happened, was a lot of fun. We went to dinner at Spaghetti Mama's and went and saw the new Narnia. I have never seen Narnia, although Bode watches it quite often, so I get bits and pieces of it. I am not sure if I am a fan or not, kind of a little weird for me, the talking animals, the mouse that drops some weirdo lines, but it is deep, there is a cool meaning behind it. Maybe I should get it a try from the beginning.

*Johnson Family Christmas party-I heard it was fabulous and lots of fun, but Coop and I didn't make it. Coop woke up with a tummy ache, etc, etc..I spent the day helping him throw up, scratching his back, getting him medicine and 7-up (the cure to any upset stomach ;) and etc, etc...Collin took Bode and Peiton and they had a great time, that is until Santa showed up and believe it or not, Peiton freaked. Since I wasn't there, there aren't any pictures to show. I was bummed that I could make it, and I think Coop was a little more bummed than me.

*Temple Square-That is suppose to happen tonight, not happening. Cooper is still sick so we will not be making our appearance. Dang flu virus!

So that is the excitement of our December thus far...pretty exciting right? I will keep you posted on anything else exciting that has happened.

Let the fun begin!

December is here... crazy I know, but I guess I am going to have to just accept it. Not ready for Christmas, desperately need the Christmas spirit and I am hoping it will start with the traditional Christmas Chain or maybe Britney Spears "All I Want for Christmas" song...can't seem to get sick of that one.

Well we haven't really made the chain yet, that was last nights activity, but still didn't happen. Although we did kick off December 1st by reading "Elf on the Shelf" we brought Flippy back from the dead. He is back roaming our home in the middle of the night, and watching over the children as they do wrong and right...I am so a poet. :) There is just one flaw...we pulled Flippy out of the box and Peiton is extremely scared of him! She screams and I mean screaming and crying. So now Flippy hides in the best places so only Cooper can find him...thanks Coop for being a good sport. :)

Now that you look at the little elf, he can be a little scary...right? Can't wait until it is time for Peiton to sit on Santa's lap. I have a feeling I know how that will turn out. :)

Student of the Month

I have ever mentioned that my Cooper is super sweet, awesome and just an all-around good kid! Well, he is. This month he was chosen to be the Student of the Month out of his class. Each teacher in the school, picks a student to be the Student of the Month out of their class. Each month they have a different value, this month it was Integrity. I think his teacher made a pretty good choice.

Here is Coop getting his award. Doesn't he look so excited to get it? This picture just doesn't show how excited he really was. :)

I am so proud of Cooper and the integrity he shows. He is very honest and always tries his best to make the right choice. Good job Cooper, I am super proud of you!

Bode turns 6!

A couple weeks ago, we celebrated Bode's 6th birthday...6! Holy cow! I can't believe he is 6!

I have never had a birthday party for Bode with friends, etc...I never thought he would like it or didn't understand that when you have a birthday you have a big party with all of your friends. Or maybe it is that he really didn't have anyone that he would want to invite to a party. Well the last year he really started liking his cousins, Coop's friends, basically older kids. He loved to be with them and play with them. And he was getting a little better with kids his age as well.

I decided that I was going to throw him his very first friend birthday party! Well because he had never had a party before, I went a little overboard and invited about 20 something kids, yes 20 something. Almost half of them were cousins and then a few were Coop's friends, and then some of the friends that are his age. I really wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, Bode doesn't really like crowds too much, and this was going to be a crowd.

I decided that we would do a Toy Story party, Bode loves Buzz and Woody!

We made the invitations that Bode absolutely loved! He carried it around for a couple days and he hand delivered each one (the walking distance ones).

If you notice on the bottom of the invitation, there is a disclaimer...I was trying to be silly, but I guess a little serious too. I wanted Bode to have all the attention, and I thought this may keep him in the room for a little longer than 20 minutes...it worked, kind of. :)

The kids arrived and Bode was having a blast with all of them downstairs. More and more came and he was still pretty good. We started to play games and he did pretty good, until he decided, "Whatever...I am going to my room and watching my own movie all by myself..it is my birthday, I will do what I want top." And that is what happened. Bode marched himself upstairs and turned on a movie and chilled. I think the thought of coming downstairs was a little terrifying at this point.

The party took place at Pizza Planet, so were were going to have pizza. Try feeding 23 hungry kids pizza...well it is possible if you have some help. Thanks Mom, Collin, Stacy and Hollie...I could have not done it without you! The kiddos were fabulous and Bode ate his yummy pizza upstairs in front of his TV, just how he likes it. :)

After dinner we did presents, I thought this would get Bode to come downstairs. I sure did.

Everyone was so excited to give him their present and we was so excited to open all of them. I was so great with each present, so happy! He received so many nice things!

After the presents we did a pinata (sp??) he loved that too. Too bad that we weren't even able to get through all the kids with it not breaking, that was with only one swing per kid.

After that we came up and did cupcakes, we sang Happy Birthday to Bode, he blew out the candles and then he was outta there!

The party turned out pretty great I think, Bode was pretty good for most of it and I think he did have a pretty good time.

We are so lucky to be surrounded by so many neat people that treat Bode so well. He is like any other kid to them. I think it was my little niece Emma that told her mom, "We are so lucky to have Bode as our cousin, it is so awesome!" (something to that extent) They accept him just like he is. Drew another cousin loves Bode and loves to play with Bode. One time my sister Hollie was tending and she was talking to Bode and asking him a question, and Drew told her "Mom, Bode doesn't talk." Like duh, mom...he isn't going to answer you. I love it, he knows he isn't going to talk but that is okay. The other day I was watching him and I caught him talking to Bode saying, "Bode, can you say patience?" Not sure where patience came from but he kept repeating it hoping that Bode would respond, an me also hoping that Bode would respond. :)

But thank you to all of you that make our little Bode's life better by being a part of it and accepting him and just being his friend. We are so grateful and he is too.

Happy 6th Birthday Bode boy! We love you!

October Fun

Did October fly by? I think it did, it is probably one of my favorite months of the year and it went way to fast! Although it went fast, we still had a great time.

The Halloween festivities started out by going to the pumpkin patch with Grandma Holly and cousins. The kids were able to pick out a pumpkin to take home and of course have fun running around (Bode).

Coop deciding what pumpkin would be the best.

Peiton pushing the wheel barrel

I think Bode may have found the perfect pumpkin.

All the grandkids, minus Lexie. Notice it is always the Richards kids that are not looking at the camera.

All the kiddos with Grandma Holly

When we were almost done, Bode decided that he wanted to take every small pumpkin and put it in his wagon, he had a blast, and I had a blast putting them away. :)

The next Halloween activity was going to the Richards Halloween Party. The kids always look forward to this (so do the adults). Grandma Holly makes her yummy cheesy potato soup and always has fun things planned for the kids.

Here are the kids with the grandparents. We had a super cute Cinderella dress for Peiton to wear, she would not touch the think. She wanted to be a dragon or a "Ragon" is what she called it. I was really surprised that Bode put on the Power Ranger costume. It is usually on his terms, and this wasn't on his terms. Of course, Coop looked great in the Clown costume, perfect for him because he acts like a clown a lot of the time. :)

The whole gang

Uncle Mat and Bode

Bode tackling Daddy

We were given a Haunted Halloween gingerbread house to decorate, Cooper had a great time doing this.

At the end of the party, Grandma had her annual treasure hunt that the kids got to do to find their Halloween gift. They had to go from place to place to find the clues at the end they found a sack full of Halloween toys, treats and money.

The next activity was my Annual Witch Party, how I love the witch party. Halloween wouldn't be the same without the witch party. This year I decided not to do a road rally, which ended up really good because it was a rainy night. I am kind of burnt out with preparing the road rally's at the moment. But I think it was a little more fun because everyone was able to just be together, we weren't separated (well we were still put into teams) but we still enjoyed each other.

Bare with me with all the pictures, there are a few...we had about 40 witches this year, and it was a blast!

My cute sisters

Cute Haws

Hot stuff Jack-wee!

Stacy and Heather

Marcy, Rach, Ashley

Shanae & Emily

Raye Ann, Heidi and Lou Lou

Lou Lou and Bonnie

Tiffany

More cute sisters...Kelly, Nicky and Courtney.

Nicky won for the best dressed witch. I am lame and didn't get a full shot of her outfit, she made it herself of course and looked darling!

Jenny, Camilee, Desiree & Stephanie

Heidi and Teresa

The one and only Lou Lou! This is her 3rd year of wearing the same costume and it seems to get better every year!

Another cute sista...Rachelle

Cute sister Alisha, well that mole on her face wasn't so cute. :)

Fabulous friends...Lou Lou, Rach, Me and Marcy

Rach, Nat, Marcy

Shelley

Hot stuff Alicia and Rach

One of the games was a doughnut eating contest, I love this picture of Marcy. Although she is scarfing down a doughnut, she still looks super pretty...sorry Marcy for posting. :)

Here is poor Stacy, who won this last time, this year she just couldn't keep up. She lost her doughnut of the string and had to eat if off the ground. :)

Alisha and Lou Lou stretching to get ready for another game.

Me with my cute sisters...I decided that I really didn't like my costume this year. It was put together like 1 hour before the party and I thought I would be a rocker witch...not so cute. Although I know you all want my pleather jumper...call me and you can borrow it. :)

This is the winning team...

Jaci, Michelle, Amy and Jacki (missing Alisha)

Jaci and Michelle, my cute high school friends!

Well that was it for the Witch Party...until next year you Wacky Witches...:)

The Thursday before Halloween I decided that we should probably carve our pumpkins. We had a little Halloween party just with the fam. I bought one of those pumpkin shaped pizzas at Papa Murphy's for dinner. We then carved our pumpkins.

Cooper did his pretty much all by himself this year, he did a great job.

Bode thought this was pretty awesome! Isn't this the best smile...so stinkin cute!

This is how Peiton enjoyed the evening...who is her mother? She doesn't have any clothes on, her face is a mess and her hair looks like a tornado just went through...seriously!

After the pumpkin carving we made caramel apples...yummy!

I always seem to forget that wax paper does NOT work for caramel apples. It just sticks to the caramel so basically when you eat the apple, you are eating the wax paper as well.

Here are two of the scary pumpkins.

Hummm...not sure.

Cooper devouring his doughnut, he gets his obsession for food from me...well his obsession for junk food that is.

On Friday the kids had Halloween parades at school that we were able to go to.

Coopers was first.

Cooper in his Halloween Parade

Bode in his parade, his parade only lasted about 2 minutes. Pretty quick.

Notice he is not a Power Ranger this time. Soccer player, that is the only thing I could secretly get him into so that he was somewhat dressed up. :) He looked pretty good.

After the parade we went to his classroom for their Halloween party. It was so much fun to see how he interacted with all of the kids. He loved that we were there and actually didn't want us to leave so he ended up cutting the day short and coming home.

Later that day we went to Wheeler Farm for their Halloween activities, it was pretty fun. The Myers and Pecks joined us which made it a lot more fun. They had a corn/hay maze that the kids played in for about 30 minutes while the mommies sat and chatted.

We then went and checked out all the animals at Wheeler farm. So we came upon the cows and this is what we see, I am realizing that this picture does not do it justice. Look at the middle cow, I think he may need to be milked, not sure but just a guess. :) I sure would hate to be that cow. OUCH!

We then went on a hay ride around the farm...pretty exciting. :)

We now have the Annual Van Wagoner Halloween Party at the Catmull home. We always look forward to this too! Everyone has to come in costume and we get some pretty good ones each year. Here they all are....

Collin and I were Raggedy Ann and Andy, Collin is posing as a tough doll Andy. :) And of course Bode and Peiton wouldn't come get their picture taken.

Mom and Dad were sweet hippies and Grandma was her cute self.

Eric was Chris Farley from one of his skits on SNL and Jacki was Mrs. Swan from MAD TV.

Hollie was a plastic surgeon and Russ was her patient....Oh...lala!

Hollie made Drew this awesome robot costume, I didn't realize he was turned around in this picture so you can't see it. It was so awesome. Leave it to Haws to make a fabulous costume.

This was so CUTE! Casey and Rachelle were chefs and cute Cru was a lobster...darling!

Alisha was a witch with that nasty mole again and Corey was sick and not able to make it. :(

The Catmulls were a family of Hawks...Alta Hawks that is...go Hawks!

Bode found Kendyll's horse (that we got to take home and he sleeps with it every night) and thought it would be pretty awesome to ride.

Well the next night was Trick or treating time and lame-o me didn't take one shot! I guess by the end of October you are burnt out from taking pictures. The kids had a fun time going around the block to get some candy but then the wind and rain came which didn't make is so much fun. Home they came. It was kind of nice not to have a bunch of candy around the house.

That is the basic outline of what happened this Halloween in the Richards home.