Merry Christmas - 2012

Merry Christmas to all! It was a beautiful Christmas Eve and such great weather for Christmas Day as well, brisk and sunny! :) We had a great time (even if the boys are still working on the whole being grateful thing).

We had two great days. On Christmas Eve we enjoyed dinner with G&G Driggs at Don Jose's, we were part of the Christmas nativity and program at Great Grandma's house, we “enjoyed” a super late night getting stuff ready for Santa and Christmas, lots of fun with the boys on Chrismtas morning, breakfast and presents at G&G Marcroft's and later dinner at the Repetti's with the Driggs side of the family! We missed seeing the Fongs and the Keens this year (they’re in Utah) but it just means that the celebration will be continued later!

Christmas is just a magical time of year. I felt really spoiled yesterday and got some really nice things! The boys were really spoiled by family and friends too and are haven’t stopped playing since they got their presents and have been seen lugging their bags of goodies and toys.

A few pictures from Christmas 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I haven’t gotten around to sending Christmas cards yet (well, I did send out four, and I might try getting a few more out this week, but if you got one of those four you’re lucky, or maybe you were just the first one to send me a card this year!) LOL. I’ll paste my silly letter in here to read as well as the photo from the card!

Merry Christmas from the Marcroft Family! Thanks for loving us enough to follow us on this journey of life!

Merry Christmas from the Marcrofts! Christmas 2012

We might actually get some Christmas cards sent this year! Woo hoo for Mom! Things are going well this year. Here is a little about each of the members of our family!

Thaddeus (aka Daddy) is in his final year at Long Beach State University! He has a little more than a semester left until he finishes his accounting degree there. He is a great student and dad who takes the boys to and from school and when Mom gets home he leaves for his long afternoons/evenings at school and tries to fit studying in sometime at home with the boys (or late at night). He continues to work with the YM in the church as Scoutmaster and goes on monthly outings with them.

Allison (aka Mommy) is still busy teaching at Cerritos High School which is about 3 miles from home. She also has two “tech periods” this year in the which she does tech support for the teachers and admin and maintains the school website. Life is busy! When she gets home from school she changes hats to her mom hat, kisses Dad on the way out to school and starts to play with, clean up after and fix food for four crazy boys! She is also loving her calling in the Stake Primary and loves to substitute teach in primary too! When she has time she tries to keep her blog updated so if you want to read about our crazy adventures and silly stories head over to  http://marcroftfam.blogspot.com

Samuel (age 7) is in first grade and is loving it. He doesn’t like HW but he loves school. He enjoys getting ice off the top of the trailer in the morning (we’ve had some cold mornings recently) and drawing (sharks, cheetahs, angry birds, cars, helicopters, planes and tanks). He likes to read and ride his bike and play outside in the dirt and mud! He is (usually) a good big brother and especially loves to take care of baby Benjamin!

Nathan (age 5) is in Transitional Kindergarten (formerly called Preppy K) which is a two year kindergarten program for late year birthdays and will be in “normal” kindergarten next year. He loves school and especially his teacher, Mrs. MacInnis, and HW (he just added). He enjoys doing homework, practicing his letters, riding his bike with his big brother Samuel, and helping Mom in the kitchen.

Danny boy (age 3) is in love with trains, helicopters and BALLOONS! He (almost always) has a bag full of trains/cars/helicopters and will settle for a picture of a balloon if a real one is not available. He loves to play with his little brother Benny boy when the big boys are at school. He also likes to ride his bike with the big boys!

Benjamin (13 months) is walking all over everywhere and into everything (especially the dishwasher!) He loves his brothers and used to only giggle for them which made Mom and Dad very jealous! He is very happy and his big Marcroft smile and bright blue eyes get a lot of attention when we’re out! He loves his grandparents on both sides and loves to hug them and smother them with kisses.

Thank you for being part of our lives and remember that even though we’re not good at keeping in touch we always remember and think of you! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love, The Marcrofts (Thaddeus, Allison, Samuel, Nathanael, Daniel and Benjamin)

Disneyland: A Magical Night

I forgot to mention the best part of last night's adventure at Disneyland!
I always try to bring snacks with us so that it doesn't cost us anything but somehow most of the snacks didn't make it into the backpack and the boys were really hungry! When we got off the Storybook Boat Ride I smelled fresh popcorn and wandered over to see how much it was--I saw it was only $4 so I thought, okay, we can do this, they can share one and it won't cost us too much. We waited patiently in line (well, I waited and the boys ran up to the front of the line and watched the popcorn up close; the people in front of me were nice although after a few minutes they did ask where their mom was and luckily I was close by!)
It was almost our turn but we had to wait for some more popcorn to be popped. Sammy was busy reading and explaining to the boys the different sizes: the small, $4, the medium with a plastic souvenir cup, $6 and then the oohs and ahhs came when they saw the deluxe Santa Mickey, but when Sammy said the price, $12, they all agreed it was a lot of money and sighed. I think that they were just happy that we were even getting popcorn! :)
The new round of popcorn finally finished popping and the lady in front of us ordered a medium popcorn and a deluxe Mickey Mouse filled with popcorn and the boys were so excited for her! Then, she turned and spoke to them:
I know that you shouldn’t take food from strangers but since your mom is here maybe you can ask her if it’s okay for you to have this (and she handed them a Santa Mickey full of hot, delicious popcorn).
I stammered and said “yes, of course” and she replied with “Merry Christmas” and went on to where ever she was headed. I started crying because I couldn’t believe a stranger could be so sweet. Little Danny asked me if I was sad to which I replied, “no, just really happy”. Thank you to whomever you are. You made four little boys really happy and a touched a mommy’s heart!

p.s. here are a few more pics from the night…We made cookies, saw Mrs. Claus, went on the carousel and more!

Disneyland 12-5-12 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

p.p.s They published my story on the Disney Insider Newsletter on disney.go.com. Tee hee! :D

Benjamin–Age 1

Doesn’t it seem like it was just a few months ago when I was really pregnant and then he arrived? Well, it’s been a year and he turned one this past week (and yes, I’m just now getting around to it!) :)

Here are some things about him (as this is my official journaling entry) that I’d like to remember:

• He has a great smile and smiles a lot but it is super hard to get him to laugh or giggle. He’ll hold his breath and stifle it and you might get a giggle or two out if you’re lucky!
• He loves to eat. His favorite foods are bananas, pears, spaghetti and he still loves the baby food pureed veggies and oatmeal!
• He is quite stubborn and will throw a fit when he doesn’t get his way or if you take something away from him (that he shouldn’t have!) :(
• He is quite tall (off the charts like his brothers) and is almost tall enough to go on some of the rides with height requirements with Disneyland! He is long-waisted though (like his mom) so the shirts are too short and the pants are too long! :)
• He is the “favorite” brother right now and can bring a smile to a grumpy, tired Danny, a hurt Nathan or a pouty Sammy in an instant!
• Sammy says, “I think it’s cute when he walks!” He’s walking all over the place and doesn’t want to be held or stopped now that he has found freedom! He can turn around and get up and start walking without holding on to anything too.
• If he likes you he’ll try to slap at your face (ouch!) because he’s so excited!
• He’s a mama’s boy but if mom’s not around he’s happy with Daddy…
• …but he ADORES his grandmas and will leap out of mom’s arms into either of his grandmas but comes back when he’s hungry (he definitely knows the source of food!)
• He loves to sit on the ground next to Mom/Grandma and crawl on, around, by and then leap forward into my/her arms just for fun. He also loves to toss balls back and forth.
• We affectionately call him Benny, Ben, Ben-Ben, Benjamin and sometimes the kids will call him Benji. We love nicknames!
• We’re glad that you’re in our family Benjamin!
  
• 

p.s. He loved eating cake but we knew that he would!  

Sammy the “Scout”

The church doesn’t officially start their scouting program until age 8 when they enter cub scouts as wolves (they skip being Tigers) and we’ve wondered if we should put Sam into cub scouts in an outside troop. We haven’t done so but this last weekend Thad decided to bring him along on his scout outing to Point Magu in Malibu. Sam was ecstatic and jumped at the chance to go with Daddy.

Eight scouts went on the trip plus Sam and three leaders. On the way up they ate at Tommy’s and Sam enjoyed his first chili burger and chili fries! That night they set up camp and played with the fire. I found out from Thad that a few of the scouts got soaked because they forgot to put on their tent fly leaving them totally exposed during the night—ahh!  Oh, and another forgot to zip the front after going to the bathroom in the middle of the night and yes, another soaked tent!

In the morning Sam got up at 6:30 am (despite going to bed at 10:30pm), threw on his shoes and immediately started playing. Before breakfast he walked to the beach with Thaddeus and Kevin (a leader) and played in the water by himself. After that they went back and had yummy breakfast burritos, in Sam’s words “we had yummy tortillas with eggs and bacon inside of them!” About 10:30am they hiked two miles in the rain. Later the scouts played football in the sand at the beach while Sam played in the sand and caught sand crabs with Steven; he even tried to feed sand crabs to the seagulls.

Overall Sammy said that he had a great time! He can’t wait for Daddy to drag him along again! :)

Point Magu - November 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Nathan: Transitional Kindergarten :)

I had a picture or two of Nathan and I wanted to share (and document it for myself here since this is the only journal I am currently using!)

He’s doing well and loving school! He has told me that he loves school, he loves homework, and that he loves Mrs. MacInnis (his teacher!)

He seems to be doing well (still a bit wiggly in class but trying hard) but making leaps and bounds in letter writing, drawing and math!

This is one of my favorite pictures:

It shows what he is currently doing when he writes/draws. He isn’t sure what hand is best to use so he goes back and forth. Some letters with one hand, some with the other. Coloring some things with the left and then others with the right. Sometimes it is the proximity to the crayon or place that he wants to write/color and sometimes it is because the other hand is busy. Sammy is jealous that he can write with either hand (for now). His teacher assures me that he’ll pick a hand when it is time!

All in all I think that it was good placement for him! I’m glad that the school offers this class and that it will be a great starting place for his education! :)

Samism: All mushy inside…

We had just left Disney’s CA Adventure and were heading over to Disneyland for the last hour to see all of the Christmas lights. We were walking down Main Street and it was so beautiful. We had just passed a huge Douglas Fir with tons of ornaments and Sam and I were holding hands and walking and looking up at the lights, bells and beautiful decorations above us. Me, being the crying type, started to get teary eyed and Sammy quickly noticed.

Sam: Mom?
Me: I’m okay, I just love all of this; the sights and sounds of Christmas make me happy.
Sam: Oh, you mean you like the decorations and the horse poop?
Me: <Trying not to die of laughter> Yes Sam, the decorations and the horse poop make me so happy!

Oh to be a little boy.

Halloween 2012

Here is a little about our day:

At school the teachers in my building dressed up as cowgirls and a few of us gathered to take a picture!

After school we carved pumpkins…which was fun, well, besides the part where I was too lazy to get up to wash my hands after cleaning out two pumpkins and tried to cut the third with a big knife since the boys had stolen the “little safe pumpkin carving ‘knife’” and sliced my thumb open, it was a good great day. (The blood was a nice touch to the pumpkin since Danny chose Vampire Mickey! LOL!) Oh, and in true little brother fashion, Nathan picked the SAME Jack Skellington template that big brother Sammy did and wouldn’t budge, hence, the two Jack pumpkins!

        

We started the evening off by going to visit my mom (Dad was working as a Volunteer On Patrol at the City Halloween Festival) and we trick or treated around her block! I always like visiting there since so many people know me and the kids—it makes it fun! 

I forgot to mention that Danny was having a hard day and didn’t want to put a costume on (and why he’s not in the picture at the top of the page; he didn’t want to be in it!)  :(

Later we headed to the other side of town to visit G&G Marcroft and then over to Great Grandma Marcroft’s house. The kids might eventually want to do something other than just visit grandparents but it seemed to make each of their nights so it made me happy and the boys love seeing them too!

Oh, and here is a picture from the church Halloween trunk or treat that was last week…I never posted pictures, I know, terrible!

And just some good pics of each of the boys!

   

Oops..I never got a really good picture of him! Maybe I’ll have to stick him in it again and take one… :)