Yes, my boys are definitely of the 21st century! They both know YouTube by name and have their favorite clips that we have to watch, like clockwork, daily, in the same order, while doing the same silly little dances, anticipating the end of each clip moments before the last note, only to then promptly request a “Replay” or onto the next clip! So sad, I know. Their current favorites are maddeningly inane, though admittedly catchy and you’ll find yourself singing them for the rest of the day (week? month? beyond?). Oh, and endless thank-you’s (NOT) to Auntie Heather for sharing them with us! Enjoy!
Monthly Archive for December, 2008
Here’s the Christmas card that we sent out this year. I designed the card using one of the many templates offered by Heritage Makers as my starting point. The photos were taken by Christy Andrea, a friend of mine from the local MOMS club. Enjoy!
OK, so I have some e’splaining to do! It appears this site has been “post free” since just before Halloween - tsk tsk! So hang on tight, here’s the holiday season review!
Many thanks to the Clough clan for the hand-me-down Halloween costumes again this year. We received two costumes, one monkey and one pirate. Ayden was originally quite sure that he needed to be the monkey… after all, it came with a “banana” accessory! Owen looked entirely adorable in the pirate garb, though the hat kept falling down over his eyes. We did manage to teach him to say “Aaaargh!”, like a pirate though - very cute! However, since we received the costumes in the middle of October, the novelty of the monkey (and the fact that it was actually a size or two too small!) started to wear off, and Ayden decreed that they would swap costumes. And so, come Halloween, we actually had Ayden the pirate and Owen the monkey. It worked out beautifully 
Late October and early November also found us trying to keep up with the massive volume of leaves that were falling all around our house. Trees definitely have their pluses on a property - aesthetic, privacy, SHADE, climbing structures, bird-feeder hangers, fruit, etc - but they also have their minuses, LEAVES being the main one. It was a nearly impossible task, but the boys had fun “helping” me, each with miniature rake in hand
Let’s see… with the sale of the duplex in Troutdale, we found that we actually had TIME to spend on our OWN HOUSE on the weekends, rather than expending countless hours and dollars on someone else’s home! Ayden insisted that we begin our home improvement efforts in his room, as he’d been requesting for some time that we paint his walls blue. So not only did he get blue walls, but he also got a ceiling fan installed (no easy feat, since there wasn’t a light fixture in the middle of the room where we wanted the fan - it sure is nice having a handy and capable husband!). Ayden has since decreed that Owen wants green walls. And so it will be.
Ayden has kept our schedule very full with his swimming lessons twice weekly, and variety sports class and pre-school-syle classes on Tuesdays. He’s had a blast doing all the craft projects and proudly presenting them to us once they’re done. The icing on the cake is that when we get home, he then gets to choose where in the house the project will hang. Many of them have ended up in Owen’s room… he’s very sweet to his little brother (or Ayden’s trying to tell us something about the decor in Owen’s room!).
The second weekend in November, between rainshowers, a friend of mine from the MOMS Club came to the house to snap some candid family photos for us to use for our Christmas card. We were SO happy with how the photos turned out! She really managed to capture everyone’s personalities and some sweet family moments. Thank you Christy!!! :-) In late November, the California contigent of our family arrived for Thanksgiving! We knew that my Nanna and Grandee were coming for the holiday, but it wasn’t until relatively last minute that we learned we would finally have ALL of my mom’s side of the family together for the Thanksgiving holiday - I can’ t even remember the last time that happened. It was a wonderful, though far too short, vist with the family. We spent a good portion of the time scanning old family photos to have them digitally archived for safekeeping, and also to put to good use in some Heritage Makers storybooks that we’ll be collaborating on.
It’s hard to believe that nearly a year has passed since Owen’s surgery at Legacy Emanuel Hospital - but having been a patient there for “more than 5 days” scored us tickets to the hospital’s annual Christmas party. The party was complete with live music, face-painting, SANTA CLAUS, raffles for presents, unlimited Krispy Kreme doughnuts and other munchies, arts and crafts, and it was staffed by the friendly faces of the hospital that we got to know during our stay (and I have since gotten to know better as a member of the Family Centered Care Committee that I have participated in monthly since Owen’s stay). This was the first official “talk with Santa” for either of the boys and Ayden took it very seriously, asking specifically for a crane and an excavator that “scrapes up the road”. Lucky for him, Santa knew exactly what he was talking about, and both items appeared under our Christmas tree this year 
As I’m sure most everyone has heard, northwest Oregon was hit with fairly unprecedented snow over the past two weeks - bringing most Christmas preparations and festivities to a grinding halt. Ayden’s last swimming, sports and pre-school classes were all cancelled - and he was supposed to get his certificates :-( We also had countless MOMS Club events and activities planned that all had to be scrapped due to the impassability of ALL the roads in the metro area. The silver lining to this cloud was that it really allowed us to slow down and have a relatively relaxed Christmas. No last minute paniced shopping trips, no masses of presents to wrap into the wee hours of the morning, no babysitters or evenings away from home for holiday parties, and no travelling around from home to home at Christmas to make sure we saw everyone in the family. Instead, we just stayed home and enjoyed the day and eachother. It was wonderful. On Christmas morning, my mom, Heather and family, and Stuart and Chelsea arrived (all with very little in tow, since no-one had had a chance to shop due to the weather - and yet, nobody missed the presents!) to spend a lovely day with us, complete with a delicious Christmas dinner, and Chelsea’s famous white chocolate cheesecake! I have to say that Ayden did ask after his Grandma Kelly and wondered why we didn’t get to see her… though I think we’ll be doing a couple of belated Christmas get-togethers with the family members we missed on Christmas day in the days/weeks to come. I have many photos of the huge snowfall we had here, as well as lots of Christmas shots which I’ll put in a gallery of their own - but not tonight. Check back soon. For now, that’s the holiday wrap up, wrapped up!
