DO YOU BELIEVE?!

So Ethan has been saying for the past month that he knows who Santa is. Really?! For some reason, given my memory has been awful lately, I think I still believed there was a Santa at age 9. No amount of Christmas movies or Christmas discussions has been able to sway or change his mind until this...

A friend of mine told me about this great website where you enter your child's information in and out pops a video of santa speaking directly to your child by name, which is pretty impressive in itself. Santa mentions where you live, mentions and shows pictures of what you have done this past year, mentions what you want most this year for Christmas and finally mentions if you've been naughty or nice. Well, Edyn's was easy. She was on the nice list. But for Ethan, we decided to try out the naughty list and see what his reaction would be. That's what you get for not believing, right?!

After school one day I picked up the kids and we headed to the hairdresser so Ethan could get a haircut. I mentioned to the kids that I had received an email for them from Santa. Since Ethan rolled his eyes I decided Edyn would get to watch hers first. Talk about a moment that melts your heart. Anyway, onto Ethan. I clicked on his email and as he watched he was a little puzzled that Santa had called him by name and had opened up his book with a picture of Ethan in it. How could this be?! Was I sensing a start of belief here? I hoped so. As Santa explained that he knew Ethan had taken a trip to Canada this past year and that he was an important part to his green zebra team Ethan was amazed that Santa even knew these things. Then a light bulb went off. Ethan started to ask me if I had found a website and had entered in all his information. What the heck, how does this kid know these things. Why can't he just BELIEVE!!! I denied it all, of course, and tried to convince him that the email was from Santa. As he continued to watch he remarked quietly "I don't know, maybe there is a Santa." Oh, oh, oh...is this working?! Then it came to the part where the elves put Ethan's report into a machine to see if he has been naughty or nice. All of a sudden the siren's go off and the elves frown. Santa reports that Ethan has been naughty this year. Ethan was not a happy camper and couldn't believe that Santa would say such a thing.

We sat in the car as he ate his burger and waited for his hair appointment. The car had been pretty silent. After about 10 minutes, Ethan threw his burger wrapper down and angrily said "I CAN'T believe I'm on the naughty list!". I immediately started laughing as I realized that for the last 10 minutes all this boy was mulling over in his head was how could he be on the naughty list. Poor boy, and I repeat, serves him right for not believing! I guess it is what it is...Ethan is growing up. Now I need to focus on damage control and make sure he doesn't ruin it for Edyn. Wish me luck!

If you are interested in seeing the kids' videos here is how you get there.

Log into the home page: www.portablenorthpole.tv/home
(sorry, I couldn't get the link to work)

EDYN'S LETTER
username: familyof4wolffs@gmail.com
pin: 9y1w

ETHAN'S LETTER
username: familyof4wolffs@gmail.com
pin: 278t

MAMA SO PROUD!!!

Mama so proud . . . Ethan scored his first touchdown today! Pretty impressive when he's one of the smallest on the team. The ball was pitched to him and the little guy just plowed over and through anything that stood in his way of the end zone. TOUCHDOWN!!! So proud of my #20!

Last April we signed Ethan up for tackle football not realizing what we were really signing ourselves up for. We were invited to the parent meeting to meet the coaches and the other boys on the team in August and WOWZERS! This team of 9 year olds practice four nights a week for two hours and then a game on Saturdays. They are worked over and over and drilled to the bone by the coaches until they get it right. We had no clue just how intense this football program was. Chad said that Ethan's team was learning plays that he didn't even learn until he was in high school where we grew up in Canada.

Ethan was pretty funny when after a week of practice he flexed his bicep and asked me if his muscles were getting bigger. Yes, Ethan may be small but he sure packs a punch when it comes to tackling. One night we showed up 30 minutes before practice ended and Coach Dean was having the boys practice their tackling skills. Each time Ethan would mow his teammate down with no problem. One particular tackle Ethan did it with such force that the poor kid running the ball had no chance. Coach pulled Ethan to the side and bent down to Ethan's height. Uh-oh, I thought Ethan was soon to get a scolding but no, the coach broke out into a yell "WHO HITS HARD?!" and Ethan echoed back "I HIT HARD" while pounding his chest with his fists. This went on for a good 20 seconds them going back and forth "WHO HITS HARD?!", "I HIT HARD!". It was pretty cute. I sure wish I had it on video. Today was game 2 for the Green Zebras and they are 2 and 0. We're on a winning streak and we hope it lasts all season!

Happy Holidays to You!

This year was exciting and nerve-wracking all at the same time as Chad opened the doors of Bright Smiles, Brilliant Dental Care in February. We are so excited for him! His office looks amazing and he has wonderful staff. It still seems so weird to us to not be students anymore. That was such a long road that we thought would never end and we keep finding ourselves pinching each other just to make sure that we aren’t dreaming.

We have really enjoyed living in a small town. It definitely is a complete opposite of what we were used to in New Jersey. We love having a back yard, a neighborhood that the kids can play in all day without Naomi constantly worrying or checking up on them, and most of all a garage! No more street cleaning tickets or cleaning snow off the car! The weather has been wonderful. Summer was hot and dry and winter was mild. Perfect!

In April, Naomi headed up to Canada with the kids for her Grandma Belle Smith’s funeral. The funeral was beautiful and it was great to be with family and be able to celebrate her grandma's life. There is just so much comfort in replaying a loved one's life and remembering all the wonderful things they did and said that touched yours. We will miss you Grandma Belle!

In June, Ethan and Edyn both had birthdays. Ethan turned 8 and Edyn turned 6. It was a special birthday for Ethan as our family headed up to Canada where Ethan was baptized in a small river at the Wolff cabin. What an experience that was. Even though it was cold that day he was quite the trooper when he waded out into the freezing water. We are so proud of him and very thankful for all our family and their support for him on such a neat day. It was definately a day that will be remembered fondly.

This time of year is always my favorite as we spend a lot of time reflecting on family, friends and most of all, our Savior. What a blessing to know that He lives and loves us. We only hope that we can be better at following in His footsteps in the year to come. We love you all and are so blessed to have you be a part of our lives in one way or another. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

* * * SNOW DAY * * *

My morning started out lovely with an automated phone call at 5:45am letting me know that school had been canceled for the day due to a lovely snow storm. I wasn't too happy about the early phone call but I knew my kids would be. Up they were at 7:30 in the morning and ready and raring to go play in the snow. Honestly, it was still dark outside! I had to laugh as I'm pretty sure I was the same way when I was that age. Ethan has seriously been outside all day. He left the house at 9am and has been playing with the neighbors building snowmen and forts and shoveling driveways. Ate a quick lunch and then right back out to play and here it is 6pm and he's still going strong out there. I think he's going to be pretty sad that it's off to school tomorrow. Here's some photos of us playing and working in the snow today.

Oh Tooth Fairy! Where are you?!

Edyn lost her 1st tooth yesterday! Well, really it's her second but this one is her first tooth that came out on it's own. Her actual first was extracted so it really doesn't count. I hope that makes sense?

This tooth had been loose for about a week now and yesterday when she came home from school she came running in the door with excitement telling me that the tooth fairy was going to be coming to our house that night. Off to bed she went that night with tooth secured snugly under her pillow, and believe me it was pretty snug under there! When she woke up to find $3 under pillow she was pretty upset because she didn't get $5. What?! If I remember correctly, I think I only got a dollar. I'm pretty sure inflation hasn't gone up that much. Anyway, I realized why she was so upset was because a toy she has been wanting is $5 from Hobby Lobby and she quickly figured it out that she didn't have enough to get it. After explaining to her that mommy had a coupon, yes-I actually said coupon, and after using it the toy would only cost $3. We now have a happy Edyn again. Ugghhhh, when I was that little, was my life as much consumed with toys as Edyn's is?!

Halloween for the Wolffs

I can't believe Halloween has come and gone! October just flew by! I didn't ever think I'd say this but I'm kind of glad it's over. It's all this past week's fault! Really, after 2 Halloween parties, carving pumpkins, making Halloween treats with the cub scouts, 2 different school harvest parties, a trip to the corn maze, a birthday party, trunk or treating, and finally the finale of trick-or-treating; all within the last week sure makes one tired! Actually, tired just isn't a strong enough word. How about exhausted?! Yup, that word is so much better. But did we have fun?! Absolutely! So here are some pictures for you to enjoy of all our different costume changes through out the week.

Family Photo Shoot

I can't even remember the last time we had family photos done. I think it was when Edyn was one. Here she is 6 years old and we finally decided it was time! When we were in Utah at my sister's, Shaneen, we talked them into taking our photos and we would take theirs. Not a bad exchange I would say.

Here's a few that we came up with. I really need to take a photoshop class or something as my photo-shopping skills are NOT that good. But they did turn out better than the original photo . . . well, at least I think so. I'm so happy that I won't be stressed at Christmas time trying to search for a family photo for our Christmas cards that usually doesn't even exist!

A Visit to Utah

It seems like the last few trips we've taken to Utah have been pretty short trips. The day we drive there, the day we spend there, and the day we drive back. That doesn't leave too much time to do very much. This last trip we went because it was my temple square mission reunion, held every 5 years, and the last one I had been to was right after I had gotten home from the mission and don't even think I'm going to tell you when that was! We thought since we were going to that we might as well stick around and try and get into the conference center for General Conference. That was a huge fail but we still were able to go to the old Tabernacle and sit on the front row and be able to watch conference on the big screen. Even though we weren't in the big conference center it was still special and we really enjoyed it. We might even make it an annual occurrence.

Church stuff aside, we were able to spend some time with Shaneen and Bryn and the kids. We headed over to Gardner Village to check out all the Halloween decorations and all the cute shops. Oh, how I would love to have a little shop over there. So here is some pictures of our little adventure with the witches!

School Pictures - A Success!

Let's admit it, school pictures are usually not the greatest when it comes to taking a nice photo of our kids. One year Ethan came home with his school photos only to find food was stuck in his teeth for his lovely smile. Another year, Ethan's teacher had buttoned up his shirt but had skipped a button so his shirt was bunched up. Edyn, well, she was a bawling mess in hers - blood shot eyes and a tear streaked face. I don't know why it is so hard for my kids to take a good school picture but it just is.

This year brings good news! I think the bad school photo plague has been broken! I couldn't have been happier with my kids photos this year (well, except for Edyn looks a little freaky in the eyes, but I'm not going to push it). Let's just hope that this trend doesn't stop short any time soon.

A Handy Hubby

A couple of weeks ago I got a phone call from Chad asking if he could pick out his birthday present early. After telling me he found an amazing deal on a saw (as if I would even know if it was a deal or not!) I hummed and hawed and then told him to go ahead and purchase it while secretly I was jumping up and down because I didn't have to figure out what to get the old boy for his birthday! Oh, how I love these kind of gifts.

Well, the birthday gift came home and didn't sit still for long. Chad immediately set up shop in one of the garages and already started on building a coffin that would hold Ethan for our Halloween cemetery set up in the front yard. I don't know how he does it but this man of mine just happened to figure out the dimensions and measurements by just staring at a blank piece of paper, happened to get right to work, and just happened to make the most amazing Halloween coffin ever! Here it is a week later and he mentions to me he's got the itch to build something else. Well, my dear, let me just go and grab my list! Have I mentioned how much I love my Handy Hubby! Go ahead, tell me you aren't drooling over this coffin!