CHRISTMAS 2004

Merry Christmas from the Prices!!!

Well the kids all broke into the locked closet and hauled out their Christmas presents early this year - while we were out putting the Christmas lights up. So the magic of Christmas was just a bit dimmer for the three banditos … They seemed genuinely remorseful when they got sent to their room after having to put everything away again; but not ten minutes later when I finished up outside, I came back in and caught them again, red-handed, right back at it. “And thus we see how quick the children of men do forget …” This time, though, the remorse seems to have been genuine and a bit longer lasting: when we went to see Santa a week later, Jaedin still couldn’t look him in the eye. 

The rest of this year passed without any major changes for us, but here are a few highlights:

Addisen. Our self-proclaimed princess. Literally. She was seriously walking around the house the other day saying, “I’m the princess, I’m the princess…” (that means “boss” to her). But she’s also into everything her brothers are into: Legos, Hot Wheels, trains, troublemaking… And she’s certainly injury-prone; this year she became the first of our kids to get stitches when she took a fall and bit through her lower lip. Ouch!

She seems to be our best job doer, and she loves putting things away; sometimes we’ll catch her emptying the dishwasher on her own (whether or not it’s been run). She’ll change outfits as many times a day as she can get away with and comes up with some very interesting combinations. One of her favorite phrases is “lookameeeedaddeeee!” while striking a pose (her favorite is standing on her head on the couch). Our favorite Addie quote from this year: “Mommy’s a crazy driver! Aaaaaah!!!” (shouted from the car seat with her hands up like she’s on a roller coaster as we hit a speed bump.)

Cambren. Cam’s favorite part of preschool is the school bus ride. And his favorite part of the school bus ride is the part where he gets to pass by Target each day. Target, by the way, is his favorite store because they stock the Thomas trains he loves. 

Cam is our family comedian. One of his favorite things to do is to act goofy enough to get Jaedin rolling hysterically. He enjoys his special times with mom and dad. One special night, in fact, Dad broke out his prized collector’s space Legos, preserved intact since 1983 (they’re no longer intact, by the way). Cam loves to play hide and seek, but he happens to also be the worst hide and seek player ever (chooses the same hiding place EVERY time). But he loves being found every time, too! Favorite quote from this year came in response to: “not today, Cam, maybe we’ll go to Target tomorrow.” Cam’s response: “You get a sad face today daddy – hmmff” (with a turn and stomp).

Jaedin. Jaedin started Kindergarten this year. I thought I was being pretty sneaky following him from a distance the first day, but apparently he spotted me anyway; his first comment to Lindy when he got home was, “Dad followed me today, tell him not to do that anymore.” Now he keeps us on our toes with all of the handouts, notes, etc. He’s discovered that there are signs to be read everywhere, and he spells out everything he sees from the car. He loves cooking with mom and building Legos with dad, though he lets me know he can put everything together from the directions without my help now.

We were lucky enough to have had the entire year with no major issues related to his heart conditions. Jaedin’s latest interest is dinosaurs. A quote: “Can we watch the dinosaur movie tonight? It’s on at 8/7 central.” Another quote of his is further evidence that he’s soaking everything in.: “Today I want toast for part of my nutritious breakfast.”

Lindy. Lindy got to take a two-week, kid-less trip to the East Coast this fall. She took in New York, DC, Philadelphia, Amish country and more. I thought she had decided to convert, since she came home with the “Idiot’s Guide to the Amish,” which she read intently. The food from the recipes came out very, very bland, though; that, combined with apprehensions about the practice of shunning opinionated women convinced her to drop the idea shortly after returning… 

After seven years of private piano lessons, Lindy performed Chopsticks to much acclaim in front of a recital crowd of 40 while simultaneously acting as hostess of the party. Though she only made it halfway through the song, the bar was successfully lowered for the rest of the kids, and to her relief, it appeared to be intentional. The second half is already in the works for next time. Lindy is getting used to the idea of being a school-kid mom – the role really sank in when she put together our first “friends” birthday party for Jaedin and ten of his Kindergarten pals.

Krey. I got some serious dad time in while Lindy went to see some friends on the East Coast; that forced me to finally master the art of putting in ponytails for Addie (after two years of repeated failed attempts). On the last day we all made huge banners for a very welcome welcome home party at the airport.  

Music lessons have been keeping me busy; the teenagers have given me the chance to pull out of the 80’s and get a little more current on my music. Other than that, life goes on as my recurring dream of waking up to a surprise Ohio recount is beginning to fade. My embarrassing moment of the year came when I got stuck between floors in the elevator at my office. My would-be rescuer offered to pull me out through a small hatch on top; it was a bit too small for my midriff, though, so I had to wait a few hours until they finally unstuck the car and freed me in front of a gathering crowd of coworkers.