All I Want for Christmas (is my two front teeth)

I'm not sure what you were doing yesterday, but we certainly spent our time wisely.

Here is the product of our efforts, for your viewing pleasure:



All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth) from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

Latergrams: Christmas Edition

Half day of school means a trip to the city with my always perfectly cooperative and enthusiastic children (who would rather be chasing/scaring pigeons than having the picture taken), as you can see.#chicagoatchristmas #citysidewalks

Something caught their attention! #windowdisplays#macysonstate #marshallfield #believe

And no line at Santa Land on a Wednesday afternoon! This was the closest Sam dared to get, but no tears, which is a first for our family. Afterward, Ellis let us know that Santa "smelled like beef and cheese."#thatsmyboy #ELFquote #santaland #justlikegimbels

Last one. #equallyentranced #giantnativity#christkindlmarket 

Generic thank you card messages? Not really Henry's style. #unsupervised #outsidethebox #myhenry

He was absolutely jubilant after he vomited this morning, knowing I would finally believe that he's sick enough to stay home. Not so jubilant after the 5th time. I just thankful that he's skilled enough to use the bucket! #joysofmotherhood #sickday#toomuchinformation

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here.#amazonforthewin

Just finished all three seasons of "Call the Midwife," and I declare it to be the most perfect, beautiful TV show of the decade. We laughed and cried through the stories of birth, life, love, and death. It is humanity and real life, brought to your living room. So much more real than Downton Abbey. Ben endured the first two episodes skeptically and then loved every one after that. It's not all just about delivering babies. Men, you have to get to the third episode! #shamelessplug #callthemidwife

After being sad that no one wanted to bake with me and mourning my life with no daughters, I am grateful that at least Henry wanted to make his own boxes for some friend gifts, so we got to have craft time together tonight. He even feigned interest while I lectured him about the importance of bone folders and mitering corners. #mypoorchildren

My lunch today: the chocolate chip cookie I found in the bottom of my purse (thank you, ward Christmas party!), supplemented with caramels - the first thing I saw upon rushing in the door between class parties, the school winter show, preschool pickup, and manually lifting our thousand-pound wooden (broken) garage door. #crazyday #hustleandbustle #kindofloveit#junkfoodlunch #tistheseason

Santa training camp, our go-to Christmas entertainment for the littles. #toytesting #hohopractice #etc

Bowls of candy + kids + friends = MAGIC.#gingerbreadhouses #thisischristmas

One spouse says it's not worth the threats, nudges, and tears involved in taking a good Christmas Sunday picture after three hours of church. The other spouse thinks it's always worth it to preserve the memories and the fleeting cuteness of our children. Votes?#maritaldifferences

Does anyone have a good picture-taking joke to share? We need a handful of them. #mythreesons#bestpicture

The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud, for all to hear. #christmassingingparty#northshoretradition #magicalnight

[Ben] I caught Sam singing about the Golden Rule: "If you want someone to put peanut butter on you, put peanut butter on them first, that's what you do!"#scripturescouts

The Iverson/Severson boys happy to spend some time together! And who doesn't like Christmas trees, miniature Chicago sites, and trains? #bestfriends#botanicgarden #wonderlandexpress

What they really wanted to do was throw rocks in the water for 45 minutes. It was pretty cool because the pond had a thin layer of ice, so the rocks just bounced across the top and stayed above the water.#botanicgarden #trueboys #simplepleasures

Second card we have received this year that we have absolutely no idea who it is from. Don't recognize the names or faces at all. Too bad Sam always rips the return envelopes to shreds. Could it have been intended for the previous tenants? #oops

Not nearly as satisfying as building it was.#gingerbreaddemolition #sugarsugarsugar

Riveting lunchtime conversation about each reindeer's go-to plan when he or she needs a substitute.#santaonthemind #herecomessantaclaus #webelieve

[Ben] Just checking the "Santa Tractor" for the 100th time today to see Santa's progress on his big trip!#santatracker #hesgettingcloser#shouldwegotobedyet?

Each piece of straw represents an act of kindness performed by my boys this week. They made a soft bed for baby Jesus! #proudmom #specialnight#christmaseve2014

1. Sam thrilled with the surprise gift he and the babysitter picked out for Dad (we each opened one gift tonight). 2. Ellis putting his kindergarten skills to use with a well-penned Santa letter. #iversonchristmaseve

Nothing says Christmas morning like castle Legos in your pajamas. #samsfirstset

Santa gave everyone what they asked for! The boys concluded that they must have been REALLY nice this year. #iversonchristmas2014

Happy Boxing Day! #bestchristmaspresentforboys#punchingbagandgloves #thankyousanta

Buckling down to get the next edition of the Blurb blog+Instagram book done (2 years' worth). We decided to make it a marathon Blurb day, attempting to have one of us on the computer working on it at all times, while the other one took care of the kids and house. 13 hours in so far. We estimate 7 more to go!  #goteamwork #worthithopefully

This is happening. #newsieschicago #ellisinheaven#beyondexcited #thankyousanta

As the curtain rose, Ellis was squirming with delight. He whispered, "This is the best moment of my entire LIFE!"#dreamscometrue #santafe #newsieschicago#fournewsieboys

[Ben] Somehow Sam keeps beating me at War.#hesjustgoodatthisgame

Taking our kids back to our childhood with The Game of Life, and teaching them valuable lessons, like how going to college really pays off, and that whoever retires with the most money wins!!! 💰💰💰 I thought it was cute how desperately Ellis wanted a baby though, in spite of the fact that this game makes it very apparent that children do NOT improve your financial situation.#lifelessons #thegameoflife

Wild and crazy boys, ready to ruin your flight! #tucsonherewecome

While waiting for our plane to take off, I'm posting a picture of the singing group Ben and I participated in during the holiday season. We had such a great time singing festive music at a bunch of gigs, mostly nursing homes and holiday parties. You can see that we were the youngest members of the group, and we loved getting to know the other singers! The man on the far right was my favorite. #allvillagesingers#holidaycheer

A Christmas Message From Barack Obama

The boys have been getting a kick out of this one:

Happy Christmas!

We had a great Christmas!  I was excited that the Scotland vests from Ben's parents fit all three boys again this year.  

We enjoyed a nice, quiet Christmas Eve at home, and then a fun-filled day the next morning.  Unfortunately, my Christmas morning pictures never turn out . . . so this is what you get!  

Santa Training Camp

It was two hours before our babysitting night.  The mere thought of having 10 kids running mad in our house  (on December 18th) for 3 1/2 hours made me want to sit on the couch and hide under a blanket until it was over.  Some of you may think that I am the fun one in our relationship.  You would be wrong for sure.  I am the boring one who tries to make all child-care responsibilities as simple and painless as possible.  Ben, on the other hand, has these whimsical memories of growing up in a FUN house, and he wants to make our home a fun place to be.  Thank goodness for Ben!  He concocted this idea called "Santa Training Camp," or the "Santa-lympics."  

The kids made these necklaces and earned stickers by doing their Santa training exercises . . .

like speed cookie-eating,


"Ho Ho Ho" practice,

Santa calisthenics, singing practice,

elf toy-testing,

and chimney-squeezing practice!

Yes, I helped him pull it off, but Ben was definitely the genius behind this plan.  The kids had a great time, and best of all, they're all pretty much trained in case they should unexpectedly be asked to join Santa on his ride next year.

Merry Christmas!

It was a pretty happy day for us!  Hope you had a good one too.