New Year and New Towels

Ross: All right, Monica categorizes her towels. How many categories are there?
Joey: Everyday use.
Chandler: Fancy.
Joey: Guest.
Chandler: Fancy guest.
Ross: Two seconds...
Joey: Uh, eleven!
Ross: 11. Unbelievable. 11 is correct.

Reducing the count of towel categories in the Kartchner household, is one of my many 2010 resolutions. You see, since the day we were married, at least one towel bar in every bathroom has been reserved for the "fancy" category of towels. This year marks our 10th wedding anniversary, and we have been using the same towels we were gifted on that joyous occasion ever since. Meanwhile, the "guest", "fancy guest" and "decorative" towels have remained untouched by anyone in the family, regardless of how thread barren, rough and sometimes smelly our own towels have become. We have added towel bars, towel racks and/or hooks to every bathroom, in every house we have ever lived in, to accommodate this ridiculous indulgence of mine-decorative towels with no particular function.

Matt and I chose not to give Christmas gifts to each other for the first time this year. Instead, we reserved our modest budget for the day after Christmas sales. We got a babysitter and braved the mall with one objective-new towels! Not just any towels-soft bath sheets with a high thread count. Mission accomplished! Our new plain and white, yet soft and comfortable towels, reside with the once "fancy" towels in our linen closet. Our old towels have respectfully been retired, and all towels are now candidates when any Kartchner body part needs to be dried! Our household now boasts only two categories of towels-clean and dirty! To many it may seem petty (as well as this post!), but for me it represents a larger aspiration of living a simpler life. I hope that this small change will be the catalyst behind many more important choices to live a leaner, yet more fulfilling life in 2010.

Christmas

The whole family decorates cookies anticipating Santa's arrival. Of course, in our family it soon becaomes a competitive cookie decorating challenge!

Daddy plays the cello as part of our annual Christmas program (or as my brother Steve says, "Let's just call it what it really is-the Christmas talent show!")

It was a Star Wars Christmas for Kaden. . .

Batman for Sterling. . .

and Jackson couldn't have been any happier with a vintage Jack-in-the-box (no pun intended!)

Merry Christmas!

Disneyland in December

This year our gift to our children was a family vacation to Disneyland. We allowed them to open one premeditated gift on Christmas Sunday after church (note the holiday sweaters). Each gift contained a pair of Disney Christmas pajamas and a note that read, "Put on your new pajamas and pack your suitcase because we are going to Disneyland!"

We are Magic Kingdom veterans at this point. I am embarrassed to say that I am not even sure how many times my children have visited the happiest place on earth. But no matter how many Lunchables, Uncrustables, and Capri-suns we pack in-$3.50 becomes a reasonable price to pay for a Churro the second we walk into the park. Name a ride and I can tell you which overpriced portion of the "Disney diet" we will be partaking of. Pirates-chocolate covered frozen banana. Small World-Mickey shaped salted pretzel. Jungle Cruise-pineapple whip. Bugs life-cotton candy. . .

My three little rascals waiting in line for the chance to spot Nemo and Dori froma submarine window.

What I hate about taking family pictures. . .

1. The best picture of me is always the worst for everyone else (above). It's about time I got to use a rejected picture that I secretly like!

2. Convincing three boys to get ready- please brush your teeth before you put your sweater on, yes you have to wear a sweater, please wipe your nose but not on your shirt, you're thirsty? no red punch, you're hungry? no crumbs and no chocolate anything, now please just sit still until it's time to go. . .

3. Convincing three boys to simultaneuously behave: Jackson look over here, Kaden smile-not that big-keep your eyes open, Jackson, Jack-son over here, Sterling you too, Jaaaack-sonnnnn, Kaden Sterling you're not smiling anymore-you just have to KEEP SMILING, JACKSON DALE. . .

4. An extremely photogenic husband that looks great no matter if he is trying or frustrated or tired. He is tan even though it is the month of December!

5. All of the above and a sitting fee doesn't guarantee that you are going to get something that is usable, or displayable, or that you even kind of like, even a little bit.
And sometimes, because your sister-in-law was willing to take 200 shots, you get just one that you LOVE. If you have ever stood behind me in line at the post office, ate beside me in a sit-down restaurant, or sat in back of me in church-then you must know that the civility that this picture captures, is a miracle! Thank you Sara for the best Christmas present ever.

Thanksiving Chicken?

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with tons of family and tons of food. My Aunt Gaby, who is gracious host, braved having our entire family together for the big dinner. I love to go to my Aunt and Uncle's house for the company, spacious home and beautiful yard. Sterling, however, loves the Chandler's house because they have their own chickens (among cows and turkeys and. . .). John and Gaby's five-year-old son, Jacob, has so kindly taken Sterling under his wing (no pun intended) to tutor my city slicker about fine country living (at it's best-right Gaby?). This curriculum includes how to properly catch a chicken, and regardless that Sterling is my son-he makes a pretty good study!

If you have the patience to watch a sideways video-this is pretty funny.