Christmas

The Christmas Morning tradition at our house

is to have sweet rolls and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

Then its time to see what Santa brought:

 This year as Christmas approached,

I was surprised to find each of the kids

secretly working on homemade Christmas presents

for one another, and Mom and Dad.

Brothers making things for brothers,

Kids making things for Mom & Dad,

and wrapping them, 

and placing them under the Christmas tree.

They were SIMPLE things,

things made out of paper:

a "running shirt" and "piano" with hearts coming out of it,

and a hat and for Mom.

KC Chiefs bracelets made 

or finding something shiny for a Brother.

Making Dad "tickets" to see his favorite teams,

or making him a set of KC Chiefs football cards.

And it was those gifts that were opened first-

because the Givers couldn't wait much longer to Give

their Gifts of Thoughtfulness, Love, and Creativity!

After we opened the gifts that the kids 

had made for each other and us,

We looked at each other and said,

We would be perfectly happy if that's all there was-

just a bunch of Love, and Hugs, and Happy Tears going 'round.

Christmas "Morning" at our house,

is an all day event.

We open presents, 

we play the new games,

we do whatever we feel will make the moment last.

We take it as slow as possible,

and often don't finish opening gifts

until after noon.

We figure,

THESE are the moments and the Times,

that We live our lives for-

Christmas with our kids around us,

opening presents.

Some day we will miss these days,

and we'll be glad we got to soak them in!

{Love Christmas with this Gang}

Christmas Eve Things

We always start Christmas Eve Morning 

Going out to Breakfast with the T Family,

then we run last minute errands,

and spend the rest of the day

Making Cookies,

Watching Christmas movies,

wrapping presents,

making food for the next day,

and generally trying to keep 

the crazy Christmas Eve EXCITEMENT under control!

We spent the evening

gobbling down more yummy food with the T Family,

doing a Family Gift Exchange,

and Playing Games.

We got home just in time to hang stockings,

put out cookies for Santa,

and crawl into bed!

[and to all a Good Night]

Merry Christmas

From Our Family

To Yours.

Operation: Bring Christmas

My sister in law C is always so good

at finding Service Projects for our Family

to participate in for Christmas!

This year,

she was able to get a family

for us to Bring Christmas to.

She has such a good, sharing heart

and was very touched by the little details

that were made available to us about the family.

We got a list of things they needed and wanted,

and divided to conquer the 

Shopping and Wish Granting.

The Sunday before Christmas,

We all got together to wrap the Goods!

The next night,

we loaded up TWO car loads 

of gifts and groceries

and went to deliver them.

We carried in armloads of gifts 

and put them under a Christmas Present-less tree.

And with lots of "Merry Christmas!"s and "God Bless You"s,

we exited with tears in our eyes.

Bless that Family.

 Then we went to see some lights!

Gotta Love when neighbors ban together to 

make Light Spectators happy! 

12.15.14

{Important Mailbox Business}

Merry Christmas Reunion

In the past year,

all my sisters and their families

have moved much closer to each other,

so, we decided to get together one weekend

before Christmas and have a Merry Christmas Reunion!

Our Festive Weekend Looked Like this:

Operation: Fill the Bag

We made sack lunches and filled them with goodies

and took them to the homeless. 

They were gone in a Flash

to very Thankful people.

We made cutout snowflakes

and went to a little nursing home,

and sang songs 

and shared our snowflakes with the residents.

They must have been really desperate from some

Christmas Entertainment,

because they then escorted us to a different

wing of the care home,

and asked us to sing again.

We did, gladly.

We All sang- Grandma, Grandpa,

Aunts, Uncles, Cousins-

all of us,

from the oldest to the youngest.

Which is good,

because sometimes

I had such a lump in my throat,

I couldn't get any words out,

and as I looked at the faces of my sisters,

and saw tears running down their cheeks,

I knew they felt the same way.

Our group was far from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir,

but to see the faces of the residents as we sang to them

and as they loved seeing the kids,

and how grateful they were,

it was just so touching.

One Senior Lady,

started singing with us,

and lead us in parts of singing we hadn't 

practiced, but we followed right along, 

without missing a beat!-

(That was probably the funniest and best part ever!)

They encored us,

and we finished with a most rousing version

of Jingle Bells!

Truly Tears in everyone's eyes at the end of that!

Probably the BEST Part of the whole weekend, right there.

When we got back to the house,

We had a Cousins Gift Exchange, 

Cookie Decorating

 And Later in the Evening,

a trip to Temple Square to see the Lights

To finish the day,

We had a Christmas Buffet

that we all worked to put together,

and filled the whole kitchen with 

Festive Food Galore!

And as the kids all settled in to sleep,

Grandma told Christmas stories,

and stories from her Family History.

It was a Wonderful, Wonderful Weekend!

Definitely a Tradition to start Rolling! 

We LOVED having Everyone here!

Once There was a Snowman

12.11.14

That time the Kids made Dad 

into a Snowman

Lickety-Split.

Boom.

12.09.14

We spent the evening

watching Disney's 

"A Christmas Carol"

and wrapping presents for the Cousins.

Dinner is Served

6th Grader had to Prepare a 3 item meal for his family for school, 

type a cookbook to go with it,

document our experience eating it,

and take pictures.

He told me he didn't want 

any healthy suggestions, or substitutions from Me.

So I let him 

pick what he wanted

and 

make me a grocery list.

After school,

he spent 2 hours cheerfully making dinner,

with mild supervision from Me.

Here's what he came up with.

An Italian Sub Sandwich

His own Sunrise Smoothie Creation

and

Chocolate Chip Cookies.

It all tasted Great!

And we said lots of Wonderful things

to help him to accurately document 

our eating pleasure! 

Maybe he should cook dinner every night?

Santa's Got a Brand New Bag

12.08.14

Spent an Evening with the C Family and the B Family

Making Lunches, Filling the Bag, Feeding the Homeless.

Always Worth It.

Kick Off to Christmas!

We had our 4th Annual

"Kick Off to Christmas!"

A weekend were We spend the time

Christmas Shopping,

Seeing Movies,

and

Eating Garbage! 

Christmas, Here We Come!

Light the Night

Our City Hosts a Night of Lights,

Hayrides, Ice Skating,

Free Hot Chocolate and Cookies,

Candy Sculptures,

Gingerbread Houses,

and Santa!

This was our first year going,

but I think we have a new tradition!

Someone's Been Busy

Putting Christmas Presents 

under our Tree.

[It's the 7yr old!]

Notice the correct use of the 's 

to show who it belongs to

O Christmas Tree!

I LOVE that My Christmas Tree 

is Smothered from Top to Bottom

with Pictures of our Family,

and our Special Moments and Memories.

Our Tree tells the story of Us.

11.29.14

It's become our Post Thanksgiving Tradition

to make this stop on our return trip home

from Thanksgiving!

Its a drive through light display,

and there's hot chocolate, food and Santa.

Does it get any more Holiday-y?

T-Day

We always Travel across state lines
to my Parents' house for Thanksgiving!

And on T-day we start our early morning 

with some Pie-Earning

by Turkey Trotting!

Sometimes,

the Best time at a Race has nothing to do with Finish Time!

Love running with My Family!

When we got back to the site of the Feasting,

Grandma had her traditional Turkey making 

for the Grandkids!

And Much later in the Day,

after the Feast of Thanksgiving and naps

have been had 

My Mom always pulls out Gingerbread Houses

for the Grandkids to Decorate!

And let me just clarify something,

My Mom MAKES these houses from scratch-

no kits.

She mixes the dough,

bakes them, cuts them, assembles them with icing

and has them all ready to decorate before we get there.

She goes totally out of her way

and makes one for Each Family!

She's Amazing.

In the Days after Thanksgiving-

while all the family is still there,

the lady-folk make homemade chocolates

and cry while we watch

"It's a Wonderful Life"

And the Men-folk and Boys

Play lots of rounds of Backyard Football

Always a Good Time being Thankful!

Tickling the Ivories

One day at church, my husband and I happen to both be in the same class together, 

and there was no one who could play the piano for our songs. 

I haven't touched a piano in a very long time, but thought I'd give it a whirl, and volunteered. 

Much to my complete surprise, my piano playing wasn't utterly awful. 

When I took my seat, my husband said, 

"Lets get you a piano, I would love that for you."

He spent the next days scouring the classifieds to find a piano for me. 

We found this one for sale not even a mile away, 

and when we went to check it out- it was so completely PERFECT to me. 

We got it home and in the house 

(not an easy task at all, if you've ever moved a piano!) 

and we put it in our downstairs library area. 

I'm self-taught, so my playing isn't precisely right,

but my family seems to not be too picky.

I play at bedtime as the kids are settling into bed,

and they'll request their favorites and clap after each song,

until they fall asleep. 

I've really loved having a beautiful piano to play

and learn new songs or relearn old songs on-

It lifts my spirits to be playing the piano again.

I'm a Lucky Girl with a Thoughtful Husband. 

Jack-o-Lanterns

10.31.14

Pumpkin Carving Time

[Skeleton, KC Chiefs, and a Zombie]

Spooky Things

Halloween Breakfast:

Witches Brew Smoothie

and Zombie Stew Cream of Wheat

{Ooooooooo}

               

                The kids couldn't do Blood and Gore for School 

so they came up with these beauties:

   A Vampire, a Hippie and a Soccer Star

Then at night they got to let their Spooky Selves Shine!

Mom activities

My kids attend a year-round school,
so they attend school, year round, but have
3 week breaks about every 9 weeks.
We actually LOVE it!

While my kids were "Off-Track" in October,

I tried to have a fun "Mom Activity"

for Me and Them to do together Everyday.

I've been doing this for the last year,

when ever they have been off-track,

and they really enjoy it, and so do I!

Here is a peak of what we did in October:

Picked out Grody Gourds

Made Fall Banners

Took Treats to Neighbors

Had a "Wear Orange" Day

Made Carmel Apples

Made "Witches Hats"

Read Spooky Stories

Had a "Poet's Society"- they each memorized a  

Fall/Halloween poem to share with us

A Movie with Popcorn

and

An Afternoon of Witches 

One night,

Dad Decided to plan the Activity for the Boys

and He planned something that 

was much Cooler than any of My Mom Activities,

in that it involved getting Messy!

A look-for-the-prizes-in-the-cool-whip-with-your-face-kind-of-activity!

And they Loved it, of course!

On our Last Day of Off-Track,

I did something the Boys had been looking forward to

for weeks-

They got the money they had been earning and saving,

and we all rode our bikes down about 

a mile and a half (on sidewalks)

to a Convenience Store,

and I let them each use $2 to pick out a treat or drink

that they wanted to buy.

(I was very good,

and said nothing about sugar content, 

or healthy vs unhealthy choices,

just smiled and let them have a little fun)

They had to use their math and buying skills

and the clerk was very patient with them,

even though they slowed down the line.

I LOVED doing this Outing with them.

It was a BEAUTIFUL Fall afternoon,

the leaves were falling gently here and there,

they were kind and patient with each other,

and

I had this feeling,

that THIS is what I had hoped Motherhood 

would be like when I was a little girl,

and had wanted to be a Mom.

I don't know how to explain it-

My heart was full and Happy and it seemed Magical.

I never want to forget this afternoon.

Birthday Girl

Pretty Much the Perfect Birthday for Me
looks like this:

Early Morning Run

[Earning that "Extra Frosting" Badge from my Running app]

Breakfast in Bed,

Money for new Running Shoes,

a New Cookbook,

Sushi,

and Chocolate Cake

A couple of very sweet gifts:

7 yr old wrapped a handful of pennies for me-

in christmas paper, all by himself.

And a Bundle of Red Roses from my sweet Husband and Boys.

It was a Wonderful Day

10.19.14

Fall Family Hike

Pumpkin patch

My Mom Hosts
a Fall Festival for all our Family
every October at her house,
and along with hot dog roasts and hot chocolate,
and lots of cousins to play with,
We always make a trip to a local Pumpkin Patch.

And it is a Pumpkin Patch that is stocked with all locally

grown pumpkins and squash like you wouldn't believe-

of all kinds and varieties!

Annnndd,

it looks like I only got pics of One of My Pumpkins,

at the Pumpkin Patch.

Cute, though,

real cute.

You've Had a Birthday!

Look Who's 7!

The Birthday Boy got Breakfast in Bed

with Presents,

including a new soccer ball-

so we had a game of backyard soccer

to test it out.

And who won?

The Birthday Boy of course!

On the first day of being 7,

he said he could tell that he was taller,

liked more food,

had more muscles,

could kick farther,

and was much more smarter.

Turning 7

changes a person, 

I tell ya.

Soccer Mom Stripes

Can You tell how we've been spending our Saturdays

and weeknights?

Dad Coaches the Older Boys' Team.

And I Hop from Field to Field to Root for Them all!

I LOVE watching them Play-

My Mom Heart 

just swells with Love and Pride for them!