CHRISTmas

We've had a peaceful and lazy Christmas here in Michigan! We've enjoyed the downtime and declared it "pajama day" for Christmas Eve and Christmas. Amongst all the rental homes we've lived in, this is a first with having a fireplace. Tyler has kept the fire going all weekend.
Now isn't that the life... laying by the fire and playing games on the phone!
Here's to a picture perfect Christmas with "the stockings hung by the chimney with care." I made the stockings this year. I started them back in September but really did the bulk of the sewing these last two weeks.

We enacted out the Christmas story for the first time as a little family. Sorry no pictures-- it was really thrown together and we had to play multiple parts (no extra hands for the camera!) and really it would have been quite embarrassing if seen by others. But, indeed, it was memorable!
We tracked Santa all day long on norad.org. The kids were so excited for his visit here to Michigan. Makenzie gave him lots of cookies and milk and a personalized card. Off to bed they went. We were sure this would be the year that they would be up all through the night and extra early, BUT no!!! They slept solid until 7:30 am with me rousing them out of bed!

Gavin opening his first present. He was content to play with that the whole rest of the morning and could care less about his other presents.
Gavin's loot..... He liked his stocking treats the best. YUM!! Cheetos for breakfast. M&M's for lunch. Tootsie Rolls for dinner.
So he really did touch all his toys at least once today. Plus he touched his brother and sister's toys (mostly to their dismay.)

Here is Jordan with his haul! I thoroughly enjoyed watching him today. I think he loves EVERYTHING he got for Christmas. He played hard today. I think he successfully had everything out of it's wrapping and played with before noon.

The desired lion "Pillow Pet" from Nana B. and Papa Joe!

Makenzie took in the whole holiday spirit this year and was full of celebration and excitement. She was so happy...

...especially to receive a unicorn "Pillow Pet" from Nana B. and Papa Joe as well. She asked me, "How did they know I wanted one?" (She has been saying she has wanted one for 6 months now. Mostly because her cousin has one and she saw commercials for them while at Nana B. and Papa Joe's. And it doesn't help that they can be found in almost all the stores now too!)

Tyler didn't get much under the tree this year. He decided to upgrade his phone earlier this year and get a new tv as early presents. That didn't make it very fun for me for Christmas day. I still felt guilty to not put anything under the tree for him, so I made a frame that had these pictures in it.
Gavin was being a stinker when it came to his photo shoot. I had to do several before I was happy with a picture. This one was tempting to put in, so I figured I would show you.


And.... Santa was good to me as well this year. I got a heart-rate monitor for when I workout as well as some gift cards.

And that was our holiday weekend. We wish we could have spent it with family, but I guess webcam is the next best thing. We love you all! Thank you for making our Christmas a little merrier!

December Activities

Here is a peek at what we did throughout the month.

First and foremost, we bought a real tree this year! We only decorated the top-half of it due to Gavin's grabby hands. Here's my festive kids for the season.... Jordan is saying "Ho Ho Ho" and Makenzie is so kind to put on Gavin's hat for the picture before he rips it off.

We made sugar cookies and decorated them.

Jordan thoroughly enjoyed all the sprinkles.
I'm glad he was just as excited to eat his decorated cookies, because nobody else would.

Tyler is the artistic one in the family.
(Makenzie is a close runner-up though.)
I don't know why he would spend a good 15 minutes on one cookie when it could be eaten in 15 seconds.

This picture brings back childhood memories for me.
Makenzie is laying by the heater in the morning trying to get warm.
I use to do the same thing.

Since we moved this summer, Makenzie decided to take Jordan back as a roommate.
They have some good times when it is bedtime.
Here is just one night to prove it.

We took the two older kids ice skating for the first time. It was Tyler's first time as well! They had little "walkers" the kids could use which was great. Makenzie loved it. She had two of her classmates there to chase around.

"Look, no hands!"

Jordan was NOT a fan of ice skating.
He wanted to stop after the first 10 seconds.

Luckily with Daddy's help he tolerated it for a good 30 minutes.

We were blessed with our first snow storm 2 weeks ago. It gave Makenzie a day off of school even. It's been cold enough that the snow is still here. So we've had several days playing out in the snow. I thought I got pictures of one of the days, but I guess not.

Thanksgiving Week

I took it upon myself to take more pictures this week. Life continues on while the camera sits on the shelf most of the time. So this is what's been going on.

We have a climber on our hands!
This incident was an innocent one, but there have been other times where the table had a lot of stuff left on it. Let's just say that Gavin inspires me to clean up after our meals a lot faster!

That's all folks!
I raked like crazy this past week and finished bagging leaves for the season! I raked 35 bags this week!! This doesn't count the other 30 bags that I have done throughout the last month.

I get to volunteer in Makenzie's class twice a month. I got to go in and help with their Thanksgiving Pow Wow. Are you surprised that Makenzie gave herself the Indian name of "Running Horse?"

Makenzie is really picking up on her reading skills!
I caught this moment of her reading to Gavin one morning.

To start out the Christmas season we took the kids to a Festival of Trees.

The Chipmunks were there.

Trains were there.

And Santa was there!
They were clever to put these polar bears there so the kids were enticed to stay close to Santa and actually smile for a picture.

Ha! Ha! It didn't work for Gavin though.
We tried to have Gavin join them, but that didn't work too well.
Imagine a red-faced screaming boy.

He still didn't like it too much with Daddy helping him.

Makenzie by her favorite decorated tree.

Makenzie trying to be a statue.
She is such a character at times!

I did venture out for the first time ever doing Black Friday shopping. It started at 8:00pm on Thanksgiving and lasted until 8:00 the next morning. I was frozen to the bone and am still trying to warm up. It was an adventure and we had a good team with 2 of my friends. I think for the most part we all got what we wanted.

Thanksgiving Day pictures will be coming soon.

Look who's Boss?

Gavin is learning real quick!

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves, and MORE Leaves!

I don't think I knew what we were getting ourselves into when we moved here. We have a huge yard with over 15-- yes 15!!-- huge trees on our property. We have been trying not to drown in the leaves. We've been spending many hours outside and we've enjoyed the family time. The kids have all been great helpers!

Our copper top!

We are constantly laughing with this little guy around. He is a climber now. He loves to play with his matchbox cars. I am constantly finding cars in all the rooms of the house.

Halloween

It's not even October 31st but we are practically all Halloweened out!

Here is what we had this year:
Hulk, Sleeping Beauty, and a Dragon.

Makenzie had a fun little party and parade at her school.
She was excited to see us there.

We carved the traditional pumpkins.
Makenzie loved all the goo.

Jordan not so much.
He hated the smell of the pumpkin guts and stayed clear of the pumpkins this year. It was so funny because he covered his nose for about 10 minutes.

Gavin figured out the candy thing real quick.
He sniped a handful of suckers without me knowing-- his favorite.

Do you notice all the drool on his tummy?
Click on the pic to zoom in.

So there you have it folks. Good times and now we have it for the record books and can say goodbye. BUT we surely won't be saying goodbye to all the candy just yet.... oh dear! Do I dear mention that all my kids had was candy for lunch today?!?