Christmas Eve

In keeping with family tradition, the kids got to open a present on Christmas Eve. It's usually a family oriented gift like a board game or movie.

Then Leon and I send the kids off to bed so we can stuff stockings, wrap presents, and place everything "just so". We also take a few minutes to do any pre-dinner preparations.

This year I overbought for their stockings...and for future reference: books don't fit in our stockings very well. So I had to improvise.

A Christmas Story

Every year we celebrate Christmas with my side of the family at some time during the holiday season. This year we met at Mom's house a week before Christmas.

The kids pretty much fill up the table nowadays.

  

Look, quick! It's a teenager! And she almost cracked a smile!

There was a lot of cousin sillyness going on. I wish I had taken more pictures of these two.

My brother gave Joshua a Christmas Story to remember: an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle! (the movie is an all-time family favorite)

Then he took all of the boys outside and gave them shooting lessons and shared his own memories from his first bb gun. 

It made the night absolutely priceless.  One I hope the boys never forget. 

Random Holiday Fun

We have been some cookie making fools!

We made lemon sandwich cookies, sugar cookies, and gingerbread men.

While rooting around the freezer the kids found a growth of ice crystals in a container that probably reached it's maximum storage potential. The crystals sure were pretty to study, the picture really doesn't do it justice.

The boys have been learning how to make survival bracelets. 

We hope your season has been just as bright as ours has been. 

Dirty Santa Dinner Party

I love playing Dirty Santa. The game can be so much fun.

Especially when you throw in a few gag gifts for fun.

My new favorite part about dinner parties is the games.

When was the last time you've laughed so hard your belly ached?

That long? Yeah, you definitely need to get together with friends and play group board games.

Gingerbread Mini Village

The kids really wanted to do a gingerbread house this year. It's been a few years since we tackled the project, and this year I didn't get any sudden burst of free time. So I bought a Wilton mini village kit.


 

I was very pleasantly surprised by how easy this kit was to put together. 

I assembled the houses and the kids did all the decorating. 

They turned out amazing.

This was a great family project that I will most definitely do again next year. 

St. Nicholas Day

December 6 is St. Nicholas Day. When I was little we lived in Germany. My mom had us put our boots outside the night before. When we woke up, she'd have it filled with small treats.

Sometimes, I remember in time to celebrate the holiday with my kids as well. Some years the date gets away from me. Some years I'm more organized and have specific gifts for them: chocolate coins, craft supplies for them to make gifts with, and a toy to play with. Then there are years like this one, where my plans fall through (my package doesn't come in the mail on time) and I improvise.

The kids are happy, whatever the year brings.

Labor Day Weekend

We joined several other families out at Kerr Lake. There is a fantastic group camping site. The best group site I've ever seen...although the bathhouse needed some tlc.

We spent most of the time cooking, eating, fishing, and swimming. It was great!

The kids were all a bunch of fish! They spent as much time int he water as they could.

We had a great campfire with s'mores and skits.

We even went fishing at night. Matt caught a HUGE catfish! We guessed he was around 4lbs!

When I woke up that morning, Leon and some of our friends were back at their fishing poles, the kids were swimming in the lake, and there was coffee already brewing. I could seriously live happily ever after like this.

We cooked and ate some more great food.

After breakfast the kids packed up their tents and gear, then headed for the water until it was time to leave. They swam back and forth across that gully. It was all they talked about on the way home.

Mother's Day

Mostly I worked over Mother's Day weekend. Leon and the kids conspired to create this beautiful card for me and surprised me with it when I got home that morning.

Leon had the kids each make smaller more personal cards.

I just love all the detail, the personal messages from each of them. It means so much to me. It reminds me of another card they made for me a few years ago.

I'm about to "keep it real". This is what I look like when I get off from an 11 hour shift.

YIKES! Good thing Leon took the kids to church and kept them out of the house most of the day so I could get some MUCH needed sleep. In fact, I slept 10 hours straight.

HA! I bet Leon isn't expecting that I would actually post this picture.