Happy New Year!

We're watching the Rocking new years eve and playing games. Food, family, and fun!

cozy

I made Toby a little blanket with the scraps of Teen 2's quilt. He loves it!

Santa

A fun time with santa at our family party.

Piano recital

Bedums had her 2nd recital just before Christmas. It was all duets and trios and they all did great!

Christmas 2013

25 Days of Christmas--Day 25--MERRY CHRISTMAS

If the air quality is good, Jon will build a fire in the fireplace before we all come in and open gifts. We make the kids line up in the hallway, youngest first and oldest last. If the air is bad, Santa will usually put the gifts downstairs and we flip the switch to turn on the gas fireplace. :) We open gifts from Santa. The kids usually just snack a little bit while brunch is cooking. We used to always do a breakfast casserole, but last year, we branched out and did overnight French toast, which was really good! Then we open gifts from each other and from grandparents. We spend the day relaxing and enjoying life and then have a nice, early, turkey dinner. It's such a fun day, but the excitement is over so fast. It's hard to believe that another Christmas is already here.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

25 Days of Christmas--Day 24--Christmas Eve

I think Christmas Eve is my most favorite day of the year--even more so than Christmas Day. I love anticipating and getting caught up in the excitement.

I've mentioned some of this before, but I guess I'll repeat it again.

We usually wake up fairly early on Christmas Eve. 1. Because the kids are excited. 2. Because we have a drive to make to get to the Christmas Eve party at my grandma's house. The kids are usually silly and excited. Which is worse? Silly, craziness or fighting? Sometimes I can't decide...

We keep an eye on Santa's location all day through the website Norad. The little video clips are fun to watch too.

The party is fun. We used to do a $5 white elephant-type gift exchange, but now Santa usually visits with a small gift for the kids. We have yummy food and lots of visiting. A few years ago--we can't remember exactly how many now (we were debating this the other day--5 years, maybe?)--we had cold cuts and cheeses and rolls, along with other things. We had fun and went home. The next day, Christmas, it snowed a ton here!! And by 10 pm, 33 out of 37 people who were at the party were sicker than they'd ever been in their lives!! We thought for sure it was food poisoning, but we couldn't figure out what it would be. "It was the turkey!" "But I ate turkey and I didn't get sick." "Roast beef for sure!" "But I didn't have any of that and I'm so sick I'm going to die." etc etc etc. We never did figure that out. We did pizza for a few years after that. It was awful (Teen 1 and I escaped being sick) but now it's a memory to laugh at.

After the party, we head home and we usually watch A Christmas Story. We open a gift from mom and dad (pj's or socks or a pillow or a book). Then we read Luke 2 and talk about the real meaning of Christmas. Sometimes, we'll act the story out or sing songs about it. We hang stockings, leave out milk and cookies, and jump in bed, cover up our heads, 'cuz Santa Claus comes tonight!!

Merry Christmas!!

25 Days of Christmas--Day 23--Santa

Santa is such a fun part of Christmas. My grandma has had a Christmas party pretty much every year since I can remember. Most of the time, Santa would come for a visit. I was fascinated, yet scared to death, when I was younger. Now, I think it's fun and magical for the kids.

We love to get on www.norad.com and track Santa throughout the day on Christmas Eve. The kids jump right into bed when he gets to the United States. :)

As for while we're sleeping...it's always fun to set out the milk and cookies and hang up our stockings. The anticipation in the best!!

25 Days of Christmas--Day 22--Nativity Play/Story

I love having the kids act out or read the Nativity story. Some years, it's a play with the kids playing different parts and other years, it's using the Nativity set to tell the story. Other years, it's just sitting around and reading it aloud from the Bible. Last year, we also watched the movie and it brought some things to my mind to ponder. I love reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas.

25 Days of Christmas--Day 21--Class Parties

Like I mentioned before, I really enjoy doing the parties in the classrooms at school. Sometimes, it gets to be a little tricky--like when I'm at the school for 3 hours in a row, but it's really a lot of fun. Some of the fun things we do are: stories, crafts, relays, and games--word games, active games, etc. They always do a fun treat, too. The kids are so excited and everything seems so magical. Next year, I'll do two parties, but then Bedums will be the only one left. These times are fading and morphing into a new phase, right before my very eyes.

25 Days of Christmas--Day 20--Gift Exchange

My siblings and I used to exchange gifts with one another, as did Jon's family. Now, we go in on gifts for our parents and use the rest of our focus on our little families. In our home, we all draw a name and spend $10 of our money on a gift for that person. The kids enjoy seeing who they'll get (some names are much easier to buy for than others) and then going shopping to find the perfect gift. They get so excited to see how much their person enjoys the gift and it's a great way for them to think about someone other than themselves.

Just a side note...when I was about 10, maybe 11 (my birthday is a month after Christmas and I sometimes can't remember if I was 10, almost 11 or 11--I'm pretty sure I was 10), I had a present from my sister and from my parents under the tree. I was soooo excited!! I LOVED Barbies and cats and could NOT wait to see if I was getting a Barbie cat (Fluff) and a Dream Dancer. So, one day when everyone was either gone or busy, I decided to be sneaky. I climbed under the tree and carefully untaped enough of the presents to see if the gifts were what I was hoping they'd be (they were) and then I fixed the tape. I was very excited and couldn't wait until I could play with them, but Christmas morning was a big disappointment. How could I be thrilled and surprised when I knew? I think I did a good job acting, but let me just say this: I NEVER did that again. I love looking forward to something and having a surprise waiting for me. 

25 Days of Christmas--Day 19--Gingerbread Houses

I'd like to say that we make gingerbread houses every year, but we don't. We get them done about every 5 years or so. They seem like so much work--time and money, both--yet it really isn't that bad when I buckle down and get it done. I like the gingerbread soft (so do the kids), so I make them, instead of buying a kit. Since Buggins made one for Pack Meeting this month and Bedums is making a tree (sugar cone) in school on Friday for part of the class party, I'm bailing yet again. Maybe I'll make some gingerbread men cookies...

25 Days of Christmas--Day 18--Parties

Both of our families do parties each year. Jon's family is usually a week (or two or three) before Christmas and my family does a party on Christmas Eve. I love looking forward to these times, although they go by way too fast. This year, we did an overnighter at a lodge in the mountains, which was fun, but busy and crazy. And the other party is in less than ONE WEEK!

I enjoy helping out with the kids' school parties as well. It's fun to play fun games with a bunch of kids and feel their excitement.

25 Days of Christmas--Day 17--Neighbor Gifts

I love the tradition of neighbor gifts around the holidays. But for some reason, I just couldn't get into it this year. For the past couple of years, I've made some homemade grape jelly for the neighbors with the grapes off our vine. With my thyroid issues, this year I was just too drained and tired and could barely make enough to get my own family through the year, let alone the extra 3-4 dozen jars, which equals about 8 batches, for all the neighbors. It's fun to get little things--like wrapping paper, a 2-liter of soda, a candy bar, hot chocolate, etc, all with cute little sayings. Okay...I've got to get into it because this really is a fun way to visit with the neighbors and think about giving and serving.

25 Days of Christmas--Day 16--Dinner

Our local grocery store offers turkey vouchers during the month of November. I save those up and then right before Thanksgiving, I buy a turkey, even though we always go with family for the day. On Christmas day, we have a brunch--usually some type of breakfast casserole or baked French toast or something like that--and then I cook up a turkey dinner for a late lunch/early dinner. We put on the nice tablecloth and enjoy a special dinner. I also buy a ham at the same time and cook up a nice ham dinner for New Years. Sometimes food really makes good traditions and memories.

25 Days of Christmas--Day 15--Sing-a-longs

Our church has an annual sing-a-long that is a lot of fun. Each choir has a song and we all perform and then everyone joins in and sings the Hallelujah Chorus at the end. It's a fun event that really gets us in the mood for Christmas. Some songs are familiar and some are not and they're all arranged so beautifully. 

25 Days of Christmas--Day 14--Temple Square

We love to go to Temple Square and see the beautiful Christmas lights. We'll often meet up with extended family, grab dinner, and freeze and we walk around and admire the beauty around us. It's a tradition we all love and look forward to.

25 Days of Christmas--Day 13--Christmas Lights

We used to take the kids around town and see the Christmas lights. The newspaper used to publish the addresses of some good light displays. Sometimes, I still drive the kids around a little, but we don't make a night of it. We should, because it was fun. Sometimes we would get some hot chocolate and crank the Christmas songs as we'd drive around.

As for our house, Jon doesn't like to do anything big, so we just trim the eaves of the house. Bedums would LOVE to have some big blowups or deer or something, but we don't. Again, maybe someday...

25 Days of Christmas--Day 12--Christmas Tree

I love Christmas trees!! We got a darling little fake tree for our wedding from my siblings. Several years ago, with four little kids, we outgrew it and needed/wanted something bigger. We passed it along and started getting fresh, real trees. When we finished our basement 5 years ago, I bought another fake tree (6') for downstairs and that's our fancy tree--red and gold. The real tree is decorated with colored lights and all of the ornaments we've collected and the kids have made over the years.

When I was younger, I loved to sit on the heat vent with a blanket and look at the tree all lit up. I would still love to do that, but our vent is covered up by the tree in our front room and we can't even put any chairs in there when the tree is up because of the piano and huge bookcase. Oh well...

25 Days of Christmas--Day 11--Books

There are some books that I love to read each and every year and I'm always adding to that list. Some of my favorites are:

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. It's also known as "Christmas with the Kranks" in the movie version.

It's a fun story about a couple who decide to skip Christmas and go on a cruise instead, since their only daughter isn't coming home for the holidays. But their plans frantically change with a single phone call.


I love this story about a girl who wakes up early on Christmas morning and finds a strange man under her tree. She's sure her sister set things up and can't figure out who he is or where he comes from, but he was on her list... It reminds me of the Hallmark movie "A Boyfriend for Christmas." Just pure fun!!



This is a newer one that I've only read twice now, but it has cute, darling, holiday romances that make you giggle and sigh. Three novellas by three very different authors in one great book. Loved it!!

25 Days of Christmas--Day 10--Children's Books

I love children's Christmas books. When we first got married, we got a couple of books for kids and have added to that collection each year. Some are thrift store finds and others are brand new. Others are favorites from our own childhoods. The kids love to look through these and enjoy them each year. Some are about Santa and some about Baby Jesus, but each has a good message or is fun and fuels the excitement of the season.

25 Days of Christmas--Day 9--Me Movies :)

Day 9--Me Movies :)
What are "me movies?" Why, they're movies that I love and I love a good romantic comedy. Here are a couple of my favorites:
Holiday in Handcuffs. A girl kidnaps a guy and forces him to pretend to be her boyfriend.
Sleepless in Seattle. Who can resist this type of love story?
While You Were Sleeping. A lonely girl poses as a girlfriend and can't seem to tell the truth.
And most ABC Family or Hallmark Christmas movies. :)