Christmas 2007

We've had a great time this week. It's been fun playing with the kids and enjoying our break from school, but what I have felt the most blessed for having this Christmas is family surrounding us. It's enough of a blessing just to have Jeff and our children to share this time with, but it is spending time with our extended family that reminds me of how fortunate we are. We gathered with Jeff's family on Sunday. There were 13 of us there to eat together and exchange gifts. We sang together then listened as our niece told us the Christmas story before opening gifts. It's a good thing that we have Christmas together before Christmas because no one is rushing off to the next place. Our complete focus is the time we're sharing together at that moment.

We spent Christmas Eve with my family. There were 21 of us in all this year...I can't believe how big our family is getting! There are so many that it's hard to see and visit with everyone. Since it's Christmas Eve and everyone has other places to go, we don't have as much time to sit and visit. It's hectic, but so much fun!

As always, we spent Christmas Day at home. We woke the kids up at 6:00...yep, we woke them up! We like them all to see their stuff at the same time, so we set the alarm early and wake them up. Nothing compares to walking into the living room with them on Christmas morning and the day that follows. It's a special time between the five of us that goes way beyond just the gifts that we open.

I Got It!!!

I asked Jeff for The Complete Far Side two volume set for Christmas, but didn't think that he was able to find it. He did!!!!!!!!!! I've always loved The Far Side, especially when I was in college. When I heard that they were putting out the complete set a few years ago, I really wanted it!!! I can't believe I finally have it.....4,337 cartoons in all....1,272 pages! Yes, I did ask for some more useful things for Christmas, but we all have to have a little fun too, right?

Christmas Is Upon Us

I can't believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve. We realized last night that we haven't even watched Frosty yet this year. We thought about taking the kids to the movies, but decided to stay home and watch Frostie instead..it just wouldn't be Christmas without him. We attempted to make some cute reindeer cookies that I saw on a couple of other blogs, but they didn't turn out so well. The poor things baked right into each other so that we had antlers growing into mouths, resulting in antlerless reindeer and bucktooth whatever they were. "sigh" We tried!

I call this the "Island of Misfits"!

We exchanged gifts with our neighbor, Josh, today. He got Madison, Patrick, and Carter the Twister Dance game. It's so much fun. Madison and Carter are still at it, but I had to stop after working up a pretty good sweat and making a small fool of myself.








Merry Christmas from OurPlace!

Tree Ornaments and Gingerbread Cookies

We made our Christmas tree ornaments today. I bought a cool kit from Oriental Trading to make little foam gingerbread men/women. I liked them because we were able to put our names on them with little foam letters. We had Josh and a friend over to make them with us. We also made and decorated gingerbread cookies.

A Little Christmas Fun

A Beautiful Sight

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF!

Let The Fun Begin!

We're finished with school until after New Year's. The kids did journal pages about Christmas today.









So, how excited are we to start our Christmas fun? This excited!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Pajama Night At Awana

Last Week At OurPlace

It's getting harder and harder to stay focused and on track with Christmas vacation right around the corner. We're counting down the days we have left of school before taking our break. I'm trying to include a lot of fun stuff to make these last couple of weeks easier.

In Science, we are still studying space. Last week, we focused on space exploration and rockets. We made three different rockets and were amused to find out that the one that looked the least like a rocket..the film canister...worked the best! We made another one that we had to blow into to set off and a third one that was supposed to take off with a little baking soda and vinegar. Notice I said it was "supposed" to take off. I guess we just got a defected rocket in our little kit because all of the gases kept escaping out of gaps in the seam. Oh well, it was a good opportunity to reinforce how complicated rocket science is :)!

On Friday, they did journal pages on the first trip to the moon. I told them to imagine that they were one of the astronauts and draw a picture of what they might have seen when looking out of the window of the ship.

We finished our study of Africa this week. I couldn't decide on making a dish that is common here that originated in Africa or a dish that is eaten there, but not here. I decided on Fou Fou, a common African dish made with cornmeal. I told them ahead of time that, unlike the other dishes that we've made, that this would probably not be one that we'd enjoy eating. I was wrong. While I wasn't too crazy about it, they emptied the pot!! It was cornmeal cooked in boiling water with a little salt and butter added. Who would have imagined that they would have actually LIKED it!!!

We also made a traditional African game, called Mancala, with an egg carton and marbles. Madison and Carter loved it, but they are like me and will play any type of game set before them.

We managed to fit all of our book work in with the activities and were happy to put one more week behind us...one step closer to break. We have our homeschool Christmas party this week, so that means only four days of school work left. We're ready!

Christmas Parade

Patrick rode in a Christmas parade with his Sunday school class last weekend. He was so excited to get to ride and throw candy. Jeff and I went with Madison and Carter to watch. It was on the same day as their birthday party, so it was a little hard to fit it in. I was determined that he wouldn't miss out on the chance to ride in it, though, and it all worked out....we had a great time :).

The Memories Behind The Ornaments

What others see when they look at our Christmas tree is not the same as what we see. To them, it is a tall, brightly lit tree full of ornaments of every size and shape. There are so many ornaments that they all run together, each of them hiding its own meaning for the single purpose of decorating the tree. They are beautiful all together, as they are meant to be, but together is not how I see them at all. Each ornament hanging on our tree holds a story for me.....represents a small part of the life that I have shared with Jeff and with my children.

Jeff and I became engaged when we were both seniors in college. We were in the same class majoring in Occupational Therapy. Not long before our December wedding, right before starting our internships, we walked into class one day to find that our classmates had prepared a Christmas ornament shower for us. We were also given a small tree that was barely big enough to hold all of the ornaments. One week after getting married, we spent our first Christmas at Jeff's parents' home. We set the tiny tree up on the beside table and filled it with our ornaments. I woke up to the first Christmas morning away from my Dad and childhood home, but the first Christmas morning with my new family...Jeff. There have been many ornaments added since that Christmas, but these represent the beginning.

All of our babies were born shortly before or shortly after Christmas, but Carter was the only one that was brought home to a house decorated for Christmas. I knew I would be too busy and preoccupied to do it after he was born, so I focused on having everything ready before he came. The night before I had Carter, we bought these ornaments to hang on our tree.

I remember sitting on the floor in front of the tree, obviously in labor, trying to get all of the strings tied and the new ornaments on the tree before heading to the hospital. I did manage to have everything ready for Carter and will never forget how much he loved looking at the lights on our tree as I rocked him in the chair beside it.

Patrick has always loved "little things". I don't remember exactly when or where I bought these ornaments, only that every year, when we bring the boxes of ornaments from the attic, that Patrick rummages through them until he finds this set.

He has always loved them because they are little. There are a couple of Curious George figures and a chipmunk missing because he begged for them to be left out when the others were put back into the attic. They are still here somewhere...I'll find them one day and put them back in the box with the others. I can't look at this little pile of ornaments without thinking of Patrick..who is he and what he likes. They are so much a part of Christmas for me.

We love traditions. I didn't set out to start all sorts of Christmas traditions for us to keep, but it just happened as we repeated the things that we enjoyed the most each year. One of them is making new homemade ornaments every year. We all enjoy doing it, but Madison loves it. The first ones that we ever made are the little white paper snowflakes. I remember making them with Madison one day out of coffee filters. I didn't make them with the intention of hanging them on the tree, but Madison asked if we could. I didn't think they would last long, but here we are years later and they are still hanging on our tree. I look at the blue trains that Carter painted and remember how much he loved Thomas the Train. I remember spreading everything out and practically putting my hands over my children's hands because they needed so much help. These are the ornaments that will one day hang on their Christmas trees...the bridge to their childhood, just as this ornament is a bridge to mine.I don't remember where I got it or who gave it to me, only that it hung on my childhood Christmas tree. In it holds all of the memories of Christmas with my sisters...with my Mother and Daddy.

Each year when we decorate the tree, I feel we will never finish putting the ornaments on. Each year, it will take us longer because we'll continue to add to them. They will fill every inch of our tree as our memories fill our lives.

Happy Birthday Carter and Patrick!

After the boys' campout birthday party last year, we said we would wait a few years before doing it again. We were wrong. They wanted another one and so did their friends, so we did it again! This year, I chose the military theme....we've never done that one before. The boys and their friends are very into this sort of play right now, so I thought it would be a fun party. I was happy that the party day fell on Carter's actual birthday....he turned 9!! We let him open his gifts from us as soon as he got up. Their party started at 6:00. We cooked hotdogs over the fire and then played a lot of military games. I set up a basic training course and timed each one of them as they went through it. They played a rescue game where they had to wrap the injured "man" in "bandages(toilet paper) and carry him back to camp. We hunted for the enemy (little army men) and learned to throw grenades. We ended with goody bags for everyone as their reward for making it through basic training.

We had cupcakes and opened gifts around 8:30. For the rest of the night, the boys all ran around with their glow sticks, canteens, whistles, toy guns, etc. and played. They stopped to make smores at one time and eventually settled down in the tent for board games....around midnight. We stayed up with them until 2:00 playing games and eating more hotdogs and smores. Eventually, we all fell asleep. I was happy that everyone stayed all night in the tent...all 11 of us!!

Yes, it was a lot of work and we were VERY tired the next day, but I truly do enjoy it as much as they do. Happy birthday to my boys!!!