Christmas Eve!!

I absolutely LOVE Christmas time. The spirit of this season warms my heart and rejuvinates my soul. I love the feelings, stories, gifts, giving, service, food, and smiles that happen at this time of year. Our holiday starts on Ambra's bday and lasts for several days. Christmas Eve is one of those. We start with a big special breakfast that morning, play games all day, and end with a program that night.



My pictures are in backwards order here... the children are just about ready for bed, but they needed to sprinkle their reindeer food they made at Ambra's party on our driveway.



Better throw some on the rooftop too!

For our annual Christmas program, we watched the Nativity and then did our own live nativity. We have makeshift costumes and Adam reads this from Luke two and from Matthew. After our reinactment, we share testimonys and sing carols around the tree.

Our little Ariah is our sheep.

I am a wiseman. I come bearing gifts.

My angelic mother!

Mary and Jospeph and our traditional donkey. Josh is so lucky he gets to be that part every year!

For one of our games, we played snowball. This is where you play Christmas carols and you pass around a ball or bean bag. When the music stops, whomever is holding the ball, gets a cotton ball lotioned to their face. There is grumbling in the begining, and outrageous laughter at the end. Funny game. The winner is supposed to be the one with the least amount of cotton, but we couldn't resist letting Ambra be the winner with the most.

We also played the present game. Josh came prepared with a present wrapped a billion times in layers of duck tape, packing tape, and many boxes. Everyone gets 30 seconds to try to open it. The trick... you have to wear oven mitts. The one who succeeds in opening the gift gets to keep it. Ooolala - money was inside the box. THis is Josh's second year running, winning this game. No fair.

Teeth get involved.

We also play the yarn game. We drew names for an inexpensive gift. Everyone gets a ball of yarn, ties it to a starting point and takes it all around the house. Inside, outside, there is no limits. This year it got wound in and around and under the cars outside, upstairs downstairs and all over the place. When many are doing this it gets a bit crazy. You end up having to crawl and hop and weave in and out of the spider web that has now taken over your house. When you are done, you find your start place and wind up the yarn to find your gift hidden at the end. It is way fun. The kids love it!! (Grandma doesn't love this one so much.)

Adam is seranading us with his Motab ensemble.

Alllll Aboooooooooaaaaaaard!!!!!!!

Well my sweet little Ambra turned seven last week. She wanted a Polar Express Birthday Party. We had a blast making this cake!!!

If you could see my kitchen after this one little cake...you would always BUY your cake from the store.

BUST OUT!! The morning of thier bday, they wake up to this. They get to bust out of their door and open presents from mom and dad.

All the kiddies got to dress in thier jams for the party. Here is our little bday girl in her jams minutes before the big party.

Yes, I dressed the part of the conductor. Mustache and all. "Tickets please...tickets, tickets." The invitations were golden tickets that we punched when they came through door.

Cole and Adam dressed as our hot chocolate servers. We of course had a hot chocolate bar with all the fixins and played the soundtrack. Cole was VERY serious about serving this to all the children.

I look really great in a mustache.

At the party we did stations. In one station we made little candy trains, in another we made reindeer food. Oatmeal and glitter. The smell of the oatmeal attracts the reindeer, and the glitter sparkles in the moonlight to bring them to your house. You sprinkle it on your lawn or sidewalk.

We also played "Stuff Santa". The kids get into teams and the team who can stuff the fattest santa with the balloons provided without popping them - wins. It was the funnieset game ever. I was rolling.

Definitely the hit of the party was the present game. Amazingly enough I found 19 boxes (one for each child) that all fit into each other - I wrapped each one. The children sat in a circle and each got a turn opening one. - then passed it on. It started out HUGE and the last teeny tiny package ended at Ambra. Inside was a jingle bell that said "Ring Me." We had already read the Polar Express story and as you know if you can hear the bell, then you believe in Santa. Well when Ambra rang the bell.... SANTA CAME!!! It was so awesome. The kids totally loved it.

Each child got a turn to visit with Santa and have thier picture taken. What fun. Happy Birthday my beautiful Ambra!

Peep!

Do you recognize that Santa??? The eyes look mistakingly like my darling Ambra. Coulda fooled me!






I was visiting some dear friends over the holidays and mentioning this cute little book called "The Elf on the Shelf". It is this darling story about how Santa knows if your good or bad. He sends one of his elves to watch the children. Everynight he flies back to the Pole and reports naughty and nice things - in the morning, he is in a new spot. The children get to wake up and find where he is hiding that day. Well my cute little friend Mindie decided she would get this for me! It was on my doorstep the next day!!! Can you believe that. I was shocked and moved that she would do that for my little family. Thank you Mindie. Once again you are generous and sweet. You have always been that way.

Well can I tell you that my children have LOVED this. I have found them having conversations with Peep. (Thats what we named him). Ambra likes to make sure he is comfortable and gives him ideas for the next days hiding spot. She tells him all the things she thinks Santa should know - and also likes to remind Cole and Ariah VERY frequently of the naughty things Peep is going to tell about them to Santa. This is the cutest tradition and I love love love it.



Here is little Peep in all his glory.

It's Begining to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Although I love my big "mommy" tree upstairs. My favorite tree by far is my kiddies little homeade tree. Every year, the children decorate this tree and put the ornaments on one by one as I tell the story or origin behind it. Most of them are made up of the ornaments they have made in school, or we have made together. They bring a tear to my eye and my heart is full when we decorate this precious little tree.

The children get to open thier "Christmas" clothes the first Sunday in December. The girls loved the sparkles and glitter in their skirts and sweaters.

I need a new camera. This flash is TERRIBLE.

Christmas Carnival!

One of the many traditions we have in our home is of course the advent calendar. I think we have 4 going at this point. The chocolate countdown of course, a book story of Christmas ornament one, a nativity one and my favorite the christmas socks. We have Christmas socks hanging from a ribbon by clothespins and each day they get to pick a sock. There might be a craft to do, or a treat, or a party to go to or a place to go. So far we have been sledding, to various parties, had lots of treats and even got to stay at a hotel the other night just for fun.


This was a Christmas carnival that the sock led us to. The high school put in on and the kids had a blast. Ariah used all her tickets at places that gave candy or cookies. She's a sweet tooth like her mommy.



Cole used his tickets on relay races, throw the ball in "something" games and shoot the alien wars.... whatever just like a boy.

and then theres Ambra. She beelined straight towards the craft tables.

Fun.

First Snow

My sweet little snow angels got their first snow play up at my mothers. They loved building their snowman and having snowball fights with daddy.




Adam came rushing in to tell me he had a surprise for me outside. He stuck me on his shoulders and took me out this way.


This was his sweet little surprise. A snow message of "I love mom". It was so big, I had to be on his shoulders to get the picture.