More Christmas Fun

As a relatively young family, we are still trying to create our holiday traditions.  I always have a picture in my mind of how things should be, but the reality isn't quite so idyllic.  For example, the yearly reading of the Christmas story punctuated by songs and carols just didn't turn out so well this time around.  Everyone was too tired, sugar-loaded, excited, or all of the above, but every song ended up in screaming and tears.  So, we all sat quietly and listened to Clayton read Luke 2.  Then, we went to bed.  I was sad that music was not more involved, but next year will be a new year.  

We did have some successes, though.  We did the chocolate candy advents, and I added the Christmas-book-a-day advent as well.  This was quite a favorite with my book-loving kids.  They were so excited to open a new one every day.  In fact, they often forgot about the chocolate, but never forgot to open a book.  We sang carols around the piano several times during the month, made goodies for friends and neighbors, made gingerbread houses, and the kids each made a present for each other.  We had Christmas Eve pajamas, along with the viewing of several of our favorite Christmas movies.  The kids watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, 'Tis the Season to be Smurfy, Mickey's Christmas Carol, and Joy to the World.  Clayton and I watched It's a Wonderful Life after the kids went to bed Christmas Eve.  This year, the kids also watched a video of Clayton's mom reading The Night Before Christmas to them before they went to bed Christmas Eve.  They loved it and watched it several times.  I loved that she made the video for them, as we don't get to see her and Bryce nearly as often as we would like.  I love for my kids to have a good relationship with their grandparents.

Even though it was our smallest Christmas ever monetarily, I would say it was a big success.   We all still felt spoiled and loved.  I was a little bit worried that the kids would be disappointed without the big ticket items they wanted, but everyone was happy on Christmas Day.  We also received lots of fabulous presents from family members.  Here is a quick list of our favorite things:

Clayton:  I'm not sure what his favorite was, but I think it was probably his new coat from his parents.  He also laughs every time the topic of his new jammer comes up!

Aimee:  I was spoiled rotten and loved everything, but I think my favorite present was the Kindle Touch Clayton's parents gave to me.  I had no idea I would love a Kindle so much!

Luke:  Luke was most excited about his new Lego sets and Super Mario Brothers pajamas.  I was proud of him that he didn't even mention the Wii controller that he didn't receive.  He was also SUPER excited that my parents paid for him and Audrey to continue their much-loved swimming lessons at Goldfish Swim School.

Audrey:  Her favorite presents were her portable c.d. player with c.d. collection and her bag of flavored chapstick.  She carries both around with her everywhere, singing and dancing with shiny lips!

Max: He didn't really know what was going on for most of Christmas, but he loved running around playing with and messing up everyone's stuff.   We mostly gave him diapers and recycled toys from the basement that the older kids had outgrown, but he loved it all.  I think his favorite is the big car garage and little cars.

After opening presents on Christmas Day, we went to church and then home to cook some good food.  We met with several friends for a Christmas dinner with tons of food, friends, and fun.  Our best gift of all is celebrating the birth of our Savior and remembering his sacrifice for us, and we are so thankful for this special time of year.  

We definitely had a Merry Little Christmas, and we hope you all did the same!

The Homemade Portion of Christmas (My Favorite!)

Making things with my kids and for them is so much fun, and Christmas is the perfect time of year to really let loose with projects.  We started off with snow globes.  Max had one too, but it leaked and was quickly thrown in the trash.

Our treat for nearby friends was popcorn balls this year.  I actually made a promising new recipe (100 of them!) of something else.  But, after seeing Clayton gag, they were thrown in the trash.  Popcorn balls were a quick and delicious back-up, if not as elegant. ;)

Last year was the first year we had the kids pick out presents for each other, and this year I thought we would take it up a notch and have them make things for each other.  It actually turned out incredibly well.  Audrey and Luke made a magnet play set for Max.  No more of Audrey's magnetic paper dolls during church for this rough and tumble guy!  The kids picked out all sorts of pictures on the computer of things Max likes, printed them onto magnetic paper, and cut them all out.  Max loves it!

Luke made Audrey two different memory games: one of ABC's and one of 123's.  As she loves Memory and needs all the help she can get with her letters and numbers, I'd say it was a perfect choice by Luke.  He worked really hard, even Modpodging colorful paper on the backs of all the little wooden pieces.  Great job Luke!

Audrey made a set of "Bowling Buddies" for Luke.  We used rub-on faces, but I ended up having to fix a few with permanent marker and paint.  But, she did a really nice job and was very proud of the fun game she had to give to Luke.

I wanted to make something for each child this year, but my dreams and plans for a lego table for Luke and pocket bibs for Max were curtailed by budget and time.  I did, however, finish a nice gift for Audrey.  I made her a "portable tea party", which is basically a tablecloth that cinches up into a carry-all bag for all the tea party things.  I also made matching napkins, felt placemats (or plates, as Audrey calls them), and some felt goodies.  With a $5 tea set, it was an inexpensive and fun little thing for her that she loves to play with.

We did gingerbread houses again this year, and I decided to make the gingerbread instead of using graham crackers.  Clayton really wanted a good cookie that we would all want to eat.  I used Wilton house cookie cutters, and it was pretty easy and fun.  The gingerbread was really, really good, although I should have cooked it a tad longer so that it wasn't quite so soft.  A couple of roofs caved in.  Oh well!  We all had our fill and more of gingerbread and candies.  I almost want to gag just thinking about it!

This is the Rapunzel Luke made.  Funny guy.  I think he just wanted an excuse to eat two whole Twizzlers.

If only there was more time in a day.  I would have loved to make many more fun projects, but oh well. Maybe next year. :)

Party On

Audrey and Luke each had class holiday parties at school, and I was able to go to each.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures at Luke's, but we had fun.  I was in charge of bringing some type of fruit, but Luke was disappointed that we weren't bringing a "treat".  So, we made fruit kabobs out of red and green fruits.  I thought it was pretty cool, but Luke thought it was just "okay".  I noticed he didn't even eat one at the party.  Stinker.

At Audrey's party, the class sang some songs, and then we had cookies and milk.  She did a great job performing.  Her teachers, Ms. Pat and Ms. Sally, are so sweet.

We were also able to go to Clayton's work party this year, as it was a family party.  It was tons of fun, with great food and lots of music and dancing.  The kids ate it up (the music and dancing, I mean), especially Audrey and Max.  Then, Santa came and handed out gifts.  Luke and Audrey each got to sit on his lap as well.  I wish we had more pictures of the kids dancing, but they all ended up blurry.  You have to check out the video of Max, though.

Family Pictures

You probably already saw way too many pictures of us on our Christmas card, but here are a bunch just in case you want more!  By the way, we are all wearing about 5 layers, since it was freezing cold but I didn't want pictures with coats.  Poor Max was pretty cold and grumpy, so we were lucky to get any decent ones with him.