~Twelve Christmas Celebrations~ (minus one)

I really wanted to get as much school done before Christmas as possible.  Once school was out, I really got itchy for doing something fun.  The kids would have spent hours on the computer if I let them, but that was not gonna happen!

I started a list that I had them give me input on.  Here is what we accomplished in three days...

Christmas celebration ONE... Let one weary mom sleep in.  I was awake earlier, but I came out of my room at 11 am!

Christmas Celebration TWO... Visit two widows.  We also took them some note cards.

Christmas Celebration THREE... Deliver three bags of groceries.

Christmas Celebration FOUR... Put quarters on four vending machines (I did put more money on this one after noticing the price of a can of soda!

Christmas Celebration FIVE... Five new dog toys

Christmas Celebration SIX... Silly string six kids.  We "surprised" a family for a play date.  These are the kids my kids love to play with after church.

Christmas Celebration SEVEN... enjoy seven cups of coffee (the kids and I each enjoyed one)

 Christmas Celebration EIGHT... Purchase eight gifts to exchange on Christmas

Christmas Celebration NINE... send nine Christmas cards (separate from our normal letter). I had the kids choose different families and write their own card.

Christmas Celebration TEN... give ten dollars to others in need.

Christmas Celebration ELEVEN... do eleven EXTRA chores happily today.  My, how quickly we got behind on the housework when we were out "Christmasing"

Christmas Celebration TWELVE... Shoot twelve rounds of ammo.  This one didn't happen yet.  Eric came down with Pneumonia Christmas Eve Day and we were not able to get out.

This was a lot of fun... but I wouldn't cram 12 things into three days next time!!!

~Thanksgiving~

My only photo from Thanksgiving...

We had our usual breakfast with my parents and our usual dinner with Gregg's family.  We had homemade ice cream on the best ever apple pie!

~12 Years~

My third baby boy! I vividly remember going to the hospital to have him on a beautiful fall day!  Well... I remember half the trip.  The second half was a bit intense to be looking at pretty leaves☺ Anyway, Aaron is 12!

He is thrilled that he can go hunting now!

  All he wanted for his birthday was a gun and to go hunting...

... and cake. Gotta have cake.

~Kiersten's 5th Birthday~

Kiersten has been really looking forward to her birthday.  She even told several people at church to be sure and make her a card. 

Nathan and Eric helped me with the shopping and wrapping.  They thought she would really like the pink camo bow.

She really wanted an American Girl type doll but I thought we would try this one for now.  For a girl, she isn't that attached to dolls.  She wanted a bride, but she has such a fascination with getting married that I stuck with the princess.

She always loves clothes!

I found this shirt at Target a while ago... I really loved it!  She is for sure my one in a minion☺

She wanted dad to fix turkey for her birthday dinner... but things just didn't work out that way.  I couldn't fit a turkey in the fridge or freezer... I told her I would buy one soon for dad to cook.  FYI-dad makes turkey cleaning fun.  I made her second best meal... Crab Alfredo and honey iced tea.  Yes, she is licking the plate.

She wanted to pick out her cake.  The boys were disappointed because there is no cake like mom's cake, but it was her birthday!

Now she can't wait until she is 8... she is really looking forward to not being in a car seat.

~Sweet Sixteen~

Wow, time flies!  My young man turned sixteen last week!!!!

Jordan didn't want anything specific for his birthday.  Gregg and I decided it would be fun to take him and some friends to some sort of race track for some fun.  The plans are still in the works.  Jordan thought that was a good idea... he really didn't want a party☺

Jordan just started 11th grade and

we are working on his permit!  

He would really like a pickup truck in the near future... we will see.

~Eric's Birthday~

Eric was so excited to have his birthday on a Saturday.  The only trouble was Gregg was out of town and Jordan was gone for the day.  He also wanted a dog.   A real dog.  And that is all he wanted.  He was certainly set up for a day of disappointments.

He opened each card and read them.  Kiersten had fun photo bombing.

We gave Eric something to help him with his archery... and that was it... no dog.  He was disappointed.  But he got a bunch of sour candy from his siblings so that made him happy.  The picture above is sour watermelon spray.  His favorite.

I wanted to sit down and relax that afternoon... but birthday boy wanted mom's potato salad... birthday boy with blue eyes and long lashes wins... again

Birthday boy with blue eyes and long lashes also wanted a special cake.  Chocolate cake, chocolate icing, brownie, chocolate icing, chocolate cake covered in peanut butter icing and chocolate chips.

Since I couldn't give him the dog, I did all the rest.

He is still hoping a dog shows up... I'm finally putting my feet up :-)

~Christmas Day~

We had our normal Christmas at home with just the 8 of us Wednesday morning.  The kids got us up at 7... that is the earliest they have ever gotten us up!  We generally open stockings, then eat, then open gifts. This year we just opened everything then ate afterwards.

I did have the door to the living room shut and taped closed... we had a few very anxious boys!

We left the house at noon and headed for my parents.

They served lunch and then we opened gifts there with my brother and his family.

We left around 5 to head home, eat a quick snack and go to church for a Christmas service.  There were not many people there but it was a really nice way to end Christmas Day!

One more Christmas celebration to go!

~Christmas is Coming~

Our first Christmas party of the year is usually with my mom's side of the family.  We got together yesterday and I'm trying to kill two birds with one stone today.  Scrapbooking and blogging together!
This way I only have to load the photos once ☺

Lots of aunts, uncles and cousins to catch up with this year.  I didn't get to speak with everyone individually but I did get around to many!  The older I get the more I appreciate a good conversation.  It is easier now then when the kids were little... now they sit in a row like wall flowers. Ha!

We always finish the night off with a cookie swap.  I am tempted to throw half of the cookies in the freezer... although I'm sure the family will tear through them in no time.

We have had a lot of snow this Autumn, but now that winter is here it is warm and raining. Maybe Spring will come early!

~Birthday~

It was Jordan's 15th birthday on Saturday.  We had our normal race day at the track.  He even won his race this week!

 When we got home, we enjoyed his favorite dinner... Cheese steaks and potato salad.

He didn't really want anything, so he didn't get any gifts this year... yet.  I'm sure we will come up with something at some point.  It will probably have something to do with racing ☺  

~Holiday Weekend~

Gregg had a really long weekend.  He was off Thursday for the holiday and Friday because he never took Memorial Day because he was in China.

We all just stayed home most of the day Thursday.  I spent most of the day cleaning my room.  Found some long lost earrings, got rid of some clothes and cleaned up a huge pile of books.  I still have one corner to clean up but I'm happy for what I did do.  I was listening to one of the sermons Jordan heard at camp and grilling chicken. My oven isn't working so I'm stretching my grilling abilities.  Next time no foil and cook on a higher temp.  It was really good for my first try.  The boys can't wait til I try again.

Friday was also at home for me.  Jordan raced Friday night and I was supposed to go so all the kids could watch but I wasn't really feeling up to it.  It was really hot and I didn't want to pack everyone up.  I also hadn't finished the laundry or done hair cuts and wanted to get to bed on time for once in two weeks.  I'm glad I didn't go, Jordan's car overheated (it was loosing water) and he wasn't able to finish his feature.

I was working on these pillow cases Friday while helping Jared with math.  They are for my Aunt and Uncle for their 25th Wedding Anniversary.  I finished them after the kids went to bed while I listened to   another camp sermon.

Saturday was a picnic at my brother's house.  The kids enjoyed the pool and I finally got to sit down for a bit.  The older three left early for a race with some friends... they don't really enjoy picnics:-)

I am looking forward to a down day again today... getting some school planned out and many other little projects that really need to get taken care of.

~Date Night~

 My handsome date last night...

I try to take the boys out for a dinner date around their birthday... some years I totally forget.  They are getting old enough to remind me now!  I don't think it is that they like my company... but they like choosing where to go and what to eat... a real treat as eating out is very minimal around here! (besides Chinese, Hoss's, and pizza)

Jared wanted an Elk burger from Fudruckers... I had a buffalo burger... YUM!

We went sneaker shopping for him while we were out and then stopped for chocolate milk shakes on the way home:-)

I just love my job!

~Ressurection Sunday~

We spent Good Friday handing out flyers for our church services on Sunday. I often fix Easter Dinner on Saturday because Sunday just isn't the day for that much work:-) This year we were at the track so I just threw ribs in the crockpot... easy enough!

I made these for dessert...

and here is Kiersten's Easter dress...

~More Birthdaying~

We didn't have enough birthday celebration for Nathan yesterday, so we enjoyed my birthday today!

I was sitting in bed finishing up my devotions when the phone rang a little after 8am. That is early for people to call but I thought maybe someone wanted to call and wish me a happy birthday! Haha! It was a recording about sewer systems in the area. I guess the whole world doesn't stop to celebrate my big day does it!??!? haha!

We only had one incident early in the morning but then the school day went well. We finished school around 12:30 and I started working on lunch. Gregg came home with these...and this...

Pretty! I thought it was so very neat that he had picked this out before I even started making these. I love this one! It matches so many colors and it fits very well! Oh, and some perfume! I don't think he has ever done that!

He also went to great lengths to purchase a serger for me. Long story short, I need to go pick it out next week!!!! So excited!!!

My guys gave me two cookbooks too:-) They are both clones of restaurant hot items... can't wait to look through them!

My secret sister at church gave me this big basket filled with peanut butter and chocolate treats! I packaged most of them up into freezer bags... my mom made me some really yummy treats too that I am enjoying! It is fun when someone else bakes for you:-) My secret sister also gave me some fun birthday gifts... one thing was homemade powdered cream of soup mix!

We had some sunshine and warm weather so I snuck out for a walk before dinner. Love, love walking outside in the sunshine!

Our neighbors watched the kids while Gregg and I went out for dinner. Since it is my birthday, I got to eat for free! We both ate way to much but had a good time and actually got to talk to each other without interruptions:-) I got these carnations there.

I received a few emails, a phone call, and a few snail mails that really capped off the day! I have wonderful friends and family!

It was a great birthday!

~My Nathan~

What a happy Birthday Boy! Nathan has been counting down the days to his 5th birthday all month.

He gets so excited! I just have to laugh and get excited with him! I made him a special breakfast... those totally unhealthy sausages on a stick wrapped with a pancake:-) He loved them!

We did have to get school done but he got some toys out and played very well... until he realized dad said he could open his gifts. I was not going to start that... we wait til dad gets home. I had to keep him busy then!

He got to lick the icing off the beaters.

I inflated some balloons.

I let him play computer games... finally dad came home and he was ready!He was so excited to open a top... now he can play with all the boys!

And we found this fun set on clearance after Christmas...

He wanted chicken nuggets and potato salad for dinner. We just learned how they make chicken nuggets and that pretty much grossed me out... so I made them. Yum! Gregg made his famous chick fil a sauce to go with them! Double Yum!

He asked for chocolate cake with peanut butter icing...

Nathan is such a joy to have around. He is constantly talking... but he truly wants to have a conversation and he really does think a lot and he asks great questions. He has the best laugh too! He is our tallest boy at this age! I love to hear Nathan pray. Sometimes it is silly things but he also prays that he will be a godly man and that mom and dad will be faithful. He prays for Kiersten... that she would be a christian too. Nathan is sensitive to emotions and does get scared (something we really haven't dealt with before). He loves to sing and memorize verses with me.

Nathan takes things very seriously too. My parents gave him a card that said he was the best 5 year old in the world. The day after he got the card he said to me, "Mom, isn't that neat that Grammy thinks I'm the best five year old in the world!" I think it is too funny that he actually remembered what the card said and that he totally believed it!

What a privilege to be his mom.

Thank you, Lord, for Nathan. Thank you for giving him a soft heart and a joyful countenance. Use him mightily for your work!... and help me to not get in the way!