I love Christmas

The housing office held their annual tree lighting and Santa event.  The kids didn't care about the tree or the singing, and ran around outside like lunatics.  Then we got to go inside and eat goodies and burn our mouths with too-hot chocolate.  That part they liked.  a lot.  Then Santa came.  They were good sports about getting together for a picture for me.  I love these kids!

Waiting in line.  Rylee was smart and brought her cookies with her. 

This picture makes me smile.  I can't remember what made them all crack up, but Marian never smiles like that for pictures and you can see Rylee has completely lost it.  Callie is in her "no smiling for pictures" phase and she's fighting it. 

Yeah, these are my favorite children! They are pretty awesome.

Merry Christmas!!

Where I went last Friday

The Gift of Giving

Over Thanksgiving, while we were at Andy and Kera's house, my adorable nephew Aaron asked if I would help him do his Christmas shopping.  I was delighted to do so.  He was SO cute, carefully perusing everything at the dollar store.  He was so sweet, carefully selecting things and asking if he could get 2 and 3 things for each family member.  He had something like $23 in cash, and 9 people he wanted to shop for.  He was kind of fun to shop with, and he was pretty receptive to being guided in his selections.  It was a lengthy process and probably would have been less fun had it been my own kid, but since it was just the 2 of us, I had a good time with him.

After that, 2 of his younger siblings asked if I would take them.  I agreed, since Aaron had been so awesome to work with.  His 5 and 7 year old siblings were not.  The did not have enough money to purchase things for everyone and they didn't actually want to buy anything for anyone else!  Thank goodness I took Aaron first, because after shopping with those 2, I wouldn't have done it again.  I survived, but it was tough!

Today, I took Marian and Callie out to the Dollar Store to do their Christmas shopping.  They were very good.  They had a few definite ideas, and then kept selecting odd things and I had to be a little more proactive in their choices.  It wasn't exactly fun for me, but I realized I needed to have a better attitude.  My girls WERE having fun.  They LOVED getting to choose Christmas gifts for their siblings and they were completely in the giving zone.  I realized I needed to encourage their excitement and spirit of giving, rather than hustling them along and making their selections for them.  The were enjoying it so much.  I felt a bit grinchy.

It was delightful that they really wanted to choose things they thought their family members would enjoy.  I'm not entirely sure why Callie was convinced that her father would like a toy knife or gun, but she really really wanted to get him one!  I loved that they were excited about giving.  I hope they never lose that.

Also delightful, is that they spent the afternoon making hand-made gifts for their brother and sisters.  So cute!  I must encourage their creativity and thoughtfulness!

Haters Gonna Hate

Rylee is having a hard time lately.  Well, she has a hard time a lot when she doesn't get what she wants.  However, she has recently begun to say, "I hate you!" when she's unhappy and not getting her way.  I know some parents take this very seriously, but it honestly doesn't bother me, and I don't really pay attention to it.  And in case you are wondering, no, it doesn't help her get what she wants.

A few weeks ago, she was screaming on the floor that she hated me.  She wouldn't eat any dinner, so she wasn't getting dessert.  She was really unhappy about this.  But she still didn't get any dessert.  A bit later, she came and snuggled into me and said, "I don't really hate you. I just don't like it when you don't do what I want."

And a few days ago, she wanted one of the very last Cadbury Creme Eggs.  The ones I have been hoarding since the Easter candy clearance.  I said no.  She was very angry about this and screamed and carried on.  She told me if I didn't give her one, she would hate me forever.  I told her that was too bad, she still wasn't getting one.  A bit later, she crawled into my lap and howled, "I don't want to hate you forever!"

Such a pickle.  I love that girl!

How We do Thanksgiving Part 2

I know, it has taken a while to get back to finishing this!  We had such a fabulous Thanksgiving and returning to real life has been depressing.  But here is the rest of the story....

The kids had a lot of fun on the trampoline and they loved hanging out together.  It was great to get to spend time with my dad and everyone had a good time together.

The Lego chest was a hit and it was funny to see Delaney crawling inside it looking for the perfect piece. 

Despite the frigid conditions and out lack of preparation for it, we took the kids to a park.  We really needed to get them out of the house!!  Marian, of course, headed to the highest point possible. 

The children ran amok and enjoyed themselves a lot longer than I did in the cold. 

Delaney, Rylee and Emma, up high. 

While we played, Dad and Andy sided the shed. I love that they are wearing the same thing.

And some napping might have occurred. 

Possibly a lot of napping. 

Hey, this much family and fun can be tiring! 

Did I mention the pie?!!  19 pies in 9 varieties of deliciousness! 

Pie wasn't the only sweet thing going on.  Check out Grandpa with his 2 month old grandson, Alex. 

There was a little too much fun with the camera.  Delaney ran off with it.  Among the random photos of toys and appendages, there were some decent shots.  Delaney actually took this photo of me. 

And I got some pictures of some silly cousins who thought they might be Mrs. Potato Heads! 

The kids got to watch some movies, and they got to play some on the Wii. 

The grown ups had fun playing games, and I was thoroughly trounced at 5 Crowns. 

Mmmmmm... And the pie!  Did I mention how much pie we had?!  Pie every day. 

 I got to hold Alex myself, and he was adorable.  The best part was, when he started to make this face, I could hand him back! 

We went out for a walk Friday afternoon.  The kids had a marvelous time moseying down the street.   

Callie and an adorable Charlotte. 

Our walkers were: Camden, Ethan, Callie, Rylee, Charlotte, and Emma. 

 Heh heh heh.... I snuck a shot of Marian.  She was particularly interesting here.  She refuses to wear long pants, but she spent most of the week wearing this hat to keep warm.  And here, she was actually playing with dolls.  I don't think I have ever seen her play with dolls.  I'm sure if I spent time watching her, it would have been even more interesting and it was probably very non-traditional doll playing, but I had to snap a picture and pretend I was doing something else.

Sadly, and all too soon, it was time to say goodbye to Alex and the rest of the cousins.  So sad.  But such fun we had! 

I did manage to get a picture of all the kids present for Thanksgiving:  Rylee, Emma, Delaney. Matthew, Joshua, Nathan, Katie, Marian, Camden, Callie, Ethan, Charlotte (who looks like she is being eaten by) Aaron, and Alex.

We had 6 adults and 14 children and tons of fun.  Family is the best!