2013 week 52

A post a day to catch up...

The baby of the family is spunky and fun and darling.  He is playful and affectionate and we can't get enough of him.

When a door opens, he makes a run for it.  We let him explore nature for a few minutes, then all we have to do to get him back inside is to shake a bag of treats.  He is a rascal and is constantly into mischief.  Unless he is sleeping, he is by my side most of the day.  I have to double check things like the dishwasher and the dryer because he climbs in while I am using them.

This year for our Sub-for-Santa project, we joined forces with my siblings and parents and did socks and underwear for the homeless through Volunteers of America.  Camille took them to make the donation.

Christian "is a man" and when he is home, he enjoys just being in his underwear.  He at times declares that he doesn't "believe in pants" when he is at home.  He leaves a trail of clothing all over the house.  This day he walked in from school and stripped his pants off in the front room by the Christmas tree and then went and practiced his Chinese.

He doesn't like clothes, but loves a good blankie.

Kitten discovered his love of marshmallows.  We have to hide everything because he is a beast.

Every year I forget, until we are well into it, that this movie is somewhat inappropriate.

Bev took apart a bow and learned to make her own.  She makes them from wrapping paper and I think they are the cutest thing.

Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's.  We played games...

and listened to the Christmas story...

and opened a present.  Every year Grandma takes the kids to Target and they get to pick out a gift.  They look forward to it every year.

Every year the kids have a sleepover on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning...

Christian got a compound bow, and his Christmas dream came true.

Christian had asked for a DVD--Pacific Rim.  He started to open a gift in the shape of a DVD and said, "I know it, I know it...it's Pacific Rim."  And I am thinking, "Um, no...no it's not."  So he opens it and has a super disappointed look on his face when he sees that it is We Bought a Zoo.  So then we had to have a little lesson on not guessing the gift before you open it, and on being excited for whatever the gift is.

Jess got her wish of an iPod.

Bev made us each a sign with our name and descriptive words.

Drew and Bev are going to learn to ski.  

The aftermath...

Kitten got his own cat house and Bev got it put together.

Mike and the kids got me the ox and goat for my nativity.  A Minecraft lego somehow got added to the scene.

The day after Christmas Mike took the three oldest to an archery range.

Natalie and Landon came after Christmas, so we waited to act out the Nativity with them.

The day after Christmas, Christian broke out his Snap Circuits.  He later came up to me and said, "Mom, I'm sorry that I wasn't excited about the Snap Circuits...when I opened them I thought they were lame, but now I think they are awesome--they are one of my favorite presents."

We met up with the Huffs at Mountain Dell Golf Course for some sledding.

I love it when this girl carries things on her head.  She does it less frequently, but when we brought her home, she would carry everything on her head.  She would also hand me a baby and a blanket and back into me to tie the baby on her back.

My sweet parents.

The three oldest got sports packs for gifts--Bev for soccer, Drew for water polo and Christian for lacrosse.