Christmas 2016

The holiday has only really just begun for us. We went to school on Friday to the last moment possible. On Christmas Eve we did our usual tradition of caroling at a nursing home with other families from our ward. Some friends of ours came over to play in the afternoon because they were going out of town Christmas morning. Their family is becoming like one of our family members, so it was like playing with cousins. We had a nice dinner, Mexican style, for Christmas Eve. All of our kids, minus Erik of course, like tacos and tamales, which Jason bought from Mexican Town.

Eating the cookies while trying to decide which to put out for Santa.

Christmas morning everyone woke up bright and early. Santa brought Victoria markers at her request, a Fur Real Friends Pony for Karissa, a mini tablet for Austin, and some Star Wars cars for Erik. Other than a remote control car for Austin, most of the other gifts were useful and or needed. I liked it this way because the kids seemed not as overwhelmed with a bigger selection of toys. They all had fun with Karissa's pony and with Austin's car. Victoria drew on everyone with her markers, which we still see the results of this morning...

Erik had candy in his mouth here. He didn't get many presents and was happy as could be with his candy and cars.

Got what he wanted!

Washable markers, of course

This pony talks and responds to you. It's cute...

Erik also wanted circle chips for Christmas.

She got Red Wings tickets at a very good price for her good GPA.

He's wanted one of these for a while.

I made the best gingerbread waffled for breakfast! The best part? All of the kids ate at least most of theirs!!

Luke liked the pony too.

And his other toys.

 I loved having Christmas on Sunday! It gave us an excuse to get out and really enjoyed Christmas day worshipping our Savior. The music and the words spoken were so beautiful. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, talking with family, and playing with the games we received. We had a simple dinner of ham, green beans, rolls, and my homemade french fries. We had planned to decorate our gingerbread houses that we started putting together on Friday, but everybody too tired so we decided to wait until Grandma Pat and Grandpa Jim arrive, which is today! I hope your day was as relaxing as ours. Merry Christmas to all!

Ready for church!

This one turned out better the girls', I should have closed the window for theirs. This was taken a few weeks ago because they were excited to take the picture. I knew I may not have the chance for Erik to get in the picture again , and I was right! He took off his sweater at church and didn't want any part in a group picture. 

So we got to take our own! 17 Christmases spent together!

Chicago

We like to go to cold places when chances are high that it's going to be cold and snowy while we are there. We went to Chicago last weekend and it snowed on the way there and on the way back with temperatures in the teens and wind chills in the single digits. However, the weather did not discourage us and we had a great time!

Jason found out BYU would be playing Illinois there at the basketball stadium. Even though we knew the game would be late, we thought it would be a fun adventure. We drove Friday after school and arrived at our downtown hotel later than expected, due to the weather, but it was good practice for staying up the next night.

After a fabulous breakfast the next morning, we took the L and a couple of buses to the Museum of Science and Industry. It was one of the best museums ever! We got a pass so we can use the reciprocity around here and we might even go back to Chicago over the next year and use it again. A lot of our time was spent doing the holiday special exhibit and we still want to see some of the other regular exhibits we didn't get to see.

Tree coming into the museum.

Awesome, huge, model train display.

I loved this model waterfall part of it.

The holiday exhibit was Christmas trees around the world. We also enjoyed a Scottish dance show and as we walked back to the main museum from the auditorium, we saw Santa. And guess who wanted to stand in line to see him? Victoria and Austin. Karissa and Erik went to see some other things with Jason since they felt like they had enough time with him at the Detroit parade. They didn't allow outside pictures, so no pics of them with him.

Norwegian Christmas tree.

Puerto Rican Christmas tree.

Swedish Christmas tree.

Waiting for the L.

On the bus.

We saw a few other quick exhibits and got a bite to eat at the museum's food court, which was very impressive and reasonable for a food court at a museum.

After traveling back to the hotel, we took a very cold dip in the pool, hoping it was going to be heated, or at least a more comfortable temperature for wintertime in Chicago. We saw the Cloud Gate (aka Bean), ate the best thin crusted pizza in Chicago, according to Oprah, and froze our buns off outside between being in buses or buildings. Jason treated the kids to Dr. Pepper so they could make it through the game, which started after 8:30. It didn't matter that Erik had Dr. Pepper and some candy during the first part of the game, he still was super tired at halftime and fell asleep shortly thereafter. We lost the game, but still scored a lot and could have won if we had made that last 3 pointer.

The Cloud Gate

The big moment!

Super fans!

The hotel always had Granny Smith apples in the lobby which, to my surprise and delight, everyone but Victoria (mostly because she has braces) enjoyed snacking on every time we went past. When we left to go to a sacrament meeting on the way home on Sunday, we grabbed a few more apples. they were delicious!

Orchestra Concert

We brought all the kids to watch Victoria's concert on Thursday. I wanted them all to appreciate the instruments and for them to continue to be excited to play the piano. We weren't disappointed! The boys especially loved This Is  Halloween by the symphony and were singing to the song, even Erik! Austin really liked Carol of the Bells  by the high school orchestra, which he has learned to like on the radio. He calls it Evil Bells. We all loved Sleigh Ride, of course, and the different instruments that play the horse clops and the crack of the whip.

The beginners started, which we know a lot of kids in that group, then the intermediate group and we know a few in that group. Next was the high school orchestra and finally the orchestra symphony, which we know a few in that group as well.

Despite having to wake up at 6 every morning, Victoria is really enjoying the violin and playing in the orchestra. It hasn't taken too much practice time at home for her, and when she does practice at home, she and I are able to play some songs together, which is really fun! I am pleased with the progress she has made on such a difficult instrument. I thought those beginners, who have only been playing for three months, sounded great! Victoria's songs are included below, but one thing is you can't see Victoria playing at all! She was in the middle on our side and when she sat down, that was the end of seeing her. It worked great for the pictures beforehand, though! Next time, we'll go further back and be able to see her better.

Victoria and Sabrina. They're good friends from elementary school, but at different middle schools. Luckily, they can see each other every day at orchestra!

Should have known I wouldn't be able to see her when she sat.

Erik's Party

To be honest, I didn't want to throw Erik a birthday party this year. He didn't want one last year and I was half expecting him to not want one this year. When he told us he did, I almost just said no and wanted to give him another option of something fun to do with the family, but everyone else got so excited about the idea, even Jason, that I couldn't deprive him of something all my other kids have done every year since they were 4. His birthday, being the day before Thanksgiving this year, made it tricky, plus Christmas is in full force right after. I didn't want all my decorations up for his 4 and 5 year-old buddies to mess with, so we held off decorating until the weekend after Thanksgiving. Also, since I can't have his parties outside like I can with Austin's, I was afraid of having a bunch of boys running around my house.

 Since I was taking the girls to see the Nutcracker at the high school on Saturday, we had to make his party on Friday, December 2. My older kids promised to help with the party and they kept their promise! Victoria led the entire party and Austin and Karissa were great helpers! Austin started the party with his race car track, which they all loved! Victoria led them in pin-the-eye on the monster, which she made. Erik really wanted to play What Time is it Mr. Fox?, so we were able to pull that off in the living room and then they played with balloons. All the while, I made pancakes and bacon for dinner, since we had to hold the party during dinner time. Erik eats turkey bacon, once in awhile, and definitely loves pancakes and usually grapes, so the meal was a no-brainer. They all ate, then played with the cars some more before opening presents and having cake. They were all so well-behaved and it was the easiest party ever for me! It helped that they have all been to our house many times between child care swaps, play dates, and mom preschool last year. Only 5 out of the 6 friends we invited came, so there weren't too many to handle.

Car ramp

Austin showing how it's done.

What Time is it Mr. Fox?

Balloon fun!

Spencer, Nick, Braden, Victoria, Erik. Noah, Victor (Austin, Karissa. and Jason in the background)

I guess we'll have to hold his party before Thanksgiving next year since his birthday is on Thanksgiving in 2017.

Thanksgiving

The day before Thanksgiving, Erik's birthday, when we weren't doing birthday activities, my older three didn't have school, so they came to Red Bell with Erik and me. They came before on election day, so they knew what to expect. They had fun helping me and getting my classroom ready for the holidays after Thanksgiving.

The girls drawing with my students.

Austin teaching them some hockey for our indoor recess. Of course it had to rain on the day my kids came. they love the playground!

We went to the Detroit Parade Thanksgiving morning. We've thought about going for years, but finally did it. It was a good year to go. The weather has been unseasonably warm so far.

Darn, blurry!

We loved the floats and the music. We even got to visit with Santa on the sidelines! He talked with our kids for about 5 minutes or more. He had a very good Santa voice and laugh. He promised to wave to us from the float, which he did only a few minutes later!

Very friendly Santa!

Austin gave him a long list of things to bring.

My friend Marigold and her family are moving to the Dallas area next week, so we had them come over for the meal. It was great to visit with them and we will miss them very much! 

Kristen

Erik and Gabby

Austin, Paige, and Karissa.

Jason, Victoria, Jarrett, and Marigold.

The weekend was a great break for us all. Since I've been so busy lately I was feeling so productive and energetic! We started on making some Christmas gifts and the best thing about it was that Erik participated with us, something he didn't use to do!

Christmas crafts! Victoria joined us later.

We put up our tree early so Luke could go to town in it, like he is here. Hopefully when we put up the ornaments he can control himself, somewhat!