Christmas Day 2013

We had a very Merry Christmas this year.  The kids slept until the very reasonable hour of 6:30 and then had to wait until 7 when Emmitt woke up (and for Emmitt that is really sleeping in).  We went downstairs youngest to oldest and started with the stockings...

 

 And then we took turns opening presents.  Emmitt was most interested in eating the chocolate from his stocking and then he was interested in constantly opening presents whether they belonged to him or not. 

And luckily since Emmitt has such a sweet tooth (and already has a cavity) Santa brought him a toothbrush.  That to him was a pretty exciting gift.

Here's Kevin and I in our "just woke up" glory, with our Christmas gifts.

 The girls both got Furby booms from Santa, which were a huge hit.  They played with them for hours.

 And here are the kids with their presents.  They raked it in- those spoiled little sweethearts!

Then we ended the day with dinner at the Thomases.  Another wonderful Christmas which could have only been made better with our families.... oh well, maybe next year.

Christmas Eve

This year on Christmas Eve, Kevin worked in the morning and then in the afternoon our family went roller skating, at the kids request.  We were surprised by how much fun that was.  Even mom skated.  

Then we came home and the Thomases and Owens joined us for a busy night of Christmas Eve festivities.  We had crepes for dinner then we decorating cookies, made masks for the nativity reenactment, had 2 white elephant exchanges (kids and adults), and of course acted out the nativity.  It was a good night.

Real Reindeer

We went to a local garden center with the Thomases to see some actual real reindeer.  Nothing gets you in the Christmas mood like real reindeer ;)

And here they are getting into the true meaning of Christmas...

Seeing Santa at the Durham Museum

This year we went to see Santa at the Durham Museum just like we did last year.  Emmitt was scared of him but cooperated as long as he didnt actually have to get close to Santa.  Afterwards we saw the trains, and toured the museum and then had lunch at Culvers.  Good times!

Gingerman Houses... yep thats what I meant to say

 While the kids were on Winter break, we made our traditional gingerbread houses out of Graham Crackers.  Carson joined us as he often does and the kids worked on their houses for a good two hours.  I was impressed.  Emmitt called the houses "gingerman" houses which was just too cute to correct.  He was obsessed with them and could often be found just staring at them when we put them on the dining room table for display. 

Freddy Returns

The kids were excited to see Freddy come back for another round of his hilarious antics.  I was a little less diligent in the photo taking this time around but needless to say our Elf was a busy guy every night in December.  It was fun this year to see Emmitt understand and be excited to find the elf every morning.

Funny Emmitt

After watching a cartoon about a princess who was following her heart Emmitt turned to me and said
"I dont have a heart.  Girls have a heart, you have a heart.  I have a square."

Our first real snow of the year!

Winter weather is certainly not my favorite thing... but the kids were THRILLED to wake up and see snow on the ground.  They bundled up and had a great time sledding in our neighbors front yard.  Arent they just beautiful kids?!  It was awesome to watch them all play together.  

Warmed my heart on a cold cold day!

Manly Man

Well Hallelujah, Movember is over!!!  Kevin participated again in the facial hair growing contest at work.  Usually I am a good sport about it but this year I was so ready to see it come off.  Hes a good looking guy no matter what but...well... some facial hair fashions are less desireable than others.  Heres a few photos for your viewing pleasure...

 

Okay, this picture is awesome.  He took it  (I think to tease me) without my knowing and made it the wallpaper on my iphone.  And my revenge of course is putting it on the blog.  Enjoy. extra large :)

Thanksgiving and Black Friday ... actually Thursday

We were invited to the Owens this year for Thanksgiving.  It was our first time being in Omaha and not having Thanksgiving at our house.  It was really nice.  Gina cooked a great feast and set a beautiful table too.

After dinner, we lounged about chatting and then enjoyed a cute little family talent show.   And then as the Thanksgiving festivities were winding down, I rounded up the girls for a little shopping trip.  Lately Black Friday deals start on Thursday and while I hate some aspects of Black Friday (especially the fact that it starts on Thursday), I just couldnt keep away.  I just love a good deal- what can I say!  I had just a few things I wanted and Gina, Laurie and Minky were just along for the ride (or so they thought).  We went to Walmart and then to Target and had such a great time that we could barely fit all our fun purchases in the car.  The trunk was packed and we had stuff on our laps, on the floor and everywhere we could jam it in.   Good Good times!

 

Go Cougars! (in Kansas City)

So we recently made a last minute trip to Kansas City to see BYU play in a basketball tournament.  It was just before Thanksgiving.  We took the kids out of school early on Tuesday afternoon and drove down to KC.  We had dinner with the Thomases at Fritzs (our KC fave) and then since the game didnt start till 9pm we killed time at the Crown Center and then in the hotel room for a bit.  The kids made  a HAWSOME sign (because one of BYUs best players is named Tyler Haws- get it).   Kevin took the 3 oldest to the game while I stayed with Emmitt (9pm was a bit past his bed time). The kids and Kevin had a great time.  I had made them some BYU signs that morning and apparently the kids made it onto the Jumbotron for a good 10 seconds.  That made it all worth it.

I love how it looks like Kevin is biting his nails.  Must have been a tense game :)

The top picture is Emmitt getting the food from the train at Fritzs, then the other pictures are from the Crown Center downtown KC and then the hotel room where the kids were watching Toy Story before the big game.

Before we left the next day, we went for a swim at the hotel pool, did the Kaleidoscope thing (where the kids are still very into making "finger casts") and then for lunch we went to Kevins favorite BBQ place "Oklahoma Joes."  There was a line that went all the way out the door and ended up being a 45 minute wait to get our food.  The kids were begging for McDonalds but we persisted and stayed in line for the BBQ.  Kevin LOVES his BBQ.  In the end all the kids actually really loved the ribs and chicken and want to go back.  We thought a full chicken and a full rack of ribs would be way too much food but we finished it off with no trouble at all.  That place was definitely an experience.

All in all it was a great kick off to our Thanksgiving break.  Its always a good time in Kansas City, especially when BYU basketball is involved.

Bye Bye Binki

Well, I decided that I was done fighting the binki battle with Emmitt.  He is more attached to that thing than any of my kids have been.  I have been talking about the "binky fairy" with him for a few months, hoping that he would be excited to put out his binky and have a present delivered in its place.  He didnt go for it until I took matters into my own hands and snipped off the top of his binky (when he wasnt looking of course).  When he found it, he was sad and told me that it was broken and then told me he would put it out for the binky fairy.  This was exciting so when he went for a nap we put it out on the front step, and I put him to bed.  He cried and cried in his bed and it broke my heart.  I knew it was for the greater good though. 

When he got up he was excited about his present.  He got some new trucks.  However that only lasted a minute when he became angry and told me "The binky fairy is mean."

Poor Guy.  Sometimes growing up is tough.