Christmas Eve

Oh the excitement! I love Christmas Eve! We have a lot of fun traditions. Roger had to work, so we couldn't get started until he got home though. Having church in the morning helped the day go by faster... Plus we just love church. 😊

The kids requested that we resurrect our old tradition of a picnic at the Christmas tree. Long story short, even though I made finger foods, we ate at the table. Maybe next year? I dunno.

Nehemiah was convinced that he needed to make cookies for Roger and I to eat while putting presents under the tree. We already had at least 3 varieties left from our baking extravaganza a few days earlier, but that was of no importance to him. So... He baked cookies, recruiting Joseph to help.

That is a story all of its own.

I do love his heart though. Seeing my boys work together in the kitchen for me was a sweet moment for sure.

After dinner and cookie prep, we excitedly moved on to our favorite Christmas Eve activity! I've gone over the details of the game other years but I'll give the quick run-down here.
You need a present that's been wrapped in a gazillion layers of wrapping paper, a pair of dice, a hat, mittens, and a scarf. The dice get passed around: goal being to roll doubles. Doubles = all attire on and you get to open...until someone else rolls doubles. It's an intense game with lots of laughter.

Inside is usually a new game or movie and Christmas PJ's. Only this year I wrapped the PJs separate because, well, because I wanted to. :)

Keturah and Joseph were rolling doubles like crazy! Zion got a few too. She wasn't sure what was going on but she was loving all of the excitement and commotion.

So everyone got cozie in new PJs and then we played our new game: Exploding Kittens. So Fun!
The little two made a game of shredding the wrapping paper while we played Exploding Kittens. ::Shrug:: they were happy.

Bedtime was a little pitiful. Back in the day all of the kids slept in the same room on Christmas Eve because they were just so excited! But our bedrooms now are too small. There isn't enough room for anyone to sleep in a room that isn't their own. The boys were ok with that but my girls wanted to shake things up. Long dramatic story short, we got out our toddler cot and played musical beds.

It worked. :)

And with that, they all slept soundly... Until 4 am...

Gingerbread houses

Today was our annual Gingerbread house decorating contest. This was Zion's first year decorating and she LOVED every second of it.

This is something the kids look forward to all year long. I assemble the houses earlier in the day (because I learned early on that it is a disaster if they build their own) and we all decorate.

After the first person finishes we set a timer for everyone else. Then the kids have to go into their rooms while we clean up and judge.

Everyone gets a note for Best of ____ or most amazing use of _____. But there is 1 overall winner. We have a special ornament for the tree which lists the winner and year that they won.

This year we simply could not decide and had our first tie between Adaiah and Joseph. 😊

After pictures they have 1 minute to eat as much candy as they want off of their house. It never ceases to amaze me how much candy the boys can inhale. Adaiah did some damage this year too. 😂

The next day or two they will eat their houses some more and then I will pitch em when they aren't looking. 🤣

All of the kids enjoyed themselves. It is a treasured tradition. ❤️🏚️

My little helpers

Oh, these 2. I set foot in the kitchen and one of them goes running for the bench from the dining room table.

Zion loves to help stir. Pouring is pretty great too... But stirring is where it's at.

Keturah loves to pour. She loves to feel the sense of completion when helping in the kitchen. She has yet to master cracking eggs. I'm pretty sure I let out a scream of surprise each time, as egg whites splat across the room. She made her first ever PB&j all by herself in this picture. She was so proud! (Me too!)

Advent Activity

Build an epic blanket fort and read Christmas books.

It was so much fun! We rearranged furniture (bonus: under the couches got cleaned out! Many Legos, Barbie shoes, and Shopkins we're found) and gathered as many large blankets as we could find.

I thought the older kids might only go along with it for the little ones, but they were possibly most into it!

We ready silly Christmas books and everyone listened quietly.

Anyway, it was one of our favorite Advent activities yet.

Snow day

We had our first snow this week! The kids were so excited! The boys didn't want to go out in it (there really wasn't that much to play in) but the girls were chomping at the bit to get out there!

We dug out all the snow gear, bundled em all up, and rejoiced that we could watch them play from INSIDE the house. 😊

Zion tapped out first, bit she still lasted longer than I thought she would. Keturah and Adaiah lasted the longest. They were army crawling through the yard, "hiking" through some imaginary snowy fortress. ❤️

The snow is pretty...but I miss Texas.

Summer days...coming to an end?

After some crazy hot days, and some rainy days, we are finally having a gorgeous summer day. We started our day off with a list of chores... The kids loved that. ::rolling my eyes:: Many hands make light work though and our chores were quickly done. The morning dew was still on the grass and we were able to get outside to play.

It's kinda a big deal because although summer just officially started, today is their last Saturday of freedom. We start school on Monday. They've had a 7 week vacation so don't feel bad for them. I don't know if that kinda break even classifies us as year round homeschoolers. Its certainly the longest break we've ever had since Joseph started 1st grade. And it was amazing. I don't want to go back just as much as the kids don't want to go back. I want to finish projects that I've started. Read a few more books. Stay up late. :)

Sigh

Anyway... TODAY... Today we play outside.  We enjoy belly laughs and girly squeals when pushed high on the swings. We jump on the trampoline until our legs get tired. (Doesn't take long for me!) ;)

*sidenote: Adaiah is not under house arrest. She is wearing a Garmin Jr on her ankle. She likes to count her steps/activity minutes.

Father's Day

Saturday we headed to Indy to enjoy some Chick Fil A. Since they are closed on Sundays we just had to go Saturday. And since we were in Indy we HAD to visit the Lego store. One can not simply just visit the Lego store without buying Lego's... Or so my husband tells me. :)

On Sunday Roger woke up to a bunch of cards and a present (Lego's, of course). We had a lazy day at home. Roger was in his glory, building Lego's all day.

I was just happy to have him home. Dreaming of a day when he can work from home.

It was a great weekend. He's a great father to our 6 amazing kids. I enjoy having a day set aside to let him know how much we appreciate him. While I try to live, daily showing my appreciation, its fun to make a fuss over him. Next fuss? Our anniversary is coming up. Is there a Lego set that says "thanks for 16 amazing Years?" :)