Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree

Finally, the advent Santa said it was time to decorate the tree. Daddy strung up the lights and the kiddos put the ornaments on. I think they did a pretty good job.

I took the picture of the tree with the lights on at night...and the red and orange lights make the tree look like it has brown splotches! Rest assured, the kiddos have a GREEN tree.

Holiday Brunch with the Bayley Bunch!

The family all trekked to Uncle Matt & Aunt Courtney's...because she promised monkey bread and a fritatta situation. She knows how we roll, it's all about the food. I think Bayley ate half of the walnut-free monkey bread...and I am not sure there was a single piece of either left for Matt's afternoon snacking. Sorry Uncle Matty!

Good eats aside, we all had a great time relaxing on their comfy sofas and watching the show. The boys put on a few of their now famous skits, but I think the highlight of the morning was Hayden's Bop-It game. It's this strange electronic device that tells you what to do. Now, no one listens when I tell them what to do, but maybe if I do it in an electronic voice?

Grace loved the Christmas tree most of all. As soon as she saw it, she was dancing around and sharing her excitement with everyone. Hayden could not wait to open presents (which made his Bop It discovery all the more important. Bayley got a book he's been waiting two months to read...but I think the monkey bread was his highlight.

I can't wait for next year. Natalie will be walking...and I will make sure her gift arrives in time to bring it to the event!

Hanukkah!

I love Hanukkah for so many reasons. Yes, latkes and jelly doughnuts play a role. But the best part is that it lasts for so long. Each night at dinner we light the candles and after dinner the kids get a gift. None of the gifts have a huge wow factor, but they don't need to. When they only get one a day, they enjoy the one they have!

This year, we let the boys light the candles. Next year, in order to earn the priviledge they'll have to say the prayer too. Which probably means I'll need to say the prayer in Hebrew instead of simply leaning on the English. Or not...

I hate how some toys get tossed aside for others in the Christmas morning free-for-all, so it's such a blessing to be able to give things to the kids slowly, and watch the thrill of play shoes or see every action figure get played with.



We made some great finds this year - like Sesame Dounuts sells donut holes for a $1 a dozen at the library. And next year I think we'll try having the boys help with the latkes and teaching Grace to play dreidle. Right now, she'd see the pile of m&m's and think THAT was her gift!

CHOCOLATE!

Hayden made a chocolate cream pie today.

Graham Cracker Houses

Our advent activity was supposed to be gingerbread houses...but I didn't want to go to the store to buy them...so the boys made them out of graham crackers and their leftover Halloween candy. BRILLIANT! They had the best time.

Advent Activities

Instead of having chocolate in the Advent calendar, I decided to put in an activity each day. Some of them are easy (reading holiday books) and some are useful...like having the boys help me with the holiday cards. Yes...we did them. Shocker, I know. We haven't sent out anything en masse since Grace's birth announcements. I never did get around to doing change of address cards.

Jenga!

The kids got a family game for Hanukkah tonight -- JENGA! We had a hilarious time playing a couple of rounds...and then a neverending round where Bayley used his skills with the Force. Eventually...I knocked the tower over. But it was wicked high by then!

Happy Chanukah!

The first night of Chanukah was candle free...since the menorah was 12-feet above the garage in a box! I'll brave the six foot ladder, but the giant one is beyond my scope of talent. We celebrated with a family game night... which quickly progressed to a Mario Cart battle challenge. Grace played with an empty Wii Wheel for a while, and then we brought out the big guns to keep her entertained -- marbles! Bayley loved the marble tower in kindergarten so much, we got one for him. It was a brilliant idea, since the kids are STILL using it!

According to the Santa advent calendar...tonight will be a candlelit dinner!

Go Ducks!

In order to keep Jeff's head from exploding when the Ducks won, Uncle Chris came over to dose him with a booster shot of Little Brother and knock him down a few pegs.


Unfortunately for Bayley, this involved the words 'wet willie' and Hayden was more than happy to do his Little Brother part.

The chaos continued as the boys talked Uncle Chris into a game of Twister...and Grace decided that the Twister mat was not for such a rowdy game. She thought it would be better for a picnic with cake.

Luckily, there was leftover pumpkin pie, which seemed to make everything better for everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving dinner was at our house this year, which meant we didn't even have to put on shoes!

The food was amazing, and that's not one of my usual exagerations for effect. I could have ate until I passed out, but there was a baby in the house, so I couldn't let the opportunity for a cuddle pass. While everyone ate, I got some special time with Natalie.
The boys had a great time playing and eating...and then entertained us all with a couple skits, like The Life of a Raindrop.