Christmas Craftiness

My morning all-day sickness hit right about Thanksgiving, so we didn't do many extra Christmas activities during the month of December like we usually do.  I was feeling pretty happy to make it through the basics most days. 

This was one of two times we made Christmas cookies, and that was the extent of the 'extras' I did with the kids.

We took these to the 'Nativity Celebration' (mentioned in a previous post) and also stayed to enjoy.

The other thing I managed before Christmas was a bunch of sewing.  Audrey gave me her old sewing machine, which is quite superior to my old one, and I ended up making 22 projects.  Most of them were extremely simple and fast, but I was pretty happy about it.

I made these 'his and hers' Broncos scarves for my sister, Sarah, and her husband, Dave.

I made these pajama pants for Dave and my dad.  Dave is a fireman, and apparently everyone at the station has different super hero bedding; Dave wanted Batman pajamas to go with his.  :)  My whole family are huge Broncos fans, hence the Broncos projects.

I also made 16 infinity scarves; they were super easy and fast!  Sarah had suggested them when I asked her for ideas for Christmas, and I loved the idea.  I gave many of these as gifts this year, and kept a few for me and Annie.

Last, (actually these were the first items I made) I made these microwavable heating packs for Jim's grandma.  She always loves warm things.

This is the scarf Annie chose to keep.  She wanted one really bad.

A close up of my favorite fabrics this year.

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving we had a nice dinner and visit with Jim's family.  His sister Cami was even able to come from Utah, so we really enjoyed seeing her.

Kids Say

I have a TON of updates which will hopefully be coming soon, but until then...

I had a hilarious conversation with Alex this morning all about the farm he is planning to have when he's grown up.  First of all, he's planning to build an elevator in the barn and the chickens with ride in it to get where they live upstairs.  Then he'll close their window when they sleep.  This was getting good, so I started recording quotes. 
 "My barn will break and I will fix it cause I will glue it.  And it will never break again cause I glued it!"
"I will get animal toys and chicken toys so they can play games with each other.  'Bok bok!  Our house is breaking!'  That's a game."
"And then we'll have all the doors off and all the animals will escape!  But I caught them.  And then I will put the chicken doors on first and then all the animal doors.  But some chickens sneaked and I caught them!"
"I will live in the barn with the animals, and have kids for fun."
"Maybe just in case the animals squish it up, I'll have a house.  Okay, Mom?"
"But we'll still sleep in the barn when it's bedtime and when it's raining."
"And then the house that we were building started breaking cause we were taping it!  And then we learned something.  When we're building something we should build it with GLUE!  And then we finished it in two days."
"And then I got new animals cause the other ones got stealed by bad people who want to steal animals from barns."
"And the chickens get to live in the house, but only the first days."  Me, "What about the poop?"  Alex, "We have a birdcage so they could go potty."
Finally, he informed me that he will be called 'Farmer James'.  HILARIOUS.  I love this kid!

Alex, "My yo yo is a bird elevator.  But right now they're eating in a bird feeder in the house.  Someday could we make a birdcage so they could go potty?  And make a birdfeeder so we could catch a bird?"  Consequently, we DID make a birdfeeder today, but it was totally unconnected to the conversation.

Alex, "I have one grown up toe! ...  Two I mean!!"

Alex, "Mom, I have more toes than you!"  Me, "How many toes do you have?"  Alex, "I have one more than you!"

Alex to Jim, "Would you brush your teeth?  I will show you how."

Annie received a full length mirror for Christmas, but couldn't figure out what the long gift was beforehand.  Just as she was about to open it, it must have dawned on her, but she didn't want to act like she knew, "I do love mirrors...just in case this is a mirror."  Funny girl.

Alex was naming animals in a picture book when he came to a picture of a panda, but didn't know what it was.  His confident guess: "Dog skunk."

Kids Say

I was feeling super 'pregnant-sick' today, so I made boxed mac n cheese for lunch for the first time in nine months.  The kids literally celebrated dancing through the house and repeating over and over: Alex, "I love mac n cheese!" and Annie, "When you're sick we get to eat JUNK FOOD!!!!"

Alex during church, "I'm feeling sick."  Me, "Why?"  Alex, "Because I played with cars too much!"

Alex using a blanket as a cape, "I'm Mopper Man.  Call me Mopper Man!  And I can't be kissed."

As we drove passed Applebee's, Alex, "I saw a applesauce place.  Yeah, they just sell applesauce."

Alex is always talking about how he's going to be a farmer someday.  Alex, "I am going to have lots of animals on my farm."  Annie, "What if you can't find the animals to buy?"  Alex, "I will find them cause I will go barn to barn."

I told Alex that we were going to wait until Daddy came home to get the Christmas tree down from the attic because it was heavy for me.  Alex, "Oh yeah!  Cause Dad is bigger than you and could carry you.  He could carry you on his shoulders!"

First Snow Day!

I'm not so sure I'm ready for the cold weather, but the kids are thrilled.  We had our first snow day last week.  :)

Nativity Creation

We have an annual Nativity Celebration here that the kids really love.  There are hundreds of nativities on display, Christmas music by local businesses, schools, churches, and individuals, refreshments, and kids' activities.  Logan talks about it frequently.

This year Logan has decided that he wants to participate, so he put a lot of thought into creating an original nativity to display.  It was a surprisingly big deal to him.  He's such a good example.

Outage Adventure

A couple of weeks ago, we had a power outage just before dark.  Thankfully, it was the LAST warm day we had, so it was okay.  The kids thought it was a great adventure, especially since it took a few hours for the electric company to fix the problem.

We cooked and ate dinner by candle light and flash light.  There are advantages to having a gas stove!

The kids thought it was awesome to run around our VERY dark house with flashlights.  It was impressive just how dark it was, and strange to look out the window and see NO lights in the distance.

Just as we were gearing up to play a game in our dim light, the power came back on!  I had some disappointed kids.  :)

Toddler Stunts

I feel like I blinked and my baby became a toddler.  She is still so sweet, but now she's also hilarious and a bit mischievous.  A couple of weeks ago, she realized she could climb onto the table.  Every time I turned around she was up there DANCING!  She's so funny, though she did get her first official toddler-sized scolding for getting up again and again after clearly understanding that she wasn't supposed to.  Her little heart was totally broken for a few minutes!

She also loves to wear everyone's shoes, especially my tennis shoes.  She walks around the house in them frequently.  This morning she was pretty upset that she had to share them with me so I could exercise!

Thanksgiving Crafts

For a school activity we made a gratitude tree one day.  The kids surprised me by deciding to color the entire thing after we'd created the bare tree.

Once it was ready we cut out leaves and wrote things we were grateful for on the leaves.  Again, the kids surprised me with how many leaves they filled out.

 For an activity with the women at church we also made a holiday decoration.  The front serves for Thanksgiving...

...and the back is for Christmas.

Best Surprise Ever!

A couple of weeks ago I heard a knock at my front door which was really unusual considering we live in a rural area.  I opened the door thinking maybe the neighboring farmer needed to talk to me, or maybe a package was being delivered.  So I was quite surprised to see MY DAD standing on my porch!  Initially my brain couldn't make the connection; my dad said my face was priceless.  He flew in for a surprise visit!

He was only here for a couple of days, but we had a great time together.  The kids were all over him, ALL THE TIME.  :)

Thankfully we had some decent weather, so we headed over to a local park that has some wildlife.  

We also brought carrots to feed the elk and bison.

This lucky animal had two whole bags of carrots to herself; the rest of the herd wasn't interested this day.

Abby had no fear.

Some of the other fun we had included a fire one night, eating out, and relaxing/ visiting at home.  The kids convinced their Papa to read to them quite often.

We also went for a little hike during which Abby rode on my dad's shoulders.  His ears made great handles apparently.  :)

I so enjoyed having my dad here for a visit; I think it may have been the best surprise I've ever had!  Thanks for visiting Dad!