The Days of Christmas: Day 10

Read Luke 2:13–14--Who joined the angel in praising God?
Activity: Join with the angels and sing “Joy to the World”

The Days of Christmas: Day 9

Read Luke 2:8-11—Candy canes, remind us of the shepherds' crook and The Savior, who is “The Good Shepherd” (include mini candy canes)
Activity: Decorating a Gingerbread House

This is definitely a family favorite! The kids love to decorate with candy especially since they get to eat it when we are all through. I don't know how you feel but I am usually trying to pinch pennies wherever I can. When it comes to the gingerbread houses though I splurge unless I'm using graham crackers, I think it is totally worth buying the kit! Gingerbread takes forever, is never the right thickness, all the measuring to make sure it all workout. I did that in the past but gave up when I came across the kits. No more baking for me!!! Well, as far as gingerbread is concerned. I know a little lazy but I would much rather spend the time with the kids decorating, eating candy and laughing than the time it takes to make the darn thing on my own.

The Days of Christmas: Day 8

Read Luke 2:7—Why did Mary lay baby Jesus in a manger?
Activity: Manger ornament craft kit

We have been so blessed! Katelyn has been taking piano lessons since the beginning of September. This has been a wonderful experience for her as she has grown more accustom to the instrument. The only problem/frustration we have run into is having to take her over to the church everyday to practice the piano. Entertaining four boys in the primary room while Katelyn practices the piano can be quite the battle. I decided to try my luck with craigslist, an online classifieds, for a piano. As luck would have it, I came across an add for one this week with a great asking price! I contacted the seller and we were able to purchase it today! It is great especially for our little pianist! Now we'll just be that much more motivated to keep going with the piano lessons which has been a goal for Zack and I. We want each of our children to have the opportunity to learn to play the piano.

Preschool: Letter G

Today was another preschool day that I was in charge of. We started out tracing the letter G in both upper and lowercase with Elmer's glue on a green piece of construction paper with colorful glitter. The kids loved dumping glitter onto paper. Making a mess is their specialty! Then we read the Gingerbread Man which the kids loved. Games and goose start with G so we went outside and played Duck, duck, goose. They couldn't get enough of that game. Literally!!! Next we had a snack of gingerbread man cookies with colorful sprinkles of red and green. Glasses were next so I used piper cleaners and shaped them into glasses. The kids loved wearing them! Alexa Kayley said they made her look brainy! Silly girl. I then let them play outside as they all love to play on the playground. I think the kids had lots of fun, I know they were happy!

The Days of Christmas: Day 7

Read Micah 5:2—What does this scripture foretell about Bethlehem?
Activity: Sing O Little Town of Bethlehem

My aunt Donna Sue came to town for a short visit. She was only able to get away for a couple days since all her family is so dependent on her in Seattle. We were invited to dinner over at my parents house for a visit. We went over for a spaghetti dinner and to visit with my aunt, parents, grandparents and siblings. It was nice! Everyone besides Zack, Brandon, Goldie and their crew came over to visit. The kids loved playing with cousins and running the house a muck! William seemed a little uncomfortable with so many people around but he survived. Just a little clingy! Matthew was fine, he was comfortable around enough people as long as there was crawling space which seemed a little limited due to the amount of people!

The Days of Christmas: Day 6

Read Luke 2:1, 3-6—Why did Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem? (Include coins in the advent box)
Activity: Ice Cream Party

Katelyn finished up her dinner last night at the Brick Oven (my birthday dinner) only to run to the bathroom and throw it back up! Needless to say, we spent the day hanging out at home, maybe the Dickens' Festival was too much for us recovering from the stomach flu. Zack had early morning church meetings so we all slept in except him who was at the church before 6am. Matthew and I were up at 7:30 but the other 4 made themselves known around 9:15am! Happy Birthday to me! I was able to complete Matthew's Christmas stocking today which turned out great. I posted the picture back on my previous post. Zack was pretty busy today as it is his month to conduct in our ward and fast Sundays he is in charge of the collection of fast offerings. He did finish up around 6 o'clock which is pretty good timing for him.

Stephanie, Tim and Jaerick made their way over with two dozen donuts and a gift (mixing/measuring bowls) shortly after Zack arrived home, great timing as Zack had totally spaced a birthday cake! I really wasn't interested in making my own. Cameron and Jennifer soon followed with their little ones. We let the kids play downstairs while the adults and babies visited upstairs. Later on, we had donuts and ice cream for everyone. After they left my parents and little brother TJ made their way over. My mom made me a birthday cake!!! She definitely knows about Zack's forgetfulness. They brought presents and visited for a little while. None of this was planned as you can tell from my attire! My kids were so hyped up on sugar by the time my parents came over they were bouncing off the walls! Eventually things settled down. Zack put the kids bedding back on their beds so they could sleep. I nursed Matthew and put him to bed and the day ends with me blogging, Zack asleep on the couch waiting for me to finish up and William conked out on the stairs! The rest of the kids are in bed asleep. Isn't that just how things go?!? Well I don't feel any different in my 30's as my 20's. I'm just a busy mom taking care of my crew and trying to get the most out of this life. Here's to my next 30 years!

The Days of Christmas: Day 5

Read Luke 1:36—How were Mary & Elizabeth related? Who is older, John the Baptist, or Jesus?
Activity: Attend the Dickens' Christmas Festival

We attended the local Dickens' Festival here in town. There were lots of little shoppes to buy Christmas gifts at. Since it is my birthday tomorrow, Zack bought me a few prints from Del Parsons and his 2010 calendar. They are beautiful prints and I am thrilled about the calendar too! The festival was very eventful with all the hustle and bustle. They had musical performances in the center of everything and they had little snippets from Dickens' plays over in the food court. It was a very busy activity.

The Days of Christmas: Day 4

Read Matthew 1: 18-21 - Why did Mary & Joseph name the baby Jesus?
Activity: Open the children's nativity

I was so excited to get this nativity from Fisher Price this year. I wanted the kids to have a nativity that they could play with and act out the story of the birth of our Saviour. This is incredibly durable as most all fisher price little people are. They have another nativity with lights, a backdrop, more characters and music but I believe part of the treasure of our Saviour's life is how simple his birth was, how pure. He didn't come to the world as a rich son of a king or with the world's sense of grandeur but rather in a simple stable with a young mother and an earthly father to care for him. He overcame the world! I don't need my children to have a depiction of the Saviour's birth with all the world's commercialism. I want it to be more about the characters not the extra fluff! The kids all seemed rather thrilled about a new toy. I had William open the box and then each child was able to take out a piece as I described each character's role. The little boys immediately started playing with it. Joshua made sure Matthew knew that he was not to eat the baby Jesus or slobber on Mary. They'll get some wonderful time playing with these toys and actually learning more every time we talk about our Saviour throughout this holiday time!

Miss Katelyn's Piano Recital

This evening Katelyn had her first piano recital. She worked really hard on both of her pieces. She played Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer and Away in a Manger. She did a good job! Both Awsten and Braxton take lessons from the same Miss Amy as Katelyn. It has been a good experience for all of them. I am so proud of her hard work. Miss Amy said that Katelyn is very studious and it shows in her abilities every time she comes to her lessons. She is a very hard worker! Katelyn said that her hands were shaking really hard while she was playing but she kept going and finished up nicely. What a good girl! She is a wonderful example to her brothers. We are all so proud of her many accomplishments.

The Days of Christmas: Day 3

Read Isaiah 7:14 & Matthew 1:23 - How did Isaiah know what would happen? Why is it important that he did?

Activity: Hanging stocking

Katelyn had her piano recital this evening so we needed a short and sweet activity to accomodate our busy schedule. Our stockings all look great! I finally was able to finish Matthew's Christmas stocking to complete the set! I am always so glad when I can finish a project in a timely manner. I am making rag quilts for the boys for Christmas which has been taking a lot of my time lately and with Christmas right around the corner I have many projects to finish up! The joys of holidays and making everything "perfect"!!!