CHRISTMAS 2015, ROUND TWO

Linda, my extra mother-in-law (and, yes, that's also the name of my actual mother-in-law), came down for a couple of hours this morning to hang out with us. Look what she brought!

Isn't that cute?! I think it's safe to say that her gingerbread house skills exceed the ones we demonstrated in round one of Christmas yesterday, especially since she actually made gingerbread instead of using graham crackers.

We chatted, worked on puzzles, played some games, exchanged gifts to be open on Christmas, and took both a smiling and a silly picture of her with the kids before she headed home.

I'm thankful for bonus family!

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Round one with Dad, Debra, and Ashley
Round three with Greg, Lisa, Ethan, and Isaac
Round four with just the 6 Ws

CHRISTMAS 2015, ROUND ONE

Dad, Debra, and Ashley came up last night for an early Christmas celebration. It was a quick visit and a few people felt cruddy with colds, but we still had fun. Last night we ate dinner, exchanged gifts, and had a mellow evening hanging out together. Half the group skipped church this morning because they were too germy, but we all joined up again for lunch.

The highlight of the visit, though, was probably making gingerbread houses together this afternoon. Naomi had asked me a week or two ago if we could make some this year (we've only made them once before) and I thought it would be a fun thing to make this weekend feel Christmas-y. I loaded up on candy from Wheeler Dealer (love that place) and graham crackers from Dollar Tree a few days ago, then we all hunkered down for part of this afternoon to laugh and create together. 

Here are the nine house builders.

And here are the eight houses, from appearing post-earthquake to relatively pristine, and one car, complete with a marshmallow mechanic on a roller board to slide under a jacked up car. They may not win any awards, but we all had fun making them and that was the goal. I'm really glad Naomi suggested making them!

We also squeezed in some games (a few versions of Spot it!, which has been played endlessly here since Teebs got it for a birthday gift a couple weeks ago, and some HedBanz, which, as with Hedbanz Act Up, is another fun game for a variety of ages) and books (I Spy Christmas and Look-Alikes Christmas, two of our favorite Christmas books), colored some pictures, drank some tea, and just relaxed.

Our guests left a little while ago and now we're watching Christmas movies to wrap up the weekend.

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Round two with Linda
Round three with Greg, Lisa, Ethan, and Isaac
Round four with just the 6 Ws

12/17/15 - THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful that our church takes good care of its volunteers.

What's something that you're thankful for?

MOVIES I WATCHED: 10/12/15 - 12/14/15

Girl Rising
Tim and I watched this with the big boys and as we were watching I realized I'd seen it before, although I don't remember when. It's a great documentary about nine girls from different parts of the world who have all risen above incredibly challenging circumstances. They each place a high value on having access to an education, something the average girl in America can so easily take for granted and yet these girls are generally denied. It includes some sobering stories, facts, and statistics, but is presented with tact.

Stomp Out Loud
I don't usually list movies we've seen before, but we love this movie and check it out from the library every few months. It's a really fun movie of choreographed percussion. You can read more about STOMP on their website.

Belle
This was a great movie based on the true story of a biracial woman raised by an affluent uncle and aunt in England during the 1700s. Her life is a mix of cultural extremes - the privileges afforded to her because of her dad's lineage and rights denied because of her mother's skin color, along with the fact she was born out of  wedlock in a time where such children were treated poorly because of their parents' choices. It's a great story of family, loyalty, compromise, justice, compassion, love, equality, and how life is often layered in shades of grey.

Life is Beautiful
I haven't watched this since it was a new release, but we watched it with Silas and Devon recently as part of our attempt to watch some movies with them that deal with real life atrocities. In this case, the story is about Jews in German-occupied Italy during the Holocaust. Although the story is fictional, it's such an amazing movie! The family's love for and commitment to each other, the willful decision to choose to be positive in the midst of horrific circumstances, the incredible value of humor and imagination. I love it.

The Drop Box
I've been waiting to see this for ages and finally got it from the library. This is a documentary about a man in South Korea who finds an abandoned baby on his steps, an event which becomes the catalyst for creating a safe place for mothers to place infants who would otherwise be left on the street. It's a phenomenal story of sacrifice and dedication, of taking action instead of just talking about a problem, of valuing every single life.

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12/10/15 - THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful that all four little Ws are still asleep at 8:30.

What's one thing that you're thankful for?

2015 - ANNUAL FAMILY AND KID PICTURES

Last year was the first year since having Silas that we didn't get pictures of the kids and the first without family pictures since we started when the big boys were little. Sometimes living within your means involves skipping stuff like that. Life goes on.

Last year was also the first year since starting our annual year in review that I didn't write one. Between all the chatting with people I do in person, Facebook, and our blog, there just really isn't much to say in a newsletter that hasn't already been said. Again, life goes one.

This year I'm skipping the year in review again, but we're back in the saddle with getting pictures taken. Happy about that! The kids had individual pictures taken during their birthday months and we had family pictures done in mid-November. So, without further ado, here are some shots of the 6 Ws. As a sidenote, the lighting on these looks funky in the scanned version. but none of our skin is as splotchy as it appears in the pictures. I promise.

Devon had pictures taken in June.

Silas also had pictures taken in June.

 Naomi had pictures taken in August.

Teebs had pictures taken in December.

The photographer took a shot of Tim and I during family pictures in November.

And one of the little Ws.

Then we cranked out a few of all 6 Ws.

TEEBS' BIRTHDAY - 2015

This dude had a blast with all of our birthday traditions today.  Before going to work this morning, Tim took Teebs to get a doughnut for breakfast. Teebs chose one with sprinkles, of course.

He and I went on the mom & birthday kid ice cream date between lunch and naps. We headed out in wind and rain for his first trip to El Paisanito, the same place I took the other little Ws, but we discovered an empty building with a sign on the door saying they're closed until February. Bummer. We headed to DQ instead and he got his first dilly bar, which he loved. He also chose to sit on my lap, which I loved.

After a crazy long nap, we ate his birthday dinner of choice - Barbara's pancakes (I made them with applesauce instead of oil this time), fruit and yogurt smoothies, and Devon's scrambled eggs.

Next up was gifts from the sibs. The parental gift will be arriving in the next few weeks.

And, of course, we took a few pictures in the birthday outfit.

 It was a fun day for the birthday boy!