Different, but the same

We started letting the kids make their own advent calendars for Christmas about 4 years ago, when it was only Alexis and David that needed them. It has always been something the kids look forward to.

Typically we take a length of wide ribbon and hot glue wrapped candies onto them, then hang them in the house. The older the kids got and the more we had participating in this project, the more difficult it has been to keep this a simple activity! Not everyone likes the same candies. Buying enough ribbon to hold all that candy gets pricey, and who really wants 4 or 5 candy ribbons hanging on the wall in their house?

I had to come up with a better plan this year. We picked two candies the kids could be happy with. I gave them each an empty soup can (clean, of course), and we hot glued the candies on in their own design! Then I taught Alexis, David, and Lily how to curl ribbon, and we just curled ribbon and kind of decorated the cans a bit more.

I took over Evie and Joe's since we were smart enough to wait until they were asleep one night. The cans are probably not the best idea I have had, but they do just sit on the counter, kind of out of the way. The kids had fun, and that is really all that matters anyway, right?

Too sleepy

Every now and then one of the kids wakes up wide awake far too early in the morning, for no reason at all. The problem is that it seems to just mess everything up for about 3 days! Not my favorite thing.

Last week Joe woke up at 4:30 a.m. and climbed into bed with me. Luckily I know that if I just turn on the TV, he will rest quietly and let me get more sleep. I had it on CNN hoping it would lull him back to sleep, but when I got up a couple hours later, he was wide awake just watching the news!

Most moms would just make sure their early riser got a nap in the day somewhere, but not me! If Joe naps during the day, he is up until 11:00 or so! I find if I can just keep him up until about 5:30 that he'll sleep all night and be better rested and have a better schedule the next day.

The kids got home from school and were snacking on Ramen Noodles, so we made some for Joe too. About halfway through his snack, I noticed him eating with his eyes closed. A few moments later, his head was on the table and he was out--at 4:15 in the afternoon!

Guess what!? He slept until 6:30 the next morning. It was a fantastic gift for me after a long and grumpy day.

Going...Going...


Gone!

Decking the halls

We put our beautifully artificial, pre-lit Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving this year. We don't usually get it up that early, but Ez was still on vacation and so we knew it was our best opportunity.

I bought some shatter proof decorations this year since Joe broke a number of glass ones two years ago! While I sat putting hooks on the ornaments, the kids and Grandma Jane decorated the tree. When all the ornaments were on I realized we had forgotten to put on the beads first. In my head I was making plans to undecorate the tree later that night, string on the beads, and redecorate the tree. Then reality hit. No way do I want to spend my time doing that! Really, I believe our tree will survive a year without beads.

We have been thoroughly been enjoying the kids handy work, and the occasional readjustment of the ornaments by Evie and Joe.


Best buds


David trying hard to get that tree put together



Evie is making sure the boys are getting everything set under the tree


Evie was swinging the beads everywhere--which is why they got set aside and forgotten about


The decorating starts






Joe thought the big "socks" were great to walk around in


The finished product

Our Happy Thanksgiving

We had a rather fun Thanksgiving celebration this year! It all started the night before with a rather wonderful and fun get together...we hosted our first Pie Night! I took the idea from my sister, Jolie, who borrowed the idea from a friend, that sort of thing. The idea behind Pie Night is to have a fun get together the night before Thanksgiving and eat pie, since we are all typically so full from a big meal on Thanksgiving to give our delicious pies the compliments and respect that they so rightfully deserve.

We had a great group of friends (and their pies). Our pie selection was fantastic: apple pie, warm caramel apple pie, key lime, coconut creme, chocolate cream, chocolate silk, cherry, chocolate-peanut butter, and banana pies! We all laughed that we managed to have no pumpkin, but I am sure it's because we all assumed someone else was going to bring it!

Ez and David got up Thanksgiving morning and played some football with the other dads and sons from church. The rest of us watched the parade on TV, got food ready, and just relaxed. Grandma Jane came and spent the day with us. We played games and ate far too much food, but it was all so good! We had a few fun games of Scrabble and Cranium, then played a rather relaxing version of Disney DVD Pictionary.

At Family Night earlier in the week, we had taken the time to each write down a list of things we were thankful for. After dinner we all took turns reading them. I really enjoyed hearing what each of them had thought of. The greatest part was when Ez was reading his list and he read that he was thankful for rib-eye steaks. The kids thought it was hilarious, but Ez does love those rib-eye steaks...


Evelyn started out the day trying to feast on Red Vines, but it got nixed as soon as she was found taking a bite out of a red vine and then putting it back in the bucket!


Evie, Joe, and a very giggly game of ring-a-round-the-rosie


Making sure all the tangles were out before the big meal...


Ez and David watching football, and playing a little on the PSP too


Lily, Evie, and Ez munching on the cheese ball, 2nd time around


It's good just family was eating with us. There was some serious double dipping going on!


Hungry and ready for dinner


Alexis, Jane, and David Scrabble-ing it up


Keri helping Joe with his turn at Cranium


Full, tired, and playing a mellow version of Pictionary

You won't see this very often!

It is always interesting to notice traits in our children that we know we display as well. David is very much like Ez, but there are a few similarities between David and his mom as well! The most obvious two are that he really enjoys staying up late (although mom is not so good at that anymore), and his intense dislike for napping.

David went and stayed the night at a neighbor's house last week. I knew he wouldn't get a lot of sleep, but he promised he would still behave the next day. Well, David come home around 11:30 and he looked like he had been punched in the eye! Apparently at some point before the slumbering happened, David was treated to a milkshake made by Mark's older brother. Apparently is was delicious and topped with whipped cream and a bit of cinnamon...which somehow happened to sprinkle into his eye as well! Instead of coming home for me to help him out, David half rinsed his eye and just spent the entire night and morning rubbing it. Poor guy.

We flushed his eye, gave him some eye drops, fed him some lunch and sent him to bed. David, who never ever ever naps--slept 4 1/2 hours until Ez woke him up and invited him to eat dinner with us! His eye cleared up after about a day, for which we were really grateful.

Welcome Home, Duke!

We all love our dog, Duke. He is a terrific family dog--very gentle and sweet with the kids, very loving and loyal. Of course even good pets have their downfalls!

Duke's most frustrating habit is that he likes to dash out the front door and just take off. I have given up chasing him down by foot because he just will keep running, and I can't leave the kids on the street while I chase our dog through the neighborhood.

Every time Duke gets out, he always heads to the same spot and just hangs out sniffing the plants. I have found that it is easier to just hop in the van and drive over and pick him up--it takes much less time!

The Saturday before Thanksgiving we went to a friend's house to watch the BYU football game and left Duke outside in his dog run. When we got home about 4 1/2 hours later Ez went up to unlock the front door and up ran Duke out of nowhere! Earlier in the day we had the side gate open and never closed it all the way. Duke somehow figured out how to open his dog run gate (this is about the 4th time he has done that) and was in the back yard, but found and opportunity to go exploring, and so he took off!

We have no idea how far he wandered or how long he had been out wandering, but we were all extremely impressed that he found his way home. Duke was very calm and just layed down the entire evening. I think he was glad to be home.

On the lookout

Whenever Evie is missing someone and is anxious for their return home, she runs to the front window and just peers out, often yelling that missing loved one's name! The day this photo was taken the kids had only been at school about an hour and she was already looking for them and yelling for Lily (since that is the easiest name to say, it is said the most)! I love how much she loves her brothers and sisters.