Breakfast with Santa

There is a farm not too far from our house that was hosting a breakfast with Santa. Eric was gone with a Scout outing, so I took the kids there to have fun since they hadn't officially seen Santa yet. We had a fun, yet kinda expensive time (5 kids plus breakfast plus activities adds up). We ate a pancake breakfast. The kids had fun feeding all the animals. Our favorite was the camel, with his huge long neck that he would move and scare everyone - see Lindsey's picture below. The kids went on a train ride which Colton was slightly unsure of. Spencer and Kaylen rode on horses.

I LOVE this picture. Lindsey freaked out when the camel moved.

Spencer tries so hard to be a tough, cool guy, showing very little emotion. He got so excited and happy around these animals. He was so fun to watch feeding the goats, and all the other animals. He cracked up at the llama's teeth, and couldn't stop laughing at them. He of course, turned into his Spencer-self when he went inside the petting zoo and chased the animals around, just trying to bug them (kind like what he does to Lindsey).

Cookies and Stories

Logan's class had a fun activity - stories and cookies. The kids were split into groups of 2-3 kids. Each group wrote and illustrated a story. The parents were invited to the classroom where we were able to listen to the kids' stories while munching on cookies and milk. It was a different, fun activity.


Logan's story was titled "The Story about Guy Andrew and Justin." The pictures were so cute. The story seemed dream-like, but it also reflected some of Logan's personality, like playing football. It is as follows (typos included):

This is the story about Guy, Andrew, and Justin.
One day they were walking in there neighborhood and they came upon a house and saw elves and Elvis that were singing Christmas songs.
They were so freaked out they didn't know what to do. So they started singing along.
Do be do bot. Do be do bot. Do be do bot yay.
The song finished and Guy, Andrew, and Justin walked away. They went to Justin's and started to play football.
They got tired and went inside and got milk and cookies.
Right when they turned around they saw Christmas trees singing funny songs and dancing to the songs.
It was pretty funny so they sat there and laughed at them.
Soon they got bored and went outside to build snowmen where it was filled with snow.
They saw a polar bear building its den. They were so scared they ran away and went to Andrew's house.
They saw candy canes that were lying in the snow and talking to each other.
So then they went inside and got eggnog. They poured three cups and drank it Andrew said, "man this tastes like rotten milk." Guy said "I agree with you on that one."
So they went upstairs and saw Santa taking milk and cookies and putting them in his bag Andrew said, "don't take that it's rotten milk". "Sorry" Santa said and ran away without giving them any presents.
Guy, Andrew, and Justin followed Santa out the window and climbed into his sleigh and rode away with him.
Once they started flying away they looked up got up grabbed the presents and dove out of the sleigh.
They landed on a house and said, "Let's stay here for the night. So they stayed there for the night.
The next morning they noticed they were on Guy's house. So that day the played for the whole day and they went to bed at 10:00 that night.

Fog and Rain

We've been having some awesome weather lately - my favorite, rain! This morning I woke up to fog. I was so excited to wake up the kids just so they could see the fog. I don't think they've ever seen it before. The bus stop is just across the street, but I couldn't even see it from the house and watch the kids go to school because of the fog.

Whenever it rains, either the umbrellas or swimsuits come out. Today both came out. After getting the kids from the bus, they began jumping on the trampoline in their swimsuits. After their short-lived jumping, they came in the house and huddled around the fireplace in an attempt to warm up.

Kinder-Prep Santa

I had the opportunity to go to Kaylen's Christmas party at Kinder-Prep. There were different stations, (I missed all the photo opportunities, though). I helped the kiddos make reindeer food - in the baby food jars that I'd been saving without having a purpose for them.

One of the stations was a Santa dress-up relay. I got a photo of Kaylen after she got all dressed up! She was pretty cute.

Kaylen's Dance

It was another parent day at Kaylen's dance. Kaylen is in her third year of combo classes - tap, ballet, and tumbling. She absolutely loves dancing! Not only does she look really cute dressed up, but she's a good dancer. She loves practicing the dances at home. She also practices some of the tumbling moves. I can often turn around and find her doing a back bend or a headstand against the wall.

Bikes

We've finally gotten our bikes out of the garage to ride together. Of course, the boys' bikes have been out and used, but this was the first time we actually did a bike ride as a family. Colton loved the trailer on my bike and eagerly climbed in. Spencer was the repairman/tire inflator. He has some skills in repairing and fixing things, which comes in quite handy.

After the bike ride, Colton has since climbed in the trailer, ready for a ride. It will be a while before we do it again, because my bike or the trailer had issues with the tires and it was like I was riding on flat tires, dragging the trailer. It was very difficult, but Eric also had the difficult time with helping Kaylen pedal the whole mile. He ended up riding his bike and pulling Kaylen beside him because her legs were just too tired to loop around the block (she was actually on the bike, not the Dora Hot Wheels).

Christmas Trees

So, here's some details of my Christmas tree fetish, as Eric calls it. I had 6 trees up in the house. For some reason, when I sent Eric to Sam's Club with a couple kids, he came home with a 9-foot tall real tree! So, we re-arranged (undecorated, moved, and redecorated) a tree in the family room to make room for the real tree. It was fun to set up each tree, with its different theme.

Our 7th tree - I wrapped some tulle around it, stuck poinsettia flowers in it, and displayed all the cute cards we received.

The red and gold tree in the living room

The OSU tree in the game room

A tree with my grandparents' ornaments (which I love and treasure) in our entry

The cookie and candy tree in the family room

The red and green tree in the upstairs hall

A Concert

These photos are from Spencer's first band concert. He plays percussion, using his piano and drum skills. The concert was at the Performing Arts Center at a nearby high school. He did great with the concert. Afterwards, we celebrated with ice cream.

Gingerbread Houses

A new tradition we started this year: Gingerbread Houses

I wanted to be able to listen to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, so I thought, that in order to keep the kids quiet, their hands would need to be busy. The kids ended up decorating gingerbread houses (I went the easy way and used graham crackers) while we listened to the broadcast. The kids had such a fun time doing it. Spencer's house was minimalistic. Logan's was filled with candy. Lindsey's house had the candy all patterned and organized. Kaylen's house was candy overload. We ended up with the crusty frosting all over - the chairs, the cabinet knobs, and the kitchen faucet.

Gardening

The garden is producing some of the winter vegetables now. We've had a ton of radishes. Some of the romaine lettuce has become ready to eat. The carrots are growing and we're able to eat some. The pepper plants have been very productive. The peppers in the picture below were picked just after the first freeze, so these were the last peppers from the garden this year. It's been fun growing a salad, and just heading out back, picking the vegetables, and making a salad.

Ward Christmas Party

Our ward's Christmas party was different than any other that I've been to. Our ward is very large, and wouldn't fit in the cultural hall at the church (I'm guessing). So, the party was held at our old bishop's house. (There is a county island within our ward boundaries where the members have acreage and animals.) Because of all the animals in the ward, there was a petting zoo. We had a nice dinner, with the ward suppling bbq pork sandwiches and the members potlucking sides and desserts. After dinner, there was a small program. A stage was set up with a backdrop and even an "angel balcony." The primary children were all included in the program. Most of the children sang. The children from one primary class were the angels (which Logan will get to do next year). Another class was the nativity people, which that happened to be Spencer's class. Spencer was asked to be Joseph. Against his wishes, we agreed with the primary leaders that Spencer would do it. He ended up being a cute Joseph.