Christmas 2015 in the books

Christmas was nice.  We enjoyed celebrating our Savior's birth and spending time with our families.  

 Kate and Mazie make such a cute combo.  It's fun to watch the cousins interact!

 "Remember all those new toys you got for Christmas??  GO PLAY WITH THEM!"  -the parents

Part of Natalie's homework was to make a birthday cake for Jesus.  I followed a different recipe and it said to spray the pan with cooking spray (something I normally don't use).  When we were eating the cake the next day, Kate said, "The cooking spray tastes really good!"

 Scott's really not flashing a gang sign in the picture above...promise.

 Two full weeks of break and lots of time together can call for a few minutes on the punching bag!:) 

Jon's aunt and uncle visited from Michigan and brought the kids some U of M paraphernalia.

 A cheerleader in the making!  (I would usually take the picture again since she wasn't looking at the camera, but the dreamy, flighty look up into space seemed to fit perfectly with the cheerleader's outfit.  As a former cheerleader, I can say that!:) 

Better Document Thanksgiving Prior to Christmas...

We are celebrating Christmas with my family in a few hours, so I am kicking the blog posting into high gear to first record 2015 Thanksgiving memories!

 

We celebrated with my family on Thursday, had a pizza day on Friday, and then celebrated with Jon's family on Saturday.  

Some of us wore the same clothes to both Dinner #1 and Dinner #2 (well...at least the ones of us who did not spill Dinner #1 on our shirts).  

Sometimes, the paint shirts don't provide enough coverage. 

The kids both had Christmas performances at school.  One enjoyed being on stage, and the other was relieved when it was over.  :)

My poor children have already done so many pictures in front of Chirstmas trees, that they may be out of smiles come Christmas!:) 

 

 Even a photo op at Arby's...who knew?!:_)

Kate was crying one morning.  I picked her up and she said through tears, "The whining doesn't stop!" 

Jon & Scott have been continuing with the projects and have been enjoying such a mild December. 

Scott had a small piano recital in early December.  He's making great progress and was excited about showing off four Christmas selections.

Other random happenings...

Jon and I have given up all carbonated beverages for the past 52 days (but who's counting?!).  We still are missing it and think about it with each meal, but it may be getting a little easier.  One of us has cheated 3 times...but once again, who's counting?!  (As a matter of fact, the lady who has had ZERO cheats is the one who is counting, that's who!)

I love Christmas and could genuinely sing, "It's the most wonderful time of the year..."   However, I am secretly excited for Saturday because that's when I will get to take down our Christmas tree.  Yes, I realize it may sound a bit Scrooge-like,  but I prefer it put away.  Weird?  Maybe a bit.

Natalie was following me around the other day wanting me to give her different scenarios.  Like, what would you do if you opened a Dora the Explorer ("soooo baby-ish") toy for a present?  Or, what would you do if the smoke detector went off?  I had almost exhausted all of my "What if..." questions, and then I asked her, "What would you do if another kid came up to you on the playground and told you that she really wanted to go to Heaven, but that she felt like she was too bad of a person and did mean things like hit her sister?"  Natalie sweetly said, "I would say, 'It's okay!  You can still go to heaven.  I hit my sister too!'"  I laughed and she realized that was not the exact answer I was looking for, so she expounded a little making it a bit more theologically sound.  :)

 Scott was excited about pajama day and specifically asked for me to have his "fox pajamas" washed and ready to go.  He said on the morning of, "I wonder if any of the girls will wear nightgowns?!?" 

It's getting louder...not only does Scott enjoy using the pedal to amplify the volume, he recently decided to add the kazoo for accompaniment.  

Update blog
Ta da...another thing crossed off my to-do before Christmas list.