Farewell 2016

I'm learning the blogging is a bit like my weekly BSF lesson.  It's more fun done in small, regular intervals instead of major catch up sessions.  Anyway, I'm almost caught up.  Last blog post of 2016!

The kids woke up to this on Christmas morning...don't look too closely at our sad tree.  I let the kids fully decorate it, and I didn't change one thing.  I obviously set this up the night before, and Jon said that these three snowmen startled him in the dark when he was doing his last walk through the house prior to coming to bed.  Perhaps it was those scary carrot noses.  Boo!

If you want to get Scott talking, ask him about his drone.  LOVES IT!  With all of the basement practice, he'll be a pro when he takes it to the yard this spring!

 Sleepover Silliness!

  Countdown to midnight (a.k.a 8:00 p.m.) about to begin...

As 2016 comes to a close, we can all say that we've been continually blessed by God's graciousness and abundant provision.  We look forward to seeing what the coming year holds.   I crawled into Natalie's bed the other night to read with her.  I usually sit on the side of her bed, but this time I was cold and actually got under her covers.  She got wide eyes and said, "Can my bed hold this much?"  So, perhaps the New Year will hold resolutions to diet and exercise.  We'll see...regardless, Happy New Year to all!

Can you say Train Table?

We celebrated Christmas a week early with my family.  On the morning of, Natalie exclaimed, "I can't wait to open up the gifts and see what's inside!!!"  She then stopped and said, "I mean I can't wait to celebrate Jesus's birthday with family and friends."   

It's okay, Natalie.  We can be excited for both!!!

 Love this picture with my Grandma Joyce!

This picture was taken AFTER the kids Christmas program at school.  Kate was tired and the other two were a bit giddy- relieved it was over. 

Jon inherited his grandfather's very extensive train collection.  It had been something that Scott had been wanting to set up for a long time, so we finally decided to make it happen as part of his Christmas this year.  Jon & Scott designed and built a train table one afternoon, made two trips to quaint train stores to search for a new power source, and spent a few sessions trying and troubleshooting. As of yesterday, the old trains are up and running!  I'm thinking that this will become a fun hobby for Scott- just as it was for Jon's grandpa.   

Don't tell the guys, but when the trains weren't working for awhile, my mind started to come up with ideas for repurposing the table...huge scrapbooking layouts? storage above and below? a cat loft?...Much to their delight though, the trains are running smoothly so permanent train table it is!

December Activities

The kids loved the snow a couple of weeks ago!  They are hoping for much more of it in the coming months. 

Kate was learning about her five senses one week.  Later that afternoon, we were making some type of dessert with frosting.  Very seriously she said, "Can I eat some to use my senses?"  

Another time she opened the pantry and said, "I really need more food to get energy because I used it all up."  

Clever ways to ask for a junky snack if you ask me. 

Kate wasn't thrilled about doing this, but Natalie convinced her to just go along with it.  It's sometimes tough being the little sister. 

Natalie made a gingerbread house at school, and then Grandpa & Grandma did it with the others so that they could get in on the decorating action as well.  Such fun!  (Messes completed at school and at the grandparents house...added bonus!)

 Goober 1, Goober 2, and Goober 3

So we started a new tradition this year that I just know the kids will be asking for again next December.  As a spin off of Elf on the Shelf, the kids followed the wisemen on their journey to find Baby Jesus.  Some days, their hiding spots seemed like they were the Three Wise Guys instead of the Three Wisemen, but in the end, they succeeded and made it to the manger.  The kids raced to be the first one up each day to find where they were hiding.  (So, I made need to rethink that next year since sleeping in was not rewarded.)  Anyhoo...the kids all loved this and really got into it.  Last night, I breathed a sigh of relief when my nightly reminder went off on my phone to "HIDE WISEMEN"...game over for now.  Here are a few examples...

363 Days Until Christmas...but I'm not counting!

The tree is down as of yesterday, the gingerbread houses have been trashed (shhh!!), and I've politely asked Scott if he knows any other tunes to blast out on his keyboard other than Christmas songs.  :)  

We certainly had a wonderful Christmas, and now I'm ready to move on.  :)  Please don't tell me I'm the only one who feels this way.  

I'm going to get this year's blog put into book format again, so that means time for some serious blogging to finish up 2016.  

For starters,  we had fun celebrating Thanksgiving.  The kids participated in fun feasts and such in their classrooms.  Here they are in their cherished costumes...
 
           
In late November, I received an early Christmas gift...a brand new vacuum!  I was happy about my gift, but my kids were ECSTATIC.  After school one day, they started begging me to open the box and try out the new vacuum.  That was not on my agenda for the evening, so I told the kids that there were too many things out and that the house needed to be picked up first before vacuuming.  Much to my surprise, they started picking up.  The house had gotten out of control, so they picked up...and picked up more...and organized...and picked up some more.  Jon asked me if it was really happening, and we watched in amazement as they plugged away at cleaning the house in order to get their reward...opening up the vacuum box. 

Then, after picking up the entire house, they vacuumed until bedtime.  WHAT??!!  The fun didn't stop then either.  They vacuumed before and after school the next day, too.  Stairs, couch cushions, little sister's toes...it was unbelievable!  Sadly enough, the newness has since worn off.  Next week, I'm thinking I'll buy them feather dusters and see how far I get with the dusting. 

The kids made multiple tries to get the block tower to the ceiling.  After a few failed attempts, they decided that head protection would be a bright idea.

We pulled the kids out of school one afternoon in early December to hit the Children's Museum.  They thought that was pretty cool. 

Jon could have done the slide all afternoon, but I limited him to two turns.  (Just kidding...he wonders when it will be his turn to take pictures at the bottom instead of sliding with the kids!  Everyone needs a racing partner.  #Should'vehada4th!)

The blogging marathon continues tomorrow!:)