it's all fun and games: Dec

meeky and joey

chris's work had a CRAFT for their christmas party, he made these. good job chris! haha

on our way to hali for the christmas breakfast wkend....we enjoyed spending time with the family and having a fancy breakfast out

we made ellie into a snowperson. ha

me and my little

Dec was filled with lots of home school actiities...too many i think....we did movie events, play dates, gym, crafts and more....Nadine matched my bag!

ice cream at costco, one of the advent activities

my baby all curled up!

Our Swiss bags arrived and Ellie was quick to organize!

hahaha

great job Ellie

Love the shipping box

reading cards and sharing our treats

my bag!

Ellie

nate

Another Advent activity was going to a new, local restaurant. we all ordered a different dish, one we havent had before. The food was SO good! ellie with her choice

chris with his

Joey!

Nate's!

Cindia's!

Mine!

Dec was a rough monthm i was dealing with some issues with in the home school group. One day i came home and found these in the mail. The best! Esp after a particularly long day.....

Dec book club was the christmas story book

another rough day for poor meeka.....i love my evenings with her after everyone goes to bed. Just me and Meeka

Some random reading and note the shorts and summer dresses...in Dec.....did i meantion how HOT the house is?

Another Christmas activity....gingerbread houses. Chris joined us

Then we went to the Hillsborough Baptist church for an evening of food and local *cough* talent...judah joined us

mmmmm turkey dinner that i didnt have to make!

MHE did our annual christmas party. another great turn out...over 40 kids....i did the craft

we made these guys

we played games, made cupcakes/cookies and the kids ran off the sugar

little miss ellie knows how to wake me up. ha

Miss Meeka

Dec book

I have a frame in the bathroom....the idea is anyone can write what ever they want, from inspirational quotes to silly stuff, meal ideas or what ever you want. weve been doing it since Sept....its a lot of fun...one day Joey wrote this...

my friend owns a bakery. In Dec she tried new recipes and i was her sampler...i blame her for my weight gain. but it was SOOOOOO good! this was a typical sample plate

bed time cuddles

another crafternoon....or was it school?

nope. craft time. we made coasters

we got some snow! and meeka loved it

she likes to lay on the snow, on the highest point. shes our swiss mountain goat

she stays like this for hours. the colder the better. we had 3 days of cold weather, -30 and she chilled on the snow chewing her bone for over an HOUR! she wouldnt come in

another advent activity was going to 'Taste of Homeland" and each picking out a treat to share...chris got this

ellie

joey got a pop

my haul

and nate got a sausage...haha

Then we went to Christmas at the Zoo

my crew

my loves

nate does like his sisters

Movie night. Now that the girls are getting older we watch movies together. We watched Hitachi last week and i bawled my eyes out. so sad.....2 nights ago nate wanted me to watch a movie with him so i did....it was American Psycho....yeah, the kids are at different places in life. ha

nate has taken up cooking! he did a great job creating and playing around in the kitchen

but come Jan i was tired of the mess so i took back the kitchen....with nate taking care of his body and kinda forcing me to cook more...like 2 times a day at times. ha. im glad for the kick in the cooking pants. we enjoy our family dinners. i cook, the girls clean and wash up after. We are all eating much healthier and so much more meat. haha

Christmas!

I woke up like this on Christmas eve! i was so sick!

For the first time in 15 YRS we spent christmas in hali with family. shawn was even around!

the dogs had their own gifts too!

riley was over it

nate!

Merry Christmas!

and back to more crafts!

Nov-Dec-Jan and Feb was like this. Nate went through a super social phase. we had kids over EVERY weekend from Jan-Feb...i gave them the space to do their thing....praying....praying.....praying......things have changed since then and the friends have changed around...my house will always be open for ppl to come to but im happy its down to 2/3 guys.....and BOOM that season is over

clara drew these on the girls arms...so talented

owl pelets! We read owls in the family and i ordered an owl pellet kit. I absolutley had more fun than the girls

hahaha it was so fun! i missed my calling

I did a wire art class, which was prob my favorite class yet! I truly enjoyed the kids that day

for christmas i bought the girls 3 month passes to sky zone....we had friends join us and every thursday we jumped together.....amanda brought the snacks....she would bring a BAG filled every week. so fun!