Not-So-Religious Manifestations

We made Christmas shaped pancakes for breakfast this morning.
As I proudly set our 'fun' breakfast on the table, I told the boys they had to identify the shape before they could eat their pancakes.
Jared took the lead, for which I was grateful...at first.

"Look, I got Santa's butt when he leans over to put the presents under the tree!"

Um, No. That was supposed to be a manger. See the rectangle with the crossed legs? No? I guess it does look kinda like a bum and boots. Well, the rest of them looked exactly like the things they were...I think.

Christmas Cookies

While the big boys played Monopoly behind closed doors on Thursday, Sam helped me make the Sugar Cookies. We made all kinds of Santas, Snowmen, trains, candy canes, and snowflakes. Once they were baked, they looked more like cookies from the Island of Misfit Toys!

Yay for Snow!

We woke up to a lot of snow this morning.
We need sleds. Wait - ours cracked, can we get new ones?
And gloves. Where's my gloves?
Why can't I just wear the snow pants that are in the washing machine? I don't care if they're dry!

So much for cleaning the pig sty!

So much for sewing last minute gifts!

So much for starting the baking!



Sam is so excited about snow! He didn't mind the bundling up, either. Maybe that had to do with getting to open an early Christmas present - his new winter coat from Grandma Gigi!


The big boys headed down to The Pit (the irrigation basin thingy around the corner)


Sam and Josh spent the morning sledding. Josh & I built up a nice platform for the sled so Sam could crawl on without it taking off.

a song, a visit, and a lesson

Cam started piano again at the beginning of December. He found Jingle Bells in one of his books last week and figured it all out by himself. I was really proud of him! (His message is meant for a dvd we were making for his Great Grandma, Gigi)


We also visited Santa last weekend. It was our first (and last) time seeing him at South Towne Mall. They only allow their photographers to take pictures which means I have to pay them. Why should I pay them when I have my own camera? So, I chose not to follow the rules and went upstairs to get a picture. Well, as karma would have it, my pictures didn't turn out that great and now it looks as if the computer ate them all anyways! This is the only one I have as proof that we went. Moral of the story : Follow the Rules! And make back-up copies of your pictures!

Jingle Jam

The kids have a Christmas concert every year and each grade sings two songs. This year, they choose to perform on Thursday right in the middle of my preschool time. ( I don't know why no one asked my opinion on days...)

Anyways, I showed Jared how to film with the camera and sent him off the make a masterpiece of Josh's very first Jingle Jam. To my surprise, when I looked at the pictures he took, he had filmed all three of the boys singing so I wouldn't miss anything! Here they are for your viewing pleasure!






Josh, Sam, and I went to the afternoon concert and Josh took some awesome pictures. He's a budding photographer!

*There's a good one of Sam and I
*Cameron and his friend, Jordan
*yeah, um...his tushy as taken by him
*his face as taken by him
*tushies of the two guys in front of us
*some kids we don't know
*the airplane and dragon that kept Sam entertained
*Josh's leg and shoe
and
*a guy behind us that Josh was sure had said a
bad word because he was covering his mouth

Stockings, finally!

A few years ago, I made stockings for Jared and I and our, then, two boys. Since then, we've added two more boys and it seems no one wants to use the pink-ish stocking that was once Mom's. I told them it was more of a fuschia, but still, no takers.
So, last year we changed up the color scheme on our Christmas tree a little (And by we, I mean me. Me changed it, me only one that notices any difference. The beauty of having all boys!) The stockings didn't really match anymore. I wanted to make new ones so my mom offered to take the old ones off my hands. I didn't get the new ones done, so she let us use them one last time before taking them back to Louisiana with her.
Fast forward to this year. We put up the tree. We put out the decorations. Jared hung the lights. But, where in the world are the stockings? Oh hecky! Someone needs to get sewing! So here they are - this year's new stockings, hung a week before Christmas so Josh can relax. Whew! The boys got to pick there own fabric...well, they got to pick their own out of the four fabrics I brought home anyways. My favorite part has to be the giant rick rack. i need to find more projects that call for that stuff!

Catch-Up

You know it's Christmastime when you're having so much fun there's no time to blog it all. You really know it's Christmastime when your one faithful reader, Mom, doesn't nag you about the blog because she doesn't have time to read it, either!
Here's a quick run down of the last month's highlights:

We celebrated Josh!

He had his 6th birthday on November 21st!
He's getting so big (and tall, too).
He's lost his first tooth.
He loves kindergarten and friends and reading and recess, but not homework or jobs.
He's still crazy about Hot Wheels.
He makes my day every morning when he yells, "Love you, Mom" as he heads for his classroom.

We celebrated his birthday by taking a bunch of his friends to the new jumpy place in town, Monkey Island. I realized that we do too many theme parties when I asked what kind of cake he wanted and he said a 'monkey cake' for fear that any other kind of cake would mix the Monkey Island jumpy place idea.



We celebrated Thanksgiving.
It was a small one, just us and Abby & Manda, but it was so relaxed and worth it. We planned to eat at one but actually ate at three. The rest of the day was spent preparing for Black Friday which started at 11PM at WalMart for us this year. Never been there for the Midnight Buzzer, but it was an exciting adventure!

We celebrated Abby's birthday with velour suits and a Libby-made Swamp People cake.

We celebrated Straight A report cards at Incredible Pizza. Along with being cute and witty, my boys are smart, too.