The Nativity

For unknown reasons, Caleb was determined NOT to be a part of the nativity, so Marcus stepped into to be a very serious Joseph. Addie (as the only girl around) has a lock on the role of Mary for the forseeable future. Drake talked his mom into making him a costume so he could be the Angel (he was inspired by Gladys in "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever"), and Sheridan was the lone shepherd with two uncooperative sheep. Casen was the sleeping sheep, and Mitchell acted well his part as the wandering black sheep.

Christmas Eve

We braved the snow and drove to my parent's house for a really lovely Christmas Eve celebration with my family that is around here. After a really yummy dinner (at which point I realized I'd never fed my family lunch. Can you say "Mother-of-the-Year"?), we sang some carols (Mitchell sang along and played the bells--1st picture), then had each family share something. We showed a video of 3-year-old Marcus singing "Rudolph" and the boys told a few Christmas jokes. Drake and his mom sang "O Come, All Ye Faithful" in latin (last picture), and Marenda and Addie led us in "Must be Santa." Then We got more reverent for the kids to act out the nativity, and ended the evening with them opening their new pajamas that my mom had made for them.

Ornaments

Another thing I did this year was make the ornaments for the boys. We've developed the tradition of giving each boy an ornament every year. As several people have pointed out, our tree will soon be filled to over-flowing, but the boys really like hanging up their old ornaments each year. This year I really fully intended to buy them their ornaments, but I looked around a bit and just couldn't find what I wanted, so with some ribbon, scupley clay and hot glue, I came up with these. They are shown in age order and highlight some of the boys' interests or achievements (see Caleb's big-boy undies for example), or funny things (Marcus's baseball cap which he is never without, Caleb's ? because he's always asking "why?" and Mitchell's graham cracker--his staff of life).

Stockings

I wanted to document some of what I managed to do this Christmas. I'm amazed every year how I believe I can do so much more than what is acutally possible. I did decide a couple of weeks ago to save the Christmas quilts I was planning on making for the boys for next year. But here's some of what I did get made. When Guy and I got married, he designed and my mom made a stocking to match our other family stockings, then I did the same thing for both Sheridan and Marcus when they came along, but I hadn't managed to get Caleb's made, and likewise didn't have one for Mitchell. In addition, I decided I didn't really like the ones I'd made for the big boys, so this year I decided to make new stockings for all the boys. Mom mom had them already cut out (from a project a couple of years ago, and sewed the boys' names on them, then they chose what they wanted on them, and I finished them up. This project actually went much smoother than some of the other things I tried this year, and the boys were pretty pleased with how they turned out (but, really, the fine detailing is lost on them, so I told Guy it was his husbandly duty to ooh and ah appropriately). At school, Marcus has been learning how to "finger chain" in an attempt to improve his fine motor skills, so I asked him to finger-chain the loops to hang the stockings by, and he did a really great job.

On This Day in 1907 . . .

My maternal grandmother turned 100 years old on December 12 so that Saturday, we did a quick trip to Southern Utah to celebrate. I was too busy trying to catch up with some of my cousins to take any pictures, so I copied these off of my mom's blog. Grandma had 5 children (1st picture. My mom is the middle child and pictured on the right of her mother), 39 grandchildren (I think) and Kendra reports there are 97 great-grandchildren (with at least 2 more expected that I'm aware of). The second picture shows family members that were able to make it to the party. Our family is to the left of Grandma by about 7 people. Sheridan and Marcus are on the floor in front of us. Grandma lived on her own until about 2 1/2 years ago when she fractured her femur. She is still in her own home, but now my parents take turns with the other children staying with Grandma for a week at a time. Congrats to my Mom and Dad and aunts and uncles for pulling off such a nice get-together. I think the day meant a great deal to Grandma (who sported a "100" tiara the whole time).

It May Not be "Martha-Approved". . .

Dec. 10 This year we bought a gingerbread house kit for the first time and the boys enjoyed putting it together (though they declared that the frosting--which was a real pain to use--tasted like cement. How they know what cement tastes like we may never know. . ). It was interesting trying to meld 3 opinions (actually 4--mine too) and Caleb was loath to do anything that was different from the picture on the box, but I think they were all pretty pleased with the outcome. Caleb asks every day if it's time to eat the house yet.

Snow Day, pt. 2

Dec. 8 On our second Saturday of snow, Mitchell was very insistent that he go out in it. It was dark by the time the storm eased up and we went out to shovel, but Mitchell stayed out as long as the rest of us, though he did go and climb into the stroller after a while and indicated his desire to be driven around rather than walk in the snow.

Snow Day, Pt. 1

Dec. 1 We had back to back Saturdays of significant snowfall. On this day, the boys spent a couple of hours playing on "Harrison's Hill" in our neighborhood. Guy took a break from what he was working on to play with them and get some pictures.

School Projects

November Most weeks Marcus does a 'report' or a project for school to go along with what they're learning about. This was one project that was still intact when I finally got around to photographing it.

Another Day, Another Mess.

November 28 Mitchell is certainly clobbering me in the eating battle--both in what he will deign to eat and in how he eats it. I surrender.