Christmas is Here!

"Ho, Ho, Ho Merry Christmas," we will pretend this is what Theo was saying when I took this picture. We put up our Christmas decorations last weekend. The kids were a good help and we all had fun working together.

Louise likes all the lights around the house. And lights we do have. David is a big light fan! David and the kids put lights in all the bedrooms and as a bonus, lights in the basement to dance by!

My Nativity was a Christmas gift from David last year. Very special to me because I always loved my Mom's nativity when I was a kid:

Below a few family treasures: our advent wreath was a Christmas gift from my family (and yes, I know the candles are the wrong colors, I forgot to buy candles), the wooden manger was made by my Grandpa Eric, and the quilt a wedding gift to us from Eric's sister.

Our Sunday Advent meal

And the last Christmas decoration for the house: A smiling wife and mother. We have had unusually cold weather here for Colorado (the high yesterday was about 10). After a week of not being able to get out to exercise, I felt the winter blues creeping over me. I prayed and sought answers and God was faithful to deliver them. My solutions for pushing away winter depression: Thankfulness, singing praises, seek to enjoy my family, and indoor exercise! I put on some upbeat praise music (Psalty's Praise Party), put Louise in the sling, blew up some balloons and marched circles around the basement and up and down the stairs with the kids. The kids loved this and asked to do it again and the exercise was just what I needed. As my attitude has improved my days are going so much better and there are less discipline problems. Amazing how my attitude effects the whole family. Merry Christmas to all and may you enjoy this busy season and the fun of it.

Merry Christmas Early!

Merry Christmas Early! We just got back from celebrating early Christmas in Iowa with the Crandall Family. It was wonderful to be with family. Louise's first Christmas:

The weather was nice for a few days; so, the kids enjoyed playing in Papa's woods. Papa and Mimi had wonderful activities planned for the kids. Here we are roasting marshmallows:

Papa and Mimi watched all 7 older grandchildren while the couples (and Louise) went out for dinner. Thanks!

We had fun swimming at an indoor water park:

Hiking:

Helping Mimi wash potatoes for Thanksgiving:

Preschool Fun

Here are some of the things Hannah is doing for her school time. Along with the hands on activities, she loves doing one page a day out of "Button Bear" her preschool workbook from

A Beka. After we finish Button Bear we write her name together on the sheet and flip the page over and practice writing numbers and letters. Activity #1 above: match the beads to number (the beads are made by cutting up cheep bead necklaces, 1 blue bead, 2 silver attached together, 3 purple attached together, etc.). You need to do this on a towel or baby blanket to keep beads from rolling.

Activity #2: Put the correct number of sticks in each cup. Each cup has a number 1-10 written on it. First she has to put the cups in order (with help) then count sticks. The first day we did this she said, "This is so fun!" Amazing how simple it is to create fun for a three year old!

Activity #4: Match letter to picture (Z for zebra, H for Hen, etc.) Grace and Theo cut these pictures out of last year phonics book to make this activity for me.

Activity #5: Put the correct number of animals in the cup. The cups are labeled #1-10. First she puts them in order 1-10 then counts out animals. By the way you need 55 animals. I store each of these activities in its own 1 gal zip lock freezer bag (buy the slide zip so child can close it).

What We Have Done the Last Week:

Above: Louise discovers a friend in the mirror.

Below: David, Louise, and I joined Chelsea and Jed for Swing Dancing. Louise slept in the sling most of the time and hung out with Chelsea and Jed some:



I made Louise a new bib to stop the wagging tongues when Chelsea held Louise at the dance hall:

On the way home from a horse show:

Theo helps put on new cabinet handles:

Good Raking Help! (Yes, the snow has melted and we are outside with no coats!)

I have had to get more organized to handle the increase in family size. One thing I did was update the kids job charts. Each of the kids is responsible for about 8 jobs each before breakfast (make beds, clean bathroom, unload dishes, wash diapers, set table, make eggs, pack Daddy lunch, etc. ). This has helped our morning run smoothly. They work quickly because they know they can go play if they get the jobs done before it is time to eat. Now I just need a list of what I have to remember to do before breakfast! Here is Hannah checking her jobs before breakfast.

We have nearly finished three weeks of school with a baby in tow. The days are busy and full but things are going well and we have settled into a good school routine and I am feeling successful and enjoying the kids. Louise mostly nurses and sleeps in the sling at school time. I can juggle changing a diaper on my lap and listening to a reading lesson when need be! I have added in 20 minutes of preschool time for Hannah. Hannah is really enjoying having special school time with Mama (I will post some of her activities later). Here is Grace doing her homework reading at nap time:

We took a field trip to the zoo this week with our homeschool group. We have grown to 18 kids (soon to be 21) in five families.

BIG SNOW, Mimi Comes, and Other News

Last week we were hit with a big snow! Total snow measured about 20 in.

We had fun having Mimi snowed in with us. We played lots of dominoes:

Mimi meets the new baby:

Mimi helped us make pretzels for a school project (Did you know the three holes in a pretzel represent the trinity?):

And Mimi sewed the cutest dresses for the girls' dolls:

The thrift store yielded a fun find, more train track! Theo now designed a LARGE track to cover his whole bedroom including a tunnel under the bed:

Grace and Hannah have been having fun playing dolls together. It makes me happy to see them having fun together because Ashley and I used to have lots of fun playing dolls together (hands up :) ):

Grace decided we all needed to be cowboys/cowgirls for Halloween (this is the first year we didn't have a princess!). This is not my most favorite holiday, but we tried to use it to connect with neighbors. Instead of trick or treating, we set up a table out front with candy, cookies, and hot chocolate and tried to meet some neighbors.