End of the Year Randoms

Taken in November, after our first snowfall of the season.  The boys were excited to see the snow so they headed out to the back deck to shovel it that morning before the bus arrived to pick them up for school:

Smiles on their faces!

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Jack threw some extra apple peels out by the woods (leftover from a batch of applesauce that I had made) and the deer were excited to come up and indulge.

Pretty soon, Jack will set up his corn feeder in the same location for the deer:

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Looking sharp for his Christmas concert at school:

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Any time I can get one of the kids to help in the kitchen, I do so.  There are so many valuable skills to learn in there and on this particular day, Jack was eager to assist.

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The last week of school before Christmas Break was filled with special memories and theme days.  Jack needed a holiday hat so I took one out of the Halloween bin and told him that he could mimic Frosty the Snowman and Jimmy needed to take in a stocking to his classroom for each of his classmates to fill.  A little glitter glue and a cheap stocking and it turned out great!

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I had not made Monkey Bread in quite some time, so I surprised the kids with some on a dreary afternoon.  Add in some festive plates and it was cheery in our household in no time!

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Jimmy received a lego set as a gift and set to work right away putting it together at the dining room table.

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Jack found Steve's old motorcycle shirt in the basement and came upstairs wearing it -- along with the picture taken of Steve wearing it when he was about Jack's age.

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The day after Christmas, we took an impromptu trip as a family up to Frankenmuth.  We had not been there in FOREVER -- in fact, I am not sure that we have ever gone with all 4 of the kids -- so we visited some shops and walked around, taking in the sites.

This picture turned out so great, that I am considering it for our Christmas Card Picture next year!  Ha!

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Another impromptu trip that we took was a few days before the holiday when we packed up and headed to Traverse City to Great Wolf Lodge.  

We checked into our hotel room (which had a nice fireplace), donned some wolf ears and snapped a quick picture before the kids took off for the water park.

We were here earlier this year and decided that it would make for a great getaway again before Christmas.  We only stayed one night this time, but the kids certainly enjoyed it.

On our way home, we stopped at a Mexican Restaurant and allowed the kids to all get a special Mexican pop in their favorite flavor.  The toasted the occasion!

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Late November/early December means the beginning of basketball season for Jack and Jimmy and they are excited to play again this year.

Jimmy will be on a more competitive team next year (in 3rd grade) and is definitely ready to play more structured games.  Jack plays point guard most of the time on his 5th grade team and so far, they are off to a great season.

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Christmas Catherine and Her Antics

For the last 11 years or so (?), our elf has come back to visit for the holiday season, bringing with her some expected antics (like the North Pole Breakfast and the Reindeer Food set-up), but she always adds in some other new and different things.

Some of the thrill has worn off for the older kids, but they continue to keep the magic alive for Jimmy.  We still have at least another year or two left of him believing in all of the holiday enchantment and you can bet that I am here for that!

The North Pole Breakfast that kick's off the arrival of Christmas Catherine around December 1st every year:

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Hiding in the "stinky" bathroom with a note and a mini clothespin on her nose to mask the smell:

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One day, she showed up with flavored candy canes for the kids and draped them over a lamp shade:

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She tried to bring back a snowman from the North Pole but it melted over night.  Ooops.

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Growing lollipops in a pop after using my plant spritzer on them:

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C.C. replaced the eggs in their carton with Christmas tree ornaments:

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She made her own toilet paper Christmas tree and then decorated it in the living room.

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The boys found Christmas Catherine down in the basement leading a parade of cars and trucks:

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Reading a book, complete with a reading light, to a group of "friends:"

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Knitting some Christmas tree ornaments:

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Feeding the ducks in the bathtub:

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One morning, she surprised the kids with lottery tickets (2 each) and instructions on how to choose them.

They enjoyed scratching off the tickets to see if anyone was a winner:

It turns out that there were TWO winning lottery tickets - $5 each -- and they were both Jimmy's!

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Rolling down the hallway with a message stuck to the wall using letter stickers:

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She got into a bag of M&Ms and left an inspirational message behind:

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Hiding under the Christmas tree with her homemade "ipad:"

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A hot cocoa bar!

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With not a snowflake in sight all week, C.C. wondered where all of the snow was so that she could go skiing:

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An unhealthy breakfast:

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The boys found Christmas Catherine down in their bathroom one morning:

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Reindeer Food!

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We took a quick trip up north right before Christmas, and C.C. set out some special candy canes for the road trip:

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The next morning, the kids were surprised to find our that Christmas Catherine had followed us up there and brought her suit and towel for the water park.  Note that her bathing suit was fashioned out of one of Sam's old dance costumes.  Ha!

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One last bag of treats for the kids before she prepared to head back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve:

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Christmas Morning - 2023

 Taken a few minutes before midnight on Christmas Eve as Mr. and Mrs. Claus headed into bed:

Now that the kids are a little older, they don't necessarily wake up before dawn on Christmas morning.  They ambled into our room around 7:30 am and after making some hot tea for me and coffee for Steve, we settled into the living room to see what gifts had been carefully chosen and wrapped for each of them.

The kids take turns opening one gift at a time so everyone is able to see the goods ... 

The coveted lip mask set that she had on her Christmas list"

The laundry baskets are used to load their individual gifts into after opening and it works out perfectly!

I do not know what all the rage is for these finger skateboards, but this was a big item on Jack's list and he was happy to receive them.

Sam loves statement earrings and received a whole set of them.

Sophia has quite the collection of sleep masks but many of them were getting old and ratty.  It was time for an update.

This is probably my most favorite thing: for the last several years, Santa has brought Jimmy a special stuffed hedgehog with a name tag on for his beloved hedgehog family.  It began after he acquired "Hedgie," at Hobby Lobby when he was little.  He took that hedgehog with him everywhere and still sleeps with it to this day.  

Then came Hedgie's mom, Holly ... followed by his dad named, "Harold;" the sister named "Hattie" and this year, Santa brought the grandpa named "Humphrey."

Samantha is a big fan of Taylor Swift and I found a beautiful blanket with details from all of her albums on it.  I also found some trumpet music for a few of her songs and that was a big hit with Sam since she plays trumpet in concert band, marching band and jazz band.

An action shot displaying how tidy they manage to keep the living room now while opening gifts.  It makes for a much smoother clean up afterwards when we are preparing for breakfast and to have guests over later.

One of Jimmy's favorite NFL players is Justin Jefferson and I found a print (and then framed it) for his room.  He was pretty excited about that.

The girls spent their own money and picked out gifts for Steve and me.  This picture made us laugh for SO long!  Steve loves eclectic socks and white sunglasses so Sam found a pair of each.  This chicken socks are the best ever!

Later, we had family over for spaghetti and meatballs, a big salad, garlic bread and dessert.  With no snow in the forecast and a high of 54 degrees on Christmas Day (!), the kids spent quite a bit of time outside and I'm pretty sure that it broke some high temp records for the holiday.