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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