It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas ...

Over the years, I have adopted the idea that our Christmas decorating can be spread out over many days; it doesn't have to happen all at once.  And I like to mix things up a bit from year to year, using decorations that I have acquired/been given/have sentimental memories.  I love the glow from Christmas lights throughout the day and into the night and have a tendency to use quite a few strands of them inside the house.

This year, I did the majority of my decorating during the day, but made sure to save the trimming of our trees for when the kids could all join in.  This was the first year that the kids were "more helpful" than ever and they truly cherished opening ornaments -- sharing stories about them -- and hanging them wherever they pleased on the trees.

The first tree that we put up was the one that I had years ago in my apartment (before I met Steve), then I used it in my house, then our house together in Lansing and finally ... in this house in the family room.  It's not a big tree and the prelit lights are now all burned out.  But I still put lights on it and love seeing it in the room where we spend most of our time.  We decorate it with red and gold and special ornaments and it makes me so happy to continue using it.

Jack came upstairs from his nap to find the tree set up, lit and simply waiting to have ornaments on it.  He took a moment to just lay down and look at it.

I let him put some ornaments on it while we waited a few minutes for the girls to get home from school.

 All ready to go ...

I stressed the importance of opening the ornaments carefully and then putting all of the packaging back together.  We didn't have a single broken ornament and they worked like little "elves" together in a workshop.

I let them, more or less, design the tree themselves.

I laughed a few times because most of the ornaments ended up being at each person's eye level and we then had to space them out a bit.

Jack worked from his own space on the floor and did a great (almost meticulous) job of keeping the boxes organized.

Even the girls helped to stack and put the empty boxes back away.

Many trips later, the tote was filled back up boxes and I am anticipating lots of help when it comes time to pack everything back away after the holiday season.  Fingers crossed.

The perfect tree for this room:

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At the top of the stairs, I like to set up a little tree for the kids.  Originally, it was one that Steve's parents were planning to throw away (the stand was broken), but Steve had rescued it and we glued it back together.  It lasted a couple of years until it was finally not salvageable.  The kids really wanted one upstairs, so I made a quick trip into town and picked up this $10 tree.  It's not much, but they love decorating it.

And the best part about the other tree?  I never really threw it away.  I used wire cutters and took all of the branches off it and use them throughout the house to decorate with ...

The boys helped with this tree while the girls were in school and had a lot of fun.

We only ended up with one broken ornament.

This little boy absolutely loved the ornaments and lights.

Seriously, they kept him entertained for almost the entire time that Jack and I were trimming the tree.

Complete with a sock monkey family at the base of the tree:

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The last tree that we put up is the big one in our family room.  The girls are near experts now when it comes to helping with the branches and we are able to assemble it in record time.

They gave Jack a little bit of direction and he was excited to help too.

Jimmy kept touching the branches over and over again.  I think that he just liked the interesting feel of them.

We paused partway through for a hot chocolate break and Sophia couldn't stop smiling.  It was the perfect day for her.

Hanging special ornaments on the tree:

I noticed later that a lot of Jack's ornaments were hung on the strings of lights, rather than the branches of the tree.  Ha!

A few more sips before grabbing some more ornaments:

And then later that night, right before bed, Samantha got to place the angel on the top of the tree.  The kids take turns every year and it was Sam's turn.  (I *may* have had to look back at last year's pictures to confirm).

All decorated:

Samantha's 9th Birthday Party

Samantha settled on a rainforest theme for her birthday this year ... and like always ... I love how it all came together in the end.  She spent quite a bit of time with me, planning and writing down ideas.  I then took her notebook and made many of those thoughts come to fruition just in time to celebrate with her friends on the 18th and then our family again on the 19th (her actual birthday).

I surprised her with a toucan pinata and Jack was more than a little eager to fill it for us.  (And what a fabulous way to get rid of all of the leftover Halloween candy in our house!).

The favor bags had a rainforest pencil in them, a container of slime (the biggest craze right now) and then were filled with nail polish (that they won playing BINGO), a lei and the candy from the pinata.

The craft that we decided on was making homemade terrariums with a small succulent (read: easy to keep alive and requires minimal care and maintenance).

I picked up the various glass bowls at the dollar store, the succulents were on sale and the rocks/jewels/shells were dirt-cheap after the summer.

I also picked up small mister bottles in the travel section at the store for less than a dollar and explained to the guests how to "mist" their terrariums twice/week.  They picked out their color and added them to their goody bag.

Upon arrival, the guests chose a spot at the table and we played a game of BINGO using various animals.  The first person to get a 'bingo" got first choice on the nail polish colors.  We played until everyone won.  We managed to not have a single fight over the nail polish!

The night before the party, I made these cute lizards to put at each of the place settings.  The girls got to take those home too.

We had pizza, breadsticks and "jungle juice" for lunch and the kids were pleased with that menu.  I was too!

Samantha's friends know her so well.  She received the best gifts ever ... art supplies, fuzzy socks, crafts.

And she smiled just as brightly after opening every single one.

Some of the girls made homemade birthday cards for her; those are the best.

After gifts, the kids headed out into the garage to hit the pinata.  Steve had suspended it from the ceiling and made it adjustable/movable for a challenge.

We promised Jack that he could be the first one to have a chance to hit it.  He did not disappoint us with his strength and determination.  Not at all.

Back inside, with their bags filled with candy and checking out the other goodies inside:

Time for cupcakes and ice cream:

The crocodile turned out so cute ...

Happy birthday, NINE year old.

Working on their terrariums:

The finished products, waiting to be taken home:

A necessary group photo of the birthday girl and her guests:

This is such a great group of friends and I know that Sam is lucky to have so many of them in her life.  I hope that she keeps these friendships for a very long time ...

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That evening, Samantha (and a bunch of other friends) were invited for a sleepover.  I knew that it would result in a tired little girl the next day for her subsequent celebration with our families, but I wanted her to go and have fun.  Her friends made it even more special for her that next morning (her real birthday) and I know that she will remember that forever ...

The cake:

Singing happy birthday to her (Jack sang the loudest for sure):

We enjoyed burgers, fries, salads and fruit and had the best time celebrating this girl that has brought so much joy and happiness into our lives.  She is can be serious a lot of the time (math is a strong suit for her), but can be funny and witty too.  She loves deeply and holds onto friendships for a long time.  She is an amazing big sister to all of her siblings and has nothing but true patience for them.  She is never afraid to try anything new and I am treasuring every minute that I have with her before she officially turns "double-digits" this time next year.

Halloween 2017

It seems that Halloween is a very busy day for us each year, especially as we start adding more kids into the school system.  Each one has different activities and parties that day, followed by dinner with family at our house and trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.  Steve traditionally takes the whole day off work so that we can tag-team and be sure to attend as many activities as possible.  I also arranged for a sub for myself for teaching that night ...

We began the day by dropping the girls off at school as a family.  It was misting rain while I made a couple of trips from the van into the building to deliver Sophia's treats (candy corn cupcakes and witch hat cookies) and the craft items for Sam's party.  Then, I hopped back into the van and the rest of us (Steve, the boys and me) headed to St. John's for Jack's field trip to the pumpkin patch.

Jack and his friend, Tyler:

It was a dreary morning and very muddy, but we made the best of it.  Jack wore his Batman costume and managed to avoid most of the mud while wearing it on the hayride.  He picked out a pumpkin, a gourd and a small ear of Indian corn that he proudly displayed later on our front porch.

The Indian corn was pretty dried up due to the lack of rain this summer ... and it was already picked over for the season, but Jack managed to find a decent ear to take home.

It was cold ... but Jimmy was a real trooper and took everything in.

We followed that up the hayride with donuts and cider before heading home.

That gave me less than an hour to change my clothes (Wonder Woman for the day!), grab a quick bite to eat and then head up to the school to be there for Sophia's party.  She was so happy to see me and I helped her with her craft and snack and then got her into her costume -- Catwoman (Jack's personal sidekick).

I then zipped down to Samantha's room and helped her get dressed and before meeting up with Steve and the boys so that we could watch the annual Halloween Costume parade.  The elementary students follow the middle school band and walk from the school ... downtown ... and then back again.  It's a pretty good distance, but the whole town looks forward to it and so do the kids.

Clapping for the parade in his dinosaur costume:

A skeleton bride, Sam's choice for a costume this year.  I made sure to paint her fingernails black, added some makeup and spray-painted some flowers so that they would look dead.  Overall, it turned out pretty well.

Afterwards, Steve headed home with the boys to get them down for naps and I stayed at the school for Samantha's party.  I was in charge of the craft and we made the cutest light-up Halloween characters.  The kids got to choose which one they wanted to make and then followed my directions to complete it.  Absolutely adorable!

Once school was dismissed, Samantha and I met up with Sophia and made our way home.  The girls spent a little time "winding down" while I was prepping our dinner.  We enjoyed tacos with Steve's dad and my parents before the kids got back into their costumes -- ready and rearing to go trick-or-treating.

Steve borrowed a golf cart from a neighbor (best idea ever!) and we hit as many houses as we could before retiring for the night.

It was definitely cold (it is EVERY year!), but the kids were as happy as can be to be riding around and not walking ...