Christmas

 

The kids each had their own advent calendar this year, thanks to their Grandma Kate. We also had a family advent calendar with a daily Christmas activity in it- anything from putting together a Christmas craft from kiwi crate, to doing a secret service for someone in the family, to reading a Christmas book together.

We made a bunch of Christmas cookies as usual- some to send to Grandpa Sid, some to give to neighbors, some to take to parties, and lots to eat!

On Christmas morning, Austin's parents came over to watch the kids open presents have crepes with us. We had church at noon then the kids spent the afternoon playing with their new presents. In the evening, Austin's parents, his older brother's family, and his sister's son all came over for lasagna and playing games. The kids always love playing with their cousins and we were all exhausted by the end of the day. 

 

Nutcracker

The girls and I attended the Nutcracker ballet this weekend and had a wonderful time. The ballet was accompanied by a live orchestra and the girls got to look in the pit while the musicians were warming up. They were enchanted the whole time until the very end when Natalie started getting wiggly and hungry. We brought lots of snacks and treats, but they ate most of them before the ballet even started, so she needed something else by the end.

We went to Whole Foods to get some soups and cookies afterward. The girls mostly just ate as much soup as I told them they had to before they could eat their cookies.

 

Trevor is six!

 Trevor turned six and had a nice, quiet birthday at home. We had chocolate waffles for breakfast with crepes as well. We had some chocolate waffle batter left over from Leif's birthday, so I made that, but there wasn't nearly as much as I thought there was, so I had to make up some crepes quickly too.

Trevor got some fun presents including a marble run, kinex, snoopy pajamas and slippers, clay, and some money to put into his savings account. All the kids have been building like crazy with the marble run and kinex and its nice to see them all building and playing together.

Trevor requested rice krispie treats for his "cake" which is nice because its easy and the kids can make it almost completely on their own.

He wanted homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner and Austin's parents came over for dinner and rice krispie treats.

Here is Trevor's birthday interview:

Who is your favorite person? Mom

What is your favorite color?  Blue

What is your favorite thing to watch on TV? Tom and Jerry

What is your favorite outfit? Snoopy Pajamas

What song do you like the best? Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam

What is your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms (He only gets these once a year on St. Patrick's Day, but apparently they're his favorite)

Who is your best friend? Dad

What do you want to do when your grow up? Be a farmer

What is your favorite book? Snoopy

What are you really good at? Tumbling

Where do you wish you could go on vacation?Manitoulin Island

What would you buy if you had a lot of money? stuff

What is your favorite dinner?  Macaroni and cheese (made with vegan cheese for his allergies of course)

If you could have a wish, what would it be? That my family would disappear (He's been watching too much Home Alone)

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Peach

Who do you want to be like? myself

What do you like to do with your friends? Play games

What do you hope you'll get to do before your next birthday?

What is your favorite thing to do? Play with my sisters

What are you proud of? Everything

What are you afraid of? Ghosteses

What is Mom's favorite thing to do? Eat cookies

How strong is Dad? Really strong

What does Dad do best? Work

What does Mom do best? Cook

What do you like best about Dad? That he is strong

What do you like best about Mom? I don't know

Leif's 10th birthday!

 

 

 Happy birthday to this sweet and goofy 10 year old! Leif is still a deep thinker and tells me whenever I say something that doesn't make complete sense. He likes things orderly and scheduled. He also still loves his sleep and happily goes to bed when its time while all of his siblings are dragging their feet and finding excuses to stay awake. He still loves everything space and loves to help cook. He also loves everything Christmas and begs to get the decorations out as early as possible each year. Our tree has been up for over a week now thanks to Leif- he got the house all tidied up to get permission for getting the decorations out.

We started the day with our customary chocolate waffles, then Leif opened his presents and spent the rest of the day playing with them. He wanted chicken rolls for dinner and a pumpkin pie made from real pumpkin for dessert. So, I spent most of the day in the kitchen and Leif was happy to help me throughout the day. 

 

 

 

 Leif got a hand-made nutcracker from our family- he has a love for nutcrackers- after the Christmas tree its always the first decoration he goes for. So now he'll have his own, nice decoration to look forward to each year. 

He got Legos from his cousins, a solar system thing to put build from his grandparents, and some money from his grandpa and from his great grandma. He is the best of all our kids at saving, so I know he'll keep it for something he really wants.

 

Here is Leif's Birthday Interview:

Who is your favorite person? Natalie

What is your favorite color? Green

What is your favorite thing to watch/do on TV? Play Zelda on the Switch

What is your favorite outfit? My new rocket sweatshirt (he just got it for his birthday)

What song do you like the best? Random ones that dad makes up (Leif also loves to make up random songs- he usually takes something that one of his siblings say and turns it into a song that he sings over and over)

What is your favorite cereal? Cinnamon Life

Who is your best friend? Asher

What do you want to do when your grow up? Be an astronaut

What is your favorite book? NOT my geology book

What are you really good at? Legos

Where do you wish you could go on vacation? Oregon

What would you buy if you had a lot of money? The most expensive car ever that I liked

What is your favorite dinner? Chicken Rolls with asparagus

If you could have a wish, what would it be? Be able to make more wishes

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Mint Chocolate Chip

Who do you want to be like? Dad

What do you like to do with your friends? Play almost any game

What do you hope you'll get to do before your next birthday? Go to the moon (he really does hope to go to the moon someday)

What is your favorite thing to do? Play Minecraft

What are you proud of? Creating things out of Legos

What are you afraid of? Atomic bombs falling on me (he's being a smart-ass today)

What is Mom's favorite thing to do? You tell me

How strong is Dad? Very

What does Dad do best? Work

What does Mom do best? I'm asking you

What do you like best about Dad? He sings funny songs

What do you like best about Mom? Stuff