Christmas 2008

So Christmas has come and gone (as a matter of fact, it came at 5:30 in the morning)This is the picture I got when I turned on the lights to tell them to go back to bed. and what do I have to show for it..... well, a third garage full of empty boxes and happy kids. Today I was asked how my Christmas was. I replied," that my kids were happy, so I was happy." This year out of all the years I felt like we had not wasted our money on anything. I was very careful to think.... would this be a waste of money. There were times I put things back and decided it was not important or not needed. The only thing that really hasn't been touched much is Mandy's guitar. It might just take a while before she decides its a real cool gift. (This of course was more of her father's idea.) This Christmas .... In Ashley's words were, .... no freakin way, no freakin way. She actually was surprised by her Christmas. This was of course her new ipod. Mike and I looked at the list and decided two days before Christmas that she needed something else. Believe me it was worth 150.00 to have happiness in our home. Mandy got a cell phone, Jase a magic kit, rocket, spiro game, bike, etc. Ellie got a bike and a pogo stick. Brooklyn got some animals, blocks, bubbles, candy bracelets and her most favorite was a scooter. You can find her pushing her scooter and singing songs as she slowly glides down the hall. It is so much fun to see her grow up. Mike got a new sound system for his guitars, (thanks to parents,) and I got a new cricut and a saw. And let me not forget, ...we got a wii. This has been fun for all. Mike needs to work on his tennis game though. (he claims he is good at tennis but the video shows differently.So, another Christmas has come and gone but it was a very fun and not too stressful of a Christmas. Now, is there someone who would like to pay my credit card bill!

Leading up to Christmas...

There are so many things that happen in the month of December that lead up to Christmas. Jase was in the nutcracker.(no pictures to show because they were deleted.) He did a great job as a folk dancer. I loved seeing him get into his dance and his big smiling face. Also, to add to the Christmas excitement, we decided we would do a money tree to give to someone. Instead of mom and dad giving all the money, the kids would do chores to earn money to help put on the money tree. Every time they did a chore, they would put a mark on the paper. Each mark represented a dollar. The person who earned the most money, would be the one who got to put it on the door step, knock and run. Mandy won hands down but Ellie worked hard to catch her. It was fun seeing the kids ask for chores and work hard at doing them. It is too bad that it has to end. (the only negative thing is the fighting because someone was wanting to do a chore and the other wanted to do it too.)

Mandy and Ellie helped roll all the money to place on the tree. This was not an easy task.

After many attempts to leave it and almost getting caught by their neighbor and Mandy busting open the cellophane bag that it was in.(this was all on one attempt,) They were finally home so we could leave the money tree. Boy were we glad to get rid of it. We also dipped cinnamon bears in chocolate and decorated gram cracker houses to help pass the time away. Brooklyn had more fun eating the candy than decorating the houses. This is Ellie and Mandy's idea of a gram cracker house.

With December came the snow. The kids spent many hours rolling and throwing snowballs. Ellie spent more time rolling than anything else. The neighborhood boys enjoyed more throwing.

Mandy, Jase, Brayden, and Dammon enjoyed climbing on Ellie's snowball. To end the school break, Ashley performed with her choir at their Christmas concert.

These are a few of my favorite things that led up to Christmas.