Christmas Day

Presents under the tree...

... and kids wiggling with anticipation.

Yohn read the Christmas story as told by Matthew. We talked about Christmas and what it meant for Jesus to come. The kids surprisingly asked a few questions and then we opened presents.

Elisha loved his new hat, can you tell?

And Bethany got those cowgirl boots she was asking for.

Both my boys got new hats.

And I got a new Snoopy for my collection.

Bethany loved the cute little giraffe her brother picked out for her.

Mmmmm.... Sweet Pumpkin Spice!

My favorite gift to Yohn. It's a photo canvas with our kids' sillouettes and a Bible verse.



The much anticipated Wii!

And Toy Story 3 DVD and a game to go with the new game system.

This shirt is so Elisha! He and his friends have been playing a lot of rock, paper, scissors so when I saw this shirt I knew I had to get it.

Happy Birthday Jesus!
Bethany's suggestion for the year was to get a cake and have a birthday party in the evening. I've heard of lots of people do it but we've never done it ourselves. She thought it was all her idea and was so very excited so we went with it. It was a great way to end our Christmas day together and she asked if we could to it again next year. Sure sweet girl, every year if that's what you want, it's a great new tradition.

Friday Funnies ~ The English Language

Lets face it
English is a stupid language.
There is no egg in the eggplant
No ham in the hamburger
And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple.
English muffins were not invented in England
French fries were not invented in France.

We sometimes take English for granted
But if we examine its paradoxes we find that
Quicksand takes you down slowly
Boxing rings are square
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

If writers write, how come fingers don't fing.
If the plural of tooth is teeth
Shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth
If the teacher taught,Why didn't the preacher praught.

If a vegetarian eats vegetables
What on earth does a humanitarian eat!?
Why do people recite at a play
Yet play at a recital?
Park on driveways and
Drive on parkways
How can the weather be as hot as hell on one day
And as cold as hell on another

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy
Of a language where a house can burn up as
It burns down
And in which you fill in a form
By filling it out

English was invented by people, not computers
And it reflects the creativity of the human race
(Which of course isn't a race at all)

That is why When the stars are out they are visible
But when the lights are out they are invisible
And why it is that when I wind up my watch
It starts
But when I wind up this poem
It ends.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve day we went to my MIL's house for dinner and Christmas presents at her house. Then we went to a candle light service at her church before heading for home. Unfortunately I forgot the camera so I got a pictures of none of it. So sad.

Elisha was completely nervous about the candle lighting and reminded me that he was only eight years old and a still a child and should not be holding fire in his hands. I reminded him that I was right there and thought he was responsible enough to hold a candle for a few minutes while we sung a song. Afterwards, he told me he didn't like it much but that I was right and he was responsible enough to hold it for at least a few minutes without dropping it or setting himself on fire!

After we got back home the kids put on their new PJ's. Elisha's are way too big, but he's in that stage where medium just fits and he's headed out of them but large are too big. Oh well, as long as his pants don't fall down he's happy. Bethany's I scored big on because I managed to find a nighty with a horse on it, her favorites.

Our Christmas Eve tradition is new PJ's for the kids and then we get the contents of our stockings.

That's a very excited face for getting new pencils!

New lego people were requested from the kids. Unfortunately they both got the exact same one. In addition they both got mini slinkies and a two dollar bill. Plus, they both drew each other a picture and stuffed it in the stocking when no one was looking.

Yohn and I both got a picture too! So cute.

Calvin and Hobbes really is my favorite comic and Garfield is Yohn's but since I had a hard time finding Garfield I settled on Calvin. He's at least gotten a few laughs, even though he thought I bought it for me! (Which I didn't!)

I also got a root beer flavored lip balm in the shape of a Yankee candle. It smells sooo good too! Bethany has made me share it with her a few times, but she keeps liking it off again.

Then it was off to bed so I could finish wrapping presents. Why is it that I always procrastinate this project until the very last second. Ah well, Yohn stepped in and helped this year and we had really enjoyed spending the time together while we wrapped presents. I think I'll procrastinate again next year just to get the help!

Project 365 (#286 - #292)

Sunday ~ #286/365

Extreme rain for 24 hours (or about that) left the church parking lot flooded!

It was so bad someone brought a pump to make the parking lot more accesible. The water was all the way over the sidewalk and into the grass on this end just earlier in the day. We took advantage of the rather large puddle after church and had paper boat races. Yohn threw in his plastic bowl just to prove his "boat" wouldn't sink like the rest of ours.

Monday ~ #287/365

Cooler temps mean soup for dinner. Although I load mine up so I don't know if it really classifies as soup once I'm done cooking it.

Tuesday ~ #288/365

We received a cute Christmas drawing from our "oldest child". :)

Wednesday ~ #289/365

My mom gave us all Snoopy Christmas T-shirts!

Thursday ~ #290/365

I get to be home with the kids for four days straight!

Bethany asked for her picture to be taken in the midst of the Christmas stuffed animals we have on our couch. I think a few of her own made it in there too.

Friday ~ #291/365

New Christmas PJ's!

Saturday ~ #292/365

Christmas morning! Think they were excited?

How were your holidays? Sara is hosting her last week of Project 365 for 2010 this week so don't miss dropping by and seeing all the great pictures from Christmas.

Christmas Program

The kids had their annual Christmas Program last week. They all did a great job and since my video camera crashed I filmed their parts of the program on my digital camera so I didn't get many pictures. Here are the few I did get:

There were angels...

... and kings...

...with lots of smiling faces!

Bethany just before her performance playing the recorder.

Elisha did the percussion part with bells and the triangle.

Afterwards they wanted to pose for a few pictures with the instruments.

Elisha loves playing the drums, but since it was a simple part it was given to the boy who is a little behind him in skill level. He still liked doing the bells and told me several different times how important the percussion was to the music.

I even got them to pose for a few pictures in front of the Christmas tree in the church.

And who could forget the silly picture!

Hope this Christmas season is going well for you and your family!

Who's That Guy?

Yohn's look has changed a lot in the last few days, see:

The first picture is what he looked like on Thursday evening, a before shot.

Then on Friday he played Santa Claus at the preschool, so the middle picture is a during shot.

Then the last picture is from Saturday, after he had shaved and gotten a haircut, an after shot.

Personally I like the last one the best, even if he just woke up from a snooze and didn't want me to take a picture :) He looks so much thinner since he shaved off that bushy beard, but it's not just because he took off a few pounds of hair. My handsome man has lost 30 pounds since September. Keep up the good work Babe! You're lookin' great!

Project 365 (#279 - #285)

Hmmm... This week seems to be a lot about Bethany...

Sunday ~ #279/365

Bethany and Jewell got their certificates for memorizing over 100 verses in church today! Way to go girls!

Monday ~ #280/365

Bethany's last gymnastics class for a while. They are on Christmas break but we've decided to be done for a bit anyway because she has decided she wants to do softball again this spring. I can't believe it's right around the corner!

Tuesday ~ #281/365

Bethany brought this home to me today. It's my Mother's Day card. Yep, I said Mother's Day. Apparently she wants to get a jump on these things. It says:
I love you Mommy! You are the betst Mommy ever! Love Never Ends. Happy Mother's Day.

Wednesday ~ #282/365

The kids had their Christmas Performance for school tonight. They did great! Since my flip video crashed I used my digital camera to record so no pictures during the performance. I took a few just before they started singing, but they weren't that great.

Thursday ~ #283/365

We made cake balls for the kids' teacher gift. This is the first time we've ever done them and they turned out decent. Next though, I will not use semi-sweet chocolate chips. Can you tell we just finished them when I snapped this pic?

Friday ~ #284/365

Can you guess who that Santa is?

Yohn plays Santa for the preschoolers every year and then he gets a chance to go through the other classrooms as well. The kids all love it even if they know it's him.

Bethany's gymnastics performance was tonight and at the end they had a surprise Santa. Since I already had pictures of Daddy-Claus and the kids I didn't bother to go down and take a picture but Bethany made sure Santa knew where we were. :)

Saturday ~ #285/365

We did some last minute shopping today!

So what about you, how was your week?

As for me, I am heading on over to Sara's blog to link up!

Project 365 (#272 - #278)

Sunday ~ #272/365

Yohn's Birthday!

Monday ~ #273/365

Bethany's class practices their performance for the Christmas Program.

Tuesday ~ #274/365

I seriously debated posting this, but this is how I spent my day on Tuesday. Lucky me, or should I say lucky us... 3 out of 4 of us had head lice. Who was the fortunate one? Well, I'll give you a hint, it wasn't either of the long-haired blondes or the thick-hair young man. Nope! Yohn was the fortunate one. Lucky dog! I'll admit though, I was frustrated and stewing about it most of the day and then I heard the song "One More Christmas" by Matthew West and decided I'll be thankful for my lice situation. It could be far worse.

Wednesday ~ #275/365

This is how our energetic little girl is after a day of not being able to play outside or in the gym at school. The gym is being used by Christmas for everyone, who are preparing to feed and give gifts to the many, many people who need help in our area. Unfortunately that makes it hard on the school kids for a few weeks during the rainy weather, but we get by.

Thursday ~ #276/365

*Sigh* I'd really like for the bugs to just go away!

Friday ~ #277/365

Gene played a spirit (the one who comes to warn Scrooge in the play A Christmas Carol) and did a great job of it! The kids loved his part and wanted a picture with him when it was over.

Saturday ~ #278/365

Got the stockings up, but we still need to add the Nativity.

That's my week! I know I'm linking up late, but better late than never right? Thanks Sara for letting me tag along even though I'm a month or so behind everyone else.