New Years Eve 2016 to 2017

This year we were going to host the small party with the Latimer's and Neale's, but the Neale's were hit by the stomach bug, as were many in the area this year. We had a lot of food and a lot of excited kiddos, and some tired adults who didn't want to stay awake. I have to say that it wasn't our smoothest evening. In the end, all kiddos made it to midnight and we toasted the ball drop with bubble juice before bed. Even Clair made it and had a very nice evening. We played a few games, ate lots of food, and got everyone into bed by 12:15.

New Years Day was a fun time with the Perrotta family party. I enjoyed seeing them after many years and the kiddos enjoyed hanging out as well.

2016 was a good year and we had a good discussion as a family about all the exciting things that happened this year:
* Our trip to Scotland and Iceland was memorable for all, even Clair
* Our move to the new house was trying, but good. Watching the house get built was exciting for everyone
* Clair loves school!
* Max now loves writing and is enjoying reading.
* Max is starting to enjoy sports and really looking forward to basketball continuing into the new years.
* Ellie is quite happy with life.
* Ellie and Max love living across the street from Henry and Elizabeth. This has been a great change for us as a family.
* Clair really needs a friend nearby.... I hope someone moves in around us soon with a good friend for her.
* Christmas break was exciting and Christmas day is always a hit with the kids!
* We are looking forward to what 2017 brings for us all.

Happy New Years and we are excited to see what 2017 will bring the family.

Christmas Festivities

This year I had a long Christmas break and didn't have to work while the kids are off from school. I'm very thankful for this. Also, Katie and the girls stayed with us for the week too, which was nice. We don't see them much. It's always crazy trying to keep the peace with all the kids, but my hope is that the memories for them are worth the chaos.

Christmas morning was a little lonely. This is the second Christmas without Bob. It was our first in the new house. We are at least starting new memories in the new house, but there were many times I thought about him over the past week. He did love being here with the kiddos and enjoying the holidays with our family. I wish he would've had more of them with us. I worry about the kids forgetting him a bit, especially Clair and Max. I don't think Ellie will as she was old enough to really enjoy many years with him.

Christmas morning was a bit calmer then any other. We had plenty of presents, but we also didn't have as many as normal. The big parent present was the playground David is building in the back yard. He's been working very hard on it. The kids are excited, but it's also a long project for them. Because it won't be ready for a while, I don't think it really feels like a Christmas present to them.

Each of them got the things they wanted, except perhaps Max. He really wanted a gear bike, but Santa and me didn't think he was quite ready for that yet. He had a star-wars and nerf gun Christmas. He has been playing a lot of nerf guns at the neighbors and finally got his own, as did Ellie. This was a big decision for me and came with mixed feelings.

Clair has a hard time coming up with things to want, as she really has everything. Her favorite things were her big sheep from Sarah, flip flops from Santa, and then her videos she enjoys. She's a spelling addict these days. So we got her a series of learn to read CDs, which focuses on spelling words. She really does enjoy watching them.

We got a couple good family things like Charades and dominos. We finally made a nice long domino track yesterday afternoon. It was a group effort for Max, Ellie and me. It was fun and I hope we have the chance to do some fun and exciting things with them. They were patient and worked well together.

A couple days after Christmas we finally had a cousins sleepover. All the cousins came for about 24 hours to play and stay. I think the kids had fun mostly. Gramma was here for most of it as well. The only drama was when we thought we might have a case of the stomach bug, but it turn out to be a "dead snake" in Max's stomach as he put it. So it was a false alarm. Colby accomplished his first sleepover. He was the last person awake, but did fall asleep next to Tyler without any tears. Emily was also feeling a bit rough, but by the time we had Christmas at Gramma's on Sunday she seemed back to normal.

We even enjoyed a visit from Robert, Colleen and Peter this Christmas. He's only 7 months old but crawling and busy already. He's a cutie and the kids loved making towers for him. Ellie even read him a story!

We really didn't go do much. We spend most of our time enjoying being at home. It was really relaxing and I think just like Christmas should be. I'm really happy in the new house, with all the space. I love watching the kids play and catching time to play with them. We have played games daily - even if a game of memory. We read stories. Ellie and me even had a chance to make her chocolate chip cookies together. She makes good cookies and is quite proud of them.

I'm thankful for the chance to wrap up the year at home with everyone. I hope that we have a good foundation of rest as we move into 2017. Tonight we will ring in the new years with the Latimer's. The Neale's can't make it as they have been hit with the stomach bug. The stomach bug is very active right now. I'm praying we can keep our distance.

As the year ends and we look towards 2017, I hope that I can take a bit more time to write more in this blog for myself and the kids. Time is flying. The days go by so quickly. I rarely sit down to relax and when I do, i'm usually exhausted. This time of having a young family is what I always dreamed about. I love my kids so much! I will write to help me remember it all when they move on to have their families.

Here are a few pictures from the week!

A Clair Moment

Clair couldn't get to sleep the other night and managed to have Erika bring her down to me on the couch. She proudly lays down on top of my chest, rests her head on me and pronounces, "Aunt Katie, Jesus made Mommy Booby pillows. The Latimers can use your Mommy Booby pillows." as she snuggles in with a smile.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a nice relaxing day; actually, so was Christmas. The kids are at great ages to enjoy the rituals, the mysteries, and the whole experience.

We spent most of the day at home. We managed church Christmas Even afternoon as a family.

Clair sang a lot of Happy Birthday Jesus on Christmas Eve as well, which just made me so happy. I'm glad to help the kids learn about the reason for the season any way we can.

Christmas eve we did our Gingerbread houses. This has become a Christmas eve morning tradition. I'm glad we've made one. I got some really cute pictures of the kids hard at work.

We had a visit from Sarah with Christmas presents. Then headed into town for a pre-church treat at Starbucks. The kids were excited about their hot chocolates. Church was a bit of a mad house with about 100 or so excited kids. Ours were very well behaved, yes, I'm bragging a bit. They might not have sang, but they were quiet, and listened.

After church we returned home and enjoyed a evening together. The kids had baths and watched the Grinch after dinner. Then we did the remaining Christmas chores - putting out reindeer food, putting out Christmas cookies, hanging the stockings, and most importantly trying to get the children to sleep.  Given all the excitement, they did very well. I am proud to say they went to bed and David and I enjoyed a nice evening of a movie and treats. It was lovely!

Visions of sugar plums danced through our heads as we waited for Santa and Christmas to arrive.

Home made Christmas Presents

This Christmas Ellie put a huge effort into making presents for each of the family. She made everyone 2 things they wanted. She took time to ask us each what we'd like. She spent hours across many days working on these things.

I am so impressed by the thought, effort and output.

For Max, she made him a joke book and several paper air planes. She spend a lot of time online finding nice planes to make and jokes for his book.

For Clair she made her a playground to add to her dollhouse for the dolls and animals to play with.

For David, she made him a crown to wear on his head that said "Kind Daddy" on it. She also made him a lovely family portrait.

For me she made a story about the family and a set of hand and footprints from each of the kids. She also made David and me a new Ellie Elf. I just love her thoughtfulness and her very good art skills! She's really something else. I love that she enjoyed making these gifts and she really did enjoy giving them. She's awesome!  

Clair also made me this :-)

Santa Baby

I love Christmas Carols, I mean love them. I like to sing them and I enjoy all of them. The kids, may or may not share my love of them. The verdict is still out.

Over the past couple years Santa Baby has gotten lots of comments from them. They don't understand it at all, which is funny and good. Last year after hearing it the first time, Clair - 2, screams, "Santa's not a baby Mommy! Why does she keep saying that?"

This year each time it comes on, Ellie proclaims her dislike of this song that makes no sense. "Why would some lady kiss Santa, he has a wife, I don't like it."

Innocence is precious and cute! I love it!

Today's Christmas Eve was fairly relaxing for everyone. Church was a bit of a zoo, but otherwise good. Our kids were fantastic. They kept their volumes low and listened to the Christmas story. I was proud of them.

Off to bring in the loads of presents. It was nice having everyone in bed by 8pm today! Yay to Mom and Dad!

Christmas Preparations 2016

I'm feeling fairly organized this year. It's the 23rd and only a few presents left to wrap. Cookies didn't really get made this year, but that's okay. The kids have enjoyed several pre-Christmas festivities such as shopping, wrapping, exchanging gifts with friends, school fun, Santa, songs, decorating, gingerbread houses, etc.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. There will be no shopping. We will hang out. I will do some baking. We will go to church. Hopefully, in my little mind, David and I will sit down and share a glass of wine while we marvel at the children, their excitement, our family and how time flies.

Clair is three and a half this year. It's a wonderous age. She's excited and also not all sure what is going to happen, but very good at acting like she knows exactly what's up and what's happening next.

Max is six and sweet as ever. He really wants a gear bike for Christmas. I don't think he's ready. I hope he's happy with all the other things he's getting and that's not much an excitement. I'm a little worried about that.

Ellie is nine and didn't have a large list when the season started, but it has grown. I think she will be pleased on Christmas morning. Ellie made two very thoughtful and detailed home made presents for each of us in the family this year. She has been working on them for months. It's no doubt that more time went into her presents then the ones I bought. Tonight we each had a chance to open one of her gifts. THey will spectacular. Clair got a playground to go with her dollhouse. Max got a bunch of paper airplanes and a menu of options for more whenever he wants, I got a hand and foot print art work that included each child. David got a King Daddy crown. We both got an updated Ellie snowman. She is amazing and really great with her art.

We all try to remember this is about Jesus Birthday and to celebrate for him, but sometimes, that truly gets lost in all the hustle and bustle and excitement of the gifts. I need to work on that. Each year I say less gifts and it doesn't happen.

This year they are getting a nice big playground in the backyard of the new house. Its currently under construction.

I'm looking forward to seeing their faces and hoping I can take some time to enjoy it and live in the moment. Eternally hopeful ...