Christmas Traditions

I thought it would be fun to post some of our favorite family Christmas traditions, so here it goes:

Elf on the Shelf~   He came to visit us for the first time last year and we have loved it.  It is simply magical to see how excited the kids get in the morning to see where he has moved, plus whenever the kids are naughty I tell them Max Powers is watching and they start behaving immediately.  This year I have a little elf named Connor that helps Max Powers (our Elf's name) find new places to land.  It has been really fun to share this excitement with my kids.

Christmas movie~Every year I buy a new Christmas movie and one day a week we watch a Christmas movie as a family, doesn't sound like much, but the kids love it.

Christmas Eve~ We love to go to Derk & Debbie's for Christmas Eve.  Debbie always makes us a delicious Prime Rib dinner, the kids react the birth of Jesus and then we all open our presents from Grandma and Grandpa.

Scriptures~ Starting Dec.1 we begin reading scriptures about Christmas every night before bed.  We have a tree we color as we go so we make sure we read them all. I hope this helps my kids to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Chocolate Countdown Calendar~ This is the best.  The kids love eating their chocolates.  In fact, Matthew loves it so much he ate all his chocolates the first day and now cries every time the kids eat their chocolate and he doesn't have one.

Breakfast with Nana & Papa~  Nana and papa make us breakfast Christmas morning.  We go to their house and have eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, hashbrowns, the works.  Then we open our presents.  The kids each get a stocking full of goodies and a new ornament too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last Saturday Kinlee had her first ever dance performance at the Helper Craft Fair.  She looked adorable, but wouldn't dance AT ALL.  She stood on stage and watched all the other girls dance and didn't move a muscle.  She loves to do the dance at home, but isn't a fan of dancing on stage.

This Thanksgiving was one of my favorites yet.  A couple days before Thanksgiving Connor's class and Kinlee's preschool class had their Thanksgiving feasts.  Connor's feast had everything from mashed potatoes to pumpkin pie.  Kinlee's feast consisted of finger foods like Carmel Apple cookies (the treat she brought) to pie as well.  I got to help with both feasts and had such a great time visiting with the kids and teachers and helping in any way that I could.  The Wednesday before Thanksgiving we showed the movie Planes to the entire elementary school.  The kids brought pillows and blankets and the PTA provided popcorn.  It was a fun way to kick off the Thanksgiving holiday and to give the teachers a little break.  I also got to visit Kadee's classroom and see all the cute things they had been working on for Thanksgiving.  I loved the turkey in disguise she made and also the water color turkeys they hung on the wall.  On Thursday we went with Rory's family and had a delicious dinner at the old institute building in Price.  Rory and his mom killed one of the Turkey's we had been raising and cooked it especially for the dinner.  It weighed over 36 lbs. and turned out delicious.  I didn't like helping kill it, I thought it was sad, but Rory did it in the most humane way possible and didn't let it suffer.  This is the 2nd year we have killed and eaten our own home grown turkey.    

Matthew painted his belly while doing a craft

Saturday Kadee and I went to her best friend Jordan Shorts' baptism.  It was such a great day and so special for Kadee to see her friend make such a great decision.  Kadee is so excited for her own baptism and has even started going to achievement days. 

Kadee's Turkey Hair

Kinlee's Turkey Hair

Kadee's class water color turkeys

Connor at his feast

Connor's Class Feast

 

Matthew's 2nd Birthday!

Last Thursday was our little Matthew's 2nd birthday.  I can't believe it's almost been a year since he came into our home.  We had Derk & Debbie, Grandma Rhea, & Grandma Archie over to have a Coldstone Ice Cream Cake and watch him open his presents.  His face as he opened his train from Derk and Debbie was priceless!  I have never seen a kid so excited for a present in my life.  After Matthew opened presents we watched home videos and visited, it was a really nice night.

Saturday we invited some friends to go swimming at the Wellness Center for a Pizza party.  Matthew loved it.  He got some great gifts and ate tons of pizza and cupcakes.  I'm so grateful we have good friends we can celebrate with.  

Matthew's favorites right now are:  trains, cars, and balls.  He also loves the cartoons Team Umizoomi and Bubble Guppies.  My favorite thing he says is, "Jeez Mom!"  He also says, Kadee, Connor, dad, grandma, papa, nana, baby, amen and others I can't think of right now.  He always folds his arms and bows his head for prayers and loves going to nursery.  Love this little boy and am so grateful he joined our family.  

Family Pictures 2013

We had such a fun time doing our family pictures this year.  Rory's cousin Laurie took them and she did a great job.  It was a little difficult to get Kinlee and Matthew to cooperate, but I think we got some really adorable pictures.  Get ready for picture overload, because I couldn't decide which ones to post.

Red Ribbon Week

Last week was Red Ribbon Week at our school and I absolutely loved it.  Red Ribbon Week is my favorite week of the whole school year.  This year the PTA had a kick off assembly the Friday before.  The kids got to sing the Halloween songs they've been learning in music, and then I had to get up in front of the school and explain why we have Red Ribbon Week.  I then called Mrs. Wise up and we had the kids recite a drug free pledge and pinky swear to their friends that they wouldn't do drugs.  The following week we began our Red Ribbon Week festivities.  The kids colored and signed their names to socks, which were hung in the foyer, to "sock it to drugs."  They did drug free activities in their classrooms and received either a water bottle, pencil, bracelet, or candy each day from the PTA that had a drug free reminder.  Friday we had an assembly and my awesome hubby and his good friend Jeff Wood talked to the kids about drugs and the effects they have on their bodies.  Connor and his friends did a peer pressure skit and then Rory came out in his SWAT gear to show the kids what the good guys wear if there is ever an emergency at the school.

Monday, October 28- Too Bright for Drugs

Wear Neon & Sunglasses

Tuesday, October 29- Hats off to a Drug Free Life!         

Crazy Hat Day

Wednesday, October 30- From Head to Toe, I’m Drug Free    

Crazy Hair & Socks

Thursday, October 31- Drugs are Scary  

Wear Halloween costumes

Friday, November 1- Smarty’s don’t Do Drugs    

Dress like a Nerd

Rory, Kadee, & Jeff Wood after the assembly

Chet, Connor, Cole, Gavin, & Chanse (all in the skit)