Snowfall

We had another snow storm overnight. It was a heavier snow and we got about 10 inches. The kids were thrilled as a lot of our snow had melted in the rain storm last week. They are predicting more for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Bri tackles the snowblowing

Rachel and Gabe build a snowfort
Peek-a-boo
A thick blanket of white
Home Sweet Home

More Dissections

Bessie was finishing up her last few dissections from biology. We ordered more specimens than she needed so these were just for fun. (Yes, Bess thinks this kind of thing is fun. She is so much like me!)

She did a grasshopper and a frog. She also did a few Chemistry experiments today. I love that my daughter loves science.

Sunday

After church, we went out to lunch with two lady friends. They are sisters and for some reason, think a lot of our family! LOL They are so fun to be with and we enjoy their company very much.

We went to a buffet style restaurant which works great with the kids. Everyone gets what they want and plenty of it. The kids were great, well mannered, quiet and behaved very nicely.

After lunch we went to the Parent/Teacher Store and AC Moore. Each of the kids had gotten money for Christmas and wanted to spend some of it.

Dan bought a Thomas train, (well actually Bertie, which is a bus, but he still calls it a train), so when we got home, he wanted to set the tracks up right away.

Together With Friends

Friday night we had a get together with a two other families. Both families are Christian homeschooling families and they also have either already adopted or are in the process of adopting.

We moms had already spent time together socializing with the children and had a great time, but it can be a different story to add the dads to the mix. No worries this time, the men hit is off great and there was a lot of conversation going in several rooms.

Deb and Dave have a lovely log home. There was a fire going in the woodstove, a lovely Christmas tree lit up and yummy smells coming from the kitchen. The older kids played games in the loft and the younger crowd played in the toyroom.

It was a wonderful evening of fellowship and fun.

Bessie hanging out in the loft

Bethany and Kendy
Deb O.
Gabe and Dan being goofy

Lego Building

Gabe loves Legos and he got a new building set for Christmas...the General Grievous Starfighter. Brian enjoys working with Gabe and the Legos. They are both very good at coming up with interesting designs and creations.

The little General Grievous is totally too cute with his tiny lightsabers

A boy, a dad and a box of possibilities
Finished Starfighter
They always have some great dad/son time with the Legos.

Secret Sister Thank You!

Dear Secret Sister,
I am sorry this is so late in coming. Thank you so much for your encouraging card. It is so wonderful to know that someone is praying for you and your needs. I appreciate you thinking of me.
God bless!

Day After Christmas

Phew! It is hard to believe that Christmas is over. There is so much work that goes into making Christmas a success and it is over before you know. We all love Christmas, although Brian and I are re-evaluating some of ways we celebrate. It will be interesting to see if we make any changes for next year. We both found it more stressful this year and hoping to figure out ways to simplify things, make more of the focus on Jesus, but still maintain the things we all enjoy. Sounds like quite a task to me.

Today was a nice day of relaxation, work and fun. The kids spent quite a bit of time this morning playing with their new toys and games. It is so exciting to watch them enjoying their things.

Dan plays with one of Hannah's new toys

Gabe loves his new computer games
Hannah puts together her new puzzle

After lunch, we all went outside for awhile. It was not terribly cold and the sun was peeking in and out.

Gabe, Rachel and Dan pulled out the tiny bikes and decided that the patch of ice in the backyard was a great place to have a race. What a riot to watch them spinning their wheels on the ice and zooming down the yard. There were quite a few crashes, but no one seemed to mind.

Hannah didn't think much of the racing

Dan loves the thrill of the race

Bessie decided a nice run would make her day. She has learned to pace herself better and has now worked up to a 2-mile run with little difficulty. She wants to push for doing 3 miles on a regular basis.

Brian had the day off and worked quite a bit in Dan's room. He is making a built-in bookcase as the outside walls in that room are 10 inches thick. This has allowed him to insulate and still have room for a narrow bookcase. He is almost done with this little room and it is coming out very nice.

I spent a lot of time working on the blog, cleaning up residual Christmas mess and enjoying a nice relaxing day.

Christmas Afternoon at Mom and Dad's

Christmas afternoon found us at Mom and Dad's. This has been annual tradition for many, many year. All that can attend do. This usually includes two of my brothers and their families. This year there were 19 of us. What a fun time we all had.

We served the meal buffet style. There were all sorts of yummy things...ham, backed beans, veggie platter, broccoli casserole, deviled eggs, rolls and a lot of pies and goodies. It was all wonderful.

Gabe and Zeb spent quite a bit of time outside playing in the snow. Those two always have so much fun when they get together.

We all enjoyed opening the presents. I love seeing what everyone else gets. So many great ideas for all.

Rachel checks out her gifts

Bessie loved her Frappucino from Mariah

Hannah is hiding behind her new doll, which she was thrilled with
A new Webkinz
Gabe fills Zeb in on the wonders of K'Nex
After all the food, gifts and dessert, the kids and a few adults settled down to watch Ratatouille. By the laughing I would say it was enjoyed very much.

By the time we arrived home, everyone was very tired. It was a great day and helped to remind me why we go through all the hustle and bustle. We enjoyed the festivities, but also were able to keep Jesus in the our minds.

Ready for the Fun

This post is out of order, but this was the living room Christmas morning before the kids came in.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was a lot of fun.

We opened our stockings and then had our breakfast. While the kids were eating, Brian, Bessie and I did some meal prep. Bessie put together the fixins' for dinner rolls into the bread machine and Brian finished the beans for baked beans and popped that into the oven. I started the dough for pies.

We opened our presents. We kept things calm and orderly, taking turns opening gifts and enjoying what each other received. This works so much better and helps to keep the Littles from getting too wild. They did so much better this year than last.

We finished all the meal prep and spent the afternoon at Mom and Dad's. It was a really great day.