Sleeping under the Tree

Last night we slept under the Christmas tree!  They were pretty excited about it, I think we have a new Christmas tradition!

 Jack chose a warmer spot by the fire.

It was a fun cozy night by the tree!

Luke's Nativity

Luke is very much like his Daddy but there is one thing he does that is a lot like me.  I cannot walk by the Nativity with it all messed up and not set everything just where it is supposed to go.  I also have that problem with Selah's doll house.  We do a whole lot of fixing after our tornado Tucker had been around!  This Christmas season Luke has been very busy setting up their Nativity set only he puts them all where they should be right now. 

 The wise men are still very far away.

 The stable only has animals.

 Mary and Joseph are on their way to Bethlehem.

 And the angel is up high ready to come in when needed!

 Luke also has been learning about how they celebrate Christmas in all of the countries he has had in school.

He puts up an ornament for each one with their flag and loves to say Merry Christmas in their language on the back!

Christmas Crafts

This year for Advent we are reading Jotham's Journey again as a family at night which the boys love but I feel like it's still a bit over Selah's head.  So for her I got an e-book called The Truth in the Tinsel.   There is a scripture reading each day and an ornament craft to make, Selah is Miss Crafty so it's perfect! 

 This was from Isaiah where Jesus is prophesied as the light in the darkness.

 A very happy Selah doing her Rising Sun ornament after we read about Zachariah's prophesy.

 Mary and Elizabeth and their tummies glued on!

 Today she painted egg carten "buildings" after reading about Bethlehem.

 More of Selah's treasures, we have a very full tree this year. 

Tuck was here.

Kansas City

Brad had some meetings in KC this week and we all went with him.  There were a few unexpected surprises, the hotel had no pool or breakfast.  We are used to the classy hotels that not only have pools or water parks but a continental breakfast!  It was also a casino, so we were also a little out of place with four kids.  They do have a daycare to drop off your kids to go gamble, how sad is that?  

First I did some baking for breakfast before we left and then on Monday I drove the kids from our hotel to an indoor water park only to find out they are closed on Mondays!  Seeing we were a little disappointed the sweet lady let us swim in their regular pool!  This place was also near both the Royals and the Chiefs stadiums, very exciting for the boys!

 That night we picked up Brad from his meeting to go to Fritz's, this was the highlight of all the kids trip!

 You order from the phone at your table and then the train brings you your food!

 Jack still isn't too old to wear the cap if it makes Tucker happy!

 On Tuesday I took the kids to Union Station, they had the most unbelievable Christmas miniature train village I have ever seen!  You could look for hours and not see it all.

 And a train for the kids to ride.  Jack opted out but I thought I was going to have to get another ticket when they got in and Tucker kept saying "Jacky"  and pointing to the car next to him.  When the train got started he forgot all about it.

 Next we went to Science City and there was so much to do!

 We ended up being here all day and had to hurry back to pick up Brad in time.  After dinner with Brad's college friend we took off for home.  It was a fun few days in Kansas City!

Home Improvement

We are celebrating this week and not just for Christmas, our rock guy is done after more than two months of working!  Our project took longer than everyone thought and I know he was as glad a we were when he finished!

 But first my obsession with wreaths decorating this year.  They had wreaths cheap and Costco and I went a little haywire.  I love them though and it smells so good!

 Okay this was our house at first, so we got a bid on painting which was really high.  Someone asked Brad about just doing the rest of the house in brick and never having to paint again, that sounded good so we got a bid on that, and then he brought up maybe rock... so this was our house the last few months.

Bricks, rocks, dust, mortar, tyvak, boxes, tools, nails, and a mess everywhere!  Brad also burned all of the siding.  I have to say this bothered me a lot more than I thought it would.  My plants on this side of the house I'm sure will take a hit.  

I know this picture is terrible, there is no light right now and I didn't want to switch cameras but here is one side done!  Two sides done and two to go in the spring.  If I can handle the mess again!

Thankful Poems

We have slowed down this week, only reading our Thanksgiving books, some crafts, and math.  This project was an idea I saw last year and wanted to try out.  It was very interesting to see what they wrote!

 We will be well protected with Jackson around.

 Selah took the most time to make hers beautiful, and then hovered over the boys giving them advice!

No surprise here!

Tucker's 2nd Birthday

Last week was Tucker's birthday and we had his Mickey Mouse Party on Saturday, he got all things Mickey!

 He has gotten pretty good at singing Happy Birthday after all of these birthdays that we've had, and blowing out candles.  Poor Mickey's head had been "melted" back on after breaking multiple times so by cake time he was looking straight up! 

 This is what he was supposed to look like.

We are officially done with birthdays until next summer and are ready to start celebrating the holidays coming up.

Selah's Birthday

Selah's  6th birthday is today and last weekend we had her party, she requested after much thought a Tangled party.

 These are supposed to be the boats from when all of the lanterns were set off!

 We love scavenger hunts!

 Layken did this for me, thank you Layken!

 Poor Flynn, pin the frying pan on Flynn was a lot of fun!

Goodnight princess!  Happy Birthday, we love you!