Christmas Activities

I have been trying to fill the days with many different Christmas activities and so far we've been having a pretty good time. Last Wednesday I hosted playgroup and we all worked on one big gingerbread house. Morgan was at preschool meeting Santa so he didn't get to join in but I'm sure he had a pretty good time where he was.
Jack, Abby, Pepper and Luke all did a great job helping decorate. I'm glad we bought a kit though so I didn't have to make and collect all this stuff.

The masterpiece. I had to rig up some supports because our roof kept trying to escape.

Ben helped supervise from a safe distance.

Pepper is always on the lookout for an empty lap so everyone has to be careful sitting on the floor. Luckily, Becky doesn't seem to mind.

Later when Morgan got home I let him add a few candies then asked him to take a picture with Pepper and the house. This is what I got from these two.

Oh well, I tried.

On Saturday morning we did some more Christmas shopping then went out to lunch as a family. That afternoon while I was making goodies, Cody tried to watch the BYU football game. This is how the kids helped him watch the game. Luckily, Pepper was asleep for a good portion of it.

They make a much better door than a window.

Morgan's latest development of the indoor look. Now he goes between a sport jacket and this leather jacket both of which are 2T. He's also wearing polo shirts over a t-shirt if he can't find a button down shirt he likes. And to top it all off, his bathing suit. This kid has his own sense of style! Oh and we got his hair cut as well. Much better.

Here's a video of the kids dancing to their own music in the playroom:

On Saturday evening our ward had their Christmas Dinner. It was a potluck meal and then a talent show. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed all the beautiful music. While we waited for dinner the kids played in the corner of the gym.

Improv dance party.

I thought these two looked like they were at some 50s Christmas sock hop.

Abby and Morgan enjoying the show.

Also, last week we went over to Becky's house one morning to play and make these lovely little candy Christmas trees. I just love all the crafty activities during this time of year.

Last night for FHE we invited Becky, Jerry and family over to join us for some caroling. Before hand Morgan was sporting the new hat Daddy had given him from Daddy's personal collection. We have to start indoctrinating them early.

Our first stop was to our neighbors before Abe and Simon went to bed. Daisy the dog came out to say hello also. After this we went to our across-the-street neighbors, that are an older couple that have been super nice and helpful. We tried to hit a couple more houses that we didn't know but no one else answered the door and we were freezing. So we only made it to two houses but they seemed very happy so we felt like it was worth it. We all wore bells and sang "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and handed them plates of cookies and fudge. The kids all did great and had a great time ringing their bells and singing along. I was very proud of them!

Once home we unbundled ourselves and enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies. I am truly grateful this season for great friends that help make Ohio feel like our home. I always miss caroling with my family in Florida because it was such a big event but this really helped me feel like I can continue all those great traditions with my own family and start many new ones.

I heart Christmastime!

Gearing up for Christmas

Pretty Pepper's pretty and crooked smile.
Pepper sporting one of her many hand-me-down Christmas dresses and doing one her favorite pastimes, hogging all the snacks!

The other night at dinner I decided to take advantage of Pepper being trapped in her booster seat and painted her toes. Now everytime she sees them she squeals, "Pretty toes." I love my girly-girl!

Morgan loves to bring home and show off his artwork from school.

He also loves to show off his crazy smile and killer outfits. He's now added a button down collar shirt under his pirate jacket to the "indoor outfit."

The first weekend in December, I decided to surprise Cody with a weekend trip to Columbus and the temple to celebrate his half-birthday. We didn't really do much for his birthday this year and I was feeling bad so I wanted us to do something special. I told him I was doing a girls' weekend shopping trip to Ikea in Pittsburg but I really dropped the kids off with friends and surprised him when he came out of work. He was really confused but happy. We got to go to the Friday night and Saturday morning sessions and stay in a nice hotel. As you can tell from his enthusiastic smile he really enjoyed himself!

Both the kids did fabulous and we enjoyed all the peaceful, child-free conversations. We felt very blessed.

Last week and this week we have been getting quite a bit of snow around here. Morgan is loving it and is always trying to get outside, with his shorts on but luckily I've managed to keep him bundled up.

Pepper is not a big fan of the snow and cold but we are...sometimes.

Last Thursday night, I helped coordinate the Relief Society Christmas Dinner. Becky helped plan everything and headed up the food ladies. They did an awesome job!

We spent the morning decorating and getting things ready. The theme was Christmas Traditions so our center pieces were tree toppers from ladies at church.

And we collected nativities to display.

Once again we had a great turnout and lots of fun. We tried to include as many traditions as we could into the night. Some other ladies and I caroled during dinner and we hid a Christmas pickle ornament on one of the servers.

We also had our kids do a nativity scene while we read from Luke. It took a lot of convincing to get Morgan into his shepherds costume but Pepper loved her angel costume.

But when the time came this is what we got from our cute little angel.

Neither kid would go without me so this is what our nativity looked like.

Abby and Ben were our sheep. She was a little nervous but very cute.

We set up the other half of the gym like a living room and sang carols while we had hot chocolate and cookies. It was a really great night and I'm so grateful for everyone who helped make it so wonderful.

I am so grateful this Christmas season for wonderful, beautiful friends and for the awesome women in our Akron 1st Ward Relief Society.

Let the Holidays Begin!

For the holiday weekend we went over to Khan's house to hang out with their family. We were all very happy to be feeling healthy again and to be able to spend some time with everyone.

Morgan and William are getting to that age where they really play well together. Such handsome boys!
Khan decided to grow a mustache along with some of his coworkers. Great look.

Our family Thanksgiving photo op.

Oh well, we tried.

The boys spent a lot of the weekend shooting guns at aliens and bad guys.

Mega blocks gun.

My contribution to the feast. A chocolate-pecan pie and a peanut-butter, chocolate chip pie. I must say they were pretty darn tasty! We were very grateful for Joanna and her delicious Thanksgiving dinner and the fact that we didn't have to make it:)

We woke up Friday morning to a light coating of snow. The boys couldn't wait to get out and play in it.

Pepper joined in the fun.

Later that morning while Khan, Theron and Kegan were braving the Black Friday craziness, the rest of us went to the Natural History Museum to see the dinosaurs.

We were very excited to have Daddy with us!

Ice Age area.

We got in trouble for Pepper playing on the wolf...um...maybe you should put up barriers between the walking path and the exhibit then!

Morgan actually giving me a nice pose. It was probably because he was so excited about all the big dinosaurs.

This museum was tons of fun. At the end they had this big play area for the kids. They also have the largest indoor, man-made cave system that was really fun to explore.

Khan, Kegan and Joanna.

Pepper enjoying a cookie turkey.

It rained a lot over the weekend so when the sun came out we took advantage of the chance to get outside.

It is good to have a brother.

Friday night we ordered chinese food and while we waited we decided to try out the Wii. Morgan really got into the boxing game. Here's a video of his skills:

Pepper relaxing on Theron's cot while watching "How to Train Your Dragon," for the umpteenth time!

Nothing says relaxation like a nerf gun.

We came home Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening we started decorating for Christmas. After trying to get the tree up and the lights on with the kids helping we decided it would be best for all involved to do the rest ourselves. So for FHE we let the kids put on the last few ornaments and put the angel on the tree.

The old "show me your teeth," trick still works!

With everyone!

We are very excited for the holiday season and to be able to spend it in our own home! We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday and we apologize for anyone who caught our sickness! Sorry, sorry, sorry! Happy Holidays!