Counting Down

 Celebrating with UK

 Kids got to count down, toast,

Do a few sparklers,

and still made it to bed before 8:30.  Awesome.

Feeding Time

 Someone has figured out where the doggy treats are kept.  And Molly is completely okay with that.

I think she's almost totally stopped eating her actual dog food because she's filling up on the treats this little guy leaves throughout the house.

Merry Christmas!

 Santa came!  And luckily, nice and early, because we ended up being up with Peanut from 1-4 a.m., so we needed all the sleep we could get!  Big kids both got Legos and Peanut got a giraffe (which Bean seems to love a lot more than he does) and a tent, which I think he is going to love.

 One thing I was so impressed with this year was how excited the kids were to give their gifts out.  Those ended up being the first ones we opened after the saw what Santa had brought.  They really wanted to see how everyone liked what they had picked out for us. 

And everyone was appropriately pleased with the thoughtfulness.  Bug especially seemd so grown up this year with the gift ideas he came up with--he's always liked to pick out the gifts for the family himself, some years with kind of humorous outcomes, but this year, he was full of ideas--photos for me that he's taken the last year with his own camera, a book for Bean from the library used book sale (which he remembered on his own and just asked me to drive him there, a book for Daddy-o that goes along with 2,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which they had read together earlier this year, and a wood nativity he made for Peanut who kept wanting to play with the ones I was making earlier.

 Speaking of Peanut, he's been sick so it took awhile to get him warmed up to the whole thing, and I guess we're still one year too early for him to really be into the present unwrapping, but luckily big sister was happy to help him with that.  And he liked all his toys.

And his new sneakers--this boy LOVES shoes.

 He was so happy to have a new pair.

As soon as we were done with presents, Daddy-o had to get busy making pie--his first apple crumb top.  Christmas dinner ended up a little weird this year because with Peanut being sick, he and I stayed home and napped while the other three went to the neighbors house for a couple hours for an early dinner.  Not ideal to have to split up on Christmas, but nothing about this sick boy has been ideal lately.  Actually, the other two were pretty unhappy to have to get dressed to leave the house, but they ended up having a great time playing with the boys at the neighbor's house, so they weren't too upset with us in the end.  I do think in the future, Christmas day is going to just be a stay home day, even if it is just the 5 of us.

All in all, it was a pretty nice day.  Kids were spoiled by all the family, everyone had fun things to use the rest of the day, and we didn't have too many meltdowns inspite of all the sugar consumed (those started coming out tonight--guess 2 days of sugar, toy-overload, and late bedtimes was one too many).

Merry Christmas!

A Little Bit of School Stuff

 I planned on taking it easy with school this month.  Not taking the whole month off--I'm not even sure what that means with homeschooling, since we really approach learning as part of life, but I also didn't want to have to spend a lot of time worrying about what we were going to study when we'd rather just be celebrating Christms.  So we've been using our Christmas traditions to inspire our schooling.

First of all, we've been doing a little Journal Your Christmas writing.  I've had fun with this the last few years and figured it was the perfect thing to include the kids on this year.  Bean, especially, has enjoyed writing about the prompts and I think its going to give a fun perspective to our Chirstmas journal this year.

A couple days ago, we talked a little bit about Hanukkah.  We read Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat, and then made Latkes for dinner and listened to the dreidel song and talked a little about the celebration of Hanukkah.

And we've gotten to do some projects/service.  The kids helped me put the finishing touches on the nativities that our church is donating to Meals on Wheels.  We declared last Thursday pajama day and stayed home, gluing, tying, painting and, as always, reading.  That is the one constant, no matter how the rest of school is going, we always have at least one read-aloud going, and the kids have their own silent reading time almost every day.  This month, we've been reading lots of Christmas picture books, books about Norman Rockwell, Because of Winn-Dixie, On the Shores of Silver Lake, and now we're starting The Secret Garden.

Still planned for this month:  baking and construction math as we finish up a few gifts, more journalling, a Children's Theater play, puzzles, games, and a few family outings.  Plenty to call it a full month of school.

Neighborhood Brunch

 The ladies in red.  This neighborhood gathering is one of our favorite holiday traditions.  It was begun by friends who have moved away, but we've tried to carry on the spirit.  It's so fun to get together with our neighbors for a relaxed morning of good food

Friends and crafts for the kids,

a a few holiday tunes.

 (Peanut was pretty interested in the accordian.

 Our talented friend, who always livens things up with his music.  He's inspired a small band to plan for next year.

Christmas Greetings

We just got our first Christmas cards today!  Seems like the first one comes a little later each year, but we got 4 today, so maybe it just means they come in bigger batches. 

I'm not complaining because we decided not to do cards this year at all, so I completely understand anyone else who has gone that route.  Seems like every 2-3 years, we just can't get it together.  This year, between a vacation the last week of November, major changes to our family responsibilities at church this month that have taken up a lot of time, and then the fact that the last few months have just been rough on us, I couldn't see doing a card.  And honestly, the letter I was writing in my head was not sounding fun or cheerful as I recounted the most memorable moments of our year, so I don't think anyone will be missing out reading that.

So here's the picture I probably would have wanted to use:

 

And I can just say 2012 has been a crazy year full of tough decisions.  I hope we are stronger for it and have learned something useful (its a little early to tell still on most counts), and hope for a fantastic 2013, with a little more sleep, patience, good health, and plenty of quality family time.

 

For now, we're enjoying the holidays and trying to bring the spirit of Christmas to as many people as possible this month.

 

 

Nativity

 This weekend was the annual nativity festival at our church.  Along with hundreds of nativities from around the world to look at, they have this incredible dress up area, and that is where the kids spent the majority of the evening.

 The set up for them to come pose in is beautiful, and there are many costumes to choose from.  Bugaboo tried all of them on at one point or another.

Peanut only had one option in his size, and for the 5.2 seconds that he kept the hat on, he made a really cute little lamb.

This year was really fun because 3 of our neighbors and one of Daddy-o's co-workers came with us.  Daddy-o was singing with the choir and we've been telling them how beautiful all the nativities are--they really collect such a huge variety.  It was fun to share one of our favorite traditions with them, and at least one of the families plans to make it a yearly thing.

Trimming the Tree

Peanut took the whole thing so seriously--back and forth between the ornament box and the tree, taking them off the tree and putting them back :)  Maybe next year he'll get how it works--put the ornaments ON the tree first.

 

And Bean directed the whole show--she knows what she wants and isn't afraid to tell us about it!

All I Want for Chrith-math . . .

Guess who lost those two front teeth just in time?  They have been hanging on by a thread for months, and finally, his knee fininshed one of them off and Daddy-o helped the other.

Our Last Day

Our last day was back to Epcot.  We still had a couple spots in the Future World to explore, as well as several countries.

We hadn't been to The Seas yet, and it ended up being Peanut's favorite.  He has recently learned how to sign "fish" and spent the whole time we were there doing his fish sign and smiling.  He was even smiling on the Nemo ride.

 He loved the aquarium and had fun in the play area.  It was really nice to see him enjoy a little part of the trip.

 Then, we were off to Norway. 

 A couple of vikings.

 Even after our not so successful experience leaving the park  midday before, we tried it again because the kids still hadn't been in the pool and we had a long night ahead of us.  This one went a little better, even if it was a little chilly at the pool, but we were all a little refreshed when we got back to the park for our dinner in Norway.

 Akershus was nother delicious buffet.  We were seriously so impressed by all the food this whole week.  And I'm glad we did this dinner, even though we don't really have any princess lovers at our house.

 But the kids still were excited to get everyone's autographs.

 And Daddy-o got to see his first crush from when he was about 5, Aurora :)

 After dinner, we headed over to China.

 Peanut wasn't too sure about the hats.

But the Chinese acrobats were amazing.  We really enjoyed all the little shows at the various countries.  We wandered around Germany and Italy, and then found our spots for Illuminations.  Fireworks are always a great way to say goodbye.  And even though the kids were a little sad about the things that we never made it to, everyone was pretty tired that night.  It's amazing that 7 days isn't even enough to see it all, but at our pace, it wasn't.  Although I don't think we really could have handled any more days of walking and playing.  There really is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Hollywood Studios--Park #4

Hollywood Studios.  Our last new park of the week.  This was honestly the one I was least looking forward to, mainly because it doesn't seem to have quite as much for the kids, and I just don't know as much about it.

 There were the characters we didn't really know (but for some reason, Bug was determined to get his picture taken with Stitch.)

 Mixed in with some of the favorites.

 There were some awesome things--like the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area, which the kids absolultely loved.

 And a stunt show that even Peanut liked.  I actually couldn't believe he liked it with how loud it was, but I guess all the cars racing around was enough to keep his attention.  I think by this point, he'd also accepted that this was his new reality and just how life was going to be.  He seemed less shell-shocked and more resigned to a world of strange people, loud noises, dark buildings, and jerky rides.

 But a lot of the rides were just a little too much.  Daddy-o was the only one who actually liked the Tower of Terror.  Bean went on it with him, but said she'd never go again.  I wouldn't even go the first time--I'm not much for straight drops.

 Everyone but Bug (and Peanut) did go on the Rock'n'Roller Coaster, and it was fun, but by far, the favorite ride was Toy Story Mania, which unfortunately had such a long line, we only did it once.

 The boys and I got to watch ANOTHER parade while the brave part of the family did the Tower of Terror, and once again, there were some favorite characters like these guys, and then some that we weren't sure who they were.  We don't have cable, so we haven't seen a lot of the Disney channel shows.

That night, they did have a pretty impressive Christmas light display--the whole back part of the park was lit up, and the massive crowds of people were there to enjoy it.  It was by far the most crowded time for us all week, which we're grateful that it wasn't like that the whole time.  We went along with the crowds to see the lights, and get the Mickey pretzels we'd been promising the kids all day.

One Last Magic Kingdom

 Last day at the Magic Kingdom and we still had Tomorrow Land to explore as well as a couple others stops in the park.  The kids had fun on the rides (except Space Mountain--they weren't so impressed by that one).

 Then, we headed over to the new part of Fantasyland again to try out the Beauty and the Beast Castle lunch.  The dining room was amazing--they did such a fantastic job recreating the castle.

 And the food was pretty tasty as well--a big step up from the typical counter service.
deluxe sandwiches, quinoa salad, and gourmet cupcakes.

 Chip and Dale--very silly and had Bug laughing hysterically.

 Tom Sawyer's fort--Bean and Bug had to be talked into going over to the island, and then could barely be dragged away.

 This little Bug was in heaven shooting guns at the fort.  In spite of everything I've done to discourage the gun thing, it seems to be ingrained into this little boy.

 Pirate show with Jack Sparrow--a very impressive version.

 We called it a day a little early, which was hard since it was our last day, but we had fun plans for the evening as well.  A little boat ride from the harbor at our hotel over to Downtown Disney, and then we had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe.

 I've been so excited to take the kids here, and Bean and Bug did really enjoy it, but the thunderstorms every 15 minutes terrified Peanut, he hated the animals, and the food was the least interesting of all our sitdown meals that week.  But the atmosphere really was fun for the kids.

 And then we got to go to the Lego store.  I think this was almost as exciting as the whole Disneyworld trip for these kids.  They LOVE Legos and the lifesize models are amazing.

 Even Peanut had fun in the construction room.

This picture makes me laugh--even the Disney gift shops are just over the top.  But its all part of the fun.