Joshua's Christmas Party at School

Another mom and I planned the party for Joshua's class and it worked out very well once again.  Usually I despise class parties as they are hectic, chaotic and just all around crazy.  So far this year the parties in Joshua's class have been very nice, low key and not crazy making them much more enjoyable for all!  We started the party with a pass the candy cane game and then it was on to a pass the present and unwrap it game which the kids enjoyed.  The kids did their book exchange after the games.  Craft time was next and the kids wrote a letter about how they were going to celebrate Christmas.  The final part of the party was spent eating from a buffet of yummy foods. 



 Pass the present....

....unwrap the present with your gloves/mittens on!

Book exchange - pass it until the music stops.

Joshua got a Skippy John Jones book!

Joshua and his friend Sophia reading the directions for the craft.

A little Christmas eating!

Celebrating Saint Nicholas Day

The annual tradition of celebrating Saint Nicholas Day happened once again this year.  We read a book about Saint Nicholas the night before as we usually do only this time Joshua and I discussed more in depth how Saint Nicholas WAS a real person but isn't alive today so he obviously wasn't coming to our house to put things in the boys' shoes, but we do this to remember the person he was and how he honored God by treating others with kindness.  This all led to a discussion comparing Saint Nicholas with Santa Claus.  It's really good we never started the whole Santa Claus thing because this year Joshua would have blown it all anyway with his logical thinking - "Why do kids believe in Santa anyway, not every one has a fireplace so he can't get in!"  Yes child, I am not sure why other children don't logically think about it and come to the same conclusion.  As usual though Joshua is told not to blow it for others. 

On Saint Nicholas Day the kids woke up to their shoes filled with gold wrapped chocolate coins and a present - Joshua got Cars 2 and Matthew got a new Playmobil nativity set so there would be no fighting over the other one we have.  Both boys were thrilled with their surprises and glad to be celebrating another Saint Nicholas Day.

Joshua finds his gold covered chocolate coins.

 Yeah, Cars 2!

Matthew finds his gold covered chocolate coins.

Matthew lining up his coins (Joshua used to line everything up at this age, but Matthew hardly ever does so I had to take a picture).

Matthew loves playing with his new nativity set.

The Annual Search for a Christmas Tree

Due to the wacky weather we have had starting out our winter (lots of rain rather than snow), our tree hunting plans changed the day we had planned to go. Instead of traveling a long distance to our favorite tree farm we ended up going to one closer by.  It was not nearly the same experience which was disappointing, but the end result is the same (although I kind of beg to differ as I believe a shaking machine would have helped get the dead crap out of our tree instead of having it drop off every time a cat crawls under it at our house).  After traipsing through a field for quite some time we finally found a tree thought we thought would work - funny how it always looks different when you get it home!  All that really mattered was that the kids were happy and excited, mission accomplished!

Our tree standing in the field looking lonely.

Cory starting to cut.....

...and down it comes!

Obligatory family picture by the tree.

Ready to go now that the search is over.

Thanksgiving

This was my first year having to cook an entire Thanksgiving dinner and I must say it went a lot more smoothly than I thought it would.  Thankfully my dad got a turkey as a gift from work so I didn't even have to figure out what to buy, I just had to figure out how to prepare it.  Surprisingly, cooking a turkey isn't a big deal, just a lot of time in the oven is all.  With the table laden with food we sat down at the table along with my dad and brother and enjoyed the company along with the food.  I am so very thankful for all the blessings and though I may complain at times, I honestly have NOTHING to complain about in the big scheme of things.  My blessings are way to numerous to even begin to write down and even though it never seems like enough I'd like to again say....thank you God!