Addendum to Yesterday

That could be the title to a very thought provoking post, but it's not. This post is about the three and four year old playing air hockey, a gift from Santa.

Health Report

In November (or was it early December?) Jake had strep throat. Fortunately Kara took him in to the doctor when he complained of a very sore throat, so it was taken care of pretty quickly. He opted for the shot--which is turns out is a lot more expensive than the oral medication. Now we know!

I think all of December we had someone in the house coughing--usually three or four people. All the children had this version of the winter flu. Kara had a bad case of it. When someone caught it, they kept it for two weeks or longer. It wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't the worst strain of flu that has invaded our home.

But Christmas Gifts Go On...

Christmas fun may be done, but Christmas gifts go on…

Christmas Fun Is Done

Christmas has come and gone. It is time for me to post all remaining photos from our Christmas activities!

Lincoln & Evan's Nativity Scenes

We hadn't made one of these in four years (where does the time go?), so it was a first for Evan and Lincoln. Bentley didn't join the fun. (He isn't a gumdrop fan.)

Our final product! Kara made a star out of fruit slices.

Jake and Viva helped deliver two Christmas craft boxes to friends in our ward. They sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas!" to the recipients. Earlier in the month Viva did a ding dong ditch delivery with Opa. They had to improvise because the recipients' doorbell didn't work.

This is the photo I caught, but Lincoln spent more time building the Christmas train with his dad than Jake did. 

Jake (and me) creating a knight's costume for Teddy. 

It was a gift to Lincoln. He really liked it.

Viva agreed to go to the mall with Opa for his Christmas music gig. Once there she read a book rather than join the group as a singer. (Why did she decide to go?!)

Stained Glass Ornaments

Every Christmas season we make faux stained glass ornaments. Lincoln and Evan made their first ones this year.

These are not the easiest ornaments to make. Viva was jostled by a younger brother when she was placing crystals in the form and her ornament was ruined--that's why she looks angry. (She invited her younger brother to help her which wasn't the best idea.)

I didn't snap a photo while Lincoln was creating his ornament, so here is a photo of him cleaning up.

I mixed different colors together for Evan (and Lincoln) and they happily placed the crystals in the form. I and Evan together created his candy cane ornament.

penguin (L), angel & ornament (B), gift (J)

candy cane & larger ornament (E), HoHoHo & smaller ornament (J),

 gift and reindeer (V), snowflake (B)

Winter Dance Recital!

A few weeks back Genevieve's dance school had their winter recital.  We (Opa!) took some lovely pictures, but life has been hectic and I'm just now posting them!  This past fall semester Viva did ballet, modern, and jazz dance classes.  She tells me they are all equally entertaining.  She's having fun with it, with the exception of an itchy costume or two.... :)

Modern dance - they get to go barefoot, which makes it extra good in Viva's opinion (except for the fact the stage floor is not exactly shiny clean!!!):

 

Two jazz classes:

 

And a ballet class, where they were penguins:

 It was a fun recital!

Merry Christmas: The Photos!

We had three lovely shots from our Christmas shoot this year.  I think my favorite is this one, where Lincoln has his hand firmly on Jake's head keeping him in place:

 

This one is also quite cute though:

 

And the *official* shot of the year:

 

 It is fun to review all the Christmas pictures every year and see how they're growing (yet still look the same.... !).  

The first year there were 5 (2012):

 

And a few years earlier, when there were three (2010)!

  

We are very blessed at our home, love these kids!

Christmas Eve

We had our traditional Christmas Eve celebration. We started a little earlier than usual so Great-grandma could eat with us before Erynne took her to Christmas Eve services at her old church. After eating we read the Christmas story, sang songs, and listened to Jake and Bentley play songs for us. Great-grandma returned! The children handed out the gifts from under the tree and the gifts were opened and admired. Some were put to immediate use.