Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Time for a tree!

Now that the fun of Thanksgiving is over it's time for a Christmas tree. Yes we can't wait much longer than that, ha ha! Weekend after Thanksgiving and our tree is up!


Found the perfect one!

We went to a different tree lot this year and really like it! It's a local small family business and the people were really nice. 

Saying hello to the resident donkeys.


The search. It's a big deal!


We found the perfect tree, then wandered around for a while just to be sure. Eventually we made it back to the perfect tree and it was a done deal. Good thing it was still there!


Being silly.

This year Ira did most of the cutting. Ryder's poor knees.



Time to decorate! This year after I put on the lights the kids did all of the rest of the decorating. And they truly did a good job. I hardly moved a single ornament after they were in bed. ;) I'll admit I've basically redone the whole tree in years past... OCD? Just a bit. They are definitely better at spreading ornaments out now and not clumping them all together in one spot.




Ryder continuing the tradition of hanging his one ornament. :D

So pretty. Can you guess which ornaments I moved. Hint, they are both right next to each other towards the top. ;)

Tried to get a cute picture of both the dogs and the cats... not so much. :/

This is about all I could manage, ha ha!

Ready for her practice before the big Christmas choir performances. 


More snuggles. My favorite.


Leiella getting her best friend ready on choir performance night. :)

These boys are always snuggling up in one bed. I guess it's warmer that way. ;)

The choir in all it's glory! Such a great performance. :)


Brothers waiting to hear their sister sing.

There she goes!

So cute!

Ira asked to help make dinner with me even though the game was on. Such a sweetheart.

Still her favorite doll. :) All dressed up to match.

Candy cane time!
  
Finally at least a dusting of snow. It was like Christmas morning waking up these kids. They were so excited! They had been going to the window every morning hoping for snow just to be disappointed. To be able to tell them there really was snow, oh man, the best!

Even with just a little snow they were able to make our snow family. :) Leiella is making a weird face but I promise she was having fun.

Our snow family. It's hard to spot the Leieilla snowwoman but she's snuggled up to me. Of course. ;)

Leiella and I had a date night and went to see a local production of the Nutcracker that her best friend was performing in. Fun times!

A rose and a hug for her bestie!

Big ol' lazy kitty cats.

They rarely sit so close together so I had to get some pics.

A favorite tradition of our is the nightly unwrapping of a Christmas/winter time themed book. I wrap up 24 books and the kids take turns picking one out to unwrap. They like the surprise and I love the snuggles. On this night we were reading two because I wasn't able to read to them the night before. This year I switched it up a bit, getting rid of some of the books that were geared towards littler kids. That was a hard reality, but it was fun to pick out a few new ones that fit better. I have noticed that Banden is not that into it this year, just a harsh reality of him getting older I suppose. I'll admit I'm going to be sad when they grow out of these traditions I hold so dear that they have enjoyed. But as Ryder said I will just need to think up new ones to enjoy with them as they grow.

Banden and Atticus performing with the Raven choir as part of their boom whakers class at the learning center. :)

He's helping me. ;)

This is Leiella's special technique for making meat loaf. Ha ha!

She's a pro. ;)

A little more snow, yay! Sadly it again melted away quite quickly.

Snuggles while I read. 

One of the little boys I watch helping out a friend, ha ha! He was determined to lift him into the truck.

So I give up. Two of the beds have now been pushed together to make one big bed and the other bed is completely unused. Sigh. At least they all fit better now, ha ha!

Even if they are still all piled in like puppies.

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