Christmas 2012
The best things about our Christmas this year:
1. Lights- Caleb put up lights outside our house this year, but he forgot one critical step in the process. He didn't check the lights before he put them up. Our brand new LED lights we put up last year already stopped working. He took down one set of lights, leaving the other set up on half the house. He also left the hangers for the lights on our gutters. The second set he left up did work, but he didn't have an extension cord long enough to reach. So we left it like this all December:
2. Gifts- We wrapped all our gifts early so we could see the beautiful wrapping paper and ribbon for many weeks. I do this so that I can take my time, and also to do a check on the amount of gifts and make sure I didn't forget anybody. I also hate going to the stores at the last minute. But every year I still go to the stores because my dad didn't get my mom a present, my sister needs a few more things for her kids, and Caleb usually forgets that he has to buy gifts too.
3. Snow! My kids love snow. Shelby eats snow until her entire body is frozen solid. Calvin loves to throw snowballs and laugh every time he throws one. We went to Hodoo and did some sledding. Calvin and I went down a tiny baby hill and he was done. Shelby climbed a huge hill with Caleb multiple times and didn't want to stop. The only thing that stopped her was that she had to keep grabbing more snow to eat. Caleb lost control at one point and ran her over. I think that's her favorite part of the day because she talks about it all the time. Good thing snow is soft.
4. Grinch- Shelby was very into Santa this year but I think she may love the Grinch more. We must have watched that old animated movie 50 times this year. She absolutely loves it. The night before Christmas I asked her if she was ready for Santa to come and she said no, the Grinch is coming to take all our presents, and we have to get into a circle and sing songs so his heart can grow big and then he will come bring them back. I wasn't about to pull that one off but luckily she forgot all about it the next morning.
5. Puzzles- Every year Caleb and I do a puzzle together. This tradition started with me and my mom. She still comes over and helps do the puzzles now. This year was a 2,000 piece puzzle and it's still not done. Caleb and I both love putting it together and my kids do a pretty good job of not ruining it.
6. Baby Jesus- We love a good baby Jesus story at our house. Shelby and Calvin love my nativity. They are constantly rearranging the animals and playing with it even when they are not suppose to. Shelby started to grasp the whole Jesus birthday concept, but I'm not sure entirely. She loves a good birthday party but this one didn't have any princess decorations so it was a little confusing.
7. Family- We had many parties with lots of family members. We love getting together to spend time with one another and reflect on the year. We were very spoiled by everyone, including our family in Utah. Caleb's sister always sends gifts for the kids and so do his grandparents. Then we had our Coombs celebration and our Miller celebration. We added a few extended family parties, one with friends from Portland, a college roommate party, and the list is still growing. The parties were long, full of great food, and hilarious moments.
8. Games- Let the games begin. We played many games this year. We cheated, we laughed, some may have even cried. We have some highly competitive family members, and it's not usually the ones who end up winning which makes it even more entertaining. Lots of made up rules and debate, and we even had to make a few phone calls to see who made up the rule and who is right. Nothing like a good battle to set the mood.
9. Helping- We got to participate in the adopt a family program with the Family Building Blocks not-for-profit organization. I have been able to do this for many years now and there is nothing more exciting to me than buying presents and necessities for children who are usually living in a car, homeless, and not able to have a Christmas if it was not for other people. I love this organization and if you end up having a holiday where you realize you way over spent and your kids have too much, please consider doing this instead. My kids each got one present from us this year and we will keep that going as long as we can. The donated gifts are much more important because my kids don't need a million toys. We have everything we could ever want and I think every kid deserves the chance to have a celebration.
10. Crafts- Some talented mothers in my church put together a craft day for kids. My kids had a great time and we got a bunch of cute little decorations that Shelby made. Calvin wanted to play and eat all the food that was suppose to be for crafting. It was on a day that I really needed to get out of the house but I wasn't feeling very well or very social. I am glad we had this day for the kids and the girls who hosted it will probably never know how perfect it was. I also did some painting on my own this year that I have not had time to do. I made 6 new crafts and still going strong.
1. Lights- Caleb put up lights outside our house this year, but he forgot one critical step in the process. He didn't check the lights before he put them up. Our brand new LED lights we put up last year already stopped working. He took down one set of lights, leaving the other set up on half the house. He also left the hangers for the lights on our gutters. The second set he left up did work, but he didn't have an extension cord long enough to reach. So we left it like this all December:
5. Puzzles- Every year Caleb and I do a puzzle together. This tradition started with me and my mom. She still comes over and helps do the puzzles now. This year was a 2,000 piece puzzle and it's still not done. Caleb and I both love putting it together and my kids do a pretty good job of not ruining it.
6. Baby Jesus- We love a good baby Jesus story at our house. Shelby and Calvin love my nativity. They are constantly rearranging the animals and playing with it even when they are not suppose to. Shelby started to grasp the whole Jesus birthday concept, but I'm not sure entirely. She loves a good birthday party but this one didn't have any princess decorations so it was a little confusing.
7. Family- We had many parties with lots of family members. We love getting together to spend time with one another and reflect on the year. We were very spoiled by everyone, including our family in Utah. Caleb's sister always sends gifts for the kids and so do his grandparents. Then we had our Coombs celebration and our Miller celebration. We added a few extended family parties, one with friends from Portland, a college roommate party, and the list is still growing. The parties were long, full of great food, and hilarious moments.
8. Games- Let the games begin. We played many games this year. We cheated, we laughed, some may have even cried. We have some highly competitive family members, and it's not usually the ones who end up winning which makes it even more entertaining. Lots of made up rules and debate, and we even had to make a few phone calls to see who made up the rule and who is right. Nothing like a good battle to set the mood.
9. Helping- We got to participate in the adopt a family program with the Family Building Blocks not-for-profit organization. I have been able to do this for many years now and there is nothing more exciting to me than buying presents and necessities for children who are usually living in a car, homeless, and not able to have a Christmas if it was not for other people. I love this organization and if you end up having a holiday where you realize you way over spent and your kids have too much, please consider doing this instead. My kids each got one present from us this year and we will keep that going as long as we can. The donated gifts are much more important because my kids don't need a million toys. We have everything we could ever want and I think every kid deserves the chance to have a celebration.
10. Crafts- Some talented mothers in my church put together a craft day for kids. My kids had a great time and we got a bunch of cute little decorations that Shelby made. Calvin wanted to play and eat all the food that was suppose to be for crafting. It was on a day that I really needed to get out of the house but I wasn't feeling very well or very social. I am glad we had this day for the kids and the girls who hosted it will probably never know how perfect it was. I also did some painting on my own this year that I have not had time to do. I made 6 new crafts and still going strong.
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