Peef the Christmas Bear

Every Christmas season, we always try to take in a Christmas play or performance together. Last night we attended a play called Peef the Christmas Bear. It is a story by a (fairly) local author, about a multi-colored bear, made by Santa, who gets and grants a very special Christmas wish. A friend from the church youth group did a great job as one of the elves, so that made it even more fun to see! Her family joined us, and we all went out for snacks, sodas, and a time of fun and laughter afterwards. (You rock, Cora!)

Fun With Playdough

I hate playdough, and the mess that always seems to come with playdough, but the littles love it. So this afternoon, when they were through with their school work and looking for something fun to do, I found myself stirring up a batch of green playdough. And then the fun began!

This is not a poorly timed picture of Mango....she just doesn't like how the playdough smells!

Holiday Get to Know You

Someone passed this holiday questionnaire along. Feel free to cut and paste the questions for your own blog or an e-mail! Be sure to send me back your answers!

Here's the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both. I'd prefer bags, but the kids prefer having wrapping to rip off, so we wrap most of our gifts.
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial. With several asthmatics in the house, we've been told to not get a real one.
3. When do you put up the tree? Weekend after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? New Year's Day (we need the space back!)
5. Do you like eggnog? No. Yuck.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Hmm.....the one I remember most was the year I got the toy truck I asked for!
7. Hardest person to buy for? Don't really know!
8. Easiest person to buy for? Random, Mango and DH's mom
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. It is not up, because the kids and the cats run off with the pieces.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Neither - though we usually intend to mail. :-)
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Socks.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I really haven't seen most of the famous ones.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Between Halloween and Thankgiving, with the serious shopping usually taking place after Thanksgiving.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes, but only as a joke. Remember that ugly fruit statue thingy, Mom??????
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? French silk pie.
16. Lights on the tree? Color or White? Colored, on a pre-lit tree.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home. We are lucky enough to have much of our extended family close by.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donor and Blitzen, and of course Rudolf.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither. Our tree topper is unique every year.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Eve with extended family, Christmas morning with our immediate family
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? People who take the Christ out of Christmas and replace it with an X; grumpy shoppers and sales people.
23. Ornament theme or color? Neither. Our tree is mostly decorated with ornaments that my mom has bought each of the kids each year.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham and cheesy potatoes on Christmas Eve, then crackers and cheese on Christmas Day.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Nothing really (but if you are desperate for ideas Caribou gift cards, or Amazon gift cards so I can buy more books for my Kindle!)

"I Can Read It!"

Today, I heard these words come out of the mouth of my four year old son, as he finished his very first "Bob book"! Realizing each of my kids was actually reading the words for the very first time and getting pleasure from it, never has failed to bring tears of pleasure to my eyes. And being this is my baby - hearing him read for the first time was a bit bittersweet.

Decorating Our Tree

It is our tradition to put up and decorate our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. These last couple of years, it has also been our tradition to be a day late on our tradition! Here are a few photos of the kids getting the tree ready.




On our very first Christmas together, DH and I realized we did not have a star for the top of our tree. We glanced around our apartment and settled on the cake topper from our wedding cake. Every year since, we have put something unique on the top of the tree, something that represents an event or something special that happened that year. This year, the kids suggested something from our trip west to Wyoming last May. So this year, our tree topper is.....(drumroll, please........) a postcard of Mt. Rushmore and a jackalope!