Gingerbread House Creation!

We had a lot of fun making our Gingerbread house this year. As you can see candy was VERY plentiful and that helps :) Papa ate almost all the lego candy before we even got to creating but we had enough for a dog and a snowman! We did a tree this year as well. Papa decorated it. I put icing on the house and did a little bit on it but the kids did the rest.. Of course we had to EAT some candy too. 

That blue thing is the dog.. the snowman is on the other side.. these poor people didn't have enough snow to cover the ground so some of their grass was showing.. They also had a lot of weird stuff, shrubs? Flowers? Dog mess? all over their yard! 

It's tradition to do it all together! Normally we do it Christmas Eve but this year I think it was boxing day! 

Christmas Day!

The 1st thing we do every Christmas morning is read the Christmas Story out of Luke. Here is this years picture of Papa reading it :) 

The kids listening to the Christmas story and trying to not look at their stockings behind me :) In their new PJ's. Baby J slept thru Christmas morning.. and got to open his gifts later on with the crew helping out. 

 
Having hot chocolate later on in the morning. We'd done over half the gifts and we needed a break! We actually took almost no pictures of gift opening this year.

Floor Hockey... we got them 4 sticks and 2 nets for Christmas this year. They love it!! The sticks and nets stay outside now :) 

Baby J in his new, but very drooled on, PJ's.. 8 month size, with one of his new toys! 

He's so cute.. was fun to have a 'first Christmas' with a baby again! 

E out playing hockey.. or at least enjoying the new sticks. She holds her stick all wrong and no matter how many times Papa showed her she kept holding it that way! 

R with a hockey stick in one hand and a bucket in the other. She HAD to have a bucket? I still don't know why.. but she looked HIGH and LOW until I found her this one.. an old egg bucket. Then she was happy! 

Papa showing L how to hold a stick properly and hit a ball. 

J took to hockey like he'd played before.. here are him and L fighting for the ball. We are going to do a unit on hockey for school soon but for now Papa gave them a few rules to follow. 

Papa at net with R in front looking on. Chip in the background. They cleared part of the driveway to play hockey on and he was NOT allowed on it.. very confused dog! He REALLY wanted the ball too.. but was pretty good about leaving it and staying out of the way. 

We got several inches of snow Christmas morning and it was perfect for a snowman! Here is R rolling up a head! 

The boys debating where the buttons should go on him while the girls look on! It was pretty warm out. 

J placing buttons. 

The happy crew and their finished snowman. Notice the snowball in his hand? Our snowman is ready for some fun!! 

The rest of the day was spent being lazy, playing with new toys and games and watching How to Train your Dragon :) 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Super cute aren't they?? Baby J is almost 6 months old in this picture. J is almost 7, E is 4, R is 2 and 3/4 (she has this thing about actually looking at the camera!) and L is 5 and 1/2 !! Growing up SO fast!! 

Outside Fun @ Grandma's House On Christmas Eve!

Logistic's of it all. 10 kids 8 adults.. and fire :) It went great and the kids loved it. Actually only 6 adults were outside :)

L did NOT want to hold one and then loved it and held another two all together.

They take forever to light!! Here is Papa, Grandma and Grandpa lighting while J and K look on. Serious stuff this! LOL.

J really wanted his 1st one but refused one the second time around. I guess it was scarier then he thought. 

E enjoyed it. Her and R took turns which is why R has that LOOK on her face. 

R's turn. Sorry it's so blurry. My camera batteries were dying and the flash could not keep up! 

Aunt M and RJ. 

A bunch of kids watch Luke get the 1st one! 

Auntie D and Kyle. He's 1.5 old and 32 lbs. Big boy!! Out of 16 grandkids he's the only red head. :) 

E and K sharing one, I should have put new battery's in the camera but didn't have time. 

L again with his. Loved it!!

Inside Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's House Christmas Eve!

R and the mini keyboard she got! They all love it!! And I love that it has a volume button.. that and the on off switch! :) Actually it lights up the keys to play the songs and that's really cool. J loves it and is teaching himself some songs!

Papa and Baby J looking snazzy together!

Baby J and the MOST annoying toy ever built... At least that we got so far! The kids love it.. I'm waiting for the batteries to die! 

E opening her new tent!

E and Grandma F with E's new umbrella! 

Our very own Mary Poppinits! (That's how my kids say it :) 

L checking out his sleeping bag! 

J with his new sleeping bag and flashlight!! 

K Jane, Auntie R check out J and L's gift bags!! Love the matching shirts!! 

Of my 5 siblings only 2 were there that night with us. The group was nice for the space and the kids really had a blast together! So there was 10 kids 8 and under, or 7 kids 5 and under! And 8 adults! And the girls all matched and no one took any pictures! Maybe next time! 

Christmas Eve At Home :)

We started Christmas Eve out at home and then moved to my folks house for the afternoon evening. The kids got to open a few gifts before we went. The girls got these dresses and they fit beautifully!! 

J and L with their new PJ's. They got to wear them that night! Very cool! Thanks A for picking up J's when I got the wrong size! 

Baby J loved the paper.. and barely noticed his new shirt! 

Opening the last ones.. the girls got tights to go with their dresses and the boys got shirts like Baby J's. They all matched!! I love CP!! Very cool!! 

L and E with the PJ's. L's have firetrucks and E's the peace sign.. It was that or the same as R's and I knew she'd love the pink!

Opening the PJ's.. Note Papa is laying on our new couch! The green laundry basket is how I pack for family functions.. easier and you can fit more in them then a diaper bag! 

R and her pink poodle  PJ's. 

. Baby J got a new sleeper too.. 18 month size and it fits him wonderfully! 

New Couches!

One Sunday, not too long ago, some good friends of ours in a white SUV drove up pulling a trailer.. I actually was not home at the time as I was visiting a tiny new baby at the hospital, but I heard all about it. These wonderful people brought us 2 complete couch sets!! One has 5 pieces and the other two! They had recently moved and had gotten a old couch with the new house and had a old couch already and no room for either! They also had a old washer and dryer from the new house and they came and unloaded it all on to our outside floor! YAY!!! Papa and I measured and 'talked' and measured some more. Then we headed outside and brought one of the pieces in and placed it and then Papa brought a few more of the other pieces in and placed them! And we LOVE THEM!!! Now that we have the Christmas tree out we're trying to figure out how to 'redo' the living room and fit another piece or two in. Papa wants to keep his chair and so the spaces are limited! We can now actually seat more then 3 people comfortably in our living room!! Imagine THAT!! :)

 Thanks SO MUCH A&M!!!