Christmas Presents!

Christmas Eve Festivities began with a movie (Miracle on 34th Street) and picnic in the living room.

Then we moved on to dessert. Tekla decided to make gingerbread houses for every one as her Christmas presents to us. Daddy was more than willing to work with her to get that accomplished. Her little village fit nicely on the tray.

We let them get good and sugared up.

While they were watching and eating, and sugaring up. Daddy was working on putting together the first big present to all the kiddos: a play kitchen. (Apparently it is a big hit, and it has seen a lot of action in the last couple days!)

Then it was on to opening presents. The kids were really excited about everyone opening the presents that they had made themselves. Saoirse decorated felt ornaments with sequins and colored feathers. They are so colorful and sparkly and we well received by everyone

Jael made stuffed Dala horses. This was her first time doing any embroidery. She did a great job trying a few different stitches, and even stitched their names on to one side. She just couldn't keep it a surprise, so she had everyone pick out their favorite colors.

They are still adored.

Saoirse asked for a Little Red Ridding Hood cape. and Mommy delivered. It should be warm as it is lined/reversible with black fleece.

Jael is truly thrilled to have her very own Bible and a carrying case.

Tekla has already tried out her baking supplies by making cupcakes for everyone (ones even Mommy can eat!). And Cai has been showing off how his Lego fire truck can put out Lego fires.

It isn't easy to see here, but Cai made recycled crayons for sisters by melting them in a muffin tin (I let him use my oldest tin). He loved peeling the paper, breaking too big crayons, and choosing lots of colors.

Cai is proud of his new Tonka Truck and movies. He is eager to watch "For" (which we finally realized translates to "Thor").

Books are always well recieved, and she is being a nice sister and sharing with her little sister, who was just as excited that she got Little Women.

Guess which Uncle sent us this game. And he loves the books as much as his Uncle did. We had to play this game first.

Cousins from France sent everyone Lego sets - another big hit.

Cai got a Dino tail, that goes amazingly well with his Dino shirt.

A sewing kit from Grandma means Mom's sewing room is going to be busy.

And another excited about her sewing kit.

Tekla got the perfect pets, for Christmas. Pet rocks! And she can dress them up however she wants.

Mommy shows off another "get the wiggles out" game sent from Wyoming relatives. We did try this one out and would highly recommend it for wiggly 3 and 5 year olds (maybe more for the 5 year old, but the 3 year old liked it too).

Christmas Photos (Outfits thanks to Grandma)

You know you are "Home" when...

...your kids can hide easily in the mess. Our stuff is finally here. Now to figure out where it all goes!

Math with Bangles

Saoirse was working on multiplying whole numbers by one-half. Since the manipulatives were still not accessible, we grabbed some bangle bracelets (that she was already fidgeting with anyway).

She got to it. Counting out, then finding half, putting each group on her arms.

I think the lesson went well, and her bracelets didn't have to go to timeout during math.

Those times when you wish you had a picture...

Today was one of those times. I didn't have a camera with me, but it probably would not have been the most appropriate times to take a picture anyway. Jael had a class in karate today. They are every Sunday and Thursday right now, and this was just a regular class. Usually the door to the room is closed during class (partly due to the chattering Moms, but they were amazingly absent today), but the teacher let it stay open even when he saw me getting a peek. Class started out with the teacher taking roll and telling students where to sit. Jael was put on the front row with some of the bigger kids. Most of the kids are smaller and younger than her; and a bit more squirrel-y too. She listened, and followed directions, and did the stretches and warm-ups as I would have expected her to. Then came some punches and kicks. The teacher stopped to correct her form a couple times and she kept working hard to get it right. I saw some of the others get tired and half heartedly go through the motions when the teacher wasn't looking, some even when the teacher was looking. But not my Jae. I could tell as the class wore on she was getting tired, but she still did her best. She tried to have her best form, slow down to do it right, and not skip to the end so she could rest. I saw such effort from her and I was bursting-at-the-seams proud of her. Near the end of class Cai and Se were nearly crawling in the door to watch and the teacher invited them in to participate. Cai shrank back, but Se, who has requested to take Karate this spring, slipped in for a couple exercises then slipped out just because she was so giddy at the thought of joining. I can only hope she will learn from her big sister what hard work looks like (she has the determination down flat - we just have to learn to channel it more productively). So, I don't have a picture, but I am, beyond a doubt, proud of my hard working, strong, and determined karate white belt.

Our "Thankful Chain"

Over the last several years we have developed the tradition of making a "Thankful Chain" on Thanksgiving. Simply put, during a meal, we go around the table and each say something we are thankful for. Each thing is written on a separate strip of paper.

We keep going around the table till we can't think of any more things to write down, or we run out of paper. These strips of paper are then taped into a long chain. Finally, we hang this up as our first Christmas decoration of the year.

The rest of our decorations haven't caught up to us yet, but our chain has been hung so we are beginning to feel a bit in the spirit of the season anyway. Happy Holidays to one and all!

Today's Textile Therapy

I have wanted a tree skirt for our Christmas tree for a while. But in years past it just wasn't to be. Today, the family went on an outing to the fabric souk and discovered many wondrous finds. The girls found some amazing bangle bracelets that they decided to buy themselves, I found some fabric to make gift bags out of, and there were some sparkly things a couple girls decided they needed for the Christmas gifts they are making.

Among these finds were these fabrics. Hubby and I did some quick figuring to determine how much I needed to make a tree skirt and we figured 4 meters would be more than enough, and I could use the spare for a runner or something (or somethings).

When we got home I did some more figuring, measuring, re-figuring, and double checking those figures. Then I had Hubby check my math to make sure (this wasn't cheap stuff, so I didn't want to blow it). I really appreciated my Jr. High math teachers today!

This is the end result. Now if our household goods would just arrive so I can put it around the Christmas tree, it would be complete.