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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Twas the night before Christmas...

We read this book every year to the kids on the night before Christmas. The kids all sleep in the same room on a mattress on the floor. They LOVE it. We read the book. Then they assume one of our traditions in a wrestling match, so they start to wrestle, then we tell them they have to be really silent so that they can hear Santa. Then they fall fast to sleep (in theory).

Cookies for Santa

The kids helped me make their usual Christmas cookies for Santa. Then they filled the elf jar with candy and the reindeer jar with an apple. Corbin wrote the Santa letter this year.

Then Trevor and Ashlyn decided that they wanted to write a letter to Santa too.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve with the Days and the Tracey's.

We ate yummy food:

The kids acted out the Nativity:

We sang Christmas carols while Trevor and Jaxson played the piano:

They even got an episode of Ninjago in :)

Monday, December 26, 2011

Cucumber Canoe

Have you heard this song? You should: here

A friend introduced this song to me and it is SO CUTE. I love it! It might actually be a kids song... :) But I think everyone will like it.

p.s. the video that goes along with the song on youtube is kinda lame but the song is adorable. Check it out.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Track Santa on NORAD--fun for kids!

My kids and I are having fun tracking Santa's progress here: http://www.noradsanta.org/en/

Found out about it from here: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=157&sid=18620464&title=norad-santa-trackers-having-record-holiday-

I guess this started in 1955! The kids can see where Santa has delivered presents already from around the world. So cute!

Funny Story

Trevor said to me today: Mom, I remember how much you weigh from last year.

(*side note: Dave bought me a scale for my birthday last year and before anyone starts calling names, I actually asked for it! When he gave it to me we all hopped on it and weighed ourselves for fun)

Me: Really? How much?

Trevor: 113 pounds.

Me: ...totally.... ;)
(I'm not even going to try to correct him on that one...hopefully he spreads the word! :))

Baking cinnamon rolls with Ashlyn

Ashlyn likes to bake with me purely so that she can wear this apron. Seriously. My mom gave us matching aprons (same pattern, different colors) and Ashlyn loves to wear hers. We made cinnamon rolls for neighbor gifts.

Delivering treats to one of our favorite ladies, Sandy. The kids decorated the small Christmas tree themselves.

NUMBER ONE SPEECH

"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

"There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that's first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.

"Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he's got to play from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's O.K. You've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.

"Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization - an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win - to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is.

"It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there - to compete. To know the rules and objectives when they get in the game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules - but to win.

"And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.

"I don't say these things because I believe in the 'brute' nature of man or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear - is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause and he's exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."

--Vince Lombardi

In the Faith of Christ