Christmas After

This is the day the Lord had made so we could clean up the homestead. The kids tried their ripsticks, pogo stick and soccer net. Hendrix squealed with delight and caught a short nap in the swing.

It reached 66 degrees and I put off contract work so we could rid the house of our dead Christmas tree and trash. We cleaned out vehicles and soaked up some Vitamin D. Indeed a blessed day. We felt His blessings shining down on us.

 And quick and easy meals, thanks to G-Ma and G-Pa.

On Christmas

I heard V & Z go downstairs a tad before 6. They  were talking over each other and I could feel the excitement even in my bed while Daddy and Hendrix continued to snooze. Being on a schedule to get to church, we woke Hendrix around 7. (Of course he decided to sleep as long as possible on the day we can't!)

 I'm thankful we didn't lose Hendrix in the chaos!

We were all jealous of Vanessa's new desk chair. Zane is a great helper!

Before Christmas

Just a couple of crafts.

Just a couple of gifts!

Creating candy addictions and fits of raging withdrawal.

We baked a few things with certainty Santa would have his molasses/ginger cookies.

Didn't get the whole family together for a family photo but these three attempted to undulge me.

It was neat how this photo worked out -- with guitar in background in a picture of Hendrix.

Dave's sidebars while reading keep the story fun and interesting for kids and adults!

Our "security camera" caught Santa!

No Shame

This is my first time blogging via my phone. Perhaps I'm behind. :-) No matter, I'm not ashamed to show my current state -- TV remote in hand and a kid who only sleeps on me. :-) Little monster...

Winter Break

Everyone needs a break.

Christmas Traditions

One of Mrs. Stolly's traditions is to have her students make a massive nutcracker, elf and reindeer. Zane was so very excited about this activity and told me all about the steps and how much he enjoyed making it. We love the extra care he takes in his work.

Polar H

So Hendrix had his first full experience with snow this week. I heard on the news that it was the most snow we've had in a certain number of hours since March 2015. 

As we picked up Vanessa and Zane from school, he kept his tongue out to catch snowflakes. He continued to do that once we got home. And he would lick his cold zipper. He couldn't move from the layers. Because he was wearing an 18-month snowsuit (cousin Ben's!), I let his siblings bury him. He didn't complain one little bit. Vanessa and Zane were having so much fun with him!

Workaholic

He's working just as hard!

Bathing Beauty

We go bananas over the bathtub!

Making Spirits Bright

Prospects

The kiddos. They give such amazing perspective, and just when you think they might be missing the point of something.

Vanessa recently shared that she presented a writing in class that had to do with 3 granted wishes. In short, she explained the following list: 1) A cure Batten Disease; 2) Every child receives a Christmas gift; 3) To have world peace

Zane recently came home and exclaimed to Vanessa "Some of my friends at school have real life elves! The elves watch them! For real! I'm serious!" Vanessa explained that we don't need an elf because they wreak havoc. Zane just went into deep thinking from that point. Vanessa wandered off. Then Zane said, with a sad voice and kind of just to himself "I hope Santa brings me a present this year. I haven't been good. I hope he doesn't bring me poop . . ." :-/ Zane said this with all seriousness.

He grew concerned when we moved the great room around to make a spot for the tree to be out of Hendrix's reach. Adam moved the loveseat to in front of the fireplace. Zane asked how Santa was supposed to get in. (The answer is "by using his magic") It's easy for us to forget that Zane still innocently believes that the jolly elf will be bringing him something for Christmas . . .

In a Pickle

He laughed but also got stressed cause he couldn't figure out where to go once he got in. :-)

Tree for Three

Our hands are full, so these two were determined to get the ball rolling on getting the tree up. We knew we had to get one for the table. We went to Lowe's looking for a potted one, much like the one we had when Zane was small, but when we got there, they were all puny, so knowing Hendrix wasn't going to last long on the shopping trip, we bought a small cut tree. Vanessa and Zane were eager to carry it but Vanessa was able to do it on her own She even loaded into the van.

Daddy got the decorations out and prefaced decorating with we can only choose a few favorites since we have enough ornaments for three of these trees. Kids did pretty well. Maybe a few adjustments could be made, but overall, perfect.