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Summing Up December

December was SO busy for us (as it was for all of you, I'm sure). We had birthdays, a new pet, stomach viruses, the start of a basketball season (for Bubby) and of course, Christmas ..... the list seemed endless.

I am enjoying this weekend of recovering and preparing for a new year.

Here are some pictures summing up our last month.

Bubby turned nine. We celebrated with a small party at the skating rink. His present from us was a basketball goal. It did get set up but I have yet to take a picture of it that way.

He was glad his buddy WHK could be one of the friends who came to help him celebrate with some skating fun. Thanks WHK!

           

Bubby also renewed his love for building forts in my living room. It makes for quite a mess but he has so much fun with a few chairs, a couple of blankets and a flashlight.

   

We loved getting all your precious cards this year. We decided to display them like this:

                               

We kept up our Advent Wreath and Jesse Tree activities quite well although I didn't take any more pictures. Other than the fact that Jenni thought the wreath was supposed to be her bed and the Jesse Tree was supposed to be her play toy, it went really well. Those nightly readings by candlelight were very meaningful to us all. I am looking forward to continuing that tradition.

Well, I guess that brings us up to Christmas. We had all the family over on Christmas Eve for dinner, presents and fun. Here are some pics:

Fancy taught "GaGa" (The Husband's Mom) how to do the Cha Cha Slide:

                       

There were cousin pillow wars .... and at this point, let the record show that my son WAS wearing more than a WHITE T-shirt at ONE point:

Silly cousins:

My houseful enjoying some yummy fajitas:

                              

My Mom and Brother:

                           

My Mom, Sister and Niece:                                                                        

The kids got money from a lot of family. At their age, I guess it is easier to let them pick out gifts themselves. Now I get to take them shopping. Thanks A LOT!! hehe

GaGa thought it would be fun to give the kids a sum of money in ALL ONES. The kids thought it was great to show off their WADS of cash.

At the end of the evening, Bubby decided to have a drum tutorial for the littler kids. It was a BIG HIT (Pun INTENDED).

The next day, we had a nice Christmas morning of breakfast (provided by GaGa - THANK YOU!) and presents with just the four of us IN OUR JAMMIES (as it should be).

Here are a couple of pics of the kids with gifts:

(Fancy's big gift was in the form of a letter telling her of the upgrades to her cell phone usage .... quite a happy girl! .... and for Bubby .... it's all about the Legos people!)

We got them the game "Yahtzee Free For All" and we had TONS of fun playing it. We have played MANY rounds over the last few days. Here is a pic with NO FACES. Not one of us was photo worthy at this point of the morning! =)

                              

There has also been MUCH enjoyment from playing Rock Band on the Playstation. I haven't gotten in on it YET but plan on having a blast with the lead singer role. =)

         

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I hope the New Year brings many blessings!

BFFs

Welcome Jenni

We got en early Christmas present from the local animal shelter and are enjoying her ever so much.

 

                              

We keep finding her snuggled up in the strangest of places.

We discovered she actually didn't hate taking a bath as much as we thought she would. Turns out though that soaking wet isn't a good look for her. =)

                        

She is a perfect snuggle buddy ..... she has even enjoyed reading the bible with me a few mornings. Bubby worked hard to get this picture just right:

                       

Second Advent Sunday

Our Jesse Tree is coming along. We are really enjoying this activity. It's cute to me that you can tell who hangs the ornaments every night. They are all hanging about "Bubby" height.

Speaking of Bubby, he decided to "commercialize" our Advent Wreath this week. I'm not sure I'm a fan but I don't have the heart to mess with his creativity. Anyway, here it is with two candles lit during dinner tonight. We ate by candlelight .... except there was still a bit of sunlight mixed in. We ate a bit too early. =)

Here is the view out the window from our desk at dusk. I love Christmas lights!

The Homeschool Song

My kids and I enjoyed this on our "lunch break" today.

I wish I was smart enough to put the video here, but alas .... go here.

Still laughing!

Fancy and Her Math Helper

He sits with her throughout math every.single.day. Moral support .... priceless.