Merry Kimo!

Santa's reindeer brushing his two little teeth.

Christmas Eve- The Fam

The boys- I swear trying to take a picture with Zachary is almost impossible!

It seems like all of the build up, excitement, and anticipation for Christmas is over in just a matter of seconds! We really enjoyed spending time with my family this year, they are the best!

Me, my Mom and sisters.

After Thanksgiving I tried to get Zackie to say "Merry Christmas". My efforts were pretty much unsuccessful. He only made an effort one time when he said, "Merry Kimo!" However, if you ask him what Santa says, he does do a really cute, "Ho Ho Ho!"

The kids, yes that includes Victor, were so much! They were so excited for Santa and the Christmas festivities and even more thrilled to be around all of their cousins.

On Christmas Eve all of the grand kids get dressed up to act out the story of Jesus's birth while my dad reads it from the Bible. They are so cute! Conner was a shepherd, Zack was Joseph (despite not wanting to wear a costume), and Mace was sweet baby Jesus! My other nephew's were shepherds and wise men and my two nieces were the angel and Mary.

Shepherd Conner.

The cast of The Birth of Jesus.

Baby Jesus chewing on his sock.

It also seems that we share the tradition of opening Christmas PJ's with the rest of the world. Funny my kids, well Conner, has never said anything about knowing what gift he will be opening for Christmas Eve.

My neice Shelby, Mason, and Zack.

Happy boy Mace!

We were very spoiled this year as always! The boys got some really cool and fun stuff as did Victor and I. Victor was very surprised and thrilled to get Rock Band! Victor, Conner, and my nephews set it up right away and had some great jam sessions. Victor also had to bring up the story about how mean and torturous his wife was to him last year. :) Yes, I do have horns!

Victor and the kids playing Rock Band.

Casey and Akiko stopped by for a visit and their son, Hiro, was so cute singing!

Last year I REALLY wanted to get Guitar Hero for Victor for the Wii for the Christmas. I started looking in October and could never find one. Finally a few weeks before Christmas we were in Target and I spotted one! It was the only one they had. Victor was with me so I was plotting how I could get rid of him and get it hidden in the car. Then I had a Son of B moment when I realized I hadn't even brought my purse with us. I decided I couldn't pass it up, after all I had been looking forever for that damn Guitar Hero and this was their last one! So, I got the electronics guy and had him pull it out for me while I watched Vic's eyes light up and I had him pay for it. On the way home he kept saying he couldn't believe I got him Guitar Hero and was so excited! When we got home he went to open the box and I stole it away from him. I wrapped it and put it under the tree and threatened him with his life if even tried to open it before Christmas. Poor guy had to look at it every day just knowing what it was! ha ha I think the story is pretty funny!

Zack wasn't quite ready to wake up Christmas morning.

Yeah presents!

Sorry for picture overload. I couldn't pick just a few to share! I hope you all had as merry of a Christmas as we did and have a fun and safe New Year's Eve! Happy 2009!

Village People

Years and years ago my mom started a little village under her Christmas tree. It isn't just any village though. Each piece has a story behind it about a member of our family. This makes it even that much more special to us!We all love the little village, especially the grand kids. Amazingly enough the kids leave it alone too! Well, other than the train when Gram sits down with them and lets them operate it. My mom does so many fun traditions, it really makes it feel like Christmas when we are at her house.

When we all moved away my mom picked out houses for us. Ours is the blue house. Victor is there in his military uniform getting ready to embrace Conner, Ben (our dog) is in the yard, I am sitting on the front steps with my shopping bags (what me shopping? crazy!), Zack and Mason are on the side making snow angels, and we even have Victor's Jeep! We love our little house!

Elmer Fudd

Victor got to spend a fun day with boys while we were visiting family. My brother Jake took Victor and my brother-in-law Howard out duck shooting. Victor and Howard have become city boys and don't get the opportunity to hunt much. Victor does have a nice shot gun and clay pigeon launcher but doesn't get out to use it as much as he would like. Jake made a great hunting guide and I am sure Victor will be calling him more often when I drag him back down in the future.

Thanks Jakie!

Howard, Victor, and Jake

Winter Wonderland

We decided to go to my parent's house this year for Christmas. We haven't gone down for Christmas for about 4 years and my sister was coming from Texas so we thought it would be a good time!

My kids were so excited to go down and see some snow. It doesn't snow much here and if it does it is usually melted in a day or two. As soon as we got the car unloaded Conner was in his snow clothes and playing outside with his cousins. Much like everyone else in the Northwest, we got pummeled with the white stuff! It was so pretty coming down. I guess even a little more prettier since I knew we had no where to go and could just enjoy watching it.

Snowbunny Conner

Conner and my nephews Joshua, Alexander, and Nathaniel. They traded their boogyboards for snow clothes.

Funny Bear! He HAS to be right there with kids and he just loves the snow. The snow is so deep he has to leap through it like a gazelle.

The kids were out playing in the winter wonderland and my nephew comes running in from the deck to tell me that Conner is bleeding. I told him to tell Conner to just come in so I could put a band-aid on him. I few seconds later Conner came walking up the steps with his hands on his forehead and it looked like someone had poured buckets of blood on him!

I heard my Dad behind me utter a curse word and he ran in the house to get some towels as I tried to stop the bleeding. We got him wrapped in towels and Vic ran him down to the ER where Conner got 5 stitches! Just our luck to end up in the ER on Christmas Eve! Poor Conner was pretty solemn the rest of the night. He is no whiner, he would only tell us he had a little headache when we would ask him how he is doing.

I think all of the blood freaked him out a bit. He is also a kid who likes to know exactly what is going on. How long will it take? Will it hurt? What are you doing? Will it make the bleeding stop? He was a little trooper though! I later went outside to see where he got hurt. It is a no wonder! The kids had made a jump for their sleds that would have made the boys from Jackass proud! The downfall however was that the jump went directly into a huge pine tree (which was what sliced his head open)! This wasn't Conner's first trip to the ER or his first set of stitches. Unfortunately, I am sure there will still be more.

Even after a foot of fresh new snow the next day you could still see where Conner was standing before he came in to the house.

Victor and Conner also got to make their first snowboarding run for the season in a foot of fresh new snow with my brother-in-law and our nephews! They were pretty excited!

Poor Conner lost his goggles in an earlier crash and it was so bright. They had to go to the lodge after the next run and buy him some new ones.

Sugar Coat It For Me!

My great-grandma passed down two of the world's best cookie recipes. One of them is her chocolate chip recipe and the other is her sugar cookie recipe. We make and decorate the sugar cookies every Christmas. Of course my favorite part of the holidays is the food!My sous chefs!


I am beginning to think my kids are deprived. I don't really keep sweets around the house, but the past couple of weekends when we made gingerbread houses and decorated cookies the kids acted like the sugar was going out of style! Especially Zackie!

Icing! Yum Yum!

A few years ago one of Vic's best childhood buddies, Josh, and his adorable wife, Robyn, came to visit right before Christmas and we made these cookies. I don't think we had one cookie left after we decorated them. They all went right into our mouths! Josh would take a bite and say, "These are so good!" then another bite and say ,"I love these cookies." I think about Josh and Robyn now every time we make them! Wish you guys were here to make them with us again this year.

Both boys had fun helping me and most of all were in heaven eating their finished products!

Conner's gingerbread man

Next up are Dulce de Leches- the reason I gain weight every year at Christmas! But they are oh so good!

Reindeer and Marshmallows?

It is no secret how much I love to cook. I think Food Network is on all day at our house. In fact, Victor may not admit it, but Throwdown with Bobby Flay is one of his favorites! I will have to share one of our favorite Conner stories. Conner looks in the fridge and asks Victor, "What is that?" Victor tells him it is a tri-tip that Mom is marinating for us to grill for dinner. Conner responds, "Man! Why do we always have steak, seafood, or chicken for dinner?!?! Why can't I be like the other kids and just have a corn dog or McDonald's or something?" :) Talk about the child abuse that goes on at our house!

Anyway, my love of cooking and searching for new recipes and new things to try takes us to Williams-Sonoma. . . A LOT! This time of year they get in one of my favorites, hot chocolate and their handcrafted marshmallows! I have been trying recipes for years to match those yummy marshmallows! Well, with the help of my wonderful sister, Jen, I finally found one!It is from Martha Stewart and is absolutely scrumptious in hot chocolate! My sister is cutting the marshmallows into fun Christmas shapes and making a homemade hot cocoa mix to give to her neighbors for Christmas. What a cute idea! If you want the best marshmallows for your hot chocolate for the holidays I highly suggest you visit MarthaStewart.com and try this recipe. To top it off, the recipe is super easy too! I hope you enjoy it, leave some out for Santa!

Speaking of Santa, my kids love to throw out "Reindeer Dust" right before they go to bed on Christmas Eve to help Santa find our house faster. Yes, just another tradition at our home. A few years back I acquired this cute little poem accompanied with a bag of "dust". The dust is actually bird seed. Most bird seed comes with sunflower seeds in it and I pick out the sunflower seeds (you don't have to) and sometimes add a little glitter to the mix. I put the "dust" in cute cellophane bags and put the poem on some fun Christmas paper and give it out to my nieces and nephews and some friends. They love it and it is always requested each year. The bird seed also makes it nice because there is no mess to clean up on your driveway the next day and it is fun to watch all of the different birds come by to eat it up! Plus, the kids don't know it is bird seed. Anyway, here is the poem if anyone wants to give it a whirl this year:

Inside this bag is reindeer dust.
To make it work a person must:

Wait until it’s Christmas Eve,
Then think of Santa and believe.

And just before you go to bed,
Just walk outside, look overhead,

Take some dust and hold it tight
Then throw it up into the night.

Hurry in, run up the stairs.
And don’t forget to say your prayers.

Then jump in bed and close your eyes,
And in the night, up in the skies,

The light reflecting off the dust
Will make the reindeer curious,

And figuring the shortest route
They’ll fly right down to check it out.

Then while the reindeer take a rest,
The jolly elf will do his best

To leave with you some Christmas cheer,
Then just like that he’ll disappear.

And in the morn when you arise
You’ll scarce believe your eyes.

You will believe in Old Saint Nick -
Behold, the dust has done the trick.

Merry Christmas!

Traditions

I know most people dread their spouse's company Christmas party, but I actually looked forward to Victor's this year! I love the people Victor works with (well most of them anyway-hee hee). They are so much fun and just some of the nicest people. I even met a few new people that I just love as well! Yes Noel, you would be one of them!!! This year they did a casino theme and it was fun to get dressed up and have a night out with no kids!

Doesn't Victor look so handsome for his Christmas party? At the end of the night I had a million pictures, but none of us together!

As mentioned in an earlier post, I would be sharing a few of our holiday family traditions that everyone around my house loves. Starting on December 1st Conner's first words when he wakes up are, "Can I move the calendar now Mom?" For years I looked all over for a Christmas calendar. I have found soooo many adorable ones! Cute little Santa ones, fun reindeer ones, and cute snowman ones. So what is the problem? I REALLY wanted a Christmas calendar that had Christ in it! With so much going on around the holidays, and especially for a kid, much of the focus falls on Santa and what they will be getting. I wanted something to remind my kids the true meaning of Christmas.

I searched all over. I even got family and friends on board for my search. After about 3 years, I still never found one. I had one of Mary and Joseph growing up. They started out in Jerusalem and every day you moved them on their journey to Bethlehem and on December 25th we would put the baby in the manger. Just like Conner, I looked forward to moving it every day! I talked with my Mom and she had already given the calendar to my older sister but said she would help make me one. I reminded my Mom of my crafting abilities (which are nonexistent, Victor sews and irons at our house!) but she insisted that I do most of it. The calendar isn't the cutest dang one around, but we love it none the less.

Our Christmas Calendar

My crafty thoughtful Mom also put a little story book together for us. Every night in December is a different Christmas story for us to read. I swear I cry in every story. My favorite story is the Littlest Angel. The story had a new meaning to me this year. Over the summer our best friends lost their little boy. I think about our friends every day. So, when Conner read the first sentence to the story I immediately started to cry. I know that Ty is in heaven watching his family and has pieces of them to remember them by until they can be together as a family again. I will try and post a copy of the story later. I just love that dang story!!! And of course, the story book ends on December 25th with the Bible version of baby Jesus's birth.

Next up is family shopping! Conner has been saying all week that he wished it was Friday so we could have our family shopping day. We went to dinner and took the kids to pick out presents for each other and something for Victor and I. They had fun and were so cute. We told Zack to pick something out for Conner and he would point to something and say, "Ca Ca (that is what he calls Conner) dis." Then he would point to something else and keep saying the same thing. We told him he had to pick one thing and he says, "No, all." He did the same thing with Mason. So, we threw it all in the cart and left a trail of toys on the shelves as we made our way out of the store.

The boys before heading to dinner for family shop night

It was cold that night and even snowed so we had the kids all bundled up. Doesn't Mace look so cute in his little hat?

I left Zack and Mason with Vic while I took Conner to pick out something for his Dad. He was funny suggesting things. He kept asking, "Are you sure he will like this one? I just really want Dad to like it." What a sweetie!

Last up for the week is gingerbread houses! My Mom started making gingerbread houses with us when I was Conner's age and I loved it! It was a tradition I wanted to do with my family. I am so grateful for Costco! They make my life so much easier. They had gingerbread houses all packaged up with icing and candy, pretty much everything I needed in one box!

Conner went to town decorating his. He worked on it forever. Zack was thrilled to get some candy! As Victor put the houses together Zack was chowing piece after piece! I was worried he wasn't going to stop. I put him on my lap and started to put some frosting on his house and he had been watching Conner so he knew just what to do. He start sticking his pieces of candy on the house and if I wasn't moving fast enough he would hold a piece up for me to put icing on it and tell me, "Moe!" (which means more!).

One happy kid to be getting some candy!

The boys making their houses all pretty

All done!

Later that night when I was getting the kids in the tub and ready for bed Zack had disappeared. I found him downstairs with a chair pushed up to his house that he was picking candy off of! I am just so happy the boys had fun!

Yum Yum!

Mason

Mason has been pulling the most funny faces. Of course he does it when I have no camera in sight! Well, I finally got a picture of him so you can all see what I have been telling you about! He crinkles up his nose and breathes really hard then he busts up laughing like it is the funniest thing in the world. It is cute and makes all of us crack up as well. Zack even exclaims, "Nay Nay!! (that is what he calls Mason) Funny!!"Happy Face Mason

Funny Crinkled Face Mason!

This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "Put a sock in it!" He loves to pull his socks off and chew on them.

Conner also wanted me to post a picture of Zackie with his Christmas tree that is in his room. Conner didn't want Zack to feel bad that we had a picture of Conner and his tree and not of Zack's. :) Zackie tells his tree, "Na Night tee" every night when he goes to bed. He even blows it kisses sometimes. Kids are so funny!

Zack and his little tree

Oh, I almost forgot! Mason also hit a milestone this week. He got his first tooth! He is the youngest of the boys for his first tooth, but he has also been least grumpy!

Elfed

Dave and Sue (Casey's mom and dad) had this on their blog and we thought it was hilarious! So, Victor did it for our family and the kids got the biggest kick out of it. Check it out, it is too funny! Just click on the link below.
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/2AdNt98VVnXdYI8HpX8g
This one is pretty good too!
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/LAP62tfhk5M33dkj

Oh Christmas Tree

I just love the holiday season! What makes is so much fun and so special for us is our family traditions. It is just such a great time of year that I love to relish in it.

Two things start at our house right after Thanksgiving. #1- Christmas music! I love Christmas music! Growing up my Mom and Dad always listened to Christmas music in the house, in the car, it didn't matter it was always playing. I love the old stuff too, like the Time Life Christmas Music. No one can sing "Blue Christmas" like Elvis! Conner and I totally get into it. Victor is funny, he says "Awe, Christmas music?" then two beats later he is singing along with us! It never feels like Christmas without my Christmas music.

#2-Is putting up the Christmas tree. Everyone helps to put it up and decorate it. Conner kept asking all day when we were going to put it up. I love our little tree. We have had it since we got married. I don't think we paid more than $30 for it! Every year that we put it up Victor tells me we need to go and get a new one, but I just can't do it! We have soooo many memories around this little tree, I couldn't bear to tell it goodbye! Thanks to my Mom, the boys all have their own little tree in their room too. They get upset with me when I unplug them.

Conner and Zack decorating Conner's tree for his room- He was even singing "Oh Christmas Tree" as he was decorating it. It was cute!

Zack "helping" Victor put on the lights-Yep, I think we are the only people we know who don't own a prelit tree!

This year as we were putting the tree up and enjoying my Christmas music it started to snow! Of course it didn't stick. However, it was so exciting to see the white stuff coming down. I am ready for it, lots of it too!

Snow! We love the snow!

Zack taking a break from decorating to play with Mason

So, this is just the start of a few of our family holiday traditions that is fun to share with you! More will come as the month goes on. Victor always tells me how much he loves our traditions and how it makes the holidays special for him too and how glad he is that I do them. That makes me so happy to hear! That's why we do them, to make it a fun and special time for everyone that they always remember and look forward to every year. 20 more days!

Finished product and Zack has only pulled it over once! ;)

Sue, does this count as part of being tagged? I also want everyone to think of the song "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree". There is a line in that song that says "Dancing around so merrily in the new old fashioned way". Does anyone have a clue what the "new old fashioned way" is???