A glimpse of Christmas at our house!

Wanted to share some Christmas photos with you.  I'm catching up here - truly I am.  :)

On Christmas Eve we headed to church which again this year was held at the DPAC (Durham Performing Arts Center).  It was a wonderful celebration in song, testimony and message about Jesus who came to save us all!

One picture of a couple of mine inside.  Nobody really wanted to be photographed this year.  Not sure why.  LOL

Heading home by mid-afternoon.  There were 5 services this year (2 on the 23rd and 3 on the 24th).

While everyone was ready, it was time for a photo.  I liked this one best as it was a real smile from Eliana and not a forced one.  

One of our whole family - we should have been silly to get better smiles I think.

We tend to do our fancier meal on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas day.  Ham, sweet potatoes, cranberry relish were some of our foods.

We open one gift on Christmas Eve - new pajamas.

I try to find things that they will like (Joshua is a Batman fan) or that fits their style.

My two beauties.

We start Christmas morning upstairs by reading the Christmas story all together.  Then we head downstairs - photo on the steps - and open our stockings.

Stockings contain small food items, personal care, and a few fun things too.

Our breakfast is a traditional meal that we all call Christmas casserole - the egg, cheese, sausage one that many of you have had.  And juice which is a treat in our family.

After eating, we open gifts.  This takes awhile in our home as we do it one at a time and enjoy them.  Is this a look of pure delight or what?!

My children all really enjoy giving gifts to each other too.

Christopher wanted disc golf and the younger boys all went in to get him some.

Rebecca found a fun new game for Christopher.  (More soon on some new games our family has been enjoying!)

This present made us all laugh.  The bag was so big that Eliana climbed completely inside so that we could see none of her.  She then made her way out with her gift.

Christopher gave the boys Minecraft which they have all loved!

Lunch is mostly appetizer types of foods which we can snack on all day - summer sausage, cheese, crackers, fruit, devilled eggs, sausage balls veggies and hummus and pigs in blankets.

Eliana loves opening gifts and it is so much fun to watch her as she tosses paper to her left and right, little bits at a time.  (And as my sweet friend Hollie pointed out - note the leg art from her new marker set.)

Joshua was given lots of different comic books this year (he is a collector) which he loved.

Daniel is the Lego collector.  Hobbit was a fun new theme this year.

We took time out to play some of our new games  - Say Anything.

Eliana got a cupcake game.  So cute!

Can you guess who gave this to Rebecca?

Just a sweet photo!

Our birthday cake for Jesus was cupcakes this year.  So thankful for Him - the best gift ever!

Christopher also gave his brothers this basketball hoop.  Love seeing him play with Eliana!

I think I take a lot of photos of the two of them playing.

My Mom came to visit the day after Christmas.

Playing more new games - Operation.

And Elefun.

Eliana got a new doll and she is trying to feed her with my new spatula/spoon.

I got a new camera and while I was taking photos with it, Eliana used this one to take her own pictures.  She LOVES to take pictures.  Wondering if this may be a bigger role in her future.

Picture of Nana with six of her grandchildren.  So thankful she was able to come visit with us and wish my Dad could have been here too!

WE had a wonderful CHristmas season.  We all stayed healthy which was a  blessing too!  Thankful to have a loving God who sent His one and only Son to be the Savior of the World!

Blessings to all of you!
Leslie

Happy Birthday sweet Eliana!

My girls have birthdays exactly 3 weeks apart.  Can't believe my baby is 7 already!  Just doesn't seem possible.  Probably in part too because she doesn't seem like she is 7 years old either.  :)  We start the morning with a special chair at the table and a breakfast of your choice!  Roger made waffles which are her favorite and his specialty on the week-ends.  She also asked for chocolate milk.

 We played and ran some errands of her choosing.  She is always asking to go to Target.  Not really sure why, but we went.

 We also went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  She likes the fries there and they are gluten free!

 She spent some time in the play area and loved it.

 Lots of gifts to open as each sibling wanted to get something different for her.

 Before dinner, we headed to Defy Gravity.  She LOVES this place.  Its filled with trampolines.  It was a "family night" special too which worked out great so that all of us jumped for a much lower price.  My pictures aren't great, but here are a few.  Eliana loves the foam pit and jumping into it wildly!

 In the midst of a game of tag, she is  happy and jumping.  It wasn't crowded at all which was nice.

 More presents for our sweet princess.  :-)

 Dinner was tacos - one of her favorites.  We all love mexican food here which is nice since almost all of it is gluten free.

The red plate comes out again for a special occasion.

 We took many photos trying to get a good one of her smiling.

 Oh, the pressure!  LOL

 She enjoyed her cake and ice cream too.

 This was one of her gifts - kinetic sand.  It is really, really neat!  I highly recommend this for a wide range of ages.  My kids love playing in it.  It is fluid somehow and not as messy or dry as regular sand.  Its also gluten free (as per the box label).

 Sweet Eliana.  How you have changed our world!  You have opened our eyes to so many things.  I think with you in our lives we have learned to laugh more, forgive more quickly and love more easily.  You continue to teach all of us through your example.  We are all better people for having known and loved and been loved by you.

Eliana is just what our family needed and I'm glad that God knew that.  Love spending time with my wild, spunky, loving, expressive daughter.  Looking forward to many more years together.

Love
Leslie

Five in a Row ornaments!

Our local Five in a Row group has been making these ornaments for some years now and this year was one of our biggest swaps yet!  At this rate, we may have them all by next year (well, those who started the first year with the swaps).  I think we'll just keep going though so everyone can have a full set.  :D

I love these ornaments and it makes me happy to pull them out each year for several reasons.  One, it brings back memories of fun books I have read with my children and the activities we have done to go along with them  Two, it reminds me of friends who have made them.  Three, it causes me to be thankful for so many things - a precious friend who wrote this curriculum, the blessings of friendships I have made on this journey and the treasured memories I have in using FIAR.

I have shared the pictures of the ornaments with their books.  If you have questions on any of these, please ask!

To get ready for the swap, we arranged the ornaments along with the book that they represented on long tables.  We have books from Before FIAR, FIAR and Beyond FIAR.

 A colorless, soundless representation of Helen Keller.

She did each family's last name on their ornament.

 Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?

 Make Way for Ducklings

 I am an Artist

 We're Going on a Bear Hunt

 The Snowy Day

 Climbing Kansas Mountains

 It was fun seeing them all lined up like this.

 Down, Down the Mountain.  Are these little crocheted turnips not adorable?

 The ABC Bunny

 The Bravest of Us All

 Sarah Plain and Tall.

 Amber on the Mountain.  (My daughter made this one.  Aren't they cute?!)

A closer peek.

 When I Was Young in the Mountains

 Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel

I have to show you this a bit closer so you can see the detail.  Can you see the little steam shovel down in the hole she has dug?

And Chester inside his matchbox?  A Cricket in Times Square

 Papa Piccolo.

Love them all!  Delightful, fun and a perfect way to remember these fun books!  Thank you sweet friends!

Love
Leslie