Sibling Exchange

This year we had our first sibling exchange! No, we didn't exchange any siblings… the siblings exchanged gifts! Some of the kids enjoy giving gifts more than others so I thought this would be good for those who truly enjoy giving and make it easier on those who might feel overwhelmed. Plus I would rather not end up with a 50 dollar store toys after everyone buys something for everyone else. So we decided to do a $10 gift exchange for one sibling. That way the sibling could get something a little nicer and the giver could really put some thought into the gift without being overwhelmed. Everyone except Annabeth even used their own money to buy the gift.

I pulled out my old copy of the Tightwad Gazette so I could copy her gift exchange wheel. The hardest part was dividing a circle into seven! (Why, why, why couldn't I have an even number of children?!) I ended up printing a circle off the internet instead of trying to do the math myself. I used that circle as a template to draw onto card stock. The best part? This gift wheel will last us until 2018!

I put the names in random order and told everyone who they were buying for. Everyone was excited and the planning started!

We had to plan ahead a bit for Justus to send Roz her gift since she wasn't joining us for Christmas and Roz had to mail Hayden's gift here. 

Each kid shopped for and wrapped their gifts and I allowed them to put them under the tree. This was a special treat since I normally keep all gifts put away until they go to bed on Christmas Eve. They enjoyed shaking and guessing what was in their package and my decision to not put out our gifts for them until the last minute was reaffirmed! 

The kids talked me into letting them open the sibling gifts on Christmas Eve, which worked out quite well in the end. I think we may have started a new tradition! It gave us plenty of time to let both the giver and receiver enjoy the moment. The gifts were treasured because they weren't set aside to open the next item. 

Wesley had Annabeth's name and he chose a big baby doll for her that she had seen, and loved, at the store. Annabeth named her "Big Baby". 

Hayden's gift came from Roz. He loved his new Minecraft Steve figure.

JD chose a nice digital watch for Justus.

Hayden had a hard time finding something for Eli. He ended up giving him some loom bands and a big container of cotton candy from the candy section at Walmart. Eli loved both!

Eli gave Wesley some much-needed new slippers and a big bottle of bubble bath. Wesley had been trying to guess what Eli had bought. The bubble bath made the box heavy and lop-sided. He was pretty surprised to find out what he got!

Justus did his shopping online. He chose a fun, reusable cup for Roz and she opened it with us watching via video chat. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of that.

I think a new tradition has been born!

Bookmarks

We like to give homemade gifts. They're fun to make and we know that someone won't receive two of the same gift! We give all the grandparents a photo calendar every year. I think we've been doing the calendar now since Roz was three or four… in other words, a long time!

This year we decided to make another photo gift for the Arizona grandparents. [We didn't make a set for Grandma Linda because she reads books on her Kindle and doesn't need a bookmark anymore!]

I had seen this idea on Pinterest and thought it might be a fun project. The boys helped. They chose what color they wanted their tassels to be and helped make them. It was pretty easy - just wrapped some embroidery floss around a some cardboard and tied it off after cutting.

I took the photos one morning and sent them to the one-hour photo for Jerry to pick up on his way home. The boys understood they were supposed look like they were hanging from a rope and posed nicely. Annabeth, of course, had no clue what we were doing! She tried to copy her brothers, but never stood still enough for me to get a good shot. I ended up having to lay her on the floor. It worked though!

The cutting was probably the hardest part because you have to trim very carefully and as close as possible. Once that was done, I laminated them and punched a hole to attach the tassel.

I wanted to package them nicely so they didn't get tangled and so they looked cute when they were opened. I thought about it awhile and finally decided to cut slits into a piece of card stock to hold the tassels. Then I made a label and "packaged" them.

If you don't have any bookworms in your family (I can't imagine!) then these would make really cute Christmas tree ornaments. You wouldn't even need to make tassels if you were using them as ornaments.

They turned out even better than we expected! They were a big hit with the grandparents and Jerry requested a set for himself.

Christmas Tree 2013

Team Cookie 2013

It's not Christmas until you make cut-out sugar cookies! We were a little late this year. I baked the cookies on the 23rd and we decorated them on Christmas Eve morning.

Remember that old commercial with an egg that said, "this is your brain" followed by the eggs in a frying pan with "this is your brain on drugs"?

These are my sugar cookies.

These are my sugar cookies on Facebook.

Right after I put the last couple cookies into the oven, I popped on Facebook for a "minute". A minute turned into a few and I ended up over-cooking them. The kids ate them anyway.

I make the dough and bake the cookies. Then we put the kids to work decorating the cookies. The past few years the kids have actually started being helpful.  Jerry supervises and transports cookies back and forth. It was a good year, not one cookie was dropped!

Only one little cookie decorator wouldn't pass the Food Handler's class. She started out on the right track...

…but starting eating the product after just a few minutes.

Thankfully, this wasn't our first rodeo and we had anticipated this. We had set her up with her own little bowl of frosting and special tools.

We definitely missed having Roz here to help. Cookie decorating is a long-standing family tradition! And it was a good batch of cookies this year too! Here is Team Cookie 2013!

And here is the fruit of our labor!

Now we're officially ready for Christmas!

Pretty Girl

Here are a few photos of Annabeth in her pretty dress by the Christmas tree. I took them right before we left for church. I wish the first one would have been in better focus.

This what happens when you "say cheese"!

The teen years are a long way off, but she's already rolling her eyes.

Lights!

Our light viewing accidentally got split in two parts this year. Friday night, we got hot chocolate and candy canes all ready and piled in the van.

We drove past a few houses but when we got to the neighborhood that was to be the majority of our viewing we ran into a problem. They wanted light gawkers to park and walk - which I will admit is a better way to see the lights, but we were not prepared. We had no jackets or stroller. So, we decided to come back another day.

Another house we drove past that was supposed to have a great display was completely dark. Thank goodness we packed snacks, those were the highlight of the night! Well, the snacks and a secret gift mission (we left an anonymous gift on someone's front porch).

Saturday night we tried again. This time we were better prepared with the stroller and jackets. We skipped the hot chocolate and got half price Sonic shakes on the way. I don't know if it was the shakes or the weather but we were pretty chilly walking around.

I tried to take a few more photos but it was too dark.

We were there the last Saturday before Christmas and it was packed! We had to park a few blocks away and walk before we even got into the neighborhood where the lights were. About three streets in this neighborhood go all out. One house tops them all though. I think every square foot of the two story house has lights on it. Some houses offered beverages and one even had a photographer. I feel bad for the people who just want to run to the store or order a pizza for dinner! They're out of luck for pretty much the whole month of December.

Unwelcome Visitor

This morning right before lunch the boys went out to play in the chicken area. They have been digging and making chicken "castles" out there lately. A few minutes after the door shut, they came running. I could hear them yelling about "big talons" on their way to the back door.

The boys told me there was a hawk IN the chicken coop. I ran out to make sure all the girls were safe and then sent Justus back for my camera. I took the photos through the front of the coop. I was able to get pretty close, but I was thankful there was the wire between us.

The hawk/falcon could not figure out how to get out and would flap around in there and then rest on the roost for a bit before freaking out and flapping around again. After I got a few good pics I opened the door and it flew away. I think it may have been a juvenile, it was pretty small and, obviously, not too smart.

About a half hour later two more hawks were circling the chicken area but the boys were out there again and they didn't try any funny business. I wondered if the one who had been stuck went and got a friend to intimidate us!

I am really glad we were home. Sometimes when we are gone we come home in the evening and find a mourning dove or two in the coop. I can't imagine what would have happened if the chickens wanted to go lay an egg or eat or (if it was later in the day) go to bed and there was a hawk/falcon in their house! Or what I would have done if I stepped in to check on them or collect eggs later in the dark with a hawk trapped in there! It would have interesting that's for sure!

I found a short article from AZ Game and Fish that said there are more raptors of all kinds from Sept. - April when they have migrated down this way. I don't think this one could have carried off a chicken, but who knows! Raptors are attracted by mourning doves and we have a ton of those around trying to freeload off the chicken food. The chickens were surprisingly calm, but we didn't see the approach or entrance. I don't think there is much we can do for protection unless we want to build an enclosed coop - which we don't. Everyone has lose chickens in this neighborhood so at least our chickens are not the only ones to swoop down on.

We still are not positive on the type of bird. If you know be sure and tell me!

[Special thanks to Grandma Molly - I originally wrote most of this post as an email to her when she asked what happened! I figured I'd save myself some work and post it here too!]

St. Nick Stockings

Even though St. Nick's Day is traditionally the 6th, we celebrated this year on the 7th. It worked out better for our schedule. [Read this if you want to know more about St. Nick's Day.]

I filled the stockings after the kids went to bed. We don't go all out like some families - no big toys or gifts - just some candy and maybe a small item or two. The kids love it anyway!

I made them line up for a photo with their stockings. Annabeth does't remember this from last year so she was pretty excited to get a sock full of candy and a brand new coloring book.

It's our tradition to let them have one small piece of candy before breakfast, but we didn't linger too long because we were headed to the holiday parade!

Christmas Ornaments 2013

Each year I give the kids an ornament. Someday, when they decorate their own trees, I hope they enjoy looking back at all their ornaments as much I enjoy looking at my own ornament collection. We have gotten a comment here and there about our tree being full. It's true our tree is brimming! Do the math - seven kids each with at least one ornament per year - it's adds up! But as they grow they'll take their ornaments and someday my tree will have plenty of empty space. What a sad day that will be! Actually, the ornament exodus has already started. This year Roz had her own tree and took several of her ornaments back to Minnesota.

Some years I buy ornaments, but the last couple years I have made them. I am going to try give the kids homemade ones each year from now on; so if you see any cute ornament ideas or patterns let me know! I need lots of ideas because I hope to some day make an ornament each year for grandkids.

I've had this year's ornament idea for quite awhile. I even bookmarked in my pre-Pinterest days! It was actually pretty easy and very inexpensive. The supplies were a letter stamping kit (thanks again GGS!), some large washers, Christmas ribbon and a tiny bit of black shoe polish.

I stamped the year on the small washer and each child's name on the larger one. I didn't stamp the letters low enough on the big washer so I ended up using a dab of glue to hold the small washer in place so it didn't block the letters. I rubbed a tiny bit of black shoe polish over the letters to get the them to stand out. Then I strung the ribbon through as a hanger and that was it!

I think they turned out great! They are much different (and a lot heavier!) than last year's soft, felt ornaments.

Company Christmas

We started and ended the day with holiday fun. This morning was the parade, this evening was a Christmas dinner with Jerry's co-workers. It turned into quite an adventure. Several weeks ago Jerry made us reservations at Monti's - one of our favorite Arizona restaurants. What he didn't plan for was for ASU's football team to end up playing in the Pac-12 Championship game at home just a few feet away from the restaurant at the same time. Really. Who could plan that?

So many people were going to be going to the game and at the Tempe Art Festival that authorities were encouraging people to use public transportation. We decided to leave early and ride the light rail from Mesa to Tempe. Even the light rail lot in Mesa was packed!

We had only been on the light rail once before… just for fun, when we were here on vacation. The lines to buy tickets were long and made longer because these weren't public transportation regulars. Most people didn't know how to work the machines - especially the older gentleman in front of us. I think it took him about five tries!

Monti's Famous Roman Bread

We rode along with all kinds of ASU fans. Father and sons, older couples, young drunks. Everyone was happy and full of hope. We made it to the restaurant and enjoyed a delicious dinner and the company of Jerry's co-workers. Meanwhile the evening wasn't going so well for ASU fans. We decided we'd better get on the light rail before all the depressed ASU fans started leaving.

We waited on the light rail platform for almost a half hour then rode home with another group of interesting characters. This time there was no hope or happiness. I was just glad we made it off without getting puked on. What could have been a forty minute ride home (via car) turned into and 1.5 hour light rail and car ride… and that is why I will never be a regular on public transportation.

Downtown Tempe looked festive

Extra special thanks to Uncle Johnny for babysitting the crew while we were out!

Queen Creek Holiday Parade 2013

This year we had three kids in the Queen Creek Holiday Parade! Eli and Justus walked with their Small Stock group. Wesley's 4-H group divided up so he joined the twins with the Small Stock group. Jerry took them bright and early and then saved us a spot on the route while the rest of us finished getting ready at home.

Here they are ready to go...

It was a pretty chilly morning by Arizona standards so we had to bundle up. We even grabbed mittens and gloves! Unfortunately, JD set his jacket down somewhere right before we left and we didn't realize it until we got to the parade. He was "freezing" and cuddled under the blanket we brought for them to sit on. A bit later, we found Eli's jacket in the van so he wore that.

In an effort to keep warm I drank a double hot chocolate and then had to go find a bathroom!

Annabeth didn't seem too bothered by the cold and she thoroughly enjoyed the parade! She waved and pointed pretty much the whole time.

These two complained more about being cold than Annabeth did. But once they started getting candy tossed to them they got over it.

Finally, towards the very end of the parade we saw the rest of the gang! Here they come…

We thought about pulling Loosey in a wagon but decided against it. (Mainly because we don't have a small cage or a wagon!) Since they didn't have any animals to deal with our boys volunteered to carry the sign.

They had a great time! Wesley was an old pro since he had walked in the parade last year.

A few minutes after they walked by, Santa came by and the parade was over!