A Thank U to The Man In Red

We are at McDonald's play place and I look over to see Tavin standing next to a old man-he is staring up at him with his mouth open....Then I realize the old man has a beer belly, and long white hair, with a long beard....guess who Tavin thinks he is:) Yep Santa Clause! Then I hear him say to the man...thanks for my presents....the man looks down and says: " your welcome-did you get what you wanted?" Tavin nods happily and then is off again to play, the old man smiling. I love my boy and the joy he brings.

New Years Eve 2013

I am considered the "lucky One" in our family because I tend to win things....well for New Years Eve, I won a game party pack from a club called "House Party." (Since I seem to be in the mood to recommend things I really like in my posts lately, I will take a second and recommend you join this club! U can find it by entering it in on google. It is free and only takes a second to apply. I have been doing in for about 2 years now and have hosted 2 parties for them. A Philadelphia Cream Cooking Party and this Hasboro Game night one. You apply for parties you want to host-they send you emails telling you what parties they have out and what days they would like you to host it. If you are chosen to host one, they send you a BIG package of FREE stuff you get to keep. Like in this pack, there was 5 games plus coupons for 8 dollars off one game etc. And then decorations and a voucher for a free food item to serve. All you have to do is invite at least 10 people and take pictures and upload them to your site:) It is a way to advertise new products for companies by allowing consumers to throw parties to introduce things to groups of people. The best part is no one has to buy anything. 

Anyway, I had all my family over to help celebrate with me-my Aunt and cousins were visiting from California so it made things extra special and fun! My dad made waffles for dinner (a tradition we have done for years on New Years Eve) Then we got to playing games- and if you know our family, you know we are a GAME PLAYING family! Twister was the hot game to play with the kids-its a new version with some fun twists. And Scrabble catch phrase-seemed to be the favorite among the adults. It was a great way to bring in the New Year! Tavin and Katie were quite flexible at Twister! it must have been the young age-they can bend in ways I can only imagine getting into:) Livy had fun playing with the decorations-or should I say wearing them. 

Being Miss Crafty Pants!

One of the things that I enjoy doing with my sister Krisha and my kids-is crafts. I can't say that I am very good at it-or that what I set out to do always comes out the way it looks in my head-but I attempt it anyway. Usually the outcome is fairly good. Here are some of the crafts we did over the holidays. A candy cane wreath made out of bath Loofahs, a Christmas stocking hanger (I really liked how this turned out), marshmallow snowman and candy cane cards, paint ornaments, and the craft that was a hit with all the kids: GAK.

My mom used to make this with us when we were little kids-we loved it just as much then as these kids do now:) There is just something about gooey messy jiggly stuff that a kids can't resist. I highly recommend this activity-very easy, inexpensive, and lasts for multiple play times. All these craft ideas were thanks to Pinterest!

The Magic Of Christmas

There is just something about the Christmas season that makes me feel so happy and joyful inside....maybe it is the giving, the being with family, holiday traditions and all that it stands for-or the MAGIC of it all! I Especially LOVE Christmas now that we have kids that are the age to enjoy it all! Tavin was particularly awed by everything and wanted to be apart of it all. 

My most Favorite Memory of this Christmas and Holiday season was watching the movie: "The Christmas Orange" (if you and your family haven't watched this movie yet, I HIGHLY recommend it! It was an excellent movie-well made-and captures the true spirit of  giving.) I wasn't sure if Katie and Tavin would sit for this type of movie-considering that it wasn't a cartoon or animated-it was about real people with real life problems-and I was hesitant about the seriousness of it....Tavin tends to get too wrapped up and worried about things. But I was pleasantly surprised as we all cuddled on the couch and they sat enthralled the entire time. 

The basic gist of it-a girl who was given away as a baby by her mother-first to a kind older woman who ran an orphanage-where she grew up happy and loved the other children and old lady as if they were her own family. Influenza sets in and many of the children, as well as the old lady die. She is separated from her friends and is placed in an orphanage owned by a bitter and mean old man. She quickly wins the love of the children there and eventually wins the love of the old man-but not until after losing her chance at a Christmas orange-something that she has never before tasted. It was coveted by all the children as a prized gift that they only received at Christmas time....their one and only gift. The children decide to split all their oranges to give her a whole orange as a surprise and gift of love.

Tavin and Katie cheered and ohhhhhhhed at all the right places, and I could tell their little hearts were warmed and touched by the message of this movie. Tavin talked about it the rest of the night-as we ate brownies together and even into the next day. Little did he know that I planned that movie right before telling them the next day that I would like them to gather up the toys they don't play with anymore to give to boys and girls who do not have any toys and would not be getting a Christmas this year-maybe like the boys and girls in the orphanage in the movie. I expected tears and rebellion but was SOOO proud of my three and five year old. There was no tears or tantrums....each carefully debated each toy and by the end of the hour of sorting-all on their own-we had 5 bags of toys to donate. My heart swelled with joy. 

I know that something good was imprinted on Tavin's heart by the whole thing-when his Aunt asked him what his favorite part of True Christmas was-Tavin promptly replied-giving my toys away to kids who need them. They are never too young to teach-they get it.

OTHER HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS:

 Mom spent an hour and a half making the body of this snow man with sporadic help from Katie and Tavin-they would give a little here and give a little there-then they were off sledding and making snow angels...I think I got my exercise in that day! Making a snowman isn't easy:) Next time mommy will wait for a day when Daddy is home to help. We used a "Snowman Kit" I put together last year-made out of wood pieces and snow apparel from a thrift store.

 Beautiful sugar cookies that Aunt Kimberly made with the kids while mom and dad were on a date-Dan's work bought tickets to the Forgotten Carols-another really great activity for Christmas time-I highly recommend this also! Maybe this will become one of our many traditions.Thanks Aunt Kimberly! She said that the kids would put some on the cookie-and A LOT in their mouth-as they decorate....mostly Katie-Kimberly would try not to look-but if she did-Katie would act shy and as if she wasn't doing anything naughty:)

 We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas in Idaho at Grandma Marlene's house. So many cousins, aunts, uncles-to be loved and adored by-it can be down right tiring:)

 A very happy Tavin showing off his new soccer goalie gloves, captain america hat and M&MS from his Aunt Deedra, Uncle Dawson, and Great Grandma Bauman-we were so lucky to have her there to spend time with us.

Livy was taking it all in-excited and happy for it all! A new hair accessory for her to wear! And she wears it well!

 What Santa brought for Tavin: A soccer goal, REAL soccer ball, REAL soccer jersey and Wii soccer game. For those who don't know: REAL is the professional MSL soccer team of Salt Lake-and we go watch their games-My sister and her family got us hooked on it:) Tavin is a BIG fan.

Santa brought Princess Katie her very own princess castle, and princess sleeping bag, with a Dora flashlight, and Kids Yoga video:)

 Grandma Marlene spoiled them with their very own bean bags! They LOVE them-Katie drags hers around the house with her

Our Princess Diva-sporting her ear warmer crown that her and Liv got

The Conclusion of Christopher Popinkin's Visit

 Day 7: Elfy brought us Mommy's FAVORITE hot chocolate Stephen's Mint Truffle . He had fun taking a bath in the marshmallows!

 Day 8: Silly Christopher! He magically made our milk BLUE!

 I thought for sure Katie would refuse to drink the Blue milk but she had no problem with it! That girl never stops surprising me:) On a side note: Whenever something "mysterious" or odd would happen-Katie would automatically turn to Christopher as the culprit. For example, one day we couldn't find her shoes and they ended up being in the garage. She must have left them there the last time we went out, but she insisted that CHRISTOPHER was the one who hid them out there! She went straight over to him and called him a silly elf!:)

 Day 9: We woke up to beautifully crafted snow angels made in our flour-how creative Christopher!

 Day 10: Christopher made some new friends and had a party!

 Day 11: Elfy found mom's nativity set in the closet and brought it out for us! He loved holding baby Jesus all night. Geez!  it must have been a hard task-taking all those statues out one at a time-since they are bigger than him:)

 Day 12: Christopher befriended Tuff and helped him get dressed in one of Dad's shirts. He said that Tuff was curious about how it would be to wear clothes:) Then, Tuff gave Christopher rides around the house all night! Tuff looks so happy doesn't he:)

Christmas Eve: So there was a couple days in between that we didn't have our camera with us-I left it at grandma's and it took a few days to get back to get it. But Christopher did a full 24 days! He brought reindeer food for the kids to leave out for Rudolph and the other reindeer, he also left Christmas pajamas to wear on Christmas eve and Christmas for each member of our family, as well as-some change for Katie and Tavin to put in the bell ringer bucket at the store, and he even toilet papered our living room and left a stair barricade with crate paper on different nights.

One of the kids' favorite tricks that Christopher performed was-he gave a special seed to each of them to plant and water for three nights. One the fourth morning, Lolly pops had grown where the seeds once were! They were giant too-yummy yummy and VERY sticky. He was a busy little guy! But when all was said and done, it was time for him to go back to the North pole so we left him under the tree with a note and a special cinnamon roll for Santa on Christmas eve. Our whole family really enjoyed having Christopher with us and hope that he comes to visit next year!