December Highlights

~Erica

I was hoping for a quiet December with plenty of time to complete projects and relax. I had three weeks off of school and we gave the kids 2 weeks.

My dad bought Isaac a 3/4 scale bass guitar for Christmas, birthday, etc. I overheard my dad explaining to him that it was his to use but not his so he couldn't sell it or trade it with his friends. Isaac's excited to learn how to play it.

We had Walk & Knock on the 4th. I don't have any pictures- I took my camera but never got it out of the case. Rush, Arin, and Jonah went out with drivers while Isaac and Tovah stayed at the Grange to sort food. Before all the routes were in Tovah and I had to leave to get her to rehearsal and Isaac and Arin were picked up by one of the scout leaders to go on Isaac's compass hike for 2nd Class Scout.

Tovah had a solo in the kids Christmas play Back to the Manger on the 5th. She's all Engle- no stage fright for her.

Ryan and I had finals the 6th and 7th. Tovah and Jonah started out the week with the stomach flu. I lost my first half week at home being sick with the kids- it was a nasty stomach bug. Friday night our youth group rented the theater to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Unfortunately our boys don't drive yet so they had to be escorted and accompanied to the movie, my dad and I went but Rush had to stay home because the stomach bug hit him about 4 hours before we left. Ryan took Rush, Jonah, and Tovah to the see the movie the next week. I'm not sure if I would consider it the best of the 3 but definitely in the top 2.

The kids put the tree up.

Ryan played Santa for a friend's preschool class. Jonah sat on his lap just to get a candy cane. All the boys wanted DS's and the girls wanted Blizzard Makers except one girl who wanted some penguin toy.

We drove through Fantasy Lights in Spanaway. The weather had been so bad that I didn't want to go to ZooLights in the rain and the nights that had good weather the crowds were bad. Afterwards we took the kids to Sonic in Puyallup. Rush and Cheyney had the Tex Mex Coney dogs and Vanilla Dr. Peppers, she took a picture with her phone but I didn't get any pictures of the food. It was fun but definitely a summer eatery so we can sit outside at the picnic tables.

My mom took us to the buffet at the casino for lunch one day. I had heard about Restaurants.com and knew that they had 50% off coupons available to the Lucky Eagle. I got an 80% off code and got the coupon for $3- It saved $48 off the total order! I didn't take any pictures and haven't been able to get copies of the ones Cheyney took. The kids like the buffet because they can eat whatever they like and get dessert.

It's interesting to see what they choose and what they go back for, I think they are incredibly picky but Ryan says they really aren't. They are getting more adventurous in their tastes- fish, shrimp, sheep cheese, goat cheese, hot peppers... I think Jonah eats quite a bit of lamb at the neighbors and doesn't realize it (and they aren't going to tell him.)

It was cloudy and misty but I did get a few pictures of the lunar eclipse. I went out every 10 minutes or so, when I went out the last time and the moon was totally gone it was the wierdest feeling. I can see why ancient peoples freaked out when the moon disappeared, I knew where it had gone and it was still a bit of a shock when it was not where it was when I saw it last.

John brought gifts over for the kids. He got Rush a shotgun to go duck hunting in January. He wanted to take him bear hunting this fall but had to cancel. Next year he, Nathan, and Rush will go.

Tovah got horses, grandma has her eye on them to add to Grand-daddy Wilbert's collection. The other boys got really good binoculars- they each got their own pair.

New fingernail polish from Cheyney and new nightgown from The Disney Store's BOGO free and free shipping sale that week.

We didn't celebrate Christmas until Monday when Ryan got off work so we spent the weekend in our jammies watching movies, playing XBox, and I scrap-booked. Sunday night Tovah and I went to Jillian's 9th Birthday party. Tovah brought home a huge bag of candy to share with the boys.

The kids got new jammies, books, videos, DS games, and XBox games.

Rita brought over Max and Squeaky but Max didn't work out. The kids are enjoying having a new cat, once Squeaky came out from under the stairs where she hid for 2 days. We went to Applebees for our Christmas dinner. Tuesday Ryan and the boys went to see Tron. We had a Family Game Night Tuesday night with friends. The boys did a good job inviting their friends but forgot to tell people it was for the whole family, we finally got an invite out on Facebook a few days before the party. We had a great time...

The big kids played XBox

The littler set found the Marbleworks and Legos in the boys' room

Downstairs there was Mexican Train dominos, Settlers of Cataan, In a Pickle, the new electronic Scrabble, and lots of food and laughter. We had 17 boys here, 8 girls, and 17 adults. Next year we'll do a better job of getting the word out ahead of time...

Tonight's New Year's Eve- Ryan's at work, I've got most of my Winter Break To Do List to finish, and the kids are watching the Dr. Who marathon on BBC. We have have one more day to stay in our jammies all day. Church on Sunday then school starts for everyone on Monday.