Christmas Morning is EXHAUSTING!!!

We'll post pictures later of the fun of Christmas morning, but for now you get to see the CRASH that happened after being up at 5:30 AM to start the Christmas fun!

We hope you all had so much fun this holiday season that you had to crash, too!

A Blurry One...

A blurry picture, but here is Peter testing out the web swing Grandma and Grandpa Merrell got for the kids!! That will be hung outside once we get rid of the poison ivy, and the kids are excited to spend lots of time on it! (Actually, so am I!)

Christmas Dinner!

Christmas dinner was about 5 minutes away from being completed when the tornado sirens started sounding! It was the first time I've heard them. We spent some time in the basement, then came back up and safely enjoyed our Christmas dinner!

Fun with Uncle Edward!

They caught Uncle Edward under the mistletoe! They have also kept him busy with wrestling, running at the YMCA or the track, watching operas, playing piano duets, and doing Christmas activities like making reindeer food and playing "Don't Eat Rudolph!". 

We are so happy to have Edward here!

Circus Performers

An impromptu circus group arrived on our doorstep last night. We had a clown, a magician, and a candy cane man!

A Funny Moment in the Car

We had a great laugh in the van on the way to church today, provided by Peter!

Each of our children has a habit which I repeatedly ask them to not do (or to do). Andrew's is sucking on his finger. Apparently Peter is very accustomed to me telling Andrew to please take his finger out of his mouth. This morning in the van, he saw Andrew with his finger in the mouth and said, "Andrew, take your finger out of your mouth!". Everything is apparently much funnier when your enforcer is 2 years old! 

We giggled about it for awhile, and then Matt taught Peter the phrases to say for the other kids (such as "Naomi, out your book down!). 

Wake Up, Santa!

On Tuesday, we went to the library to see the library staff put on a play called "Wake up, Santa"! We really enjoyed it. After the play, the kids decorated reindeer cookies and visited with Santa.

4th Grade Spelling Bee

After winning her class spelling bee last week, Naomi competed in the 4th grade spelling bee today. We couldn't find her list of words to study beforehand, but she still pulled out a 2nd place finish!

Listening to The Forgotten Carols

Aunt Julie sent us this book and CD a couple years ago. The kids liked it last year but completely fell in love with it this year and have requested it so many times!

Topping the Tree! (awhile ago!)

And eating smoothies!

Christmas I Spy Activities

Yesterday's gingerbread house activity!

2015 Snowman Fridge!

Every year, one of our gingerbread house activities is to change our fridge into a snowman. This is 2015's version!

Home Depot Holiday Craft!

Weekend fun at Home Depot! This was before our yard work, which ultimately led to this week's mass breakout on Val's body of poison ivy sores. We had a great time at Home Depot!

Concentrating...

Painting a dump truck he put together...he loved this project!

Thanksgiving Fun!

A huge chunk of our Thanksgiving fun was due to spending time with the elephants! We love these people. Besides having a great time playing games, Jefrilyn and I had lots of fun going to thrift stores looking for chairs to recover. The downside is that my hands received a decent bit of damage for removing the old covering.

Candy Cane Relay

Yesterday's activity was a candy cane relay! It was the first time we've done that, and it was a hoot!! There were 6 candy canes in a cup, and they had to make it all the way down our line and be placed in a cup at the other end. Lots of laughs involved with this!

Family Movie Night at the Blunck's!

During Thanksgiving week, we house-sat for some friends in Lilburn, GA. We had a lovely week playing with friends. This day we needed an earlier bedtime and opted for a quiet family movie night. Peter loved the popcorn! Even when I took all the bowls downstairs to the kitchen, he kept starting down the stairs, asking for more popcorn.