Winter Fun!

Cb's lost another tooth last week!  It happened right before bed, catching the Tooth Fairy by surprise and unprepared.  So, she left Cb's a note as her prize.  The Tooth Fairy arranged for Cb's and I to have a date this past Monday.  I took her ice skating for the first time.  She did great!  She fell down a few times, but got right back up.  She stayed near the wall so she could quickly grab on when she was going down and zoomed all around the ice rink.  It was fun!

 

 

After that, I needed some yarn for my slippers, and there just happens to be a nice little cafe connected to Lambspun, so we went there for yarn and lunch.  After lunch, we came back home, put tiny A to nap and then the three older ones and I went swimming!  I love swimming, though I wish the water was warmer.  We splashed around for a long while and then we always end our time in the hot tub to warm up before heading home.  Aaaah.

Christmas was pleasant and low key.  I feel like we spent the whole day cleaning up, though, with nothing to show for all our efforts by the end of the day.  The kids had fun!

Medium A was wiped out by dinner time.  She crawled under the dining room table and conked out.  As one friend commented, that's when you know you did a good job.:)

Yesterday, we spent the day at my parent's house, which is always fun!  They served Roast Beast, clam chowder and other delicious foods.  We had fun opening presents and were so grateful for their love and generosity.  They even kept the older three overnight!  A very nice treat for all of us.:)  Hence, the extra time to write this blog post right now.  They'll all come back to us this evening and we will be so excited to see them and have them home!  It's nice having a little break, but B and I always miss them when they're gone.  I suppose that's a good thing.:)

Toastie warm

I had some comfy slippers that I knit last year, but one got a hole in the bottom (I guess that's a good sign that they were well loved), so I needed to knit a new pair.

I found this cute bunny slipper pattern on ravelry that I can use for the whole family.  To start, though, I knit mine to make sure I could do it and work all the kinks out on my pair before tackling the others.  I knit mine without the bunny part, but I'll probably add that on the kids' slippers, not B's, though.

I did thrumming for the first time, which was fun!  It makes the inside nice and soft and warm.  Looking at the pictures, I think I like the style of my first pair better.  Maybe I'll make some in that pattern and incorporate thrumming.  The new pair might look nicer if they were a little bigger.  Oh well, they'll be snug and warm, hopefully.

Kung Fu Maston!

My little ninjas received their new belts!  They had a nice belt ceremony with a demonstration of what they've learned.  F received the next solid belt up from white, yellow, and Cb's received one higher than that, yellow/white (stripes are in between the solids).

They are fierce, but cute...can you have that combination?!

The Nutcracker and Piano Recital

We had a full and fun day on Saturday.  Cb's started us off with a magnificent performance of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" at her Christmas piano recital.  I am always so impressed with her confidence in performing.  I thinks it's great and I hope she keeps it as she matures.  I always get so nervous performing solos in front of people, which is why I play in a large group of musicians where no one can hear me.:)  Hopefully, she takes after her dad in that area.  He is a great performer and musician and I can see her following in his footsteps.

From there, we went to a lovely lunch in Old Town where we enjoyed hot dogs, burgers, fries and milkshakes.  Yum!  Once home, it was time for Cb's, F and I to head out to watch The Nutcracker.  B and I take turns taking them, so it was my turn this year.  This was also F's first year going.  They both enjoyed the performance.  Cb's can follow along with the story pretty well, so she gets what's going on, for the most part.  F liked the music the most.  He was humming along with the pieces he knew and he was glued to looking down on the pit orchestra during the breaks.  Actually, he was watching one musician who was playing a game on his Nintendo DS.  Still, he liked the music too.

School Winter Program

This past Thursday C and F had a winter program at their school.  They both picked out their "fancy" outfits.  I enjoy Cb's socks with the tights and F's plaid tie with his checkered shirt.  Nice!  Their creativity is shining through and I love it!

Cb's sang a beautiful solo and also had a speaking part later in the program where she told us about Kwanza.  F had excellent rhythm and singing skills.  They were grrrrreat!  Tiny and Medium A were great sports about watching their older sibs perform.

Day 5 Advent

"I am the Lord's servant." Mary answered, "May it be to me as you have said." Luke 1:38

Today we wrapped the grandparent's ornaments that we made earlier and worked on a present for daddy.:) I didn't take pictures of those activities, but here they are enjoying the snow! Aria got cold during the first snow day and headed in early.  She went back out for the sledding day, though.

Day 6 Advent

Today is Sinterklaas in the Netherlands.  Even though we aren't Dutch, I had a friend whose husband is and it sounded like a fun little tradition.  So, we started celebrating it a couple years ago, just for fun!
Once again, I forgot to take pictures, but the kids each got a stuffed animal and we watched a Buck Denver movie, "What is Christmas?".  It's a good one and there is a segment about St. Nicholas in there.

On one of the following days, we did start making Christmas cookies.  C and F helped put the hershey kisses on (don't worry, they washed their hands first!).

Day 4 Advent

"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High." Luke 1:32

Paper Snowflakes!   

We also attempted to make snowflake clings to put on the window, but I couldn't get them off...so that was a bust.  Maybe we'll try again next year.:)

Day 3 Advent

"And, behold, thou shalt...bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus." Luke 1:31

Today, we made those ornaments where you put the crystals in the mold and then bake them until they melt together.  Fun!