Christmas!

Such excitement for Christmas here!  Santa worked long and hard to find just the right things for each of these red-headed children.  I think he was successful.  Also, I didn't have to

work on the eve-a great present for me.  Here's some pics, but not too many since I didn't want to celebrate behind a camera lens.

The night before....

All the stockings...too heavy for my makeshift mantle that I've done in the past.  So much easier just to lay them out on the couch.  Plus, clearly some things did not fit in the stockings.

Christmas day is was fun to hear kids run down stairs to find their stockings and  presents.  Except for Marcus, he did not run.  He is too cool.

Cale-happy with his panda things.

Some super-heroes for Kella.

Ewan-excited for presents.

I think all the kids loved their presents.  Kella wished there were more.  Kinley, Kella and Liam all helped Grammy Pammy open her gifts (as in, opening the present on the way to handing the present to Grammy).  I don't remember too much fighting that day. We had new toys and new games to play.  New electronics, too. And, we had a killer dinner, made by Andy, of beef brisket plus sides.  A great day overall.  

Grammy, reading with Kinley's  pigs.

Hats and presents from Aunt Claud!

So fun to be able to spend this day together! 

a little bit of Christmas program fun

Smack dab in the middle of December was Kinley's preschool Christmas program.  I forced everyone to come.  The promise of cookies afterward sweetened the deal.  Kinley did great.  It's always funny to hear her teachers talk about how much Kinley has improved through the year.  They have a great perspective, because they have known Kinley and her personality since she was born.  

Kinley's class dressed up like eskimos.  

The preschool sings. Kinley is in white, in front.

A close-up.  Kinley had her hair up in a bun for dance that morning, and she wanted it that way for the program. So cute!

more cute!

And, even more cute!

Santa came and just a couple of the kids wanted to see him.  Kella was excited to tell Santa she wanted a dog, a cat and a bunny for Christmas.  (pretend of course)

Liam wanted to smell test this Santa, ala the movie Elf.  I don't think this one smelled like beef and cheese.

Let's hear from Cale!

Well, Happy New Year!  To finish out another year, let's see what Cale has to say about some of his favorites.  He turned 12 in November, you know, so this post is right on time.😊

What is your favorite....

color.....green

toy....2DS 

stuffed animal....my duck

thing to sleep with....my duck

fruit....pineapple

thing to eat for lunch....leftovers (Cale does not like sandwiches)

dessert....cake

drink....root beer

birthday dinner request....steak (which he got)

animal....panda

book....Steelheart

game....Pokemon Moon

movie....Rogue One

When you grow up, what do you want to be?

An engineer

For fun, you can look back and compare Cale at 11 and Cale at 10

Let's hear from Ewan!

A long time ago, in a far-away month....Ewan turned 10. My third boy in double digits.  It was a lovely time, as recorded in a previous post.  But, I never did get a chance to have Ewan fill out his yearly birthday questionnaire.  Ewan is such an interesting boy.  I envision a life for Ewan in which he is an explorer or discoverer.  No sitting still for this boy.  Let's see how he answered his questions this year.....

Favorite color:  blue

Favorite toy:  "choobaka" (Chewbacca)

Favorite stuffed animal: Buddy (his husky dog)

Favorite thing to sleep with:  blanket

Favorite fruit:  "bananananananananana" (Ha!)

Favorite breakfast food: French toast

Favorite lunch food:  Quesadilla

Favorite dessert: cake

Favorite animal: Red Panda

Favorite song: Everything is Awesome (from The Lego Movie)

Favorite game:  Pokemon

Favorite TV show: Teen Titans

Favorite movie: Star Wars

Favorite thing to do outside: play

Best friend:  Landon

What do you want to be when you grow up?  pro soccer player or astronaut

For fun, here are Ewan's answers from turning 9 and turning 8

Cale's birthday! He turned 12!

The week of Thanksgiving we got to celebrate Cale's birthday.  It fell on the last day of school before break, filled with basketball practice for Cale and Liam and basketball games for Andy.  And, we had a friend of Marcus join us and get a feel for how crazy a night in a family of 8 can be.  

Someone hid Cale's gifts.  I don't know who.  I think he had to find them by solving riddles.  We were kind and even let him open one of his presents early so Andy could watch.

Promise-he was actually excited about his presents.

Marcus immediately tried to "solve" one of the puzzle cubes.

A white cake with coconut frosting was Cale's request.  Ice cream for the side.  Cale even had his own personal little container of coconut ice cream.

Little bit of Wii time with Cale's new game.

Can  you tell it was a great birthday?  The birthday boy fell asleep  watching a movie.  Also, notice the wall?  Decorated for Cale's birthday by Kella.  It's a dinosaur.

Kinley's favorites

Swinging, playing outside, her bumblebee outfit, wearing her hair in a bun for dance class.  It's all here in these pictures that show us a slightly warmer day that the freezing temps of December.  

one of the nighst they dressed in costumes-aka Halloween

This Halloween was perfect.  The weather was the best we've had in a long time.  I loved the communal feeling in our neighborhood.  It was a little bittersweet, knowing that this was our last Halloween in this house, in this area.  But, we made it a good one.

Kylo Ewan-he got to run around the neighborhood with 2 of his friends.  Marcus went to a friend's house, too, and trick or treated with them.

And, the rest.  Kinley needed a costume change from a bumblebee and became a princess.  Kella stuck with a classic-Elsa.  Cale was the Grim Reaper and Liam kind of threw together some stuff at last minute and called himself a "junior wizard". Love it.

My favorite view-the post-trick or treating view.  Fireplace on, Comfie on the couch. Perfect.

And, we got our pumpkins carved just in time.