Christmas 2016

Christmas 2016 was interesting to say the least.  The kids and I headed over to my parents' house during the day in order to help with all the Christmas Eve prep.  We were having our traditional homemade pizza and pop for dinner.   Karl got off work about 6 pm.  He met us at my parents' house for dinner but ended up on the phone most of the evening to deal with a crisis at work.  Not fun.  He missed most of our Christmas Eve program.

Apparently I got hardly any pictures too.  Just a crazy night.  We had bought each clean a new fleece blanket that we gave them for Christmas Eve.  Matthew got a Star Wars one, Steven BB8, Summer a Frozen one, and Annalisa a Finding Dory one.  I only have pics of the boys I guess.

Christmas morning video

And some pics from Christmas morning.

Christmas day was good.  We had lots of snow overnight and it made it so we were unable to get to church.  We were snowed in.  Which was frustrating.  Karl was supposed to lead the ward choir for the Christmas program.  It had been months and months of practicing and he wasn't there to lead it.  I think he was disappointed but he had a good attitude about it. 

Sledding

We had a pretty snowy winter this year.   First time in a couple of years we got our sled out.  The boys loved it.  The girls-not so much.  It was a REALLY cold day that day.  And they were just cold.  I ended up sitting with them in the car while Karl and the boys sledded.

Polar Express Party

Summer's kindergarten class had a polar express party where they rode the "train" to different "countries" to learn about their Christmas traditions.  Karl volunteered to teach about Spain.  He told them all about Kings Day and how the wise men leave treats in the kids' shoes.  We had each child trace their shoe and then leave it behind.  At the end of the day the wise men had left them each a treat.

The kids "shoes" with treats

Summer's class, she is in the purple on the left.  Those envelopes are their suitcases.

Summer's teacher, Ms. Cole

Later that week we had a major snowstorm.  Afterward it looked so pretty so I took a couple of pictures.

An Accident

A few weeks ago we had a really ice storm and everything was a sheet of ice.  It was impossible to get rid of.  When I went to pick up my kids from school, the kids were slipping and sliding all over the place.  Very scary.   When I got home I could not get the car in the garage because of the ice.  So I had to get my kids out of the car and we slipped and slid to the garage.  The boys made it on their own but Summer was freaking out so she was hanging on me.   Surprisingly we made it through unscathed.  A few weeks earlier it had been slippery and Karl called me to tell me that one of their delivery trucks had slid into our car.  It put a hole in the bumper.  We have pictures somewhere but I am not sure where they are.  I will post them later on if I can find them.  It was a big truck but there wasn't more damage because the bar on the bumper stopped it.  Pretty scary when conditions are that slippery.  We are just grateful that all happened in the parking lot and not on the road when someone could have been hurt.  It has been a really rough winter both weather wise and health wise.  Summer missed half the days of school in January.  I am just so ready for spring, warmer weather, blue skies and flowers. 

Buried in Snow

Last year we had a really mild winter and very little snow.  My kids were disappointed.  We had bought a sled and they only got to take it out once.  This year it has been the complete opposite.  It has been snowing like crazy.  And it has been so cold that the snow never melts; it just gets hard and dirty and yucky until a new snowfall comes and covers it all up.  Poor hubby is out there shoveling daily, sometimes several times a day, and being 8 months pregnant I am no help there.  He also has to dig out our mailbox everytime the snow plows come by and bury it, otherwise our mail won't get delivered.  The last time he went out there to shovel he was saying he didn't know where he was going to put the snow, it was already piled so high.  And right now it is so deep my kids can't walk through it so they don't want to go out in it.  So basically it is all of the work and none of the fun.  This morning when I dropped my kids off at school I was afraid I was going to get stuck in the parking lot.  We have already had school cancelled once for a snow day (which they NEVER do here, that is how bad it's been) and it was on a 2 hr delay once last week due to freezing rain.  We don't ever get freezing rain here.  It reminded me of the days when I lived in VA.  Everything was a sheet of ice.  The day before the 2 hour delay, my van got stuck in the driveway and I couldn't get into the garage.  So here I was 8 months pregnant (and I am super clumsy when I'm pregnant anyway) trying to get from the van to the garage on a sheet of ice with nothing to hold on to and Summer was hanging onto me.  Somehow we made it without falling which was a miracle (I was praying the whole time too).  Luckily the boys were able to skate/slip their way on the own and we were all able to be safe.   The next day when there was the 2 hr delay it was a Friday and the kids get out 2 hours early on Fridays so with the delay there was only going to be about 2 1/2 hours of school and so I just kept my kids home.  Later on that day one of our den leaders stopped by to drop off some posters for the blue and gold and her son and Matthew are in the same class.  According to him there were only 5 kids in the class that day so I obviously wasn't the only one who decided to do that.  And since it was a 2 hour delay, not a cancellation, we don't have to do a make-up day.  Win/win!!  Anyway, I am okay with a certain amount of snow, as long as I don't have to drive in it (I have a huge phobia of driving in the snow, it scares me to death) but I am so over it this year.  I am ready for blue skies and for springtime.  And it isn't even Feb yet.  Oh well, we will make it through I guess!!

Steven outside after one of our littler snowfalls.  It is so much deeper now. Not sure why he out there without his coat zipped up though!

Snow Day!!

We had our first major snowfall for the winter in November.  We did get snow in October but not enough to do anything with.  The kids went out and played in it while Karl and I got dinner on.  I just love our fenced in backyard.  We could just sent them out and could easily from the kitchen windows.   They had a blast!

 Little stink!!!  No idea where her gloves are!

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Snow Fun!!

We had a really warm December this year.  It felt more like April.  There were days when my kids went out with no coats.  Unheard of around here.  We had a couple of flurries of snow but not many and when it did happen it never amounted to anything, it melted before it even touched the ground.  Then, the second weekend in January we got our first big snowstorm of the winter.  Needless to say my kids were outside playing in it and having a great time!

This is Summer's snow princess, the kids really wanted to build a snowman but it was the wrong kind of snow, it wouldn't hold together.  So Summer made this!!

 

Poor Karl had to shovel the driveway and the sidewalk

Steven and Matthew made the mistake of attacking Karl with snowballs.  He dumped a shovelful of snow over their heads.

Matthew after Karl dumped the snow on him

Stevie had had it.  He was done and wanted to go in.

Steven and Matthew on the porch waiting to go inside



After everybody went back inside we warmed up with some hot cocoa. 

Summer did not want hot cocoa so she had chocolate milk.  The boys both decided they liked plain better than with marshmallows

yep, it was laundry day as you can tell by the pile of laundry.

After awhile we decided to go to park so the kids could try sledding.  None of them have ever been sledding before.  they loved it and didn't want to stop.

Summer went down the first time with Matthew.  It kind of freaked her out and she wouldn't go again unless Karl or I went with her.

After sledding we had to go and run some errands much to the kids' dismay and then we came home and tried out the snow flings Karl bought.

That night we had our kings' day celebration even though it wasn't actually Kings day.  Karl made tortilla espanola.  It was was yummmm-o!!

The we played an exciting game of Don't Eat Pete!!

  

Fun day!