It's Christmastime!

Christmas Eve was awesome!  All of the kids went back to rest homes and shared their musical talents! What a great group of kids!

After their amazing service party, Keith took the kids shooting. 

Uh, best Christmas gift ever.... I stayed home all afternoon BY MY SELF.  Yes. I know. I did clean, and cooked dinner, and did a little finishing up for Christmas. It was so nice. I watched one of my favorite Christmas movies all alone. (Ok, it was a little scarier alone)

After dinner and reading the scripture story in Luke 2, we watched another favorite movie... A Christmas Story. Oh my goodness... it gets funnier every year.

Finally, kids went to bed and Santa came! I think I love Christmas Eve even more than Christmas Day.

CHRISTMAS MORNING! Ok, I love Christmas morning as well. Bat girl got a new face mask, cape and her very own 22. So cute scary!

Hayden built a desk in his room out of PVC pipe and Tae Kwon Do mats.  He has tried to use this desk for several months.

I know it seems sad, but we got him a desk for Christmas. He LOVES it, so Im happy!

Sariah got a LOT of dad joke books. A LOT. She also got a lot of lego heads and city people because she wants to expand her stop motion project. Look for future posts about that!

Corrine was very specific on her list.  VERY.  Here are links to exactly what I want.... lights, microphone and other business related things. She got exactly what she wanted.  She also got the same book she got Jakob!

Jakob also got a weapon of war. Watch out for Jakob and Kate. If such things scare you, look away. Or rather, why are you reading my blog at all? Does anyone actually read the blog? No matter....

Keith got exactly what he wanted.... a renewal for his membership to the gun range.  I reluctantly got a new grandma size tablet, keyboard and case for it. Im really trying hard to embrace technology when it comes to reading scriptures and other books. Im trying so hard.  I have a goal to really be 'lit' like all the kids these days. I can see the advantages so as we turn over a new decade, I'll turn over a really small leaf.  I also got a new apron for which I am very grateful and happy about. I live in these things and this one is like a batman utility apron.

I did manage to have a major freak out and totally ruin Christmas so Im an awesome mom. Lets just focus on the fact that cousins came for games.

Let us also focus on the fact that Christmas is done. I love Christmas, but I also love it being done.

Recitals, and gifts and sickness, oh my!

I did not know it was possible to cram so much goodness into a single week, but we did it! Our big Christmas present showed up early. It is a CNC router.  I've been told it is super cool and can do anything. When I see it cleaning bathrooms, I'll be impressed.  Until then, I'll be happy my people are happy.

Sariah had a Christmas piano recital. She was sick, but she still did great!

The next evening, Kate had her gymnastics performance.  She also did great! (that back handspring is still super close... maybe she will have it for the spring performance!)

The next evening, Jakob, Corrine, Sariah,Hayden & Kate all played in a piano recital. This was the first time ever all 5 kids played in the same recital!  It was so much fun!

We have a tradition of racing the Fox family to Arctic Circle after the piano recital. This is the car load of WINNERS with their proof of winning selfie that was happily sent to the LOSERS.

Have we had enough fun yet?  No, no we have not.  Corrine had a group of her friends come for a game night. I LOVE these kids! I love them in my home. I love them all so much!

Game nights are so fun with them! Sadly, Sariah did not participate because she was still recovering from bronchitis that had been diagnosed between recitals.

Are we done having fun, now?!  No, no we are not.  The next morning we were off to the Schramm Family Christmas party.

Corrine helped the little girls with their trains.

Christmas trains done!

After the Schramm family party, we raced downtown to watch the Star Wars movie. Keiths work bought out the theater so we were not going to miss this opportunity. Sadly, Sariah was DEATHLY ill by this point. But, we were downtown, had a movie to watch and we did what any responsible horrible parent does.  We told her to bundle up in her coat, suck on an old pocket cough drop, and we would take her home to bed as soon as the movie was done. Do you like the photobomber?

After the movie, we raced Sariah home and told her to sleep while we went to the Cain Family Christmas Party. Are we done having fun yet?!  No, no we are not.

Kate made a book for Grandma and Grandpa.... here she is reading grandpa his copy.

Are we done having fun now?!  Yes.  Yes we are. I called Sariah to check on her and as she cried, she asked when I could come and get her.  We raced home, and I took her to the doc. Sadly her little preemie lungs just couldn't recover from the bronchitis and she needed some extra O2, and steroids. These we also the same things she lived on while she was in the NICU.... hum... about 16 years later we are doing this all over again? I call this picture "She who smokes peace pipe." She prefers to call it "Smoking kazoo."

Corrine LOVES to give Kate bedtime kisses. Kate.... tolerates them. Kate has enjoyed having Corrine home all day for Christmas break.  It has been nice.

THIS.   This is an amazing group of kiddos. They went to several rest homes to share their musical talents. They got invited to come back. To quote Cannon "Service is LIT!"

We are to Christmas now!  HOW? We have been so busy having fun I didn't realize how close to Christmas we are!

Where did it go?

I lost 2 weeks somewhere and I can not find them! This month is going so fast! At the first of the month, we had the ward Christmas party. I had to get a picture of Kate with her two friends... both named Addison.

Kate is trying to decide if Santa is "real" or not. We have never pushed the Santa thing at our house and we have been VERY honest with her about this.  She still has her doubts. I guess talking to the big man himself would cause a few doubts. It never hurts to get a good word in with the guy just in case.

While at the ward party, we had service "stations". Keith and I were in charge of sanding toy cars that will be donated. It was quite the popular activity.

 Corrine had a sanding contest with her bff, Jett.  Jett won. Just ask him.

 Corrine took the loss pretty well because she got to hold one of the twins. Would their mom notice if one was missing?

Last Saturday I took Sariah and a couple of fellow debaters up to Weber State for a debate tournament. I enjoy debate tournaments and have judged several when Corrine was in debate.

Things were different with Sariah. She ditched me to talk to a cute guy! She is a week away from being 16, so I can hardly blame her. This is treatment I did not get from the older two kids. Instead of being "that mom" I didn't embarrass her. I did take a stalker photo or two and sent them to Keith so he would know what boy to keep his sights on.

One of the highlights of the week was being able to join with the Fox Fam and welcome home Elder Fox. We just love this family! It was so much fun to be a part of their celebration.

 These are two of my favorite people.  Both are willing to listen to me and put up with all of my craziness.

Kate LOVES Clark. She prayed for him every single night while he was away. I love that she considers him a good friend and does not consider the age difference at all. She wants him to take her and Corrine snake catching in the spring.

I will call this segment "Camille's latest health update": Im a mess.  We all knew it. I got my blood work back and basically every number that should be high was crazy low. Every number that should be low was crazy high. So, we are working on correcting that. Im keeping detailed notes and have invested in a pharmacy. I should see results in a couple of weeks. I won't put a health update in the same blog as a weather update. That seems too much.

Our good friends, the Youngs, invited us into their home to watch a play put on by the Shakespearean Festival.  This was a small traveling troupe. I took Sariah, Isabelle and Hayden. This play relied heavily on audience participation.

 The play was about a girl who dealt with her mothers suicide attempts and eventual death. It was very well done and provided a lot of laughter as well as moments to reflect. The lady in the middle was the only actress!  She did the entire hour and a half presentation herself. It was amazing.

Kate insisted we make a gingerbread house. I have no idea where to start with such a project and honestly, it sounded like a lot of work. So, I did the next best thing. I told her to wait until Corrine was done with finals and they could make a graham cracker house.

Once again we are doing the CHRISTMAS CODE. Once again Keith and I are enjoying the kids trying to crack the code so they can find out which gift goes to which child. It is such an awful tradition, but we all love it! Ask the kids how things are going.

Gymnastics practice and gymnastics selfies are still a thing. Kate has a performance in a couple of days that I'll blog about. For you, we will leave you with this.

That and... CHRISTMAS IS IN ONE WEEK!!  What?!