New Favorite Family Game

The kids have a new favorite game to play as a family. It's called "Pit."

The first time we played was last Sunday and Nathaniel didn't want to play it at first, but I made him, since I wanted him to at least try it. Once he had started, he refused to quit until he had won a hand. He stuck to it until Jonathon just barely beat him to ringing the bell, which means that someone has a complete suit. Then he refused to play for the rest of the night.

On Friday, we played, as Michael says, "for real," meaning that we kept score. It was taking quite a while to get to 500, so we quit as it started getting too late. Nathaniel beat the pants off of the rest of us. He had almost 400 points and the rest of us had less than 200 points (I think Michael had 250). The funny thing is that he kept winning with the same suit: Platinum.

Jonathon and Christian asked on the way home from church if they can play today. Hmmmm... I think I'll have a better chance of winning if I remove the platinum suit!

New Easter Tradition?

Every year for the past few years, I've tried to put more of Christ into our Easter celebration. Last year and the year before, I got the kids some pictures of Christ to hang up on their walls. That was nice, and I'm sure it would've been even better and more effective if I had ordered them earlier so that they had gotten here BEFORE Easter Sunday...

Again, this year, I thought about buying them something from the LDS Distribution Center, but yet again, I was late placing my order, so I decided not to do it. So, I tried to come up with something else Christ-centered to do.

On Saturday, Michael and I had put our heads together (via cell phone while he was at the store) to come up with some new ideas for how we wanted to celebrate Easter. In the past, I've put together an Easter basket filled with goodies for each child. It gets a little expensive and do the kids really need a bunch of candy and toys that just get added to the stuff we already have? Michael suggested we get the kids the sugary kind of cereal that I don't buy too much anymore. I suggested that we have them do a follow-the-clues to a special treat at the end, but that they would have to answer questions about the Savior's Atonement and Resurrection to go on to the next clue. So Michael got all the "materials" we would need for our celebration.

On Sunday morning, we had everyone sit down in the living room. Then I read the story of the Atonement and Resurrection in the New Testament Stories book while Michael made up questions to ask. Then I went and got the sweet cereal and prizes. I showed them the boxes of cereal and told them which one was theirs and that they could earn their box if they could answer a question about the Savior. They each answered their questions correctly, sometimes with help, and got their cereal and prizes. They were so excited about having their very own box of cereal and I'm pretty sure I guessed their favorite cereals: Jonathon - Trix, Christian - Lucky Charms, Nathaniel - Cocoa Puffs, Eliza - Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Timmy - Cinnamon Life, and Katie - Cheerios. The prizes were: a game for the older kids to play, a Thomas toy for Timmy, and a shape-sorter for Katie.

Church was excellent with all the talks and lessons centered on Christ and the Atonement. Eliza gave a talk about the Resurrection in Primary. It was so cute.

After church, we had a family gathering at our house. After our yummy ham dinner, we did the follow-the-clues game and all of the kids did great with their questions. Our "exercise" in the morning seemed to have been very good because they all answered every question correctly and without hesitation. I could tell that my dad was impressed... At the end they each got two bags of candy, one from us and one from Grandma and Grandpa (Katie and Spencer each got a small box of Cheerios). Scott and Linda had to leave to put Spencer to bed and the older kids (Eliza up to Jonathon) went hunting for eggs outside. Luckily, my mom brought colored eggs since we didn't do them this year. It was cold, especially since it was windy. But, it just wouldn't have been the same if the kids hadn't looked for Easter eggs outside!

It was kind of weird to have so few of us together. My parents, Scott, Scott, Linda, and Spencer came. Aaron and his family were in the Poconos this year and John and Kathy usually spend Easter with her family. Still, we had a great time! We might do something like this every year!

Christmas Day

On Christmas morning, we opened stockings first, then presents.

This year for Christmas, our family tried to focus on Christ in a different and fun way. We exchanged names with each other and made gifts for the chosen person. It was nice to think of someone else in our family and come up with something we could do for them that uses our time or talents. The homemade gifts were:

• Jonathon made Michael a small calendar to put on his desk at his work that has pictures of all of us on it
  
• Nathaniel gave me coupons for helping around the house
  
• Timmy, Katie and I gave Jonathon, Eliza, and Christian bed sheets in their favorite color to be made into curtains and an IOU for fixed up bedrooms
  
• Michael gave Nathaniel a song written about him
  
• Eliza gave Timmy a framed picture of him
  
• Christian gave Katie a poem written about her

After we opened gifts, Michael had everyone put on their coats and shoes and took us outside to the garage. When everyone was ready, he opened the door and there was a huge box. The kids looked at the picture on the side and one of them (I can't remember who) yelled, "It's a trampoline!" They have been wanting one for quite a while. They were the MOST excited about that gift!

Luckily for Michael, Aaron came over with some of his kids and my brother, Scott, came to spend some time with us on Christmas day. So Michael had some people to help him put it together. Now that it is up, the kids have spent a LOT of time jumping on it!

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day was so nice. Not because all of our relatives were elsewhere and we had the day to ourselves. Okay, maybe just a little. But only because that meant that we got a truly relaxing day that I didn't have to clean or entertain or even cook. We ordered dinner from Boston Market and had a delicious meal that I didn't have to do anything to make. Actually, we had a vote at our Family Home Evening. Everyone (except Timmy and Katie) got a say in what we did for dinner. The options were: cook dinner ourselves; get Boston Market but still make pies; or go out to a restaurant. Instead of them voting for their favorite, we had them vote for their least favorite. I'm glad that enough of them didn't want me to cook all day (that was how I said it - maybe I was leading the voters?)

Michael took Jonathon, Christian, and Eliza to see "Bolt." They said it was really funny. Nathaniel didn't want to go because he doesn't like how loud the noise is in the theaters and he wanted to help make pies. Michael called me after it was over and said that he needed me to come and unlock his car. He couldn't find his keys when he left, so he took the spare keys. We have a key to his ignition, but not to the car door on the key ring. So I helped Timmy finish getting dressed, we all got coats and shoes on, got in the car and left to help him out. As I was leaving, I rolled down the window (who knows why now!) and I couldn't get the window to go back up! I drove for about 5 minutes trying to roll it up, meanwhile it was getting pretty cold in the car. I guess Nathaniel should've put on a coat! About that time, Michael called me and said that he remembered he had a spare key in his wallet, for just such an occasion. Thank goodness for cell phones! Too bad he remembered after we left, but I'm glad he remembered before we had gone any farther. It was pretty easy to turn around still. I wasn't even upset. I was more mad about the window!!

So when we got back home, Nathaniel and I made the pumpkin pie filling. As I was rolling out the pie crust, Michael called me and told me not to worry about making a pumpkin pie. Too late. The meals from Boston Market come with a pie and they only had pumpkin left. It's a good thing we like pumpkin pies! I didn't want 5 pies in the house (our plan was to make a pumpkin, blueberry crumb, and apple pie), so we only made the pumpkin pie. We ate as soon as they got home. It was soooooo good! Michael told me that he got two meals, then had to go back in and buy chicken since the turkey doesn't come with legs and that's what Christian wanted.

What was left of the day was very relaxing. The kids watched "Wall-E" while Michael, Timmy, Katie, and I took a nap. Later that evening we played "Apples to Apples" with the kids. The kids were excited because we let them sleep in the living room for the second night in a row.

Just a few of the things we are grateful for: our family, our warm home, our cars, good food, cell phones, coats, movies, naps

A Few of Our Favorite Things

In my family (my parents, brothers, & sisters), we usually exchange couples names and kids' names since my parents have 7 children and 13 grandchildren. So, it seems like every year around Christmas time, I get an e-mail asking what Michael and I and the kids want for Christmas. I usually give sizes of clothes, shoes, and what each child likes and might want. I've noticed that some things stay the same and other things change as they get older (sizes mostly). I thought that I would just post it on our blog this year so that my family can all see it and then my kids can look back and see the things they were interested in this year. I kind of see it as a mini-spotlight for everyone.

Michael
Favorite color: navy
Likes: his guitar, music, playing games with his family

Mandy
Favorite color: green
Likes: playing games with my family, chick flicks, clean romance novels, cooking, baking, the computer, making my family happy, making cards

Jonathon
Favorite color: green
Clothing size: 12 to 14
Shoe size: 6 1/2
Likes: jogging, roller blading, playing on the computer, watching TV, building things, animals, my Nintendo DS

Christian
Favorite color: red
Clothing size: 12 to 14
Shoe size: 6
Likes: roadrunners, dragons, chicken pot pie, resting, watching TV, playing on the computer, my Nintendo DS

Nathaniel
Favorite color: blue, red, yellow, orange, green (mostly blue, I think)
Clothing size: 10
Shoe size: 3 1/2
Likes: music, drawing, coloring, singing, writing, reading, Webkinz, riding my bike

Eliza
Favorite color: all (she seems to really like purple, even though she said "all")
Clothing size: 7
Shoe size: 13
Likes: coloring, drawing, singing, dancing, music, stuffed animals, Webkinz, unicorns, dogs, animals

Timmy
Favorite color: ??
Clothing size: 4T
Shoe size: 7
Likes: cars, trucks, trains, airplanes, GeoTrax, Lightning McQueen, Mater

Katie
Favorite color: ??
Clothing size: 12 months
Shoe size: 1 or 2? (she doesn't usually wear shoes)
Likes: playing, smiling, laughing, eating, rattles, Dad, Mom, Jonathon, Christian, Nathaniel, Eliza, Timmy