Zoo Day

 Today we decided to go walk around the Zoo. We have not been in years and it was a beautiful day. The kids all laughed at us going, but ALL the kids wanted to go. 

Emery and Jenna got a cool picture of a meerkat. 

The boyz and the Penguin's.

The Sloth Bear. This animal just always looks rough. 

It was fun to walk around and see the animals. They always look so sad though. Love but kind of hate Zoos. 

Pie Day 3.14

 Jackson and Uncle Paul have one restaurant they both love, Dave's Hot Chicken. Today Paul text Jacks to see if he wanted to go get some Dave's. It is also pie day. I'm not the best pie maker, so I didn't think anything of it. However Paul mentioned it to Jacks and they went and got the ingredients to make key lime pie. It was fun watching and helping Jacks read the recipe and make the pie. It turned out SO well and so good. He was, and should be, very proud of his dessert. 

Friday the 13th Take Two

 February and March end up having the same day/dates so that meant there were two months in a row with Friday the 13ths. This time we did not make skin cookies, but we did get McD's and watched "The Conjuring, Last Rites." Movie was okay, not great. I think there is one more Friday the 13th this year. Maybe skin cookies will be made for that one. 

Friday the Thirteenth

 

Every time there is a Friday the 13th Brad makes what we call skin cookies. It's just sugar cookies with frosting that had melted gummy candy mixed it. The texture is kind of weir but its a must every time. We watched Halloween from 2018, which was pretty lame, but the cookies were good. 

Super Bowl

Cam and Cailey came up for the Super Bowl. It was a fun weekend to go make cookies, play games and watch some of the 'big game'. We did our annual BINGO. Beck chose to work so his coworker, who loves one of the teams, could watch the game. The prizes for this year was gift cards. One $10 and one $15 each. It was a good plan but  by half time, only Cam had one BINGO. It was still fun, we just let them pick in the end. We know they don't really care about the game, but the time as a family is what matters. 

 

Christmas Day

 Before lunch we watched a few movies, then just had snack foods for lunch. After lunch all the kids crashed and took a nap. Cam Emery and Jacks tried to stay up all night. They didn't make it but were up late and tired. Beck was tired from waking up early. I guess that's what they get when they wake up at 6:30 in the morning. 

We finished the night off with homemade pizza and watching the next instalment of Stranger Things. It was pretty good, now only one episode left. 

Emery worked on her Lego on and off all day and got a little over half done. It's looking good however her fingers hurt a little. 

Christmas Day Morning

 The 'joy' of being woken up at 6:30 am, is by 9:30 am I'm ready to write the morning down and a few things are cleaned up. 

They always send Jackson in to wake up us, as if we don't know they will come in early. 

It's always fun when we get things they didn't expect or wanted but didn't think they would get. 

Emery's favorite was the Batman Lego. She had high hopes she would get it but didn't think it would happen. Thanks to a good sale, it happened. Now she'll be busy the rest of the day. 

Beck's favorite was the Monster squad poster. He got 4 big ones and is now moving his room around to make all of them fit. 

Jacks' favorite was a new keyboard. It lights up and makes a cool noise when he types. I think it has quicker rection time too... maybe? He also got a lot of figures that he's been putting together.

Cam's favorite was a book about Dinosaurs or the kitchen things. He got a wok, nice knife and Soda Stream. Cailey is in London for Christmas with her family, so they have been texting all morning too. 

Brad's favorite was a dart board. We've been married 20 years and I did not now until this year that he liked to play darts. He mentioned it in passing in April and I've had it saved since then. Thankfully he was telling the truth and liked it. 

I love a necklace Beck got me, A view finder that has pictures of the kids and some Tula skin care. Laffy Taffy used to have seeds on the watermelon and sparkles on the cherry. They don't anymore, but Brad found someone who makes it. They taste pretty close to the real ones. 

Now we have 'Maze Runner' on and will possibly fall asleep before the movie is over. More to come later-if we stay awake. 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

 

We had a good Christmas Eve this year. We started with breakfast at The Griddle. It wasn't bad, but I think Black Bear still wins. 

Came home and did our PJ's and gift exchange. As the kids get older they put more thought into what they get. It's fun to see what they decide to get for who they have. 

The we played some games and watched "Home Alone".

We got our family picture early and with only having cell phones, we have turned to doing selfies. Cute family we have!

This years PJ's are all from "Elf".

Beck slept in his room and the other three stayed up in Cam's room. 

Each year we hide their wrapping paper in new places. This year we put it in their shoes, however Beck didn't have any shoes, so he got his on a weight (he uses them a lot).

Stockings are still my favorite thing to shop for and open. 

There were a few things this year that took up a lot of space. It's all set out just waiting for the kids to wake us up super early like they do every year. 

The Elf

I hated Elf on the Shelf so we made up an elf that came randomly  and left little things. When they were really little, we'd do projects and arts mixed with little gifts. As they got older the crafts that were fun when they were 7 or 8 weren't as fun. We thought this year they wouldn't care if the Elf didn't show, but apparently they were all waiting for it. I guess it's a little easier this year since we are one child short, until the 19th. 

Yesterday the Elf left Gingerbread houses and today we watched the Grinch while putting them together.  

Super cute! It's the little things they used to love to do as kids that they grow out of that I miss the most. I miss my shopping buddies each week for groceries, or doing the little painting projects and making treats. I guess holding onto the Elf for a few more years will actually be nice. 

Thanksgiving Weekend

It's nice when school breaks come up, it means we get time with Cam and Cailey. They cook a lot at school, so when they come home, they will cook a meal that they tried out and liked. They did orange chicken and it was really good. 

We went to Twin for Thanksgiving and were at the Barnes. A lot of family showed up, we had around 40 I think. It was nice to have a big crowd. 

I didn't take many pictures, only a few of Buddy, the chunkiest dog there is.  

We came home and put up the tree. At the end of last season we tossed out other one and bought this one on sale. It was the first time opening the box and seeing it. I think it ended up being a nice one. 

I put out the sleighbells finally this year. I'm so worries about them getting ruined but think this case will help. My Grandma Arrington's dad Frank Stevens, he had a brother Nathan Stevens who bought these when he was a kid and they have been passed down. The sound they make is my favorite and each year when the kids were younger Grandpa Arrington would dress up like Santa and ring the bells outside our house. That would be the clue for the kids to go to bed so Santa can visit. 

I went with a co-worker to some of her families house and made a Christmas Wreath. It was attaching all the greenery and the decorations too. It was a lot of work, but I was fun to do, and I think turned out pretty good, considering I'm not very artistic.