Highlights-from our Christmas break

Of course, I am totally behind in blogging because we have been so busy. In an effort to catch up, I am just going to touch on a few of the highlights of our fantastic and fun winter break.

There is no better way to get in the Christmas spirit than to be at Temple Square. Trevor, Kara, and I were lucky to get tickets to go see the Tabernacle Choir's Christmas concert featuring David Archuleta. It was a magical night filled with music, lights, and the true spirit of the season.

Our annual tradition of making gingerbread houses with the wonderful Walters family was definitely a highlight. I took tons of pictures, but I loved this one of Ethan- his hair obviously not done and with a look of total concentration on his cute face as he perfected his house made of candy. Note the green grass in the backyard, it had been unseasonably warm this December until...

...we had the perfect snowstorm! Perfect because there was no school. Perfect because there was a lot of snow. Perfect because it was really good packing snow. And perfect because even though there was a lot of snow, the roads weren't bad. It was great. So great, in fact, that Kara and Alyssa made the perfect snowman- complete with a real carrot nose and two real pieces of coal for eyes. They named him Gerald.

We don't go and visit Santa every year, but this year he had a cute little house nestled in a very festive outdoor mall, with lights and old fashioned carolers and free carriage rides ...and we thought it would be the perfect night. It probably would have been, if it hadn't been POURING RAIN. Seriously, rain? In December? In Utah? So there was a note on Santa's outdoor house saying that due to the weather he had been relocated inside somewhere. Despite the weather conditions, we did have a great time.

We strolled in the rain, looking at the lights and warming up by the fires. We listened to the carolers, we played in the big and old fashioned toy store, and we vowed to come back next year where we hope it will be softly snowing, Santa will be back at his outdoor house, and the carriage rides will be going. We can hope, right?

More highlights

The fun continued in the kitchen. Kara has a "winter fun list," and one of the things on that list was to make fudge. So here she is, checking another thing off her list. (I wish I had a picture of the 100 snowflakes she made and hung all over the house.) She also dipped cookies for her friends- red, green, and white Oreos complete with Christmas sprinkles.

After I practically burned the house down trying to make my neighbor gifts, I had to start all over- only there was no time. So I scurried down to Kohlers and ordered these candy cane bread twists. I tied a little bow on them, threw on a card and away we went to do our traditional caroling to our neighbors. Delivering neighbor gifts is always a highlight for me. I am thankful for my neighbors and I want them to know that, store bought gifts or not (We ate one and it was really good, thankfully!).

One of my favorite things about the season is the constant ringing of the doorbell, with wonderful people dropping by with yummy treats and smiles on their faces. A lot of these faces are my kids' cute friends with simple little gifts and very happy faces. So, a part of our week before Christmas is delivering all of our friend gifts. It can sometimes take several hours, but it is so worth it and it makes me and my kids happy. This year Ashlyn was bursting with excitement because it was her first year to deliver friend gifts to her 4 cute little playgroup friends. Watching her at each doorstep was priceless.

On Christmas Eve Day Trevor took the kids ice skating. They all loved it. I stayed home to get ready for the party and to finish up some wrapping. It was heaven to have the house to myself for a couple of hours.

And how can you not love reenacting the Christmas story on Christmas Eve, especially with an angel like that!

(Not to mention the baby Jesus who would only stay still with a game remote.)

It was a fun, crazy, busy, noisy, and full 2 weeks.

And now it's all over. My house is much quieter and quite a bit tidier, and I am very thankful that school is back in session.

Am I a bad mom?

A few of our favorite gifts this Christmas

Hmm.. I wonder what these could be? One of them was signed "from the boy with the beard." They were Nerf battle axes and they haven't hardly left the boy's hands since Christmas. We are battle axing all over this house.

The look of pure joy when a boy is opening Legos.

(Pharaoh's Quest Legos, to be exact!)

My girls and their pillow pets. I am still trying to figure out the purpose of a pillow pet...

They were thrilled.

A bow and arrow set. Another favorite that has been used daily since Christmas, even in the snow!

I love great surprises. Kara was ecstatic to open her dream prom dress (long story) while she was wearing her other favorite gift, her BYU snuggie. I think she would wear it to school if she could (the prom dress and the snuggie!).

It was a great Christmas, as usual!

A tiny gift

This is what we gave all of the Primary kids in our ward this year for Christmas. We made 150 of them.

They are simple, yet meaningful. We have 7 of them hanging on our tree.

Seven little nutshells to remind us what it really is all about!
I know my Savior lives!


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Eve

Years ago, when we were first married, Trevor and I went to a friends house on Christmas Eve day for a visit. I was amazed at all the hustle and bustle that was going on in preparation for their big Christmas Eve dinner party. I vividly remember her dumping out tiny red jello molds onto plates of deep green lettuce. I had never seen anything like it and I knew I wanted to do it. I wanted to host a party every year for our families that everyone would look forward to, that would become a tradition, with jello molds and everything.

We have now been hosting Christmas Eve dinner for about 12 years. It is an open invitation. We don't want anyone to feel pressure. We just want everyone to feel that they always have a place to go. Some years are bigger than others. Some are smaller and more quaint. All are memorable. We feel so blessed that our families are so close. So close in fact, that they all consider each other family. It is a unique situation. My kids hardly differentiate between the two families, they are kind of like one. How did we get so lucky?

We eat and eat and enjoy being together.

The kids table is always fun...and usually a little messy.

We play games, sing carols, tell stories, and play musical instruments. (Well, some of us do.)

And we always end on a spiritual note. We focus on the true meaning of Christmas. When everyone leaves our hearts are happy and full and filled with the Christmas spirit. I want my children's lives and memories of Christmas to be about family. About cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncles all piling into our house to be together and to celebrate- it is something I never had with the very small family I come from, and I am grateful every day that my children have such a big wonderful family! Very grateful indeed!

Christmas Eve Eve

One of my very most favorite traditions at our house is Christmas Eve Eve. This tradition started the first year Trevor and I were married and it has continued and evolved and changed a little here and there to become a very cherished night in our home.

Because we host the Christmas Eve big family dinner party every year, we found that we were missing out on that intimate family time with just our little family. We would never want to do away with the big family gathering, because it wouldn't be Christmas without our wonderul extended family, but we also needed our own time. And so every Christmas Eve Eve we fill that need and here is how it goes. We usually go and deliver all of our neighbor gifts, church teacher gifts, scout leader gifts, friend gifts and whatever other gifts we have laying around. This takes a while, so we start in the afternoon. We then enjoy a nice candlelit family dinner complete with sparkling cider, which the kids think is such a treat. After dinner we usually finish reading our scripture advent reading by candlelight.

And then we begin the process of hauling the mattresses downstairs. We get all set up, turn on the lights of the tree and snuggle down to read Christmas books and watch Christmas movies. The kids jump around on the mattresses like crazies and have so much fun sleeping all together. I love love love this tradition, but secretly really like to sleep in my comfortable bed upstairs. Last year, after everyone had fallen asleep, I snuck upstairs to sleep in my own bed. At about 5 in the morning I started to sneak back downstairs to crawl back into position and nobody would ever need to know I had left. This was a great idea until I totally fell down the stairs and totally tweaked my shoulder! Trevor was the only one who heard my fall and after he made sure I was OK, he laughed about it all day long. I don't think I will be doing any sneaking around this year! When we get up the kids start to jump around on the mattresses like crazies again, we enjoy a yummy breakfast of cinnamon and orange rolls and then begin our preparation for the big Christmas Eve party.
It's just fun.
It's just crazy.
It's just us.
It's just Christmas Eve Eve in the Allred house!

Counting down

We have about 100 ways we count down to Christmas at our house. Chains, and books and trinkets picked out of a bag, but the one I just couldn't live without is the chocolate countdown calendar. And it's not only because it is chocolate, although that is a very good reason. It is because for me, it is a cherished memory.
I can still remember the anticipation I felt waiting for the package from Canada to arrive from my grandparents with my calender in it. I can still remember that sometimes the chocolate had slipped from its spot and had fallen to the next number below because it had been shaken up in the long distance travel. I can still remember that one year there were some white spots on some of the chocolate because maybe it was old, or maybe it had been cold in Canada. I can still remember that I ate it anyway!

Because this was such a part of my childhood I couldn't imagine it not being a part of my children's lives at Christmas time. And so every year I make sure I go to Macey's before Thanksgiving (because sometimes they run out, and then my kids and I would die!) and I load my cart up with 7 chocolate charts. I then hide them under my bed until that magical day, December 1st, when all the counting down begins.

Every morning in December, after my kids leave for school, I go around and gather up the charts that are strewn all over the house and put them back on their spot on the counter, ready to go for the next day. I gather up all the ripped off numbers and throw them in the trash. I do this all with a smile on my face because my chocolate countdown calendars make me happy.

I'm pretty sure they make my kids happy too. Who wouldn't be happy eating chocolate before school? And so far we have had no slipped chocolates and thankfully, no white spotted chocolates. But even if we did, that would be just fine, this tradition would go on, just as it did for me. It just wouldn't be December without these little treasures in our home. And you can bet I will be sending these to all of my grandchildren, no matter where they live, when it comes time, white spots and all!

The man's gotta eat!

In my quest to document ALL of our families traditions I have to put in some that are not very original at all, but I still want to document them. So here is a classic, done every year since the beginning of time probably. I'm pretty sure though that we're not the only family on this earth to leave cookies for the big guy.The Santa that stops at our house never knows what he's going to get. Some years he is favored with yummy homemade cookies, but this is rare. Most years he gets some cookies from a plate that has appeared on our porch from some of our wonderful neighbors. And on occasion he has to choke down some stale oreos that were luckily found in the back of the pantry, much to the delight of our children who would die before going to bed without the placing of the cookies and the pouring of the milk.

And of course, we can never forget those hard working reindeer who also deserve a much needed treat. Not very original, I know, but a tradition nonetheless, and one that will continue for many more years around here!

There is an Elf on the Shelf

Each year my kids look forward to the annual "Elf on the Shelf'" party at Grammy's house. Each year a new elf is born and finds a home somewhere in our house to watch the kids before Christmas. They make sure my kids are nice and not naughty, which we sometimes need around here. Cute Grammy, in her elf hat, reads the story, plays games and of coarse fills my kids with candy candy candy, as only Grammy can do. I'm hoping one year we get the little elf dentist from the Rudolph movie.

We will need him after all the candy from this party.

It's always a memorable night and such a fun tradition.

Thanks Grammy!

Sunday Reports

Every Sunday night at dinner we ask our kids what they learned in church. Some kids go into great detail (the girls). And the boys typically give one word answers: Tithing. Jonah. Jesus. Ashlyn usually says "play toys." On this particular Sunday, she remembered, probably because she was wearing what she learned. I am so grateful for my kids teachers at church. For the time they take to help me teach my children the gospel. For the testimonies they bear to my children. For their dedication to their callings. What a great church we belong to with so many people willing to serve, especially serving the rising generation. Our family has been blessed with great teachers.

She is as the army of Helaman.

And she knows it!

Thoughts

*Is it a sign or a bad omen that our Christmas lights fell down into a pathetic sag on December 1st before we even had them turned on for one night? They usually do get pulled down by the icicles, but not until at least mid January (I will blame it on the dumb blizzard!). We looked like white trash for a couple of days until our wonderful neighbor helped us get back in the Christmas spirit by putting them back up. He used some sort of duct tape and wire to secure them so hopefully they will last. (Even though duct tape on the outside of our house is kind-of white trashish too!) I am very picky about my lights so I am thankful they are still up.

*Last week we took treats to someones house on Monday night. We had tons of yummy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins with cinnamon cream cheese frosting and so we made up a plate, put a secret note on it and ding dong ditched it. My kids loved it. It was so fun we decided we want to do it every month. Oh yeah, the Family Home Evening Phantom is back!

*My kids new favorite show is Funniest Home Videos. (Without cable, they have limited options) They think it is hilarious, and when I walk by and see some of the clips, I have to agree. And now every time Ethan does something even remotely funny or gets hurt in some way he says to me, "you should have gotten that on video and sent it to AFV! We could win lots of money!"

*Because it was fast Sunday my 2 oldest didn't have presidency meetings. Everyone had bathed the night before, I didn't have sharing time and so I was excited to sleep in. As I was snoozing away, Brandon quietly came into my room and whispered, "should I walk to fast offerings?" I had totally forgot that I have a new deacon who has new responsibilities on fast Sunday. But he didn't. Of course, he remembered. Of course, he didn't need to be reminded or woken up or urged to get dressed quickly. He was up and ready to go all on his own. And then he wanted to get to church an hour early to get a chance to pass the sacrament (with 20 deacons you have to fight for a spot!). I talked him into leaving about 20 minutes early--and he got a spot. Do I need to say how much I admire this kid?

*A Christmas miracle has occurred. Ashlyn is totally potty trained. All on her own. There had been no talk about it or attempts or anything, it had been put on the back burner until after Christmas. But after her bath on Saturday night apparently (I wasn't even upstairs) she hopped on the toilet and went #1 AND #2!! Who knows why, she just did. Ethan came running downstairs to tell me. I ran upstairs and sure enough there it was in all its glory. I would normally do a huge post with a picture and everything but she was buck naked sitting there on the toilet and so my kids would call that pornography....speaking of...

*I was in a hurry Saturday night and so bathed my 3 little ones together. Alyssa usually showers but begged to take a bath that night and I let her. At one point in the very crowded bathtub Ethan stood up to get something. Alyssa pointed and then screamed "That's pornography!" Now granted it was right in her face, but pornography? Um, I guess so...no...I don't know! I concluded Alyssa needs to stick to her solo showers where she is safe from the evils of her little brother...and pornography!

*I was released today from Primary. I have been in the presidency for over 3 years now. I have loved it. I love being where my kids are. Being released from a calling is always bittersweet. I will miss it a lot, especially as I have watched little Ashie come in with the nursery in preparation for next year. I wish I could watch her for a little while longer, but it is time to move on. I look forward to whatever is around the corner (I just hope it is after Christmas!) There is a quote I love that says something like, "just as soon as you are called, the clock begins ticking towards the moment of your release, it is up to you as to how you will serve and use that time." I feel good about my time in Primary, the spirit is strong in Primary. It is where my heart is. I will miss it.

* I am desperately trying to catch up on all our Thanksgiving week festivities(blogging them, that is) I am just doing them one at a time and then plugging them in where they go chronologically. One of these days I will figure this whole blogging thing out. One of these days!

That's all.

Festival of Trees

One day in the first week of December is always reserved for the Festival of Trees. We rarely miss it.

We walk through aisle after aisle of beautiful trees. The girls and I stop and admire and look at details. The boys walk down the middle of the aisle, twisting their heads from side to side so they can kill two rows with one stone, a convenient trick their father taught them. We read the stories, we cry (OK the girls and I do) and every year I say a silent prayer in my heart that I will never be at this fundraiser looking at a tree for one of my own. Here are just some of our favorites this year.

The little girls loved this fairy tree. There was a whole tiny fairy village under the tree with little fires and paths and flowers. It was really cute.

Ethan loved the blue cookie monster tree.

Everyone was fascinated with the tree titled "Barbies Winter Ball" All of the barbies were dressed up and being escorted to the ball by very handsome boy barbies. My girls found Jasmine, Mulan, Eric and I, of coarse, found Donny, who happened to be singing at this very grand occasion.

There were tons of BYU/Utah trees. I loved my kids showing their true colors in this one. There was also a book tree that Ashlyn was drawn to. A huge display where the blue trees were curved into waves and Santa was surfing under them and a big tree that looked just like a snowman. I am always amazed at people's creativity and at their stories and at their strength. I am always amazed at the Festival of Trees!

Really?

View # 1 of our playroom.

View # 2 of our playroom.

Really? How does it get like this every week? What in the world do they do in there? I know what they do. They get out every dress up ever made and spread them around. Then they dump out the stuffed animal bucket. Then they sprinkle the jewels and fake coins around for some sparkle. Then they throw Barbie out of her house and all her friends, furniture and accessories too. For good measure they toss the train and ALL the tracks around. They stir in a handful of books, add a pinch of plastic food and dishes and then they garnish with dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes. That's what they do. Every week. And then they don't play in it because it is just too messy (and dangerous) to even step foot in the door. And then we begin the clean up process which takes way too much of my time. Trevor says we should get rid of it all. But I just can't bring myself to do that. After all, it's our playroom and I really believe that's what they think they are doing when they create this mess. So, until someone actually breaks a leg from walking across the floor or gets lost in there, (which I'm pretty sure will happen someday) it will just be messy....and a whole lot of fun!

The Dragon Party (part 1)

For Ethan's 6th birthday party, we were planning on recycling an old spiderman party I did years ago for Brandon. He was fine with that, but I really wasn't. About a week before his birthday I, for whatever reason, was thinking about the movie, "How to Train a Dragon." I really liked it and thought it might be fun to do a party based on that movie. I ran it by Ethan, he liked the idea and his "How to Train a Dragon" party was born.


Ethan thought it appropriate to wear his dragon shirt to his dragon party!

As the boys, or dragon trainers, were arriving they were each given 2 balloons a red and a black, which they were told were rare dragon eggs. They couldn't let their dragon eggs touch the ground. They could have done it for hours, but the training had to begin.

They were then informed that before they could train a dragon they had to be familiar with fire, since most dragons breath fire. So they had to practice jumping over it. They went around and around jumping over this fire (courtesy of our ward cub scout troop). I loved when they started doing little tricks like spinning and flicking their feet. They were really serious about it. On their last attempt they had to do it with their eyes closed.

They then had to go into the basement and learn how to dodge fireballs. They chose a shield and then Brandon, my fire ball maker, hurled multiple fire balls at them. After they succeeded at this task they were taught how to calm a dragon or how to put one to sleep. They had to sing happy birthday to you very quietly. It really is the only thing that works they were told. They practiced singing in several times. They were now ready to receive their dragons. The excitement was palpable.

They were shuffled into the mudroom where the dragon lady was waiting. One by one she picked the perfect dragon for each boy. Their eyes were wide each time she went into the bathroom to get a dragon because there was a lot of banging around as she wrestled the dragons out and handed them to their trainers.

Dragon party (part 2)

Here are the brave trainers with their new dragons. They then had to name their dragons.

Meet:

Three headed cool dragon, Blue, Fiery, Glow up, Goldy and Chuck.

(what do you expect, they're 6!)

The dragon than had to be trained how to walk. They were carefully placed on a streamer by their trainer and walked around the floor several times.


Then the dragons had to learn how to fly. They were carefully tossed into baskets.

My favorite part was feeding time. The trainers had to search in the living room for a plastic egg. Inside their egg was what their dragon would eat. Whatever was in their egg they had to feed to their dragon and then go and get the bowl with their dragon food from the dragon lady.

They then divided up the food with the other trainers. The dragons ate fish, peanuts, worms, bears, dirt balls and humans (gasp!). They all went away with a dragon food bag filled with the treats.

Then they had to walk around in a circle holding two of their dragon's eggs on two spoons. If the eggs fell they had to start again.

(It's almost over, really!)