December Family Highlights

December has been full of some great family making memories.  Instead of breaking these photo’s up into five posts over the next three days…I’m ripping the Band-Aid and showing them all to you now.  Be prepared for LOTS of pictures!

The month started out with a sick Cedi.  So sick we had to postpone her birthday party.  She recovered pretty quickly leaving a sick Capri in her wake.  Capri not only had the stomach flu but she ended up getting strep throat on top of that. To help Capri’s mind off of feeling so horrible…we made this fun foam gingerbread house (from a kit).

The next big event on our list was…dinner with Santa at the Rio fire station.  Pip was not a huge fan.

Cedi waited an extra 6 days for her first ever birthday party…but I’m pretty sure it was worth the wait.

Most of the girls we invited could still make it even with the date change…Cedi was thrilled!

Pinterest saved the day!  I’ve never had kids over let alone a bunch of them all at once for a birthday party!  First game – musical presents!  I wrapped up seven little door prize gifts seven times.  When the music starts you start passing the presents around in the circle.  When the music stops, unwrap one layer of wrapping.  Continue to do this until you finally see what’s inside!  Whatever is in your hand for the final unwrapping you get to take home!  The girls had a really good time with this.  My favorite part was after the game they decided on their own that the next game would be ‘clean up the wrapping paper’!  LOVE!Again…thanks to pinterest our family has discovered the joy of cake waffles.  So easy – make a cake batter like normal.  Instead of putting it in a cake pan, pour it into your waffle griddle. Before you know – you have cake waffles!!!  The girls chose to top their waffle with frosting, ice cream, strawberries AND sprinkles.  Oh – and yes – Cedi turned SEVEN not six – I have no idea why I only put six candles on her ‘cake’ and I didn’t notice it until I was editing the picture!  oops!Next up ‘Spin the Bottle’!  Nope – not that game!  In the seven year old version of ‘Spin the Bottle’ you get a bunch of nail polish and put it in a circle.  Each girl spins the nail polish bottle in the middle and whatever the cap points to is the color they put on their finger.  You do this for all ten fingers for each girls.  Not only do the girls love it – it eats up a lot of time AND with seven girls by the time I got to the next color the first was dry = PERFECT!!!  Thanks AGAIN pinterest!  Cedi had a great time at her first ever birthday party and I’m pretty sure her guests’ did as well!Next up – Christmas pageant at Church!!! Cedi was an adorable little sheep!  She was SO excited!  “Mama!  Mama!  I can’t believe it!  I’m actually in a REAL Play!!! I get to be a sheep!!!!”The pageant was adorable!  Cedi had a great time and her sisters had fun watching her.  Here she is after the play when they allowed pictures…Owen’s in front of her.  The little boy she has a crush on.Grandma and Grandpa Van made the drive to Poynette too to see the show!  Cedi was so proud!!!Yup – this is all still happening in December.  The girls were lucky and not only saw Santa for dinner – they also saw Santa and Mrs. Klaus at breakfast!

And after all those fun events we started the ‘Week of Christmas’ish.  We had a bunch of different Christmas celebrations and get-together’s to go to.  We managed to fit them all in just six days.  I know it sounds a bit nuts but I’m a huge fan of tradition and if I can make it work – I’m going to!The sisters!  These three little girls received many generous gifts from many folks who love them.  In the next few days they’ll be writing out their proper thank you notes but I can just tell you – they really, truly appreciate everything they got.  They’ve been playing their little hearts out for days with no end of boredom in sight.  Not only did they get some amazing gifts but they were able to spend some quality time with friends and family they love to spend time with.  I love seeing my kids interacting with others, making them smile and laugh and helping show us adults, why Christmas can be such a magical time.

Our new little fisherwomen… and fashionista. I’m pretty sure Capri loved her lip gloss from Santa, Pip her new ‘mingo’, and Cedi her lego set…  And the girls all love their new car that their cousins gave them!  It worked really well in the snow too!One of the most exciting gifts I gave this year was my brother’s quilt.  It’s been ‘year’s’ in the making and I finally made it, finished it and gave it to him.  I’m pretty sure he loved it!