Ugly sweater winner

 For Savannah's drama club party this year they had an ugly sweater contest.  Savannah and Scott put this together the night before using an old sweater of mine.  He even made a matching bow for her hair out of felt. It was SO ugly.  And itchy.  And stiff from the glue, but it paid off because she won! 

Teacher gifts

 This is what we gave the teachers this year.  I was happy with how they turned out.  I had intended on sewing these cupcake potholders 2 Christmases ago for our bookclub party, but we moved, and then I had a baby last year, and I didn't host it this year.  So I sewed up a few and gave them out to the kids' teachers along with a box of muffins. 

Craft FHE

 It's kind of a humbling/teaching moment when you realize that your husband can pull out a craft bin full of possibilities, and it blows the lessons you put lots of time and effort into out of the water.  I was at a loss for a FHE lesson one night, just before Christmas.  As we get closer to the big day, I get more brain dead and less creative.  That deer-in-the-headlights feeling, where I want to crawl into a corner and rock back and forth if I have to do ONE MORE THING.  And this year wasn't even that bad.   Scott took pity on me, and brought up the craft kit with some of everything, and let the kids loose.  I was impressed with what everyone made.  We had to help, of course, but Brighton was thrilled with a bunch of cardboard and glue.

These were the supplies.

 Scott made a really pretty paper and tulle tree for Waverly, but she subsequently unraveled it and made something of her own.

One of Brighton's creations.

 And Keaton's racecar and hand Santa.

 Waverly's re-vamped tree.

 Irelynd and Savannah had me help them sew stockings by hand.

 This is a boat on water, if it's not obvious.

 It was a fun, relaxed night, and I learned to be more spontaneous at times.  Ok, not really, but I have learned to trust Scott's judgement, so that's something.

More randomness

 Every holiday, no matter how small, the kids get SO excited to pull out the decorations.  Ok, Christmas might engender a little more nagging from them because it means present overload is coming.  When I pulled out the boxes, I stressed to them NOT to open them because they have a tendency to just throw it everywhere before I've even finished unloading the shed.  Keaton swore he wasn't, until he came prancing in with our Santa costume on.  How could I be too mad with this cute face?  He and Waverly played Santa and Mrs Claus for days, until I hauled the boxes (with the Santa costume) back out to the shed.  When I asked later what the twins wanted for Christmas, Keaton told me "a Keaton-sized Santa suit, with a sled that can really fly like Santa's."  Waverly asked for a miniature North Pole and Mrs. Claus suit.  When I explained that Santa doesn't bring magical presents, she came back with, "ok, then I want a leprechaun for Christmas.  Then I can wish for everything else that Santa doesn't bring."  The girl is brilliant, I tell you.  I'm in trouble...

 We have become obsessed with Studio C in our house since Savannah got the first 2 seasons on dvd for her birthday.  For awhile, the little kids would climb on our shoulders during scripture study and claim to be Shoulder Angel and Shoulder Devil.  It's hard to tell which is which.  They both look evil!

 We got a visit from Peppermint again this year.  We welcomed her with a North Pole breakfast.  This is one of the pranks she pulled.  The kids' favorite prank was when she took a dry erase marker to our family photo and drew mustaches and hair on everyone.

One day after school, the twins begged for a Christmas lunch so they could have a Christmas party downstairs.  I took their lunches down to the playroom (a special treat, since we don't allow eating downstairs usually), and they had decorated it with stuff they stole from other areas around the house.  It was really cute.

Giving Thanks

 This was my shelf and hall table for this year's Autumn/Thanksgiving decor.  I copied the big frame from pinterest.  I wrote things we are thankful for on cardboard and framed it in a repurposed frame I painted cream, distressed and stained.  I still need to add a "grateful" vinyl decal to the front, which I didn't get to this year.  Oh well, it'll get done in stages.

We spent Thanksgiving at my Mom's again this year.  My sister Michelle flew in from California to spend it with us.  We haven't seen her since the reunion last July (1 1/2 yrs ago), so we were SO excited to have her come home.  It was a really short trip; we picked her up at the airport on Wednesday evening, and she flew home on Saturday morning, but my girls enjoyed every moment with her.  Irelynd, especially, has a really close relationship with Michelle.  Grandma invited them to stay over, so they slept over Wednesday and Thursday nights, and went shopping on Friday.  I was envious of the time with my sister, but I'm glad they were able to make some great memories with their Aunt.

 I was put in charge of favors this year, and made these waffle "cone-acopias" with tags.  They turned out pretty cute.  Here's a close up.

 It was unseasonably warm on Thanksgiving, which was SO nice, so Waverly got another use out of her pillowcase dress I made for beach photos in Newport.  She looked so cute I had to snap a photo of her.  She is SO girly; she tells me daily how she wants her hair done, and makes sure it's properly accessorized with bows/flowers.  I'm glad she finally decided this dress was cute enough to wear.  Maybe it took Dad telling her and not Mom.

 And a close up of her cute smile!

In continuing with our tradition of making crafts after dinner, Michelle shared her current hobby with us.  She brought stuff to make beaded bracelets.  And in true Michelle-style, we had a multitude of choices.  I ended up with 3 bracelets, plus a bunch of earrings to match. 

 Irelynd finally graduated up to the adult table, and made the craft with us.

 The little kids made foam craft kits.  Brighton made a gingerbread train.

 Waverly made a gingerbread house, and Keaton some snowmen.

 This was Waverly's house.  I didn't get any photos of the boys' projects, but they were cute too.

 These are Savannah's, mine, and Irelynd's finished products.  I love my new jewelry!

Before leaving, I wanted to get a group photo of Michelle with my kids, as she is here so infrequently.  They just adore her.  She has no kids of her own, so she spoils mine instead.  Brighton is missing because he fell asleep.

 With his boots on.  Yes, he dressed himself today.  A boy has to be prepared for all kinds of weather...

I think Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  I wish it lasted longer.  I wonder if this is what Heaven will feel like; family gathered together enjoying each other's company.  Today I am grateful for a wonderful, loving, fun family.

One little, two little, three little Indians

 Warning:  The following post is NOT very politically correct.  Proceed at your own offense.

Question:  What's a boy and his dad to do on a Saturday afternoon with a bunch of sticks gathered and brought home from a day in the canyon?

Answer:  Build this, of course!

 With Thanksgiving coming up, the kids had Indians on the brain.  I came downstairs to the playroom one afternoon and found this tepee that Scott had built for the little kids.

Of course, you can't be a proper Indian dressed like a 21st century American kid.  So we got this little Indian Princess:

And these 2 little Indian Braves:

 

 And then a little Indian Papoose (not very willing, mind you)

 Then we had 4 little Indians:

And finally, FIVE little Indians:

Brave Wild Cat out on the hunt.  Looks like we'll be dining on wild snake and monkey for dinner tonight...

Later we'll have a pow-wow and do a rain dance, and hunt some tatanka.

How.

Catching Fire

 After more than a year and a half after Hunger Games was released, we were SO excited to have Catching Fire be released!  Savannah has become obsessed with all things Peeta.  I remember at her age having a huge crush on Kirk Cameron, so I can understand her Hollywood crush, though I can't understand why she chose Peeta over Gale.  C'mon, he's a Hemsworth!  Breaking with tradition this year, I didn't have a big party for the movie release.  Since Savannah is old enough to see the movie, we doubled with Sallie and Chloe instead.  Though, I had to bring treats along, so I made these gift bags for each mother/daughter set to share.  President Snow's Snow balls, Mellark's Sweet Peeta (cinnamon sugared pita bread), and Capital Fire Popcorn (white chocolate popcorn with red edible glitter and sprinkles).  

We enjoyed the movie and had a fun night together.  Though, on our way out of the movie, the man sitting next to our daughters suggested we buy a "buffer seat" in between the 2 noisy teens and the poor person sitting next to them.  I was half annoyed, half embarrassed.  He must have never been a twitter-pated teen before.  That swooned loudly at every seen Peeta was in.  

We're anticipating next November's release of Mockingjay!

Dirt

Boston has finally discovered dirt.  I knew it was just a matter of time, being a boy and all, but I wish it would have waited until he wasn't crawling through it still.  He loves to play in it, roll around in it, and eat it.  His brothers like to shower him in it.

Slingshot

 Trust Brighton to find another use for the teeter totter Scott built.  He found that it worked great to attach the slingshot to each handle and slingshot the bouncy ball he won at Trafalga over the summer to the other end of the yard.  I was quite proud of him for his creativity actually.  And it didn't involve weapons of mass destruction either.

The first step is to attach the slingshot.

Second, add the ball to the pouch, and pull back.

 Ready, aim...

 aim lower.  (Boston is learning from the master).

 Fire!!!

 It doesn't work so well to catch your own slingshotted ball...

 Run it back to base to try again.

 Finally, Irelynd gets involved.

 It became a contest of who could fire it further than the other.  These 2 played with this for over an hour, which is a long time in their attentiveness.  It was a great way to spend a warm, late fall, Sunday afternoon.