Christmas weekend

As I woke up this morning, sore throat and a heavy head I had one wish - to have no daycare kids today.  They were supposed to come but 2 families have a day off so it was going to be just one little boy and I just got a call that he's not coming either.  It is like another present to me - another day to myself and only our kids!  All 3 kids have been feeling under the weather the last 2 days or so too so it's good we can have a day of rest.  Of course, the kids woke up this morning and after realizing no daycare kids are coming they were really disappointed.  I'm glad they love having their little friends over, even if they're 2 years old and can't play with them.  I'm a little surprised that even Kade misses the little kids when there's no school and enjoys time with them when they do come.  This last summer when his best friend that I watched was moving away Kade told me that I just need to get a new friend for him to play with. :)  Because that is the reason I do daycare, to provide friends to our kids.  It really worked great though when our kids were small and had buddies to play with and share their toys with.  Now, that Kason is heading into kindergarten next Fall it is getting a lot harder to watch little ones because our kids are not here most of the time and it feels strange.  So it will soon be time for a different adventure for me and even though it's a bit scary I'm also looking forward to something different.

Anyway, I wanted to talk about Christmas.  It was a very nice and quiet Christmas weekend for us.  I spent most of Saturday and Sunday in the kitchen, cooking and baking but I don't mind.  Food is a big part of my family's traditions and it means a lot to have the same food I grew up with, even if it doesn't taste exactly the same. :)  We always have some fish fillet and potato salad.  I make several of our favorite treats including my mom's walnut rolls which I love to have with coffee.  I decided to make a double batch this year and I made 8 rolls so I can freeze them and give some away.  So really, that took a good chunk of my Saturday but it was really worth it.

showing their tickets

We started the weekend with a fun outing with the kids and Emily slept over so she came with us.  We had a surprise for our kids and after we watched the Elf movie they got a note saying they need to put on their pyjamas and find a ticket by their bed.  It was a ticket for a "Minivan Express" and they had to bring it to the conductor mom & dad.  After they got it checked they were able to get a little puff corn bag and get on the special ride.  Then we drove around our town for a while looking at the Christmas lights.  We found a new one this year that had automated lights programmed to a radio station that played fun songs so that was fun to watch for awhile.  The kids really enjoyed it even though Kade is on the verge of being too old for it and thought it was a bit cheezy. :)

Monday was Christmas Eve and we had a nice quiet day at home.  Kason and Anika couldn't wait for the angels to come and bring presents to us.  For a while Kason was confused about Santa because that's all he heard at school and they even had a Santa come there and he talked to him.  He asked Santa for a green lantern (a super hero) which he never mentioned until then so I had to quick find one in a store or else he'd be one disappointed boy.  He kept asking how are the angels going to know he wants the green lantern if he told it to Santa.  So we had several talks about how Santa is just made up but angels are real and God tells them what we want because He knows everything.  That made Kason happy and I think in the end he and Anika really like the thought of angels coming.  At our house, we go to church on Christmas Eve and while we're there singing to God that is when angels come to our house and deliver the presents.  So when we were singing at church Anika asked me :"are the angels coming to our house now?" :)

I found this Christmas Story puzzle this year and I thought it's a great tradition to make it on Christmas Eve.  It recites the story from Luke in the Bible so while you're working on the puzzle you have to think about all the words written there which is neat.  Kade did most of it by himself and we just keep it out so we can see it the whole Christmas.

Seeing what angels brought

Presents time is always exciting for our kids and even though we try to keep the focus off of the gifts, I think it's ok for them to be excited about it.  It is only a short time the kids keep their excitement and joy of opening gifts so why ruin it by somehow suggesting that it is bad and selfish being that way.  I think Jesus smiles down when he sees the little children full of joy and excitement and He wants us to be more like them yet so often we want to make kids into mini adults.  We talk about selfishness a lot with Kade because he understands it a lot and sometimes only thinks of himself and what's in it for him.  So when I was shopping with him one day I asked him if he should buy something for Kason and Anika with his own money that he has been saving.  At first he had a hard time with it but then he was excited to pick the right gift for both Kason and Anika and that was really nice to see.  We need to do a lot more with our kids to show them how to be givers and servants.

the green lantern :)

pop beads

very excited about his first bb gun

Kason got a gun so he's not left out :)

kids are having fun shooting each other, it came with 2 guns.
Ehren and I had fun shooting each other too :)

And in the light of the tragedy just a week ago, here we are with guns for our boys' presents. :)  I know a lot of people would really frown upon it but I don't care.   A lot of people are speaking up about the guns laws now but they will not solve anything, people will just find another way to hurt and destroy.   Every boy has a little warrior's heart in him, that's how he was created and it's ok.  If their heart is in the right place and they know who they serve they will always "fight" for the great cause.  Kade has some little  buddies that have bb guns so he's been waiting and waiting to be able to get one so he can go in our woods and shoot things.  He thought he might get one on his next birthday but since it's at the end of the summer we surprised him with it now.  I'm actually very excited to do some target shooting with him because I haven't shot guns since middle school when I stopped the summer biathlon (running races where you stop and target shoot and depending on how you shoot you would have time added to your running time).  I loved target shooting and I can see Kade will really like it.


It was kind of funny to see that a big hit of a present wasn't something they've been wanting and it was just a cheap art project kind of gift but both Kade and Anika just loved the mosaic stickers and were really excited about it.  I'm glad something so simple can be exciting to them, still at 9 years old.  The main reason I got it was for Kason to work on his fine motor skills but he was too excited to play with his toys to do it on Christmas Eve while Anika started crying when she had to go to bed before she finished her picture.


On Tuesday morning we got up early and headed to the cabin for the Hanson Christmas brunch.  We were missing Ingrid's family but the rest of the cousins were there and had a great time playing together.  Too bad it was so cold out because they only lasted outside for a bit.  But Kade and Anika got to do some ice fishing with papa and they loved that.  It was nice to visit for a bit even if it was pretty short because we all had to go home in the evening as most of us had to go to work today.  It shows that I was just enjoying my time and relaxing because I didn't take any pictures there.

And now Christmas is done and I'm just glad I have a day to clean up and do laundry with no kids to take care of.  I mean other than my kids :) but they are going to be very busy all day playing with their presents.  This weekend we're going to visit Brent and Ingrid and the cousins so we're excited to see them.  It's always so much fun to visit them.