December Update

It is the middle of December and I have not posted anything about our fun Christmas Chain activities...reason being...we really have not done any. Ba-Humbug! I was discussing last night with my sister that sometimes we try to fit so much in that it seems to be a bit overwhelming, I have decided that I am overwhelmed and that is why not a lot has gone on here. But a few things have. Kind of. Here is a recap:

First, I thought I would take us back to November for a little Thanksgiving fun. The whole Van Wagoner side gathered at Stacy's for Thanksgiving dinner. We are almost outgrowing Stacy's house, we have become so big! Her and Shawn our fabulous for letting us come and invade her home, paint her bathroom with finger nail polish, get wood stain all over her wood kitchen floors and steal Buzz and Woody while we are at it. :)

The Catmull kids made enough place seating tags for everyone, that is 20 something tags...they were busy.

Stacy and mom had the table set beautifully...

Peiton was in a good mood for most of the time...shocking!

The whole crew

After dinner, laziness and crafts, we decorated the gingerbread houses. Ours did not win, am I surprised? No. But it was really weird, Corey's gingerbread house had like 30 votes, more than what was possible. I would have to say, Casey and Rachelle's was once again the cutest, but then Cru isn't old enough to decorate a tree yet. Just wait. :)

On to December we go...

*We did the Elf on the Shelf, which Peiton is still extremely scared of the Elf. Crazy girl.

*We read The Last Straw. This is a tradition that I had growing up and we have continued to do it in our family. We have been doing it for over a week now, and I think there are 6 pieces of straw in the manger. YES, I know, we are really good at doing things for others. I also decided that we are not going to draw names, just when you do something nice for somebody, put a piece of straw in, this will make my job much easier, since I am doing all the work for Bode and Peiton too.

* We (Coop and I) went to the Neighborhood Christmas Party. It was fun to sit and chat with good neighbors.

*Make Christmas suckers. Didn't happen.

*Read Christmas story. Check!

*Van Wagoner adult outing-Happened, was a lot of fun. We went to dinner at Spaghetti Mama's and went and saw the new Narnia. I have never seen Narnia, although Bode watches it quite often, so I get bits and pieces of it. I am not sure if I am a fan or not, kind of a little weird for me, the talking animals, the mouse that drops some weirdo lines, but it is deep, there is a cool meaning behind it. Maybe I should get it a try from the beginning.

*Johnson Family Christmas party-I heard it was fabulous and lots of fun, but Coop and I didn't make it. Coop woke up with a tummy ache, etc, etc..I spent the day helping him throw up, scratching his back, getting him medicine and 7-up (the cure to any upset stomach ;) and etc, etc...Collin took Bode and Peiton and they had a great time, that is until Santa showed up and believe it or not, Peiton freaked. Since I wasn't there, there aren't any pictures to show. I was bummed that I could make it, and I think Coop was a little more bummed than me.

*Temple Square-That is suppose to happen tonight, not happening. Cooper is still sick so we will not be making our appearance. Dang flu virus!

So that is the excitement of our December thus far...pretty exciting right? I will keep you posted on anything else exciting that has happened.

Let the fun begin!

December is here... crazy I know, but I guess I am going to have to just accept it. Not ready for Christmas, desperately need the Christmas spirit and I am hoping it will start with the traditional Christmas Chain or maybe Britney Spears "All I Want for Christmas" song...can't seem to get sick of that one.

Well we haven't really made the chain yet, that was last nights activity, but still didn't happen. Although we did kick off December 1st by reading "Elf on the Shelf" we brought Flippy back from the dead. He is back roaming our home in the middle of the night, and watching over the children as they do wrong and right...I am so a poet. :) There is just one flaw...we pulled Flippy out of the box and Peiton is extremely scared of him! She screams and I mean screaming and crying. So now Flippy hides in the best places so only Cooper can find him...thanks Coop for being a good sport. :)

Now that you look at the little elf, he can be a little scary...right? Can't wait until it is time for Peiton to sit on Santa's lap. I have a feeling I know how that will turn out. :)

The Last Straw

Day #8-The Last Straw

I love this family tradition! I have been doing it as long as I can remember, it is such a fun tradition. It is a story about a little family who's mom thinks their home does not have the Christmas spirit. So they do a little activity to hopefully get the Christmas spirit in their home. They each draw names and the name that they draw they are to do something nice for that person all week long. Every time they do something nice they put a piece of straw in the baby manger that will be full and soft for baby Jesus on Christmas Eve. Each week they draw new names. It focuses mostly on a little boy that continues to get the same name and he really struggles with it. It is a great story.

This year I am kind of excited because Cooper is old enough to really get it and participate, it won't be me doing everyone's secret elf. In fact I came into my room this morning with my bed all made (at least made to the capability of a 8 year old) it made me so happy. Love that kid.

Neighborhood Christmas gathering

Day #7-Annual Neighborhood Christmas Gathering

Well I am sure this was great too, but then again I didn't make it. My kids were driving me crazy and I wasn't about to take my kids by myself to our sweet neighbors hosting the party and have them scream and run away. Visiting and eating yummy cookies sounded fun, but chasing my kids did not. So we chose to stay in and enjoy our warm house and the company of each other...:)

Temple Square

Day #5- Temple Square lights

Isn't this picture beautiful? And I am sure the lights were too, but I would not know because we did not make it to Temple Square. There was no way I was taking my kids out in 15 degree weather...TOO COLD! So one year without Temple Square lights, kind of sad.

Richards Christmas Outing

Day #5- Richards Christmas Outing

Well I am a dork and didn't take any pictures of this night, I fully intended too I just never got my camera out of my bag to take the pics. Anyway, we did have a GREAT time.

We went to dinner to Epic, a very yummy restaurant and then we went and saw The Blindside. Loved it! What a great, feel good show. I loved Sandra Bullock in it, she did an amazing job.

Thanks for the fun night Richards!

Letters to Santa

Day 4- Letters to Santa

Dear Santa,

This Christmas I want,

A Lego Star Wars Walker ATE ??

Or a Lego Harlequin (isn' t a harlequin a lady that isn't very nice? I don't think that is what it is, Santa better get it straight).

Or a Lego Indiana Jones something escape.

And a Monsters vs. Aliens movie,

Night at the Museum movie

and a $20 gift card to Walmart.

From Cooper

Dear Santa (written by Cooper) this year I want a Wal-e movie and a Wal-e Leapster game. And some plastic golf clubs and the gift to talk and the gift to be potty trained.

And a cars race track.

From Bode

Dear Santa (again, written by Coop)

this year I want a dog.

And a doll and some clothes.

And a Barbie movie and a Barbie toy.

Coop makes some great Santa lists. My favorite is the gift of talking and potty training..love the little guy!

Live Nativity

Day #3- Live Nativity

We love the live nativity, or at least I love it. My sisters stake does this every other year and it is AMAZING! So much work goes into this and the finished product is great. This year was a little tricky, I didn't have Collin with me so I had to rely on my sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews and friends to help me make it. We made it, barely.

This is before we got in line. The line is HUGE. We were lucky and got there early, Shawn and Stacy got there earlier and got us a good spot in line. I couldn't really imagine waiting 1 1/2 hours in line with my kids. We only had it about 45 minutes.

Stacy was smart and got a close parking spot and left all the kids in her car so they could stay warm. I didn't see it, but I heard that Bode wrestled them all to the ground. He was loving it.

I had Peiton with me and she was great at first and then she just started saying "go, go" she was freezing...it was freezing.

When the line got closer and the kids had enough of Bode wrestling him, we got them out of the car and brought them to the line. That is when it kind of started falling apart.

Peiton started crying (notice her beautiful makeup on her face) and Bode didn't want to stay in line, so low and behold I gave him my camera, again (yes he broke it last time, but then I gave it to Peiton and she dropped it and it fixed itself. Amazing.) So the camera kept Bode busy for a while and I just focused on Pei.

Here are a few of the good shots Bode got, he didn't get many. Most of them where of shoes, the ground, rears, and who knows what.

We got closer to the nativity and Bode started loosing it and Pei continued to loose it. Thank goodness I now had help from my good friends Rach and TJ...thank you, thank you. TJ took Bode for a while and again I worked on Pei. It was our turn to go in and Bode wanted nothing to do with it, neither did Peiton. We got in and Bode screamed bloody murder, he was scared to death. So to save everybody from a awful experience with a dreadful scream from two little children, I exited as fast as I good leaving Coop with Rach and TJ.

We made it to the car and waited for them to come out. So we waited in a 45 minute line for nothing...wrong. TJ and Rach came back and watched the kids while I was able to run through with my sister Hollie. I said I was okay and didn't need to, but I am sure glad I did. I have been through this nativity a couple times and every time I tear up. I just leave filling the Christmas spirit and reassuring me why we celebrate Christmas. It is overwhelming to see this little newborn laying in a manger and in your mind you are picturing that it is Jesus on the day that he was born. I am grateful for this stake on putting this together, so me and many others can feel the Christmas spirit. I am also grateful for those that help me so that I can do things like this without my hubby. Thanks!

the Elf on the Shelf

Day #2-the Elf on the Shelf

This is our 3rd year of doing the Elf on the Shelf, and Cooper still loves it and still believes, which I am very happy for. It has a cute little story with it that explains everything that happens with this little elf that is going to spend the holidays at your house looking over you and seeing if you are good or bad. At night time, the elf or "Flippy" (that is the name of ours) goes back to the North Pole and reports to Santa on how good you have been. He then comes back before morning and he is in a new spot. Each morning the kids have to go find him, they love it.

It has been a great tradition in our home, the only problem is...mommy or daddy forgets to hide Flippy (sorry to those adults that still believe) and then we have to come up with some excuse on why Flippy is still in the same spot...:(

The festivites begin!

Day#1-Make Christmas chain

December is here and the chain has been made. Let the Christmas festivities begin!

It doesn't seem like Christmas to me, so hopefully this will bring a little of the Christmas spirit. I never wish for snow unless it is Christmas time, so bring on the snow! I think the snow will help make it feel a little more like Christmas too.

Hopefully I will post all the things we do everyday, if not everyday every other day...we will see, I have been kind of a slacker with making posts lately.

Hay ride with Mrs Claus...or...Christmas story

Day 15- Hay ride with Mrs. Claus (didn't happen)

Today we were suppose to go to Gardner Village and go on a hay ride with Mrs. Claus, but the weather was a little too freezing. So thanks to Grandma Holly we had a change of plan. This month of December, every Monday we have been getting something fun from Grandma Holly. The first week the kids got some warm, flannel sheets for their beds.

The second week we got this darling advent calendar, made by hand, yes made by hand, by Grandma Holly. It is so darling! She made 4 of these, one for each family.

She made each little ornament by hand just spent a lot of time on this and we love it and think it is darling.



And then today, this came....

So we sat down and enjoyed the cute book, some YUMMY clementines (which Peiton gobbled down), and delish hot chocolate. Thanks Holly for the fun activity.

Sorry to say, Bode didn't join us. He was in his room screaming because we turned off Alvin and the Chipmunks. I didn't want to hear him scream anymore so he went to timeout and missed out on all the fun:(

Day 5

Day 5-???

Well today the chain said to go see Santa, well we didn't make it due to sick kids. But, Cooper and Bode were able to go and sleep and Grandma Holly and Grandpa Charlie for a "Snowman Sleepover" with their cousins.

Christmas suckers

Day 4- Make Christmas Suckers

Today our Christmas activity was to make Christmas suckers. Once again this is a tradition we did for years in my family. My mom was kind enough to give me all the molds and sucker materials to make them a few years back. When I pulled them out today, I realized how old they really were and it probably is time to update them.

Cooper and Bode helping get the sucker molds ready. (Bode was trying to imitate Coop, he looks a little silly, or a little scary.)

The suckers starting to form

The finished project...don't they look delish? Well maybe not delish, a big fat chocolate cake looks delish, these look a little cute:)

The last straw

Day 3- The Last Straw

Christmas is supposed to be a season of love, warm feelings, and happy hearts. But with the children's constant bickering, pretty packages, twinkling lights, and a sweet-smelling tree don't come close to filling the McDonald home with the true spirit of the first Christmas.
Then mother is reminded of an old tradition of building a soft bed for baby Jesus -- one straw at a time. Each time someone secretly does something nice for another family member, they get to add a single straw to the manger. Soon the children's quarreling and negative feelings subside and the homemade crib is overflowing. But for one family member, a required act of kindness becomes more than he can take.

This has been one of my favorite traditions since I can remember. I always loved The Last Straw tradition growing up. And this year it is a little more exciting because Cooper really understands it and was excited for it too. Last year I think it was me doing all of the kind and sneaky, nice things, which is what you do as a mom anyway...right? Alright, maybe most of the time.

Flippy the Elf

Day 1- The Elf on the Shelf

This evening we started the festivities with"The Elf on the Shelf." We were given this book last year for Christmas and loved it. The book comes with an elf and has a little story with it. Basically you have this elf and you give him a name, we named ours Flippy. Flippy has a little magic with him and works for Santa, each night he goes back to the North Pole to report to Santa if the kids in the Richards household have been good or bad. Each morning he comes back and is hiding in a new spot. The kids then have to find Flippy's hiding spot each morning, Cooper had a blast doing it last year. The only downside is, the parents have to hide Flippy each night, and things get crazy and you kind of forget (at least this happened last year). So, you have to stay on top of it, or the little game doesn't really work. And we made a rule that you can't go find Flippy until after 7:00 a.m. We don't want kids waking up at the crack of dawn to find Flippy, O'wait...they already do!

The Christmas festivities begin...

It is that time of year, December 1st, when the Richards family Christmas chain is made. We sat down tonight for FHE and figured out all the fun things we wanted to do as a family this holiday season. I can't believe Christmas time is here, this year has gone by way to fast. Hopefully these activitives will help me get in the holiday spirit, it seems to be taking it's old sweet time this year.

BA-HUM-BUG!

Sorry, no Christmas activity today....BA-HUM-BUG (not quite sure of the spelling???)

• Day 16- BA-HUM_BUG!!