Before Christmas...

The first half of December wasn't very exciting.  We didn't have a bunch going on...

December 1st

 Mondays are my days to drive to and from preschool for our carpool.  Lots of times I bring the boys over to play and feed them lunch.  Noah loves it.  Recently though he hasn't wanted to go to anyone else's house to play. It's kind of weird considering how much he used to love to go and play.  We can't figure it out.  So, the only time he plays with friends (besides preschool) is if I have them over here.  

 In our pantry (which is the little space under the stairs) is where I store all of our Christmas decorations.  So, when it's time for decorating for Christmas--the kids have a little play area to play in for a couple of days.  They love it!  I wish I had some other place to store decorations so they could play in it all the time!

December 3rd

 Basketball was starting to get underway and her first game was tonight against Liberty High.  I think this is a picture of her JV2 team and the JV team.  

 Maggie (#30) waiting for her turn to play.  

Also that night was our mutual night and we were all combined and we made gingerbread houses.

 December 5th

 Maggie had basketball every week day.  She usually had 3 practices and 2 games.  Sometimes the practices were from 6:30-8:00 in the morning.  Ugh!  This was another game--a home game this time. 

 Lydia also got her Pixie cut today.  She is so funny--she wanted this for such a long time!  I made her wait just to make sure that she really wanted it.  When I picked her up when she was done (I couldn't stay with her because Noah burnt his finger right as I was about to take her to her appointment), anyways, she was SO EXCITED!  I have never seen her so happy in her whole life.  She was dancing and she kept saying she wanted to scream--so I told her to go ahead!  It was so cute!!  She was excited to show it to everyone!  

December 6th

Garrett and I have gone to the Singing Christmas Tree quite a few times and really enjoy it.  This year, even though it's really expensive, we decided to bring the kids and grandma and grandpa McKibben.  We decided to go to the afternoon performance instead of the evening one, because it would've been too late for the little kids.  

 Don't they all look terribly excited?

 They had it in a different place--a lot smaller this year and it wasn't quite the same.  It was still good, though.

 I don't know if you can tell, but Santa is up on stage and Noah was pretty excited about it.  I was trying to get his face in the picture, too.

 During intermission...

 This little boy was pretty bored 15 minutes into it.  It was a long afternoon for him!

 After the show was over, we went out to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes.  Then we had Jim and Georgia take the kids home for us and had Maggie babysit so that Garrett and I could go Christmas shopping. 

December 7th

 I think we were on our way to church when these girls took this picture.

December 8th

 Cooper was over to play today--playing trains.   I love that they were wearing the same shirt.  

December 12th

For one of Maggie's classes (child development), everyone in the class has to take home a baby doll for the weekend.  They have to take care of it like a real baby.  Everything they do is recorded.  The baby cries and they have to figure out what to do so that the baby is happy again.  They also have to write down everything they do for the baby.  If they have other things going on that weekend, they tell the teacher and the teacher will turn it off for a couple of hours so they aren't held responsible for that time.  So Maggie had a basketball game on Friday night, so it was turned off for that time and also for church on Sunday.  Maggie was very grateful for those little breaks.  She didn't get much sleep that weekend.  She said the baby cried on and off a lot--every night she had him.  I thought they might take it easy a little bit, but nope.  It was just like having a newborn.  She was up almost every two hours or so feeding the baby or rocking it or changing it's diaper.  She was so glad when Monday came so she could give "Lloyd" back.  

Feeding Lloyd

Bella loved to help out with him.

 This Saturday, we took the kids to the store and had them each pick out a toy to donate to the Firefighter's Toy Drive.  They had Santa at the drop off, and they got to sit in the firetruck.

And they got to see a pretty fake looking Minnie and Mickey.  Ha!

Feeding Lloyd again, while she ate dinner.  I think she looks pretty tired in this picture. 

Noah helping out too.

December 17th

Noah's preschool had their Christmas Program and Activity.  They sang about 5 or 6 songs...Noah actually sang and did some of the actions!  I was pretty surprised!

So cute with his reindeer hat

Then they had donuts and juice and then the families could make a craft together.  This year we made a snowman.

We really love his preschool!

December 21st

After church on Sunday...these girls like to take pictures.

Selfie Sunday...Is that what they call it for Sundays?

I sure love these beautiful girls of mine!

First Half of December

Dec. 4th

We started the month with Bella earning the Student of the Month for her Kindergarten class.  Of course we were late to the assembly and they start with kindergarten, so we missed her turn.  But when we got there, we found her teacher and she said they could still go up.  They got in line behind the other students still waiting.  They went last, but at least she still got to go.  She was so excited to be the Student of the Month.

Waiting in line

These are some things that her teacher said about her:

     *  She exhibits positive learning behaviors

     *  She is calm and mature

     *  She raises her hand to speak and speaks in a clear, inside voice

     *  She works quietly at her desk

     *  and she listens very well to directions.

Bella and her teacher Mrs. Wilkerson

Right after I left the school, I took Maggie in to the orthodontist to get her top braces on.  She was so excited to get this started.  She's been asking and asking when we could get the process started and we were finally able to get some money together for the down payment.  She was in a lot of pain for the first couple of days, but then was fine.  She'll get the bottom braces on next week.  

This was after school.  Bella loves wearing her hat and she loves coloring!

Mr. Noah wanting his picture taken too.

Later that night, Garrett and I went to look at wood floor samples.  When we finally found one we liked and could agree on, we were told that it would take until mid-January to get it ordered.  At first, Garrett wanted to pick a different one, but I really wanted the one we picked, so we're still waiting for a new floor to be put in.  

Some of the samples we were looking at.  

Dec. 6th

This evening we had our ward Christmas Party.  The Young Women were in charge of providing activities for the primary kids to do before/after they had seen Santa Claus.  Santa Claus was there from 5-6, so we had to be there at 4:30 to set up our activities.  We had Bingo, Tanagrams to make nativity scenes, coloring pictures and a little star craft for the little kids.  At 6 pm they started to serve dinner.  Jim and Georgia came and ate dinner with us.  And at 7 pm they started the program.  It was a really nice program.  They had the ward orchestra again--and it seemed like they had improved a lot because they sounded great! 

It was really fun to listen to.  

They had sing-alongs, 2 Bell choirs--one for the older youth (Maggie was in that one) and another for the activity girl age youth. (Lydia's group.)

 Maggie's group of Bell ringers

 Lydia's group.  Lydia's group also sang with theirs.  They were both so pretty.

And of course the primary kids sang some songs.  

Then the choir sang one song--which Garrett, Maggie and I participated in--which was fun.  They also had  some other musical performances.  It was a great night.  

Unfortunately though, someone at the party was sick with the stomach flu--whether they knew it or not.  Because the next day, people were getting sick left and right and when it hit a family, most of the members got it.  It wasn't pretty.  It spread through the ward like wildfire in the next week or so.  

Dec. 7th

This morning, we met with the sister missionaries and one of their investigators.  They didn't have any where to teach him, so they asked if they could use our house.  So for most of the Saturdays in December, the sister missionaries and their investigator and sometimes his kids would come over and we'd sit in and listen on their discussion.  I've never experienced that before, but that first meeting was really spiritual.  It was really kind of a neat experience.  Honestly, I wasn't very excited about it at first, just because I was nervous about being put on the spot to answer questions.  I'm not very good at that kind of thing.  But, the Holy Ghost was there and prompted lots of thoughts into my head and I really felt his influence.  

That night, Garrett and I took his parents out for dinner at the Outback Steakhouse and then we went to see the Singing Christmas Tree.  It's kind of a tradition that our friends started taking us to years ago.  It's a great way to start the Christmas Season.  With Portland being so liberal, it is really neat to go and see this performance where they focus on Jesus Christ being the reason for Christmas and most of the songs are about Him and His birth.  We really love going!  I think we're going to take our kids next year.

 Waiting for it to start

picture's a little blurry

they don't allow you to take pictures, so I found this on the internet.

We found out the next day that Georgia got that same sickness that was going around our ward, in the middle of the night and had it for most of the next day, too.  Then Jim got it.  Oops--we felt really bad for them.

Dec. 8th

The next morning we had Stake Conference, which started at 10.  Maggie was singing in the youth choir so she had to be there at 8:30.  I was the lucky one that got to take her.  It was the first time that we had ever been in the front rows for a stake conference.   Usually we are on time or a few minutes late and we are way in the back of the gym on the hard fold-up chairs.  So, that was nice to be up front.  I guess being there early has it's advantages.  Their choir did a great job and the talks were really good too.  

That night, in the middle of the night--of course--Maggie got sick and was throwing up and having diarrhea.  Poor thing.  I don't think she stopped all that until about 10 am.  But then she was having such horrible stomach pains that she wanted to throw up so she could feel better.  She started feeling better that night and was on the mend the next day.  I was completely paranoid that we were all going to get it.  I'm the kind of person that feels like they are sick when they are around someone sick.  So, my stomach was hurting all week and I kept thinking that I was about to get it.  So, I was cleaning like crazy and using my essential oils in my diffuser and making everyone wash their hands all the time.  By some miracle, no one else got it!!  I was so relieved!!

Dec. 9th

Maggie was recuperating today so she stayed home from school.  A guy from Kennedy Restoration came today to take down our lights and speakers in the kitchen and in the family room because they were coming the next day to put up sheet rock and do the mudding and texturing on the walls and ceilings.  So, for the next week, we were practically in the dark in those rooms--where we always hang out.  I had two lamps, so I brought them down, but it didn't help much.  Then, I was trying to get some laundry done that day and our washer broke.  Joy!  Garrett called someone the next day, but it was going to be a week before someone could come look at it.  There was no way that I could go a week without a washer, so they said if he wanted to bring it in, then someone could look at it.  So that's what we did.  First we had to empty all the water out of it--that's what was wrong with it--it wouldn't go to the rinse/spin cycle.  It was quite comical to see us trying to get it down the stairs and into the truck.  Good times!!

Dec. 10th

New sheet rock!

Dec. 11

This morning I took all 5 kids to the dentist for cleanings.  It was Noah's first time in the "chair". I forgot to take pictures though.  He was pretty proud of himself for being a big boy at the dentist.  While we were there, Lydia had to get a new spacer thing put in.  So, that took a bit more time.  They also told me that Lydia and Maggie both need to get all 4 wisdom teeth taken out soon because some of their back molars are coming in sideways and their mouths are so crowded.  They are both freaked out by this, but I guess it needs to be done.  So I still need to get it scheduled.  Since by this time most of the kids had missed lunch at school, I took them out to eat at 5 Guys Burgers.  So good!  We dropped Maggie off at school after that, but since it was a Wednesday and early release, I just let them have the last hour off from school.  

The Kennedy guys came again today and this time were doing the mudding and texturing.  They were still here when I left to go to a Girls Night Out dinner.  To protect the rest of the house, they put up these sheets of plastic.  This is the view of it from our entry way.  

They had to bring in lights because it was so dark.  Garrett picked up our washer after work, but it just sat in our front room until the next day after work, when he had time to install it.  

Dec. 12

 I love this picture because it shows the craziness of our lives.  Our dining table was covered with stuff, so we just ate in here.  So the kids were eating breakfast at our art table in our front room before school.  Notice the washer in the corner.  Classic!

 Our kitchen table in our family room.

 Finally done with the mudding and texturing...ready for the paint which was happening the next day.

 After bringing the washer back upstairs to the laundry room, Garrett was giving rides on the dolly.  He gave me one first...and then everyone else wanted a turn.  Except Maggie.  

 Bella in action

 I guess I didn't get pictures of everyone.  

Another way to have fun in the chaos is to race cars down the tube of linoleum/vinyl for the bathroom.  Attaching small flashlights onto the cars makes it even funner.  I'm so glad these kids have such a fun and creative dad!  We have videos of the cars going down, but I couldn't find any pictures.  

Dec. 13

On Friday morning, the painters came to repaint the kitchen and the family room.  Since they were paying to repaint, we decided we wanted to change the color.  We chose a grey, but it turned out to be more like blue.  The insurance was only covering one coat of paint, but since we had red underneath, we knew it would need a second coat, so we had to pay for that out of pocket.  

They moved most of our furniture into our front room and got to work. 

I let Lydia skip school that day to go and get her birthday pictures taken at the mall.  There's never a good time to go in the afternoon and I hate going to the mall on a Saturday.  So, I thought this way would be fun.  It's like a Hansen Holiday, plus I get to spend more time with her on an almost one on one basis.  (Noah came with us.)  After her pictures, we had lunch at Subway, but then we had to get home to get Bella off the bus at 1.  Here are a few of my favorites.

As we were leaving the mall, Noah had to ride on the motorcycle and car.  

 When we got back, the painters had packed up and gone.  It was a total shock to see these walls instead of our brown and red.  I still don't think I like it, and I'm tempted to redo it.  Garrett thinks we should just live with it for a year or so, since we just paid money to have it done.  

 It looks like they did a good job of painting, but we found all sorts of mistakes and things that needed redoing.  Plus, they didn't clean up any messes.  They got paint on the back of our couch, on the legs of our kitchen table, plus they left a big old paint gob on our sliding glass door.  I should've taken a picture of it, but I never did.  They eventually came back to fix things and clean up, but I was still really surprised at the state that these professionals left our house in.  

  
Dec. 14th

Bright and early--well early for us--about 9, the flooring guys came and replaced the vinyl in the upstairs bathroom.  They were here for a couple of hours before they were done.  

This was our new floor that we picked out.  Garrett and I really like it, but the kids don't.  Go figure.  :)

This afternoon, we took our jar of coins that we've been saving up for over a year and took the kids shopping with it.  (First we took the coins to the bank to get cash).  We let them pick out a toy that they really wanted for themselves and said that we were going to donate it to another boy or girl who wasn't going to have a very nice Christmas.  They were all very excited to pick out something for other kids.  The Cornelius and Forest Grove Fire Departments were having a toy drive, so we stopped there to drop off the toys we had picked. When we went to drop them off, firefighters were there and we got our pictures with them and got to climb in the fire truck.  

 Looking in the fire truck.

 It's hard to tell, but in this one, they put handcuffs on Garrett for fun.

When we got back home, the sister missionaries came over with Armando and his kids and we had a discussion about the Plan of Salvation. 

This was later in the day.  Garrett and I were about to go out on a date.  Dinner and Christmas shopping.  I'm sure the kids played Wii all night.  :)  I'm so grateful for Maggie and all the babysitting she does!

Dec. 15th

We had a regular Sunday with church and naps and Family Home Evening.  Today though, I took pictures for our Christmas card that I forgot I was supposed to be working on.  Oops.  Sorry to everyone that they were so late.  

I think this was the one I put on the card.  Garrett didn't want to be in a picture, so I made it with just the kids.  

I guess I'll stop here.  This post is a big longer than I anticipated.  :)