Snow!

Well, it wasn't much but this little snowstorm in January allowed the kids to use all those snow clothes I bought them last winter that never got used.

At least Noah can be an angel this way!

Not too happy about the snow in the face from our neighbor Celine.

Noah tried to clear the roads for everyone. He lasted the longest out in the snow and loved it even though this picture would indicate otherwise.

Dates!

A couple months ago I found Pinterest and I have spent many evenings perusing all the wonderful ideas and pinning them away for future use. But the best is actually DOING some of those great ideas! I found the cutest stocking stuffer idea - 12 months of dates with Mom and Dad!

The boys and Savannah alternate months between me and David so for January Savannah had a movie date with David. She had been begging us to see Les Miserables and after much discussion David and I finally decided to let her go. There were two parts she was not allowed to watch but to her what she did see was magical and she fell in love with the story. David said she sobbed at the end, cried all the way home, and was still teary eyed when I tucked her into bed. For the past few weeks she has spent a lot of time singing all the songs and Les Miserables is now her favorite movie.

I got the boys for January and my date with Noah was a dinner date. Red Robin was his choice of restaurant and we had a fun time together.

Xander's January date was a trip to Barnes and Noble to pick out a book and then we got a yummy frappuccino from the Starbucks next door.

For February Xander got to go to breakfast with David and I treated Savannah to a book at Barnes and Noble (along with a frap from Starbucks, of course!) Noah's date was a woodworking project with David. Noah is big into police Legos so when he saw a wooden bank project from Lowes he knew he had to get it. His Legos robbers NEED a bank to rob!

One happy little guy! He even has a bunch of coins to put in it!

"You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!"

Ready to go do some shooting!

David set up a nice target for them and gave some good instruction before the shooting actually began.

Thank goodness no one shot his or her eye out! The kids just had tons of fun!

Christmas 2012

Another Christmas in Baltimore with just our little family...and we even got a little snow on Christmas Eve!

Our yummy traditional Christmas Eve dinner - filet mignon, shrimp, cream corn, casear salad, and martinellis. This is probably my favorite meal of the year.

It's so fun to have Savannah play carols for us.

Noah's Christmas Eve meltdown, well, not so much fun!

We always read from the scriptures and The Night Before Christmas.

Christmas Eve jammies.

Leaving some reindeer food on the front lawn...don't want to forget Rudolph and his gang!

Early Christmas morning, waiting to come down the stairs and see what Santa left. He did not disappoint!

Monster Fighters Lego Castle for Xander,

knights and dragons for Noah,

Monster High School for Savannah.

David decided it was time for the kids to have guns so they each got their very own BB gun. They were pretty excited!

Upon receiving his Death Eater wand, Noah turned to Xander and said, "I am your follower!" (Xander is the proud owner of Voldemort's wand.)

I love that the kids always get each other gifts.

The look on Savannah's face was priceless when she opened the art sets from her Grandma and Grandpa Schaeffer...she LOVES to paint!

Noah received his very own DS which means no longer does he have to just sit and watch Xander play. And playing is what Noah did for most of the day.

Another fun Christmas although we always miss family.

Christmas Parties

We always have so many fun activities in December that keep us busy and in the holiday mood. This year Savannah and Xander were asked to participate in the Relief Society's Christmas program, a small reenactment of the birth of our Savior. Xander was one of the wise men and since he was the oldest of the three boys, he was the leader which he liked.

Savannah was one of the narrators. She was teamed up with Felix, the boy who played Joseph to her Mary several years ago in our Ward Christmas Party nativity play.

Xander the Wise Man visits the baby Jesus.

About two weeks before Christmas we had our Ward Christmas Party which I was put in charge of. The ward auxiliary leaders had already decided what they wanted to do, I just had to delegate and make sure things went smoothly. I decided that our ward parties are always so family and kid oriented that sometimes the single adults as well as the adults who no longer have children at home get neglected. I put together a program just for adults that included trivia questions, games, and singing and assigned one of our most charismatic ward members as MC. I was his assistant so while I spent my time being Vanna White, David took the kids around to get pictures with Santa and do the kid activities and games.

And one last fun party...with friends! We had yummy food, great conversation, and even a gingerbread house decorating contest!

Out of the 5 families, our house tied for first! Yes, we are quite talented!

Bobcat

The other night I was watching TV in our family room when I heard some rustling on our back deck. Thinking the raccoons were into the cat food again, I grabbed the broom from the kitchen, ran to the back door and threw it open, ready to send that raccoon back to the woods with my powerful broom swipe. Instead I was greeted by the vicious snarl of a bobcat!

Okay, totally kidding but it makes a good story to go along with the title, right? Actually Xander earned his Bobcat in scouts and received his award and pin in the Pack Meeting in December. Still very thrilling!

Pinning on the mom's pin...this made me a little nervous but Xander did a good job and didn't poke me.

One happy scout!

The activity for the meeting was putting together wooden schoolhouse frames. Thank goodness there were enough for siblings because the kids had a blast, especially the whole hammering part.

They turned out really cute and our kids ended up giving these to their teachers as a Christmas gift.