Pre-Christmas, Part 1

The day after Thanksgiving we traditionally pull out all our Christmas decorations and deck out the whole house.  We celebrate accomplishing this feat by watching The Polar Express and having hot chocolate. 

The christmas tree didn't get decorated on that day (thanks to a needy baby), so a few nights later the kids all got to help put on ornaments.  It drove Aubree crazy that Thane and Graham were so haphazard in their ornament placement.  As I watched, I thought to myself, "As soon as they go to bed I'm fixing everything!"

Once they finally went to bed though, I realized I'm more tired/lazy than I am OCD.  I left the ornaments exactly where there were and thought, "meh. I'll just be taking them down in a couple weeks anyway."

A huge windstorm swept through and left us without power for 28 hours.  When our fantastic neighbor started up his generator, he sent an extension cord over the fence to our house so we could run our refrigerator and not lose all our food.  Thankfully the weather was mild so we weren't cold in our house.  

The first weekend in December is the annual Celebrate the Nativities event.  This year Mark agreed to participate in the live nativity, so Nellie got to play the role of baby Jesus.  I swaddled her tightly, and she slept for the majority of our one hour shift.  Super authentic... except for the pink paci in her mouth!

Later the whole family joined in on the nativity action.

Aubree and Bryce participated in the children's choir.  Aubree played her violin for one song and sang in a small group for another.  Bryce got to ring the bells for yet another song.  They both enjoyed it, though Bryce is trying to convince me that he doesn't really like performing.

As we tried to pull out to head to their performance, we discovered our driveway was blocked by the Santa fire-truck!  This is an excellent community event where the firetruck brings lights, music, and Santa through the neighborhoods to collect food for the food bank.  This time around the timing just wasn't so great.

Speaking of nativities, what would Christmas be without our traditional salt dough nativities?  This year we invited two families over to join us.  That made for a pretty wild night, but everybody's nativity sets turned out so well!

Jensens

Rasbands

Winters

Another night we met up with Katie and her family to visit the famed Snowflake Lane in Bellevue.  We were excited to see the parade.  Turns out "parade" is an overly generous term.  Maybe "stationary parade" would be slightly more accurate.  We were underwhelmed.  But, now we can say we've done it.  The kids all got lollipops, so I'm sure they'll remember it fondly.

And since this post is short on Nellie pictures, here are a couple cute ones just because.

Thanksgiving

This year's Thanksgiving was all about the pies!  For Thane's Five in a Row, we read the book "How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World."  Then we took a field trip to a new local shop called "The Pie Lab."   We got to learn about how they make their pies, then each kid had a chance to make two of their own - one fruit pie and one cream pie.  

 Aubree had a day off of school, so (much to her delight) she was able to join us.

 It was a really fun, hands-on field trip.

When they made their cream pies, they got to add as much of whatever kind of topping they desired.  I think Thane found his personal heaven.

The kids ate their cream pies (vanilla was significantly better than chocolate) while their mini fruit pies baked.  They were all so proud of their creations!

We also rowed "Cranberry Thanksgiving" and made numerous batches of Cranberry bread and cranberry sauce.  We discovered Thane enjoys cranberries raw (doesn't that just make your mouth pucker!).  We also made these fun silhouettes.  If I'd known I'd like them so much, I would've done a more careful job!

 The night before Thanksgiving, some new friends invited us over for "pie night."  In anticipation of the event, I made a typical vanilla pudding pie and a real-life apple pie.  I admit, I'm not an experienced pie maker, so the apple pie was a foray into the unknown.

When we got the our friend's home, we couldn't believe how many pie options were available!  A sweet feast before the real feast.

Thanksgiving day we were able to go to my Aunt Deanna's and Uncle Ray's to visit with all our Bonus family.  As usual, I got so caught up in visiting that I forgot to pull out my camera.  The only thing we remembered to document was that we had four baby girls there, and Nellie was the oldest!

Vivian (3 days old!), Roxy, Jordyn, & Nellie

First Comes the Stocking of Little Nell

Our original plans for this Christmas break involved driving to Utah to spend the holidays with four of my siblings.  Unfortunately, snow was forecast from Snoqualmie to Springville, and we weren't willing to risk the possible danger or extra travel time (especially with a baby who screams every time she's in the car longer than 10 minutes).  Though we were sad not to celebrate with family, being home for Christmas is a beautiful thing.  

While Utah is buried in snow, we got awfully close to having our own white Christmas!  Bryce spent a couple hours on Christmas Eve shoveling all the snow in our backyard.  He had hopes of making a snowman, but was ultimately content with his snow pile.  

The Christmas morning rule in our family is no one can go downstairs until 7 am.  That was essentially the same rule my family had growing up.  When 7 am rolled around, my siblings and I would scurry to our parents' room.  Mom and Dad would then slowly get up and even more slowly get ready.  I used to think they were teasing us and trying to draw out the suspense.  Now I'm pretty sure they were just tired!

Mark had to hold the kids back while I finished getting Nellie ready.  "Hurry," he joked, "I don't think I can hold them back much longer!"

The kids were good enough sports to wait at the top of the stairs long enough to snap a Christmas morning picture.  Aubree tells me this is the third year she's worn the same pajamas on Christmas morning!

First come the stockings, though I must admit that Little Nell's wasn't exactly "filled well."  She only got new pacifiers for Christmas (she didn't seem offended).  

The rest of the kids had significant hauls (I kind of love finding stocking stuff).  

Opening presents proceeded in the typical youngest to oldest fashion.  Aubree has designated herself "the present passer-outer."  So far, none of the boys have argued with that, so we went with it.  I enjoy the present opening.  It's fun to see their reactions and excitement.  

Top/favorite gifts this year: 

Graham loves his Thomas the Train hat from his cousin Piper and a "little Big Bird" stuffed animal he got from Thane.  

Aubree was thrilled to get a camera of her very own.  Hopefully this will entice her to blog more on her somewhat neglected personal blog.

I love the picture below. Even though it's blurry, it captures her thrill perfectly (I believe this gift was the movie Cinderella).  Aubree is also very excited to get a new pair of black and white converse high tops.  This is her first foray into the "I-want-something-fashionable-and-trendy" arena.  Unfortunately, said shoes are currently in Utah where I had then shipped when I thought we'd be there for Christmas.  Oops.

For the last month, every night when I asked Thane "What are you thinking about?" he would answer, "Jelly Beans and Christmas."  So guess what he got for Christmas?  Aubree said, "I'm glad Thane got them, because he's the best at sharing!"

Bryce got Thane perler beads.  They are a huge hit (I got a bigger container for the rest of the kids to share).

They've spent large portions of their days since Christmas making innumerable perler bead creations.

Today we had our first major spill, surprisingly enough - by Aubree.  On the upside, she's big enough to clean them up by herself!

Bryce keeps changing his mind about what constitutes his favorite presents.  Right now he says the desk lamp he got from Aubree and the Cool Circuits puzzle are his best gifts.  

By the time breakfast (french toast casserole) was done cooking, all the presents had been opened.  

And Baby Girl was ready to go back to bed.

In the late afternoon we joined our friends for a wonderful Christmas dinner and a fun and enjoyable evening.  

Bryce exclaimed, "this was the best Christmas ever!"  

Then he wisely added, "But I'll probably say the same thing next year."

Aubree - Addendum

I forgot to include an important accomplishment when I wrote my last post about Aubree...

Her school has a reading program where kids are asked to log in how many pages they read.  They can earn prizes at certain page level milestones.  At the end of the year, the student who has read the most pages wins a brand new bike.  

Towards the end of May, I got a call from one of the PTA leaders.  "What is Aubree's favorite color?  What kind of helmet would she prefer?"

Over the course of the year, Aubree read nearly 70,000 pages (and we only allowed her to count chapter books)!  She was very excited to win the bike.  The boys and I were hiding at the side of the gym, but when her name was called, the boys ran over to give her big hugs.  

Graham wanted to be in the picture with Aubree, her principal, and the new bike.

Later, Aubree wrote a narrative of her experience:

PAWS Bike, by Aubree Winters

Crossing every part of my body I possibly could, I held my breath and waited for the PTA president to announce the overall winner of the PAWS pages competition.  The winner would receive a bike and a helmet.  

I couldn't remember exactly how many pages I had read, but I knew I could win.  I had to.  I had worked hard, reading extra with an average of 6500 pages a month.  I deserved to win.  

2nd grade.  3rd grade.  The time seemed to be going slower than it ever had been as they declared the winners of each grade level.  4th grade.  5th grade.

"And now for the grand prize winner!" I clenched my crossed fingers into fists, waiting, hoping, wanting.  "She is a fourth grade girl, who read 69,957 pages!" I'm a fourth grade girl, and I'm pretty sure that's how many pages I had!, I thought.  "And the winner is... Aubree Winters!"

I jumped up and walked to the front of our multi-purpose room.  My heart was beating hard.  I couldn't believe it, yet here I was, standing in front of the whole entire school.  The bike was a mountain bike with seven gears.  The color was more of a teal than blue, which was my favorite color.

As I stood there, at the front of the room, my little brother Graham, who was two at the time, ran up to me.   What is he doing here?, I thought as I hugged him.  I looked to my left, through the double doors that led to the hall, and saw my whole family (except for my dad, who was at work). 

I wheeled my bike out into the hall and my mom explained that they had called her earlier and asked what my favorite color was so I could have a bike that was a good color for me.  So, when it was time for the PAWS assembly, they came to see me and take the bike and I home (because I couldn't bring the bike home on the bus).  After a few pictures we loaded the bike into the trunk of our green van, then drove home.  That was probably one of the happiest days of my life.

Aubree's 10!

Aubree turned 10 two months ago.  Maybe I've been slow in getting this post up because denial is my friend.  Double digits? Already?

Although 10 is a "friend birthday party" year at our house, Aubree opted instead to just take two of her friends out to dinner.  

She chose to go to Old Country Buffet.  She just can't get enough of their butter rolls.  Those three girls did some serious eating.  Then they rolled home, watched a movie, and enjoyed their time together.  Aubree says it was exactly how she wanted her birthday to go.  

A little more about Aubree at ten...

She is loving having a baby sister, aka "the sister I've always wanted!"  When Aubree comes home from school, she makes a beeline to Nellie.  "How's your day been, cutest-baby-in-the-whole world?"

Nellie's not overly fond of being held by most people, but she likes Aubree.  Aubree loves to show Nell off to her friends and teachers. 

Speaking of teachers, Aubree has a new teacher this year.  She misses her old teacher, but she is excelling in the classroom.  Being a fifth grader has somehow engendered an increased sense of responsibility and maturity.  We don't have to remind her to follow through with homework or projects and she always remembers to ask to get her daily planner signed.  Her hard work has paid off - she got straight A's on her report card (this is the first year they used letter grades)!

Leprechaun trap she made last March for school

Backing up a bit... last May Aubree participated in the elementary speech and debate tournament.  This time around she entered in two different categories: storybook reading, and solo-duo-trio (with two of her friends).  Her love of books payed off in a big way in the storybook reading competition, and she earned second place!

Even though her trio didn't earn a medal, I was super impressed with her willingness to try something new and push herself out of her comfort zone.  

Aubree possesses a love and a talent for music.  She's been playing her violin now for over three years. She still doesn't like to practice, but she adores performing and seeks out every possible performance opportunity - at church, at school, or for friends and family.  It astounds me how well she's able to play by ear; in addition to her assigned lesson music, and the hymns she learns from the hymnbooks, Aubree loves to figure out other favorite music by experimentation.

In August we bought a keyboard in preparation for Bryce to begin taking piano lessons.  As soon as Bryce's piano books arrived, Aubree sat down and within 2 days had worked her way through the primer level!  I bought her level 1, and she continues to work through those books.  She prefers, however, to try and figure it out on her own.  

In addition to her instruments, Aubree loves to sing.  In the Spring, her choir group had a talent night.  Each choir student had the chance to choose a piece of music to perform alone or with a small group.  I wasn't able to attend the performance, but Mark came home with tales of a pretty painful evening.  A large part of the problem was that many students chose somewhat inappropriate songs (whether for content or ability).  I know I'm biased, but Aubree and her friends Bethelle and Kaitlyn sounded pretty good (and the choice of song was all their own)!  Here's a short clip (Blogger wouldn't let me insert the whole song):

Aubree has long wanted to play the flute, and this year signed up for early morning band.  Her enthusiasm for the instrument waned after the first month, though.  So now she's back to just the violin and piano (and you won't hear me complaining about no longer having to get her to school by 7:45 am twice a week).

Aubree is a joy in our lives.  She is creative and bright and helpful.  It's a pleasure to watch her grow up, even if I sometimes wish I could keep her small.

An Interview with Aubree:

Favorite Color?: Blue

Favorite Candy?: Man that's hard! Skittles. 

What do you want to be when you grow up?: An author and a mom.

If you went on a mission, where would you want to go?: France or Italy.

Favorite Primary Song?: Gethsemane

Favorite Animal?: Penguin

Favorite Movie?: Princess Bride

Favorite Thing to Do?: Read, write, and play with friends

Favorite Food: I've got too many favorite foods! Soups. No, Breads!

Best Friends?: Bethany, Bethelle, Kaitlyn, and Gina

Favorite Book?: Oh dear! The Two Princesses of Bamarre & the Dragon Keeper series.

Favorite Toy?: Instruments

What makes you happy?: Candy!

Favorite thing to do with Mom?: Cuddle with her & Nellie

Favorite thing to do with Dad?: Daddy/Daughter dates of course!

What do you do really well?  Read and sort of write.

What makes you laugh?  When someone says or does something funny.

What’s the best time of day?  Recess and free time after school.

What are you afraid of?  Spiders. They're just tiny little things, but they creep me out!

What do you like to do with your family?  Eat dinner. No... go to ward parties.

What do you love to learn about?  How to improve my writing.

Where do you like to go? Fun places like an ice-skating rink.

If you had one wish, what would it be?  To have never-ending money so I can get whatever I want.

What would you buy if you had $1,000? Candy, writing stuff, books, family presents for Christmas, stuff like that.

What is your favorite song?  White Flag, by Dido, and I really like patriotic songs.

What do you hope you can do before your next birthday? See Bethelle in person again.

2015 Family Pics

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, the weather finally cooperated enough for us to take our long-awaited family pictures.  Though it was sunny and gorgeous, it was also frigid.  Before we'd even reached our picture destination (just a short hike from our car), the kids were already complaining of being, "f-f-f-freezing cold!"

Our photographer (our good friend, Andrea) was a miracle worker, and somehow still managed to capture amazing shots, despite the chattering teeth and less-than-cooperative attitudes.  

 "We'll be quick," we promised the kids.  "When we get home you can have hot chocolate!"
 "But mom," Aubree cried, "I can't even feel my toes!"

At one point, Mark whispered, "Do you think any of these will turn out okay?"

 Group shots allowed cuddling for a tiny bit of extra warmth.  

Pretty soon, Nellie was d.o.n.e.  There's not much that works to persuade a 3 month old.  You can hardly tell that's she's screaming in the family picture below. Poor girl just needed a looooong nap. 

I love how the individual kid shots turned out.  Graham is 3 years old.

Bryce is 7 years old.  

Thane is 5 years old. He had the hardest time overcoming the cold.  "I'm trying to smile," he lamented, "but I just can't!"

Aubree is 10 years old.  

Nellie is 3 months old.

I can't wait to get all these pictures up on our walls!