Christmas Week

 Since Christmas was on a Saturday this year the kids had the whole week leading up to it off of school. We did a whole lot of relaxing and time at home, but did get out of the house some, too. Ryan's friend, Derek wanted a playdate so we met them at the park by Clements to burn some energy. Todd was working and Savannah and Eloise had plans so I brought the Knight boys along, too. The boys had fun playing football with Derek, his dad and his brother. Jared wasn't too into football, and after a short time on the playground (which is actually a pretty cool playground) he borrowed my phone to go hunt for some geocaches. Annie decided to go with him. Megan enjoyed the time on the playground and after a little while the boys came back to keep playing on the playground. They combined the two, trying to time throwing the football so they could kick it while swinging. They weren't too bad at it.

The favorite part of this playground is the slow merry go round ball. You have to push it pretty hard to get it going any speed, but the kids love it. And it's a good workout for whoever is pushing it.

Ryan went over and borrowed the Knight's Mario Cart, so that was generally their go-to activity for that week when they got screen time. 

Not just Ryan and B. All the kids got way into it. We were happy to return the game to Todd's around New Year's. 

New Year's Eve was our standard event. Grandma's house for 7 layer salad, acting out the nativity, and cousin gift exchange.

Everyone was very thoughtful in their gifts for their cousins. 

And of course B thought it would be great to give Ryan the toilet seat that he rescued from our house a year or two ago when we got a new toilet seat and tried to throw the old one away. Thanks B.

Back home the kids opened their new pajamas, watched a movie, and settled in for a long winter's nap. 

Santa came! Before opening presents:

After:

They all got things they loved. Ryan got a minecraft sweatshirt, MouseTrap, and a drone. 

Rachel got a new drawing pad that she can plug into the computer and use for drawing. She also got Throw Throw Burrito, a game everyone loves that is a mix of dodge ball and spoons.

Megan got Exploding Kittens (a game), and a hoverstar, kind of like a drone, but not remote controlled, just controlled by infrared sensors to keep it from bumping into things. However, it didn't always work fast enough and one of the propellers got stuck in her hair when it ran into her head. Still a fun toy.

Annie got a rock tumbler as probably her favorite gift. It's been going for 3 weeks and the first batch of rocks is almost polished and ready to see! 

We had Christmas dinner at Grandma's. 

After dinner we opened the remaining presents. I got a new Cricut cutting machine with lots of vinyl, probably because my mom wants me to make our turkey run shirts every year. ;) It is a lot easier to use than the old Cricut I got second hand from a friend that used cartridges. My first project when I was trying things out was a waterbottle sticker:

It turned out pretty cool. I've since used it to make water bottle stickers for the YW in our stake for Ward Conferences and I got a ton of plastic cups and shirts so I can make birthday gifts whenever I want. Loving the gift!