Krispie Treat Houses

Last Christmas we started something that has turned into a family tradition...instead of making gingerbread houses, we make rice krispie treat houses. Using mini-loaf pans, I mold the rice krispie treats into blocks, then cut them into "house" shapes. They hold up better than the traditional graham cracker version of the gingerbread house, and they taste a lot better (in my opinion!). Last year only Riley and Kaiya made one, but this year, all the kids were in on the fun.

Kassidy

Kaydence---the only one who didn't really get into the activity. She liked having a house, but she didn't want to put any frosting on it, and hence most of her decorations fell off!

Rustin--what a clown!

Kyndall

Ryder

Kaiya

Riley

Krispie Treat Houses

Christmas 2008--Part 1

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we kept up our family tradition of inviting a few friends over for dinner. This year we had Jayson’s brother, Joel, with his wife, Tobi and their two kids, Alec and Cora. We also had our friends Brenda and Tyrone with their kids Luvinia and Joe, my good friend Cassaundra, and my friend Virginia with her husband Ron. Normally I love getting out the Christmas dishes and making the table look fancy with charger plates, centerpieces, candles, place cards and the works, but this year I kept it very simple with plastic utensils. A tablecloth and the gingerbread house that the kids decorated was the extent of our fanciness! The babies have recently learned how to climb up on chairs and tables, and we have had more than our share of broken dishes lately, so I thought it would be wise to forgo the China, crystal and candles this year!

The "Kid" Table: Riley, Joe, Luvinia, Kaiya

The "Adult" Table--Cassaundra, Jayson, Tobi, Joel, Ron

Kassidy, Kaydence, Rustin, Kyndall and Ryder

Cassaundra and Rachelle

Following dinner, we read from the Bible the story of Christ’s birth, and the kids acted it out. Kaiya played Mary this year. Luvinia was an angel. Riley, Joe, Alec and Cora doubled as Wisemen and Shepherds.

Kaiya aka Mary

Riley bearing a gift of a roll

Mary (Kaiya) is visited by the Angel Gabriel (Luvinia)

The wise men (Riley, Joe and Alec) offer gifts to the baby Jesus. They were all out of gold, frankincense and myrrh, so they used watches and cell phones instead.

By the time we finished dessert, the babies were tired and grumpy so we put them bed. Once our guests were gone, the four of us sang Christmas carols around the tree and of course took lots more PICTURES!!!

Kaiya and Riley being goofy!

The Girls: Rachelle and Kaiya

The Boys: Jayson and Riley

Jayson and Rachelle

Jayson, Riley, Rachelle and Kaiya

The traditional "pile" picture--I think Jayson is a little bit worried about next year, when the babies join in the pile!

Rachelle, Riley, Jayson and Kaiya in our new Christmas Eve jammies

We were having a little bit too much fun with the camera's self timer--everyone kept coming up with new poses :-)

Christmas 2008--Part 1

Getting Ready for Christmas...

I love Christmas. I love the decorations, the music, the lights and just the general air of excitement and anticipation. I love reading Christmas cards from friends and family. I love the sappy Christmas movies they show on the Hallmark Channel (and other similar stations). I love wrapping presents. I love taking my kids shopping and seeing what creative things they come up with to give people. I love baking goodies for the neighbors. I love all the special foods that we make only at Christmastime. I love dressing the girls in their Christmas dresses and the boys in their Christmas ties. I especially love all the family traditions associated with Christmas.

One of my favorite traditions is reading Christmas stories. We have three different “Countdown to Christmas” story collections, so every night we sit by the Christmas tree and read stories. A couple of my all–time favorites are “The Tale of Three Trees” and “Trouble at the Inn”. Although I have read these stories many times, I still get choked up every time I read them!

Unlike many families, one of our traditions is that we don’t cook on Christmas Day. Instead we have our nice dinner on Christmas Eve. Since we did not live by family when I was growing up, we always got together with friends on Christmas Eve. We eat dinner and sometimes go caroling or out to look at Christmas lights. Then we don bathrobes and towels on our heads to reenact the Nativity while reading the story of Jesus’ birth from the bible.



Last year's Nativity Reenactment---Shepherd Riley, Angel Kaiya, Wiseman Alec and Cora as Mary

On Christmas Eve, after our dinner is through and any guests have gone home, we sit around the Christmas tree and we each choose our favorite Christmas song to sing. Then we take lots of pictures by the tree---we take the girls together, the boys together, the whole family, the kids, etc. We always finish with a “pile” picture. Growing up, I had four brothers. As you can imagine, this was NOT their favorite part of the evening. I think it has actually become part of the tradition for them to whine and complain the whole time.

Group Shot from Christmas Eve 2007 (Wow, I forgot how bald all the babies were!)

After pictures, we each open one present, which is always pajamas. After putting on the new jammies, we of course have to take a couple more pictures before setting the milk and cookies out for Santa and jumping into bed.

For breakfast Christmas morning, we always have those little single-serve boxes of cereal. My grandparents started this tradition when my mom was a young child. They couldn’t afford to have cereal all the time, so having cereal on Christmas morning was a special treat. Even though we have cereal for breakfast almost every day at our house, my kids still love getting the little boxes for Christmas. In fact, if you ask my kids what traditions we have for Christmas, the little cereal boxes are usually the only thing they remember. With our little cereals, we also have cinnamon rolls and chocolate milk.

Christmas this year should be a lot of fun. We have had to be a little bit creative with our Christmas decorations. The babies are that stage where they are curious about everything, and don’t quite listen when you tell them “no”. Our Christmas tree has a baby gate surrounding it, and all of our other decorations have been placed out of reach. I am sure the babies will like opening presents and playing with the paper and boxes. Riley and Kaiya are a bit concerned that the babies will attack all of their presents as well.

The Christmas Tree

Ryder, Kassidy and Rustin attempt to overpower the barrier--So far their attempts have been unsuccessful!

The Mantel---Check out all those Christmas stockings! (Which fortunately are too high for the babies to reach.)

Creative measures to keep cords and decorations out of reach of little hands!

Today was the Sunday before Christmas and all the kiddos were dressed in their Christmas clothes. I attempted to get a picture of each of the kids in front of the Christmas tree, but not everyone wanted to cooperate!

Riley--"All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth!"

Kaiya

Kassidy

Kaydence

Rustin

Kyndall

Ryder

Kaiya and Riley

The Boys: Rustin, Jayson, Ryder and Riley

The Girls: Kassidy, Rachelle, Kaydence, Kyndall and Kaiya

Jayson and Rachelle

My brother Colby and his girlfriend Neeha stopped by this weekend for a couple of hours on their way to Arizona. I made them pose for a few pictures. Colby said that he thinks I may have become worse than our mom when it comes to taking lots of pictures-----I think I will take that as a compliment!

Ryder, Rustin, Kaiya, Kassidy, Neeha, Kaydence, Colby, Kyndall, and Riley

Getting Ready for Christmas...