Livingston Christmas

We got to celebrate with Grandma D and Papa G on Tuesday of Christmas week. We even got to spend the night and enjoy late night games and an awesome breakfast the next morning. 

9 grands so far

the grandkids

We open socks - a Livingston tradition. They are stuffed with all sorts of goodies. (they even wrap - I can't imagine the time that takes)

The newest additions - Z and Cousin M (only 11 days apart) 

Rethmeier Christmas

We had a blast celebrating this year with Papa and Frama plus all our cousins and aunts/uncles. I just love that we have such a close family.

The kids opened gifts on Friday night. Lots of time to enjoy all their new stuff. 

Z man enjoyed it. He is the youngest but we added him and K this year making the total 8 grandkids under 6. A little crazy. 

Ells loved her caboodle of craft stuff - still can't believe they make those still

Shadd got a bingo set - he loves Frama's 

he loves to try his stuff on

Q and K enjoying their new trucks

Aunt E with Z 

B got a sweet guitar

Shadd is pumped about his new sled

 And the tradition of the poppers. This year they went with special prizes.

Aunt K had a nail salon for the girls with their new outfits and polish.

And we had fun trying out our new karaoke machine. You should have seen D and Uncle N rocking it out. Plus Papa gave a couple good renditions and the kids had fun dancing with their glow sticks.

I mustache you a question

Our Visit to Mr. Claus

We always wait to the last minute. All packed up and ready to go tackle seeing Santa. 

We chose Merle Hay since last year it was perfect. No lines. Train was fun and cheap. 

Well this year we caught Santa after a break so we stood in line for about 10 minutes maybe. A woman in front of us commented on how well behaved they all were. Not sure but they were excited as they just watched and waited. 

Sage was a bit nervous to sit on Santa's lap so opted for brothers. And well lets just say my picture on my phone was better than the one we paid for. Oh well. And we didn't look nice. Nope. Keeping it real.  And I noticed the crown about two people from our turn and we weren't about to fight that. So we just rolled with it. The true essence of where we are at in our parenting career I guess. It was fun to watch others in their christmas outfits hoping to get the perfect picture and screaming babies etc. We now just get to chuckle and remember those days. I mean we were all kinda looking right? 

We wrote letters and mailed them to Santa too. We got a few questions again on how everything works but I think we are still in the clear for another year. 

Riding the train is always a treat. Sage wanted his own car. So the big two drove and pulled the chain for the bell and well Sage wouldn't even give me a smile as he drove around. Not sure if he had fun on not as he looked so serious.

Ells Lately

As you know the girl loves her crown. Even wears it while she sleeps. 

Every night we just laugh at the this girl. Sometimes a crown or headband. Others a stocking hat? Tonite she is laying on the floor next to her bed (why?) and enjoying some tunes with her new cd player about 2 inches from her ears. 

She loves to tease her dad. Like cheering for the hawkeyes. She is a true cyclone at heart though. She always joking and has the best listening ears.

In this picture, she is walking her dolls. She told me that they have been sick with headaches and God told her to take them on a walk for ten laps. This girl has been asking a ton of questions lately. She has a heart for God like no other. She just seems to get things. She has been asking a lot about some of her grandpas that are up in heaven. And has a ton of questions about Jesus and God. 

She told me on the way home from gymnastics the other day that she really didn't need any presents because she already had the greatest gift.  Jesus. 

Wowzers. If that doesn't just make you tear up. My heart rejoiced at the sound. She is getting it. I am doing something right. Or at least staying out of the way so that God can do His thing! He has big things for this girl. Not sure what but I can't wait to see it play out! 

She is the leader of the house now. She is in charge of the babes still home. She comes up with fun things for her and Sage to do and is quite the entertainer for Z man. 

I love having her home and am trying to enjoy these last few months. They just seem to grow up so much when they go to school. 

Its the BEST time of the Year

Its the BEST time of year...It just makes you wanna jump and shout. Lets get excited. 

We did a lot this season but the best thing was spending time learning about the birth of our SAVIOR - Jesus. What an amazing plan God had to bring us Himself in the form of a baby to ultimately be the Lamb of Sacrifice needed to atone for our sin so that we can live forever in eternity. I mean who wouldn't shout for JOY!

We started decorating the weekend prior to thanksgiving. Maybe even before that. The one perk of an artificial tree. New spot this year. 

all decorated

up close

A panoramic view of our house during this season. Don't mind the pile of laundry that needs to be folded, the toys on the floor and the cupboard doors wide open. The joys of the season.

The kids decorated the entire downstairs tree with no help from me this year. 

We watched lots and lots of Christmas movies. Elf. The Grinch. Home Alone. Charlie Brown's Christmas, Christmas Vacation (adults only), Rudolf, Frosty, 

I did an awesome advent study with shereadstruth.com - Amazing! You should definitely check out their studies. Plus as a family with did Ann Voskamp's unwrapping the greatest gift. It was great too. A little bit above our littles but they really enjoyed the stories and hopefully next year we will do the Jesse Tree with it. 

We baked english muffin bread again for our neighbors. 16 loaves and that wasn't even everyone. Thank goodness I still had the tags we made a couple of years ago. 

I flopped a batch of popitee for Shadd's teachers. Never add baking powder when it calls for baking soda. Plus don't start it at 9 o'clock at night. Duh.  Second batch much better. 

making treats for shadds classmates

We crafted. Nativity scenes. Peppermint play dough. Christmas Chains (which they totally did all by themselves - really no help at all from me) Amazing. Ells cut and Shadd stapled and counted)

We sent out Christmas cards. These two were quite the helpers. If you didn't get one sorry. I ordered only 70 and well my list has more on it than that, whoops. Here is a copy of what it looked like.

And lots and lots of wrapping. One of my favorite things, I think. Is there a job for that? My friend T and I would love it. Plus I have a really cute crew.