checkups ...

 Annicka (seen here last month with her friend, Madison - you may remember my

 post two summers ago, when our neighbors moved from Vandenberg ... well, I guess they

have family in the area we currently live, so during their visit we got the girls together a couple times!  ... I thought that was pretty cool, it was a first for us!) has grown, but the doc said

her growth won't be too much from here on out - we'll see about that!

She is 5 feet & 4 inches!

too old for weight sharing!

 Jericho (seen here after his hair cut last week, being a stinker about smiling) has

grown a lot this past year!!!  last January he was 4feet 4inches and 64 pounds - I doubt

I ever recorded that here, so I'm doing it for all the younger kids!

today he was:

4 feet & 71/8 inches (81%)

75 pounds (82%)

 Liam (seen here last week after his hair cut - yay, I can see his eyes again!)

hasn't made quite the leap that Jericho has, but he has grown!  last February he was 3 feet

& 7 inches and 42 pounds!

today he was:

3 feet & 811/16 inches (36%)

46 pounds (53%)

 she was pretty full of energy last week at her check up!

 she had to do blood work AND get shots ... she cried, but got over it quickly and still

happily said "bye" and "sank ou" (that's thank you!) to the technicians!!!

this pic is the next morning - she wasn't feeling so hot!

in fact, she sat there on the couch -after having laid with me cuddling for a good

half hour- happily watching tv for a good hour and a half before she got down and played

a bit!!!  she was pretty low key all day!

Zoey

last January she was 31 inches and 22.93 pounds

last friday she was:

36 inches (0% on typical chart, looks like 50% on DS chart)

(technically on record it's 36.22 but the thing was totally angled, so when she 

stepped out I re-measured and it looked more like 36!!)

30.86 pounds (14% on typical chart, about 50% on DS chart)

so, it's confirmed ... my kids are growing!!!  good grief our itty bit, Zoey, has shot up five inches

and managed to gain 8 pounds, that's amazing!  and Jericho had a huge growth as well!

these days I constantly use the hashtag #dontblink ... because I feel

like my kids are growing up way too fast!

 

Christmas eve 2013 ...

 once the kids had opened their ONE present (a Christmas Eve tradition),

saw that Buddy had brought one last surprise (the stockings & nightlight),

and sat cookies & soda out for Santa - they all headed for bed!

which meant time for Mama to do all the wrapping and present setting out -

while Daddy assembled a play kitchen!!!

 I take a Christmas eve pic - or two, or ten - every year!

I love how nostalgic it feels to have the lights on the tree glowing,

while all the gifts await the children!

so special!!

 I changed things up just a bit this year!  

each kid still had their own specific wrapping paper (for the "Santa" gifts), 

but I didn't put them in piles - I decided it might actually be more

fun to have them under the tree so there was a search!

I took an idea from a blog I LOVE and put a small piece of wrapping paper in each kid's stocking,

so since stockings are always first they find out which paper is theirs!!

so this year's Christmas Eve pics are a bit more "moderate" ...

and, granted - yes I do better each year at reigning myself in on the present purchases ...

but there are plenty of gifts for each child stuffed under that tree!

(including ones from the grandparents, aunt, uncle, & cousins)

 

Christmas art!!!

along with baking I tried to do a lot of "art" with the kids!

one of the days Buddy brought supplies to make these extra special pieces

of art - using the kids' hands & feet!  I really had fun with these:

(*these are on canvases - the "borders" were just for squaring purposes on instagram*)

Jericho & Liam's feet!

Zoey's foot!

each of the kids' thumb prints - this one is my absolute favorite!!

Annicka's hand!

Annicka's foot!

this one didn't make it to instagram, cause it looks so unfinished!  I'm hoping maybe we can

add some foot/hand animals or something next year??  or trees??  something!!

I think this was the only other "pic" that didn't make it to the blog already (of art)!

both Buddy and Nana gave the kids some fun little ornaments ... 

and Buddy sent paint pens with his, perfect for these projects!  then we hung them!

Christmas parties ...

Zoey, Liam, & Jericho all had school parties!!

I wasn't able to make it to Jericho's ... however, despite the fact that they

were on the same day - they were at different times, so I was able to go to both!

it was so cute and so fun!

here are some pics ...

apparently Zoey really liked the felt tree and would decorate it often!

they sang some songs for us ... well, the other kids sang - not Zoey - lol!

Zoey got to be the instrument helper - so adorable!!!

some cookie decorating!

and I (barely) managed to get a pic of Zoey with Ms Karen!

when we came into Liam's classroom, they were all lined up - ready to sing their songs!

it was beyond cute!  I did get some video before I ran out of space!

 

Christmas (food) goodies ...

again, catching up!

I actually ended up making quite a few yummy goodies in December - 

here are most of them, as shared on instagram!

this wasn't shared, but it's puppy chow!

this was part of the teacher's gifts!!!

"and then we got creative with the extra chocolate!!!  #goodies "

(again, these are in random order ... but on instagram this 

followed my post about the buckeyes!!)

"... made lots & lots of cookies!!!  #christmas #cookies "

"the boys didn't last - lol!  So I was trying to do these while cooking dinner!!  Haha!!  Oh well, they don't have to look too pretty - the kids still [love] them!!!  #christmas #fun #candy "

again, our chex mis wasn't on instagram!

this also went to teachers!!!

"finished the #buckeyes last night ..."

  "made ninja bread men with the kids!  I also did our family as gingerbread girls & boys!!!  #christmas #traditions #treasurethemoments #childhood #akidatchristmas #gingerbread #ginger readfamily #ninjabreadment #cookies "

 

random December ...

here's all the random, daily photos that I had up on instagram in December!!! 

(along with what I wrote with it)

in random order ...

 

"lunch time fun"

it should have said sauce fun - lol!  the kid is crazy for "sauce" - almost any standard type!!!

"he looks so small out there!!  #basketball #kids #sports #practice "

"teacher & school office gift time!!!  between four kids we have 11 teachers!!!  and we have to include the principal and 'office ladies', too !!!  #latenight "

"all done!!!  #teachergifts #christmas #seasonofgiving "

between the four kids, this is the breakdown:

Annicka has a "st" (I think that's what we call her - basically she helps us make

sure we're on track with the homeschooling); Jericho has his 3rd grade teacher and then

also has his reading teacher; Liam has his teacher and "para" (not sure what she

is technically called either, but she's a second teacher with the main teacher - I guess); the boys 

have their principal and two "office ladies"; Zoey has her lead teacher, two paras, two 

speech therapists, and an occupational therapist - plus she has her two bus drivers!!!

so that was fifteen "teacher" gifts in all!  phewf!!!

this one wasn't on instagram ... and I think it was taken in November - can't remember for sure!

it's Zoey's preschool photo ... I love her smile!  I was disappointed they took off her glasses

though - still a pretty adorable pic though!!!

"love the views we get waiting for the bus!!!  blurry moon - but in real life it's awesome!!"

"our bigger ghost shrimp didn't last long :(  our little one has found a spot he likes!!! 

 He's on there all the time!!"

*note: the other ghost shrimp, pictured here, disappeared a couple weeks later ... and the snails have

since died!  what are we doing wrong?  lol*

"making lunches!  I just can't resist making food cute - lol!!  #christmas #lunch 

#schoollunch #christmasfood "

"look!!!  it's the gnome mobile!!! #gnomemobile "

"I'm really getting a kick out of this ... our little Zoey still loves Caillou!  She has a few 'routines' for getting all comfy and enjoying her show - this is one of them!  On the floor with Bubby's kindle, covered with mama's blanket and munching on potato chips!  Living in the lap of luxury - my little princess!!!!"

"ha ha!  This is how I feel!!!  We came in here, then realized we don't have time to sit and eat ... Bummer!  Food to go it is!!!!  #applebees "

"Caillou time ... again!!!  lol #caillou #kindle #tinyfeet #hiding "

"snacky picnic lunch & #christmas #classic #movies #classicmovies #oldmovies #christmasmovies "

"... hoping my daughter will appreciate that I turned her story into a book!"

"nothing can compare to #fultanos #canby "

"my little artist"

"always love when the littles get so enthralled with a special Christmas decoration!!  #christmas #littlekids #decorations #treasurethemoments #dontblink "