Today was the first day of the littles’ six week ski lessons. Ben was begging his instructor to go higher up the mountain and leave the bunny hill for the magic carpet. Kaitlyn was a little rocky at the beginning but by the end she was doing much better! She tells me next week her group is going to use the t-bar (which she always refused to try last year).
Ben
My kids have been so excited for New Year’s. We started the day at church, played some games, and then got ready for dinner. The kids love our annual snack dinner. They love the sparkling drink we cheer with. This year we got to celebrate with Granny and Pop too.
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A few weeks ago as we were driving home from swim lessons, Ben started asking about the math Kaitlyn has been doing at home. She has been working with flash cards to memorize her multiplication tables. I explained the concept to him and was shocked that he got it with no issues. Before we got home, he could do simple problems like 2×3 or 10×5. I put counting blocks on his Christmas list so that he could work on harder problems.
Ben got the counting blocks for Christmas and was pretty quick to ask for multiplication problems. Kaitlyn wanted some of her own to do (of course she only needed blocks for a very few of them). The card is Ben’s after he finished writing all his answers.
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Granny and Pop arrived today! We had some lunch, played some games, and then had our last round of Christmas.
My favorite part of the day was when the littles decided to sled down the stairs. Ben instigated the entire thing and went first. I attempted to take a video but was so caught up in watching him that I videoed the wall and not his slide. Only after his successful slide was Kaitlyn willing to go. Then Ben wanted to go again so I could get him on video. On this attempt, he leaned forward and tipped the basket halfway down and that ended the sliding for the day.
Today we enjoyed being home. There was a lot of laziness and playing with new toys. The kids are still loving games with Gram. Kaitlyn and Ben got new toys and have been equally playing together and then taking turns playing with Gram. I have had lots of time to read and cook. The big boys have had a lot of unlimited computer time (a Christmas treat). We are going to hate to say good-bye to Gram tomorrow.
This is the first year that I woke up before everyone else on Christmas morning. If I hadn’t left our bedroom to see if anyone was awake (and waiting in their room as requested), then KitKat wouldn’t have gotten up and started meowing, and everyone would have slept later. Instead, Ben and Kaitlyn were woken up so then everyone was up. Then we all went downstairs to see what Santa had brought.
Then we had our traditional Christmas breakfast, got dressed, and took a few family pictures. Then we moved on to opening presents. The kids are always fun to watch. Teague and Alex had very sad want lists this year so Gram gave them mostly money, but delivered it in a creative way. She put cash in balloons but the boys had to find the balloons with their names on them and then pop them before they could count their money. It was a wonderful day and we ended it with naps for the adults while the kids were entertained with all their new things.
Alex has his own routine. He joins us for meals. He sometimes plays video games with his brothers. But mostly he disappears in his room till his siblings are asleep. Then he comes downstairs and wants to hang out with Wade and I. Sometimes that sounds good and we are feeling social. Sometimes we are ready for some alone time ourselves.
Tonight Wade was feeling social and they played cards and then ended up wrestling (which they haven’t done in 10 years…). They were so loud that Ben got out of bed to join in the fun. I was laughing hysterically from my chair.
Ben’s winter class party was today. The other class mom wasn’t able to attend so Wade agreed to help me out. We came prepared with the always popular Snowman building relay race and the materials to make Snowman shooters. Wade and I had a great time with the kids and are ready for break to begin!
Basket presents have been a thing in the Harper house since I was a toddler. My mom has gone from making two sets of basket presents (14 presents total) to now creating 10 sets (70 presents total). She often says she feels like she has completed Christmas shopping before she even begins. My kids love them and today we opened them almost as a family and got lots of pictures.
Today was a busy, busy morning. Both big boys and Wade were performing handbell pieces with their handbell choirs. Then, Wade and all of the children were in the Christmas pageant. (I was in charge of pictures.) There are pictures from the rehearsals before church and then pictures from the actual performances in church. (You might notice that we gained a second star between the rehearsal and the actual pageant!) There are also some pictures from the general craziness that goes along with the Burch family in general.
Today was our church’s annual Breakfast with Santa. The littles enjoyed all the crafts while they waited for breakfast. Teague disappeared to help with something (no clue but he seemed happy). Some of our church friends were there and we met some new families. (Alex voted to stay home and sleep.) Finally, the kids were called upstairs to meet Santa. They were so excited!
Then we gathered in the sanctuary to practice for the Christmas pageant.
In an unusual twist, I had two boys home with me today. Teague had watering eyes that he couldn’t see out of. Ben woke up at 4 am with a sore throat and was awake for an hour or so before falling back to sleep. He didn’t wake up again till almost 10. He felt fine by the time he woke up, but I’d already called the school to tell them he wasn’t coming in today.
Today was Ben’s last lesson of his second skiing session. Today’s lesson started with everyone taking a turn down the bunny slope, but then the kids moved to the magic carpet. They all did great and spent the rest of the lesson going skiing down the bunny hill in a line behind their instructor. I only got a video of the very beginning of class (before it got dark), but Ben has come a long way this six weeks.
Ben got a really cool robot building kit at his birthday party. Wade’s been helping him build one or two a night. Tonight they built the one he has been most excited about – the bubble robot. Kaitlyn was excited to see it in action and was very anxious for Ben to finish. She couldn’t wait to help find our bubbles and see it working.
Ben got a new iPad for his birthday. We finally got his new one set up and were attempting to switch everything from the old to the new. Ben was very insistent that he needed all of his old videos and pictures. Wade was transferring them and then called me to come quick. We had no idea Ben had created his own video series called “Ben’s previous videos.” They are probably only funny to Wade and I but we died watching Ben and his personality. I’m only going to post one, but just be aware there is an entire series spanning months.
Every Christmas season the bell choir has a concert. Alex and Wade have performed the last few years, but last year was the first year I felt comfortable taking Ben to watch the concert.
This year Alex, Teague, and Wade are all performing. I sat in the back with Ben, Kaitlyn, and our friend’s two little boys (She is in the bell choir with her daughter). I thought the boys did a pretty good job of staying quiet and entertaining themselves. (The man in front of us only “shushed” us once.) Ben loved when they called all the kids up front for Jingle Bells.
Ben asked to have a friend party this year (for the first time) and of course we said yes. He didn’t have any strong feelings on the party location. After a little thinking and research, I settled on Chuck E. Cheese. The much harder part was picking a date. Schedules between Thanksgiving and Christmas are busy! We had one free Saturday so that narrowed our options considerably. We sent out the invitations and had people saying they were coming up until the party started (just a little craziness added to our day).
Ben woke up super excited about his party! Alex, Teague, and Kaitlyn were pretty excited too. Everybody had plans and strategies for winning tickets and playing games. Ben couldn’t wait to see his friends, play games, but mostly – the Ticket Blaster!
After cake and ice cream but before their game time was done, it was Ben’s time in the Ticket Blaster. He had been talking about this for weeks. Our party host said he could pick a friend and he picked Solomon, a friend from church. They ran inside and started picking up tickets from the floor, before the air started blowing. The sweet host didn’t stop them and let them get their hands full before she turned it on. Then Ben held on super tight and didn’t move a muscle once the air started blowing. Solomon felt the air and immediately threw up his hands and let all the tickets in his hands start blowing.
Everyone had dinner at a different time tonight. Teague was the last one to eat and wanted to watch TV while he finished his dinner. My only rule is no eating in the living room so Teague got as close as possible. The funniest part came when Ben decided he wanted to join Teague and have a second dinner.
Alex told me a few days ago that he wanted to build a gingerbread house. Alex only sometimes joins in family activities and almost never initiates them. I grabbed the first gingerbread houses I saw. I decided to get two and let the kids to work together on them.
It was chaos from the beginning. Alex was frustrated that I bought premade houses and he didn’t get to do house construction. (I hadn’t paid close attention and just grabbed the first ones I saw.). Then I bought two different kinds (gingerbread and Oreo) thinking variety would be fun. The kids all wanted the Oreo house.
Everyone recovered. The kids split two and two without too much argument. Alex constructed a tree and helped Kaitlyn with the icing where she needed it. In the end we had two houses and everyone had a good time. (Next time I will buy four identical houses.)