Very heated game of CandyLand!
Teague
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.
Christmas!
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.
Cookies for Santa.
Today is one of my favorite days of the Christmas holiday. We had a leisurely day of reading, games, baking, an evening church service, and then setting out cookies for Santa.
The only hard part of basket presents today was waiting till everyone was awake. There is a large gap between Ben/Kaitlyn’s awake time and Alex’s.
Basket presents are providing a great opportunity to get most everybody in a picture together.
Alex wanted to learn to play piano. He started lessons in September and today was his first recital for all of us. We loved that Gram was here to see it too. His teacher played all of the songs with him and her husband had made a plate full of wonderful treats.
Tonight we went for our traditional Christmas Light viewing and ended with donuts and hot chocolate. (Alex chose to stay home.)
Basket presents after school.
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.
Basket presents.
Basket presents start today! Let the countdown to Christmas begin.
Sunday lineup.
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.
Breakfast with Santa.
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.
Teague was a little upset with the evening’s schedule (and his required babysitting) but got on board pretty quickly.
Family game night – Mario Kart!
Teague was super excited about being a human chair. Alex thought it was hilarious.
Bedtime routines.
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.
Sunday lineup.
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 a great time at Ben’s party!
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.)
Gingerbread house making – Teague was in it for the sugar.
Even Teague loves watching Ben use his iPad time.
Late night muffin making.
These boys are all excited about video games, high scores, and new characters.
Kaitlyn has been running all fall with her Girls On The Run team. When we were in Memphis, Kaitlyn and I went out twice on practice runs. On the first, Kaitlyn didn’t like the cold and ran less than half a mile of the three. On the second, Kaitlyn did much better but only ran a few blocks at a time before walking. I decided at that point that the run was not something to worry about and that we would be walking more than running.
Today we woke up to a cold, rainy morning. We dressed in layers and headed to the course. The boys were grumpy, but they knew when they signed up (and I paid) that they were committing regardless of the weather. We started all together but Kaitlyn was motivated. She ran at a speed that I haven’t seen before. She also ran a ton! There was some walking but not very much. The last mile (which also means the last loop of three) Kaitlyn saw that there were medals at the finish line. That motivated her even further and I had trouble keeping up with her. I was surprised and very impressed with how Kaitlyn ran her race! We waited at the finish line for Alex and Teague. We tried to cheer them on, but they were too grumpy to want cheering.
On the way home we stopped for donuts and hot chocolate. Then we all took hot showers and had a short rest. Kaitlyn, Ben, and I then met up with some friends to tour some of the Frosty Stops for “Grafton Celebrates the Holidays.” Due to the weather, there were a lot less people out so there were almost no lines. The kids had a great time and got bags full of goodies.
Girls On The Run 5K today – cold and rainy but here we go!
Wade and I decided to go on a date tonight so we scrounged a quick dinner for these three before we headed out.
This year Teague has been my child adamant about wearing summer clothes well into winter temperatures. Many days (like today), he still pulls out a t-shirt and shorts.
Family Mario Kart night.
Everybody wanted to watch Ben use his electronics time today.
Teague and KitKat snuggles.
Tonight we decorated our tree.
Wade and I went to pick up our tree last night right before the tree lots closed. We were able to get it in the stand and let it have 24 hours for the branches to relax and settle. Tonight we put on Christmas music, the kids wore matching pajamas, and we decorated the tree. For the first time in many years, we didn’t have a single broken ornament (maybe they got that out at Gram’s house – sorry!).
The last 6 hours always feel eternal.
A quick goodbye to Gram before we get on the road.
Wade helped my mom bring in her tree last night and the kids were very insistent that they needed to help her start decorating. We finally convinced the kids to go to bed with promises of decorating the tree in the morning.
Kaitlyn and Ben ran right to the tree to start decorating this morning. There were only a few ornament casualties and a mostly decorated tree by the time we had to leave.
Stockings came early in Collierville.
The kids woke up to stockings that Granny had filled overnight. They were so excited but did stand still for a picture before checking out their goodies.
Then we drove to Paducah to spend a night with Gram before starting the long drive home. Gram had nuggets waiting and the cousins arrived before too long. We celebrated Ben’s real birthday with dinner, a Minecraft cake, and a few more presents. What a birthday this has been – three celebrations and a party with friends still to go!
Second Thanksgiving – with local family!
Today we had our second Thanksgiving. Today all the local family joined us for our second meal. This time there were little kids so we did lots of playing outside and with all of the old toys.
Today Aunt Louise, Uncle John, Aunt Emmy, and Uncle David all headed back to their homes. We had a pretty relaxed day with Granny and Pop. The kids started the morning by playing Pickle ball. Pop even joined in the fun.
Ben was anxious for lunchtime. He knew we were having cake and presents immediately afterwards. Granny got the cutest cake – Ninja Turtles. (She had a theme going with his presents and cake.) The last birthday present was tickets to see the new movie – Wish. Ben and Kaitlyn have been watching the preview for weeks.
I was helping in the kitchen for dinner and looked up to see Kaitlyn driving the lawn mower – by herself! Evidently Wade gave her a quick lesson and felt she was good to go.