These Are Fun Times

Dominoes...Chicken Foot anyone?...maybe some Hot Cocoa?Our Christmas Cookie tradition...How many colors of icing can I fit on one cookie?Don't lick the icing Levi?...
Looks like triple trouble to me...

Levi Style... Is it Levi or Linus?

What do dominoes,hot chocolate, decorating cookies, friends, and dress up fun all have in common? Well normally nothing;however, in our house, they are all ways in which we are spending our holiday season. We have been concentrating this year on simplifying our lives(is this even possible with 6 kids?), and being content with the many blessings we have been given. So, in this typically busy season, we are taking time for the simple things. At the beginning of the week, we chose to spend a fun night at home just drinking hot cocoa and playing dominoes. We had a rousing hand of Chicken Foot going. The older kids paired up with the littles and even allowed mom and dad to join in. What a wonderful evening of just sharing time together, and mom so enjoyed getting to "play" with my kiddos.
One tradition, that we like to continue, is our Christmas cookie decorating. We usually invite a group of friends to come join in the fun, and then we share the cookies. This year we invited some friends from church. This family is another homeschooling family, and my kiddos enjoyed the companionship. I am not sure how many cookies the kids really made, but they had a blast being together. We did manage to get enough made and decorated to share between our family and theirs. I found it so interesting to observe all of the kids different interest and talents. Some really enjoyed the rolling and cutting. Some prefered the decorating, and all definitely liked the eating! With the kids engrossed in playing and creating, the moms found some time that we could visit and share experiences. What a blessing! We are still hoping to add to our Christmas baking this week, but back to simplicity...if it gets done,great...if not,Oh well!

Mandy had a sleepover birthday party Friday night so, when our baking party was done,she packed up her stuff and was off to a girls night of fun. She was so excited! She apparently became a "rock star". We were told that the girls stayed up late playing the video game, and Mandy was a very popular singer. It was great to see her tired but happy when she returned home Sat. morning. Saturday brought a visit with friends. We had a very simple(hot dogs) lunch. It gave us the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with them. We exchanged family gifts, and then played a fun game(given to our family)with all the kids. Mia was so excited to see her "bestest" friend. Those two girls share a wonderful story as they are from the same orphanage and have been together since they were a week old. It still takes my breath away to realize the plans God had/has for their little lives.

As we were getting ready for the friends to arrive, Levi had insisted that he had to dress "like daddy". We managed to pull together a similar wardrobe of jeans and shirt;however, we couldn't locate any of the old boots in smaller sizes. Levi and his dad stumbled upon some bigger boots later in the evening. Levi preceded to put on the boots, his winter cap and mittens, and of course, the ever present "blankie". I just had to share the cute photos of him in his "dress up" attire. He wore this outfit all night until we had to pry it off to get ready for bed. He was just too cute...he reminded me of "Linus" What do you think?

That about sums up another week in our house. This week, we are finishing our last few days of school before our Christmas break. The girls have an informal dance performance and party this Thursday night. We have a few activities planned with friends at the end of the week and over the weekend. We will also be packing and preparing to make the trip to Brad's family for Christmas this year. In spite of keeping things simple and slow-paced, we continue to have very full weeks. With a different perspective in mind, my holiday season this year has filled me with joy and peace. I feel less stressed, and I just am just enjoying each moment as it comes.