Birthday Party

Ellea went and got a year older again.  Twelve already.  I don't know how that can be possible.  She had a couple friends over a few days after the big day.

They played a crazy game where you bury a piece of bubble gum under a pile of whipped cream and pick it up with your mouth.

A little messy.  The first one blow a bubble wins.

Then they played some fun Red Solo Cup games.

The cups were a big hit.

There are so many different things you can do with a red solo cup!

And of course we had a yummy cake. Happy birthday to my favorite 12-year-old!

Christmas Box

The biggest gift was saved until last on Christmas morning.  I kept the recipient's name a secret because I didn't want Morgan to guess what it was.

 He was excited.

It was a huge lego storage system that he had asked for.  Maybe he can keep his legos organized now!  He's going to need another one eventually.  This one's already pretty full!

Nothing changes.... Just like when the kids were little, the best fun is the box!!

Christmas Morn

 Christmas morning was a good one around here.

I was especially well treated, which is always enjoyable.

 Our good kids....

 Our crazy kids!

Our kids are quite patient about the present opening process.  When I was a kid, I tore into my presents with fervor.  And it was a free-for-all.  Open them all as fast as you can!  Now we take turns.  Much more civilized, and much more enjoyable.  You're not done in two minutes flat!

I hope you all were blessed with a wonderful Christmas and continue to experience the joy of the season.  God bless!

Christmas Sledding

I think we may have a new Christmas tradition. . . .  Night time sledding!  Glenn's talked for years about going sledding after dark and we never took him up on it.  After laying around all day on Christmas watching cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies, we decided to go out and give it a go.

I didn't consider what the temperature would be at that hour.  Usually even daytime temperatures are too chilly for me to want to be outdoors, but it was about 28 degrees Christmas night.  I bundled up and survived nicely.

Except for the chilly drive over to the sledding hill.  Why is it that Glenn drove the vehicle with the windshield and I suffered with cold wind on my face?!  I rectified that for the drive home!

Nicole has taken on the duty of driving up and down the hill to retrieve the sledders sometimes.  It is so nice to have another driver. The kids were shocked to see me driving the snowcat to get them when Glenn was starting the fire.  They were even more surprised when I told them that I used to have my own snowmobile!  I'm not always a wimp about the snow!

Glenn took a few turns on the hill.  It's difficult to take pictures in the dark.  My camera couldn't find anything to focus on!

I love this picture of the girls.  

Ellea and I went down together for the last run of the night.  That masked man is Morgan!

Zip was grateful I pulled out his sweater for the event, I think.  He was also grateful when he got to sit in a lap next to the fire.  But, I think he was most grateful when it was time to go home!

Cousin Picture

My dear sweet children and nieces decided they wanted to have their picture taken together when we were enjoying the lights together last weekend.  I love that.

So they wrapped their arms around one another and did some spontaneous skipping to our designated picture area.  I really love that!

 They're all getting so grown up.  Mostly I don't love that so much.  Soon they're all going to be too cool and grown up for playing with their crazy uncle and skipping in the park!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Crazy Uncle

We took in our annual dinner and light show with my brother and his family recently.

Uncle Glenn was in rare form that night.

Can he carry three children at once?

Nope.  Only two.

Everyone sticks their heads in the penguins, right?!

And carries their daughter and niece upside down.

Of course.

When they're the crazy fun uncle, they do.

Christmas Clarinet

Nicole had her Christmas concert last night. She said the 7th/8th grade band was terrible, because "the 7th graders don't know how to play"!!! I was expecting the worse, and was pleasantly surprised that they played pretty well. Nicole didn't think so. She said they made a bunch of mistakes, but most of them weren't obvious, so it sounded good to me.

Have you noticed how grown up my little girl is becoming?  How did that happen?

Twelve

My baby girl --

 

She's sassy and strong,

 

 

She's funny and smart.

 

 

She gives it her all; 

 

She's got a big heart.

 

 

The years move so quickly.

 





Where does the time go?

Our little gift from heaven,

 

I love that girl so.

 

                     

Happy 12th birthday, sweet Ellea. God bless you now and always.

Love,

Mom



Contacts

Ellea decided to take the big step to wearing contacts this year.  I remember it was tricky mastering the skill of putting them it, but I forgot just how tricky.  But she has been a trooper, and after just a few days, she's now an expert.

But, sometimes you get frustrated and ask your parents to put them in.  That's something I've never done - put a contact in someone else's eye!  Whats a tricky proposition.  The eyelid is trying to close and the eyeball is trying to get away!!  You have no idea how gratifying it is to have success!  

Sometimes I worry about me.  The things I get excited about as a mom.....

Christmas Tree

We finally went out and found the "perfect" tree yesterday.  When the kids were little, I got away with just sending Glenn out to get the tree and I stayed in the warm, dry house.  The kids have decided it should be a family event.  I asked if I could stay home.  The answer was no.

Last year, we spent an hour looking around and finally went back to the first tree we found.  Yesterday, we found a great tree right away, but the kids wanted to keep looking.  I told them that this year we were only going to look for five minutes before we came back to the first tree.  I know, I'm a party pooper!  I can't help it.

Slacker

I've been slacking on the daily blog posts lately.  My deepest apologies.  Between working part time, taking college classes (at the end of December, I'll be up to 21 credits completed since this summer!  woohoo!), and getting ready for Christmas, there isn't enough time in the day.  Oh, and I try to keep my house clean-ish.

This is how I spend much of my time...

Between my online classes, online Christmas shopping, and general online goofing off (since it's such a novelty to have fast internet!), I'm on my laptop entirely too  much.  You'd think I could squeeze some blogging in there somewhere.  I'll try to do better.  Don't hold your breath.

Froggies

I had the delightful opportunity to join Ellea in science class yesterday as they began to dissect frogs!  I know, I know, you're gnashing your teeth in jealousy.....  Or are you gnashing your teeth in disgust?

Here he is in all his glory.  Doesn't he look like he's about to jump away?  Did you know for only $10 you could have one of these specimens for your very own?  Christmas gift perhaps?  Maybe for the Poxleitner gift exchange.....

I was so proud of Ellea.  Of course, she was the tiniest bit grossed out, but mostly she just jumped right in.  Her teacher gave her a hard time because they dissected cow eyes last year and she was completely disgusted with the whole thing.  This year she asked the teacher if they could take out a frog eyeball!

It's trickier to remove a frog eye than one would imagine, but they did it.

Now, be good boys and girls and maybe Santa will bring you your very own frog.  Or, maybe that's what bad boys and girls get.