It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas

So... I posted about Thanksgiving before this Christmas post so maybe, just maybe you all would think that we celebrated Thanksgiving before the Christmas decorations were pulled out. You all know this isn't how it works around here so I am not fooling anyone. What can one do when you live in a house with Griswald and little Griswald? 

 Fieldin showing Chompers his stocking.. trust me he was thrilled..ahem

 decorating Greta's little tree

 And, the Nativity scene.. She waits for this every year. I bought it for her when she was 3 to play with in hopes our fragile nativity scene would stay intact for awhile.. she spends hours upon hours playing with this each year. 

 These two decorating.. while me and Jeff pretended to decorate but really we were watching Cougar football. 

 putting up the advent calendar I made them a year or so ago. 

 The cat taking his life in his hands by hanging around the boys blowups. 

 Me and the kids wrapping 24 of their Christmas books. They will take turns opening one each night to read before bed until Christmas. They are pretty good wrappers after all this practice. 

 Someone else enjoys the nativity scene as much as his sister. The other night, Jeff found a little ninja guarding baby Jesus. 

 Fieldin put up the Christmas train this year and the cat sleeps under the tree only when the lights are on.. So far he hasn't unwrapped any of the books.. we still have our eye on him though.

 Greta also looks forward to getting out her Nutcracker collection and making up little plays for Fieldin to watch. He thinks they are hilarious. 

 more perler beads.. We made ornaments. Greta made Chompers cat, Fieldin made the green car, Jeff made the grinch and R2D2 and I made the Santa. 

And I am pretty sure he is ready for Christmas to be over.... 

Giving Thanks And A Little Sous Chef

 We spent Thanksgiving at my dads and also with my aunt and uncle. We look forward to this each year. 

Above is Fieldin's Indian vest from school. I love the drawings. He came home with some pretty awesome art projects from school. 

 Just like last year Greta was our barista. She was so hyped up about it. Asking(begging) to make coffee for us all day and the minute we rolled out of bed in the morning. "You want a small or large coffee? regular? with flavoring? marshmallows? I'll have that right out in a Jiffy!" as she snaps her fingers and runs off. 

 Treats from Aunt Barb.. lots of fun stuff to keep them busy. 

 So this was a fun year because Greta wanted to HELP, in anyway she could but she really wanted to help with the meal. Aunt Barb taught her to make deviled eggs which I am grateful for because this is one thing I can not teach her. If you have ever seen my deviled eggs they kinda end up looking like I ran over them with studded tires, at my best they look like moon craters.. 

 She also helped cut up the potatoes and helped me get them boiling so we could have mashed potatoes. 

 She put the olives and pickles on a platter and taste tested with Grandpa. 

 And where was Fieldin while his sister worked so hard? He watched TV and sat waiting..

 Jeff made corned beef and we also had ham..

 Getting ready to eat... and below is Aunt Barb with her apple pie and Greta with her dessert. She wanted to make pumpkin cream cheese brownies so she researched a recipe online and got everything she needed and made them (with a little help with the mixer). She was very proud and they were good. 

 they burned some steam off at the pool after dinner and had fun with aunt Barb's treats. 

 We watched lots of football Friday... poor Cougs.. Jeff braved some Black Friday shopping and then this morning Grandpa watched as they hammered together tool boxes at Home Depot. 

 Then the drive home. I love the Columbia River.. so beautiful. 

So all in all, a successful Thanksgiving. Special time with loved ones. Good food. Football and Fun. 

For The Grandparents

 I could be sneaky and take credit for these photos but the truth is a friend took these and I am so very grateful.. I owe her big time. So since friends and family don't get to see her play, here is a glimpse of her on the court. Above: In blue jumping for the rebound. 

 Gret is under the net rebounding.. she likes to rebound... 

 her with the ball on a fast break.. 

 Her in blue shooting.. She doesn't like to run but she sure likes to jump.. 

 offense.. 

Look at those long feet.. her last volleyball coach predicts she will be 6 feet. Should we place bets and see what happens? My guess is 5'11".. Jeff guesses 6 feet. She is in a womans size 6 shoe at age 8 if that helps in your guess. 

 Her heading down court with ball after rebound

 Getting a rebound and holding onto it for dear life... 

 There she is in blue on defense in that poor girls face.. I hear she talks alot to herself on defense.. 

 her with ball on a fast break

 fighting for the ball..  I see the refs arm up behind her.. told you she was scrappy

Her in blue driving to the basket....

She is signed up for another 3 months of basketball. She decided not to take a break after all. Older kids, and less restrictions on the court for her these coming months.. 

She looks happy though.. Let's see if she's still smiling three months from now? :) 

Around Here

Around here, Greta has taken up an interest in sewing so I taught her to cross stitch. When she has any spare time she works on her first project, which is an angel that she wants to hang on the Christmas tree this year. 

Around here there are weekend lightsaber fights in their pj's.. 

Around here the temps are dropping so this one gets bundled up for early morning cartoons..he still wakes up very early! 

Around here this little guy is still reading almost daily. Greta likes to take a break from her homework to listen. 

Around here, this cat spends his evening waiting for Jeff to come home from work..

No, you are not seeing things... Around here, Griswald and little Griswald have already started on their outdoor winter wonderland. 

Around here, the little man is still creating and made himself his own laptop.. 

Around here we are watching football on TV and excited that basketball has started. This was our first basketball game this year. 

...unless you count Greta's games.. there have been quite a few of those but now it's over for awhile. I will miss watching her play. She is good, confident and a bit scrappy.. and she is NOT happy when a ref makes a bad call on her..That is her above in blue, #10 in pink shoes.(probably getting called for something :) 

That is her ready to rebound..the tall one in blue and pink under the rim. She does great at rebounding, passing and she LOVES defense. She will dive for balls, fight for balls, steal balls, and sometimes foul for a ball.. she is fun to watch and needless to say I am very proud. 

Which explains the fuzzy and few pictures above. I get into my kids games. It is probably shocking to think of me not taking hundreds of pics of my kids playing sports.. it doesn't make sense. When they play, my camera and phone are left at home and I am cheering(shouting) for them and annoying all those around me. 

My apologies future Fieldin and Greta for not taking enough pics of you playing but I promise you, you will remember me watching, cheering(screaming) and beaming with pride.. :) 

Around here, we are slowing down and ready to celebrate Thanksgiving and we are remembering all that we are thankful for....like being thankful for you. 

Greta's Favorite Thanksgiving Poem- video

After little brother sang, it was big sister's turn to recite her favorite Thanksgiving poem. 

Fieldin's Thanksgiving Song-video

Yesterday, Fieldin sang me his favorite Thanksgiving song. 

Around Here- Little Artists

Our house is always covered in art supplies,art projects,tape, paint, lego creations & sculptures.  

I love it but I spend a good part of my week controlling the mountain of supplies and art taking over the house. I've been doing art with these kids since they were each two and the only difference now is that they need NO HELP. They are mad little scientists creating.. Fieldin spends about 80% of his day making something and it is pretty fun to watch. Here are a few things from the last week. 

 Greta just finished a presentation on Mozart for music class at school. Fieldin of course had to make a presentation too because she did.. he did his on Hawaii. Both were pretty cool. While Greta typed out her research he wrote out his... 

 Fieldin's new lego headquarters in his room. He wanted the table moved so he can walk around while he makes things. I like this better than having them all over the floor. 

 Today was normal perler bead Saturday morning.. Gret and Jeff found patterns online. Fieldin made his own design of santa above. I made the turkey, Greta made the owl and Jeff made R2D2 and Boba Fett ornament. 

 This guy has been making Christmas stockings and decorations and hanging them on all the walls. He writes our names on the stockings which we just realized he is spelling without help.. pretty cool. He's been able to spell Greta's name for a long time but mom and dad are new. 

 below is his spaceship with astronauts propelling out of it.. this boy loves tape. I have had to start buying Costco packs. 

 My aunt sent packages with Thanksgiving projects in it and they have finished them all. Here are their plate turkeys. 

 Greta made a salt dough island at school. She said I could get rid of it if I took a picture of it. She did a great job. It's hard but it is impossible to keep everything. 

 Fieldin's raccoon and a picture of the May Flower landing in the new world. There is an Indian waiting for the ship along with a turkey and a table of food. 

and of course Santa Chompers... it says "Happy Christmas Chompers" above. 

I think I need to start going through their stacks of drawings and taking pictures.. or we need to buy a storage unit :)