::Christmas Eve::

Earlier in the week, we made "reindeer food" to sprinkle on the front lawn on Christmas Eve.  This consists of oatmeal (for the reindeer to eat) and glitter (which shines at night and guides Santa to our house).  Cash had made a batch of it at preschool last year and I just thought it was such a cute idea, we had to do it this year too!!  Clara is old enough this year to "get" it all.  Right before we headed to Nana and Grandpa's we went out and spread our Reindeer Food on the front lawn. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The excitement of Christmas had really been brewing all morning.  The magic of Christmas was palpable.  Kids eager to tear open presents that had been staring at them from under the trees for weeks.  Finally it was time to begin the festivities with cousins!  I can remember Christmas at my Grandma and Grandpa Spaulding's house as a kid.  My Dad is one of 4 and each has 2 or 3 kids, meaning that cousins were a plenty!  It was so much fun having everyone together all dressed up waiting to see what new toy we were going to rip open.  My kids are lucky enough to experience this kind of excitement. 

The kid table gets cuter and cuter every year!  The conversations between these four are hilarious...

Nana has made Christmas for our family so much fun.  After moving from California where we would literally start Christmas Eve off with my Great-Grandma and being full force until Christmas Night, it was strange to just stay home with the five of us.  Over time we have kept old traditions alive (like lefse making and stroganoff on Christmas Eve night dinner) and learned new traditions that can now be passed down to the kids.  We now play the pickle game every Christmas.  If you aren't familiar with this game, it's a sort of "hide the pickle" game.  Whoever finds it, wins a prize.  Being the seasoned Nana that Mom is, she gets a prize for every kid playing :)  Not to brag...but both of my kiddies won their game ;)

 

 

I am rarely in pictures...So I had Andrea snap a quick one of my sweet thing and I.

 

 

This was the BEST picture of these three monkeys I could get!!  Pretty much sums them all up though!

 

Mom always does such a festive job of dressing up the table!! 

Sitting so patiently waiting for their stockings to be passed to them!  My Grandma Marvel would always wrap our stocking stuffers that were from her and my Grandpa.  This is another tradition that has been woven into our traditions.  It started out to take up more time when it was just the 5 of us, but has just stuck over time.  I know it's a time consuming tradition but I think everyone likes it!

 

New cross-country ski's for Sis!!

 

Another fantastic idea Nana came up with...silly string!!  It lasted all of 30 seconds...but everyone was laughing like crazy!!  Look at this tough Montana dude...outside in 10* weather with no shoes!

 

 

This is Brandon, Andrea's boyfriend...welcome to the blog, Brando!

The kids in their new jammies from Nana and Grandpa...please excuse the girl on the left...she was NOT happy about sitting with the boys and getting her picture taken!!

And to finish of this post is a little comedy for you!!  Saralyn thought of this idea months and months ago, to buy adult footie jams for Andrea, her and I and surprise my Mom with them!  She was shocked coming downstairs after giving the kids baths' to find us looking like idiots!  I believe after the laughter died down her response was that she was "embarrassed for us!" ha!!  We decided that an "awkward family photo" was needed!  We drug in Dad and Angus into the pic just to make it that much more weird!! 

A {Golden} 5th Birthday

 

Five years has gone by in the blink of an eye!  I read somewhere that when you have kids, days drag on forever sometimes but the years go by so fast.  It is so very true.  This last year with Cash has been a challenge, to put it mildly.  He is a very strong willed boy that is so smart, often these two traits melt together to form a perfect disaster.  Never has my patience been tested and pushed to the breaking point more than in the last year.  He challenges me in ways that I never expected.  However, the good always out ways the bad.

 

He is so loving.  I cannot count how many times he will tell me that he "loves me sooo much" in a day.  Often tells me that I am "the best Mom in the whole wide world".  Can have a helpful hand when Clara needs something.  He is so smart!  He is writing so well these days and just honestly loves to learn.  He is so excited about preschool, often disappointed when it's not a school day.  This kid can make a friend wherever he goes!!  I took him to World Market a few weeks ago.  He was looking at the toy section (I was the next aisle over watching...) when a little girl about his age walked up.  The conversation unfolded when he told her that his name was Cash and he was almost 5.  She was equally as friendly and said that she was 6 and in Kindergarten.  He told her that he was just in Pilgrim Preschool and wondered if she knew it??  It was pretty adorable!! 

 

We went in for his 5 yr old check-up last week.  He is 38 lbs and 42 3/4 inches tall.  His vision is great and he passed all the "tests" with flying colors.  He was giving very detailed stories to Dr.Pepper when she would ask him questions, prompting her to tell me that he talks way beyond what an average 5 yr old does! 

 

 

For the first time in his whole life, it seems, he is finally sleeping "normal"!!  Bedtime around here is at 7 and he is up around 6 every am.  He hasn't ever been a napper, but there are days he sure needs one still! 

 

 

We had his birthday party this year on his birthday and just with family.  I have always had a friend party, but the thought of multiple 5 year old little boys running around my house was scary!!  We had picked out his "theme" a long time ago.  We went with camping and it was pretty fun!!  I love getting ideas of Pinterest!!  We set up the teepee in the living room and I had a fun time making banners for the house.  He wanted Little Ceasars Pizza, so we let the kids eat in the teepee.  We had an outside treasure hunt in the backyard with flashlights.  They got a kick out of it!! I left clues around the yard and then it ended on the front porch with goodies bags for each kid.  We had chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting (at Cash's request!).  Earlier in the am Mom had taken him to Main Street Overeasy for a birthday breakfast alone.  He had a plate full of bacon with syrup for dipping!! I think he had a good birthday!!  The night before his b-day, he told me that he liked being 4 and didn't want to be 5....now he said that saying that was silly, because 5 is AWESOME!!

 

Here are the pics from the day!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rocky Creek

It has been BEAUTIFUL in Bozeman this week!!  In the high to mid 50's and perfect fall weather!  We got out and took fun fall pictures three times this week :)  We probably would have done four, but Cash had the stomach flu earlier in the week.  Thursday we headed to Rocky Creek Farm with Nana.  Cash had gone there two weeks ago with his school and gotten a pumpkin and Clara got one at the grocery store last week, but I wanted to get a few white pumpkins. Good thing we only wanted white, because of an early frost, the rest of the orange ones at the farm had been froze!  We happened to run into Ryan and Evan with their other Grandma and Grandpa!  It made for some super cute pictures with the cousins :)