Surprises

We surprised my family back in West Virginia this Christmas. We got up on Christmas morning and did Christmas here with our own little family then we packed up the kids and drove to the airport. They didn't know where we were going. When we got to the airport Garrett said, "Are we at the airport?" Then he yells very excitedly and says, "Yeah, we are going to Grandma Doolittles." We flew into to Raliegh Durham and then rented a van and drove in to West Virginia which is about 4 hours from the airport. I wish I would have gotten pictures of people's faces when we showed up. I thought my mom was going to have a heart attack. It was so much fun to go. We went to Charleston and for the annual Doolittle Celebration. Then we spent the rest of the time just hanging out and playing with the cousins. We had a great time.

We got up at 1 am this morning to drive back to the airport to catch our flight back home. Boy are we tired!

Devin wasn't quite sure what to think about all the people but if you were feeding him he loved you.

While there the kids loved playing in the woods.
We had a cousin sleepover and they just loved it.

Olivia was showing her Aunt Emily and Grandma what a good big sister she is.

Thanks Emily for all the photos.

Doolittle Christmas

Can you guess who is playing Santa?

Blizzard

Here is the snowfall from last night.


Jennifer wishes we had a 3 car garage.

Jennifer also wishes her car doors didn't freeze shut during the night so she wouldn't have to climb through the trunk to get to work.

New Dry Ice Video

Gingerbread (Graham Cracker) Houses

My friend Marianne invited us over for dinner. After dinner we made Gingerbread houses made from graham crackers. We had a lot of fun. We always enjoying spending time with them.

Olivia is tasting her house
Devin is enjoying the Graham Cracker.
Garrett sure had fun decorating his house
This is my awesome friend Marianne and her cute son Tyler.

Here are all the kids who decorated the house. It is hard trying to get them all in one picture.

This is Samantha and Camille
Here we have Ava, Olivia, Audrey and Garrett.

Jeremy's Early and Extra Christmas Present

We have been getting quite a bit of snow lately. The other day after a snow storm, I was driving to work and I saw several people out shoveling their driveways and sidewalks. This is something that Jeremy really dislikes doing. Anyway, I was driving I saw people with shovels and it seemed like it was going really slow. Then I saw this one guy with a snow blower and it looked like he was out there having fun. So last night I asked Jeremy if he wanted one. He spent the next two hours looking them up online, watching videos, and reading reviews. He really wanted one. We went out today to look for them in the stores. We looked at Lowes, Sears. Home Depot and finally we found this at Wal-Mart. It was the last one. As soon as we got home Jeremy plugged it and did the drive way and sidewalks in about 15 minutes.

So yeah, Jeremy gets a new toy. Yeah for me the sidewalks get cleared.

Christmas Traditions

I found this really cool website about Christmas traditions and how they got started. For my classes that I teach I created some questions that go along with the website. Do you know the answers to the questions? I bet you would be surprised at some of the answers. Check out the website and see.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/holidays/

Christmas Questions

Trees
Who was the first group to decorate Christmas trees in their homes? What did they use to decorate the trees?
Santa
Santa Claus was a based upon Saint Nicholas who was a Catholic Bishop from what country?
Cards
About how many Christmas cards to Americans send each year to family and friends? In which country did this tradition begin?
Poinsettia
What is the origin of the poinsettia plant and what do they believe it represents?
Gingerbread House
In what country did people start to decorate Gingerbread houses and what story was it based off of?
Wreath
What do the 5 candles on the wreath represent?
Postcards
What does Santa ride in Australia and what does he wear?
Stocking
In some countries, what do children put out for Santa to fill with treats?

The Polar Express

Last night, we all went to the North Pole! There is a company in Heber City that runs a train back and forth along Deer Creek Reservoir. Starting in November, they do a Polar Express theme (based on the book, not the movie). We took the kids and Jennifer and rode the train last night. We gave the kids new pajamas and they wore them for the trip.
It was pretty fun. The kids got hot chocolate and cookies. They read the Polar Express book, everyone sang songs, and elves told jokes.
After we arrived at the North Pole, Santa came through each train car and gave each child a silver jingle bell and asked what the kids wanted for Christmas. Olivia and Garrett were so excited! They were pretty good and had a ton of fun. We were glad we went and we think the kids will remember it for a long time.

Cute Stuff

Funny Santa Story

Garrett saw a picture of Santa on the beach in one of the ads that come in the mail. He brings the paper to show me the picture. Here is our conversation.

Garrett: Mom, Look at this picture of Santa. He isn't the real Santa. He is just pretending.
Robin : How do you know that he is not the real Santa?
Garrett: Because Mom, with a sigh, Santa wears big black boots, and white gloves,
and he does not go beach.

He cracks me up. He is so logical and so smart. He is so excited about Santa this year. I am excited to see him on Christmas morning.

The Talented Mrs. Brunner

Check out Robin's Webquest she created for having students learn about the Inca civilization. She made a new blog and embedded the slideshow in the blog. See it here:
http://incawebquest.blogspot.com/

A Movie You Have to See

We saw Bolt today. What a good movie! If you haven't seen it yet, go see it! Wow, was it good!

Santa Claus

We went to Jennifer's work party and Santa Claus was there. We went to take our picture with him. Olivia and Garrett were really excited. Devin took one look at him at wailed. Santa tried to make him happy by showing him his bells and giving him a candy cane but then Devin would just cry harder.

Faunny 911 Call

Click here for a funny 911 call.

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. We would love to see your answers to the questions too.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? wrapping paper

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial

3. When do you put up the tree? Day after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? Just before New Years Day

5. Do you like eggnog? YES

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Cabbage Patch Baby Doll- named her Melinda Sue

7. Hardest person to buy for? Jeremy's Parents

8. Easiest person to buy for? Garrett

9. Do you have a nativity scene? yes

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail Card with a picture

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Its the thought that counts.

12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I start looking around July for good deals.

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? yes, Students like to give lots of candy. Then we will give the candy to our neighbors.

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cinnamon Rolls

15. Lights on the tree? Just White Lights

16. Favorite Christmas song? Polar Express song "Believe"

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home but I would love to go and visit my family

18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? No

19. Angel on the tree top or a star? A Star

20. Do you open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning? Christmas Morning

21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Crowds in the Store

22. Favorite ornament theme or color? I love the photo ornaments with the date. It is fun to see how the kids change form year to year.

23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham and scalloped potatoes.

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? I would love a colored printer so I could print my digital scrapbook pages from home.

DECEMBER NECESSITIES

My Friend Marianne asked what are some of the things that you are grateful that sometimes you take for granted.

1. Garage Door Openers -- Do you know how nice it is to push the the little button and the garage door automatically opens. You don't have to get out of your car and go and open it, you don't have to park in the driveway. So nice.

2. Dishwasher- Boy do I love this appliance. I remember in my first apartment that we had after we got married and we didn't have one. It seemed that we always had piles of dishes and it would take a long time to do them all by hand. Now when I have a pile dishes I know it won't take that long to get them done.

3. Cheerios- My baby loves to eat!!! You give him a handful of these and he will be content while I cook dinner, do the dishes, or just want to talk on the phone. It is lovely.

4. Socks -My feet are always cold. I love to wear socks especially the nice thick ones. I love that song Socks for Christmas.

5. String Cheese- This is the the perfect little snack. It is healthy and it just tastes so good. I love cheese!!

6. The library- I love going to the library to go to story time with Garrett. I love checking out books because then I get to read lots of books without actually having to buy them.

7. My Rocker Recliner - This is the most comfortable chair. I feed the baby here, I read here, I work on my computer here and if I want to sit there I make anyone else who might be there get up. It was my Christmas present from last year after all.

8. Fleece Blankets. I love to have a blanket on me when I am sitting in my favorite chair. I also like these warm blankets when I am watching tv. I just like having a blanket even if it hot.

9. Wipes-These things are the handiest things not just for messy diapers either. I keep a pack in the car for sticky hands. I use them to clean off things. They are great to get ink stains off things as well.

Since this was a tag. I tag all my friends and family.