Christmas Eve, Eve 2011

No, that is not a typo.  We celebrated Christmas at Grandma & Grandpa Adams on the 23rd this year.  Christmas Day being on Sunday made it a little more difficult to have the festivities the night before with Church the next morning so they decided to have it on the 23rd.  The kids all had a blast playing together, as always and it was so nice to have Uncle Jeff & Aunt Susan here to enjoy the evening with us.

All 7 sitting in the same place at once, a rarity.  Uncle Kevin oversees the food choices.



The girls sit with their dolls, waiting for the time to open presents.




OK, we have the presents now, can we open them!



A Busy Afternoon, Indeed!

Yesterday afternoon about 1:30 we decided to attack the wood that needed split.  Three and a half hours later we were done with it all!  As you can see from the pictures, it was ALOT!



All this and the next picture was split yesterday.





This we split a few weeks ago




Nice center cuts, super dry for the fireplace.



Aunt Kerry Has A Birthday

On Sunday we celebrated Kerry's birthday by going to visit the horses at a good friends house.  Mr. Mack has Belgian draft horses, quarter horses and mini horses.  We all had a wonderful time, even in the cold.  Kerry brought hand warmers and hot cocoa.  The horses got carrots and apples from Kerry as well.  Everyone got a ride in the carriage pulled by Andy the big draft horse.  Some of us even got to ride him as well as the quarter horse named Beech.

Jake was completely taken by the horses, he just wanted to be near them, pet them, ride them, anything.  Sarah of course was the same way.  Alex was a bit intimidated at first but got up his courage and got on Beech for a ride.

Andy, a magnificent horse.



Jake gets to "drive."



Jake leads a mini, what a pro!



Alex & Jake in the wagon drawn by 2 of the minis.



Jake just hangin' out watching Andy.

 

Jake gets to get on Andy with Aunt Kerry.



"Finally a horse my size to ride!"





Kerry gets the first ride on Andy.





Trudi took a spin too!



Jaden gets her ride on Beech.



Alex gets his confidence back once he got up there.








Sarah takes her turn on Beech.





A Trip to see the Christmas Trees

Warther Carvings Museum in Dover has a charity event each year around Christmas.  Local companies and individuals donate a decorated tree to be sold.  The money goes to the local hospital auxiliary.  There was over 100 trees from the traditional to outlandish.  We had a great time with Kathy & her granddaughters.  Alex and Jake particularly like a large stuffed elf and wanted their picture taken with it.



My favorite, but $800 is a bit steep for a tree.



A New School Desk

Bob & Kathy refinished an old school desk from a local elementary school for Jake.  He is SO happy to have his new desk and you can see it in his face.  He told me that now he is "really in school."

Classroom Decorations....

I was at the Dollar Tree store this afternoon and found a wonderful Teacher Supply aisle.  They have all kinds of helps for teachers, decorations, diplomas, award certificates, stickers, school supplies, etc.  Everything is a dollar or less which makes it even better.  I really could have gotten lots of other things but stuck with the ones in the pictures as well as a sheet of static stickers of crayons, pencils, scissors, etc. for the classroom window and some dry erase clock sheets to help Jake learn to tell time in an upcoming Math unit.




The cursive alphabet (yes we have all the letters, not just A through E)




These posters will be a HUGE help, for all of us.  Alex is constantly asking me "Mom, what is a noun again?"



Jake shows off our new door decoration, really bulletin board strips but we liked them better here.

Trick-or-Treat

We went trick-or-treating Saturday evening back at the old house in Zoarville.  It was nice to see former neighbors and friends and the kids had a blast!

Put 'em up!

Clear this road, we have paving to do!

Can anyone tell me how to get to the masquerade ball?