Christmas Gift Cards

Grandpa and Grandma Barb always give the kids gift cards for Christmas.  It's a little unnerving keeping track of the money, but the kids love being able to go to the toy store and find something they didn't get for Christmas.

This year the kids were in charge of giving their siblings presents since the girls were getting their rooms done, Jack was going to a Lakers game and Ben was getting a new basketball hoop from us.  Maybe next year they will be more specific with their requests.

Puzzle Time

We started and finished this puzzle awhile ago, but never got a picture with it.  We wanted to start our Christmas puzzle after church so we finally took a picture of our 1000 piece Disneyland puzzle before starting the new one.  Jack was having another bad day, so he declined our multiple requests to have him join us in front of the camera.

3.5 Year Project

I've been working on Norah and Ava's rooms for a Christmas present and although I wasn't able to completely finish the rooms off (still waiting for the dressers to be refinished and for some bookshelves to be put up), I stayed up way too late hemming and ironing both the bed-skirt and curtains for Norah's room.

I started the curtains when I was pregnant with Ben and hanging them up today was an amazing feeling!

Komenda Gift Exchange

This year Kyle and I had Jacob and Kaitlin while Mike and Jen had us.  I got Kaitlin's gift off in time, while poor Kyle was buried with work and didn't get Jacob's gift off until 2 days before Christmas.  Mike and Jen gave us TEAM Komenda t-shirts and a $50 gift card to Top Golf.  I've never been golfing there, but Kyle and the older kids love the place-should be a fun date night.

Christmas Morning

Yesterday the kids attended a Christmas Camp at the preschool Jack and Norah attended.  When I picked them up, everyone was excited to show me their crafts and to head home and get ready for tonight.

We did our traditional Raclette and then read Luke 2 and talked about the nativity.  Afterward each of the kids picked a present to open and played with their open gifts before heading off to bed in their wrapping paper rooms.

 This morning Norah and Jack were up around 6 taking showers and playing in their rooms while we waited for Ben to wake up.  Once he was screaming about being "wrapped in his room," we woke Ava up and rushed downstairs.  

Santa had brought everyone something special as well as a stocking full of candy and nuts.

After our traditional cinnamon roll breakfast we got dressed and started opening presents.

Christmas Goodies 2014

 

This year, the goodies almost didn't happen.  I was completely burned out from parenting without a full-time husband and didn't have enough gas in the tank to plan, prepare, decorate and deliver goodies to 16 of our friends.

 

Kyle was trying to be done with his work projects by Friday, and even though, his associate totally dropped the ball, a tender mercy saved Kyle and allowed him time to squeeze in this family tradition.

 

We made Oreo Peppermint Cookies, Marzipan, Eggnog Snicker doodles and Peppermint Bark.  Once everything was boxed up, we drove around our area and delivered all our treats.

Towards the end of the route, the kids started breaking down and Kyle got some bad news from work-taking the wind out of our sails.  When we got home it was so late and Kyle had to go put out the fire at work, leaving me alone again, and then Ben totally slammed his head into the corner of a wall, causing a huge melt down and required the assistance of an ice pack.  We ended on a sour note for sure!

Hope tomorrow is better!

Caroling

Our family and 25 other friends from church who live in our neighborhood decided it would be a great idea to make cookie plates and go caroling around the neighborhood delivering the goodies as well as a little pass along card talking about the Savior and His integral role in the Christmas season.

It was so much fun and such an uplifting evening for everyone involved.  Jack was having a bad night, but we didn't let that spoil our evening.

Christkindle Markt

Last week when drove home from Six Flags, we noticed there was a German Christmas festival right across the street!  We decided we definitely needed to make a family activity out of it.  We ran into some friends right after we arrived and tried to brave the cold with some hot cocoa and not so great German food.

Afterward we headed to Six Flags for a few hours of fun.  We are starting the break off right!

Christmas Parties

Today is the last day of school and the kids all had Christmas parties to attend.  Ben and I bounced from room to room, starting with Jack in Mrs. Stelly's room.

Next up was Norah in kindergarten.  Mrs. Collier's class was doing a book exchange and Norah looked like she was having a good time!

Ava was doing older kid stuff while all the parents just sort of stood around awkwardly.  We didn't spend much time in Mrs. Wentz's classroom.

After the parties, we all walked to the car and drove home not to return for another 2 weeks!

Christmas Terror

For some reason, Ben has been a Christmas stinker lately, making things difficult around the house.  He is so cute, but has a big attitude and an even bigger mouth.  This morning I came out of my bedroom and found him looking so sweet I just had to capture the moment in case it didn't happen for awhile!

Big Tooth

Jack went to bed and got up a short while later trying to get his top, front tooth out, but couldn't get the job done.  He asked Kyle to assist, and I tried to convince him to go back to bed, but in the end he pulled it out on his own and was so proud!!!  Totally worth being up until after 10pm, or not!

Decorated

It took what seemed like hours to get the big tree in the front up, making us nervous for another large project.  But thankfully, this tree is half the size of our fake one, meaning we only needed one strand of lights!!!  The kids threw the ornaments on it after church and Kyle threw on his old Christmas sweater and we were in business!  My hair couldn't look worse, but everyone else is so cute!!

Six Flags

After we got the tree up, we headed over to Six Flags and spent the afternoon making faces like these on all our favorite rides.  Because of the holidays, there were some extra special food items and we made sure to partake of most of them!  The tamales were out of this world according to Kyle.

Tree Helper

I am totally allergic to pine needles and this tree would have lit my hands up!  Eric was so great to help Kyle set it up and the kids are going to have an even greater memory of their first real tree experience thanks to him.

Uncle Eric

Eric came in Thursday night for a quick recruiting trip.  He and his family are seriously interested in ending up in the Big D-YAY!!  He spent Friday downtown and Saturday hanging out with us. 

Our first stop was the Christmas tree lot at Lowes and then Home Depot.  The later had what we were looking for, a 7-8 ft. Douglas fir.  After we got our $10 discount for all the help the kids gave sweeping up the tree lot, we were on our way.

It was our first real tree picking experience, and we were glad to have the extra set of man hands around to help us out.

Christmas Card 2014

This year we decided to take family photography into our own hands again.  I knew I wanted a formal group shot for the Christmas card and I knew we had no time or plans for a professional.  Last week, I was hoping to get a picture after church and just do a black and white photo to make everyone look a little more in sync, but by the time Kyle got home from his meetings, Jack and Ben were wearing shorts.

I decided this week was going to be my last chance.  Kyle had no meetings after church and when Norah came into my room wearing a colorful dress and sweater combo, I figured I had a color scheme.  I spent no time at all figuring out what would work for the other kids and had Kyle change after church.

We rehearsed our positions and talked about how getting the picture done fast would benefit everyone.  Shortly thereafter, a miracle occurred.  We set up the tripod on the bridge (exactly where a family was taking pictures with their photographer when we drove home from church) and took one picture.

It was perfect!

We decided to take it a step further and go for something fun.  It also turned out perfect!

We had made magic happen and then we all went inside happy! I spent the next little bit coming up with a two sided card we decided to print at OfficeMax instead of our usual Wal-mart special.  It was only $0.25 per card.  We usually pay $0.09 for a 4x6, but these two-sided 5x7's were so much more amazing and well worth the extra money!

Christmas Parade

We took the kids to the Dallas Christmas parade again this year.  The weather was beautiful and we were able to get some decent views despite arriving 5 minutes before it began.  Next year, Kyle said we are buying reserved seats.  That will be a nice change from having on your shoulders/holding on your hip two 45 pound children for over an hour.

Trim Work

We are doing some molding projects around the house.  One in our master bathroom as well as some in the girls' rooms.  It will be beautiful when they are all done!

Turkey Bowl Blunder

The sprained ankle Kyle got at the Turkey Bowl this morning was the worst part of the day, and the all the homemade pies at our neighbor's house were the best.  We contributed a chocolate pecan pie and a pumpkin/apple/pecan pie.  All the desserts were tasty, but my favorite was the chocolate pecan, glad I made it!

Thanksgiving Day Friends

We were invited to some friends' house for Thanksgiving dinner and the kids all had a blast playing outside on the trampoline and in the woods, while the adults played a mean game of D.O.R.K. and chatted about cool things like babies and gratitude.

The Tree

Last year we scored a brand new 12 foot artificial tree, but didn't have much time to enjoy it since we went to Arizona for the break.  This year since we were staying home for the Thanksgiving break, the kids and I got it all put up before Turkey day!  We love it and all the light it adds to the entry.  You can even see it from the street!

Christmas Cutie

Look at that face, if only he was this sweet looking all the time.  Lately, Ben has been a ball of attitude, whines and tears.  He sure is cute, but he is hard to handle after a long day while cooking dinner and managing everybody else!

Dentist

Ben had his first visit to the dentist today and although I thought we were more than on top of his dental hygiene, this poor 3 year old has two cavities!  He was pretty good at holding still, but he was definitely ready to go at the end!

Big Bed

We have been meaning to give our dear friends Ben's crib, since he could be in a regular bed and their baby could be in a crib instead of a pack n play.  Getting Ben's bed wasn't a problem, his was down the hall in Jack's room.  Now we just need a new full size bed for Jack!

Love Her

This sweetie has been helping out so much with Kyle being so busy at work.  Thank you AVA!

Cooling Down

It's November and we are finally able to wear light sweaters around here, thank goodness!!!  The summer was mild but long, and supposedly we are in for a cold winter.  If it ever gets here!

Halloween

Today was a busy day getting ready for trick-or-treating.  Thankfully, this year Kyle was home and helped with Jack's zombie makeup.  I made the dinner and did the rest, but the witch's brew was the biggest hit with the kids.

Worn-Out

We all know Ben should be napping everyday, but once he got out of his crib, that pretty much ceased.  He now falls asleep unpredictably and in positions like this.  Poor guy, he just needs a nap!

Sparky

This is a picture of the closest our family will get to a work of art of this capacity!  Kyle spent a few hours today carving his alma mater's mascot into a pumpkin.  It didn't look that impressive until it was lit, then all of our jaws dropped!!!

Candy Coma

After we trunk r treated our guts out and the kids ate way too much candy, we drove our friends home and Ben basically sat back and didn't move until we reached our driveway.  He made a great Michelangelo.

Friends

We invited a bunch of friends to the party and the kids who did come, had a blast and got tons of candy.  Ava was happy to see her good friends Madeline and Eleanor from 4th grade, Jack hung out with Jordan and Norah loved having Virginia from her kindergarten class join us.

Trunk R Treat

The party was great, and this picture was even greater.  The weather was warm, but the company was great.  I'm so glad we got a picture of everyone dressed up before we all melted!

Carving Time

Today is the ward Halloween party and to decorate our trunks, we decided we needed to have six carved pumpkins lit up with alongside a bowl of candy.  Kyle was gone most of the day with volleyball, so the task was left to me.  It was hard work, but we made the party on time and even got everybody dressed up for it.

Lost Tooth

Jack has been holding onto all his teeth, much like Ava until well after most of his shorter classmates.  He has been eager to lose something, especially after his permanent bottom teeth came in behind his baby teeth.  We patiently waited for over 5 months for these teeth to come out and finally the first one is gone!

Good-bye Goodies

Before they left, Grandpa and Grandma went to a local bakery and brought back a surprise for the kids to devour after school.  A homemade Chocolate Cream Pie!  YUM!

Good-bye G&G

Such a fun-filled visit.  The kids loved seeing these guys and having them stay at our house allowed even more of that.  The good-byes before school were rough, hopefully they won't wait another year to visit again!

Train Greenhouse

We stopped to see the trains at the Greenhouse on our way out and then headed home for the day.

One Ride Rule

The ridiculous prices on the fair rides really deters us from spending much time in this part of the fair, but we usually relent and get the kids enough tickets for one ride each.  This year, Ben chose the motorcycle ride while Norah rode her 10 second ride that was so short I didn't even get a chance to get a picture.  Jack and Ava rode a ride that seemed to be a little extreme for their age group, but apparently was just perfect, because Jack was determined to ride it again despite our one ride rule.

Big Tex

The last time we were here, two years ago, was the last time Big Tex survived an entire State Fair.  He burned down last year in the middle of the fair and wasn't completed until earlier this year.  This talking giant is always a favorite stop for the kids.  Taking a photo while stopped has never been their favorite.