My mom and I spent an entire Saturday right after Thanksgiving
decorating my house. It was so much fun figuring out where to put all
my stuff in this new house.
Here is our traditional Bethlehem night where the kids dress up and we have roasted chicken and naan on the floor. The kids always love this one. Except maybe for Ivy who is crying like 40% for the time.
John and I had high hopes of hand making a good deal of the kids presents so we spent lots of evenings working on things late into the night. The kids loved these mugs. Probably one of the things we've ended up using the very most since Christmas. Unfortunately they haven't held up as well as we hoped. We even bought the special sharpies that are supposed to be the secret and I've never sent them through the dishwasher but the paint has chipped off a bunch. It's ok though, the kids still love them.
John kept shoveling Lottie's name into the driveway. Drove the rest of the kids CRAZY but that poor middle child needs her name in the driveway every now and then. I love that my husband gets that.
When John didn't shovel Lottie's name in the driveway we'd look out the window and see our grandpa plowing it for us. I'll tell you there are some fun perks to living up the street from Johns family!
Wren spent a good amount of time in her little bear suit throughout December. We bought that thing when Jack was a baby and it was a big deal because it was expensive and we were very poor but we thought it would be a good investment. Boy, were we right. Every single baby has worn it and it still kills me when I see Wren in it. Also, she loved the Christmas stuff around the house too.
We had a ton of snow all month long which I kept telling the kids is not always the case and we were so lucky to be having such perfect holiday weather. One sunny afternoon I thought it would be fun to take the kids and their sleds to the park right down the street from our house. After 45 minutes of locating all the winter gear and then putting each of the kids in their pants and gloves and socks and boots and hats and coats and then removing all that from the first 2 kids because by that time they had to go to the bathroom and then redressing those kids and then throwing some gloves and boots on me and then dragging the kids on the sled, then taking them off and making 2 walk and 2 ride and holding 1 we finally made it to the park 2 minutes from our house. The snow was soft and fresh and therefore un-sled-able but great for getting into boots and under gloves and generally making little kids miserable. So we made the trek back home. I vowed to never take all 5 sledding again. It's just not worth the trouble.
John and I did split up a bunch of times to sled though and one night Charlie, Jack and I got pulled around behind the truck on grandpas farm which was crazy fun. So I feel like everyone got their sledding in.
Of course every time we came home from being in the snow they would demand hot chocolate and every time we had it the kitchen would end up like this. Ugh...
Then Wreni started wanting to stand up all the time. Never content just sitting with a toy anymore she has to be standing and trying to walk around. This is incredibly painful for me since she is probably my last baby. I've been ready to be done with babies for a long time and now that it looks like that is finally coming, it hurts. But that's a post for another day.
We got our Christmas cards out which felt like a huge accomplishment. We haven't done those in years because it always just felt like too much for me to take on, but this year I did it and I loved getting cards in return all month.
The kids were thoroughly terrified by The Grinch at our ward party,
and Charlie, the one and only boy angel, didn't jump off the stage during the program. We drilled that into him for weeks. DO NOT jump off the stage during the program, just because you run in and jump off the stage every time we walk past the gym you CAN NOT do that during the Christmas program. Instead he just stood front and center of all those angels and picked his nose throughout their part. That's cool.
We wrote our letters to Santa one afternoon.
Then we met the man himself. Ivy tried to hold it in as long as she could but once Wren started crying she just exploded. I think a lot about what it would be like to be Ivy. To be able to just scream and the top of your lungs for 10 - 15 minutes every single time you feel uncomfortable or sad or hurt or hungry or dissatisfied in any way. I bet it feels awesome and I kinda want to try it.
That Wren on the other hand is so calm and mellow, as long as I'm the one holding her. I bet that will drive Ivy nuts when they are both teenagers.
We just can't get enough of her.
Charlie broke about 12 ornaments this year. He just loved our tree a little more than he could stand. I don't think our Christmas train is far behind. That will be a sad day.
Also, we hosted our Knowlton Family Talent Show. I started this tradition a few years ago and it's seriously one of my favorite parts of Christmas. I love hearing what everyone has been working on and this year I believe there was a performance from every single member of the family.
And some that were thrown together on the spot. So cool!
Our grandpa got a couple of baby cows and Charlie more than any of the other kids loved those babies to pieces. They were the most adorable things ever.
Then right before Christmas Johns brother and his wife took us to see the Piano Guys for our family gift. I had heard of them and was interested to see the show but had no idea what to expect. It was a magical night and we were blown away. That was one of the best dates I've ever been on. So fun..
So that was December up to Christmas eve. I'll do that one next time...
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