Bug Exhibit at the Science Museum

Sunday morning, we played some board games in our PJs for a couple of hours after breakfast. Even Pepper got into the playful spirit with the usual attacking of the carpet in the front hallway.
The weather was getting rainy, so we decided to venture down to the Science Museum to check out the holiday laser light show. We got there in time to watch the electricity show with the large tesla coils.

After the show, the scientist stayed behind and answered a bunch of questions from us about humidity and electricity in the air. She was so wonderful. Still having about an hour before the light show, we went to race cars.

Megan and Daddy lining up their cars....and they're off!

Then we moved onto the driving simulator game. All that Wii Mario Kart is really paying off, the kids drove like champs.
Daniel was able to drive this time, since he can reach the gas. Last year, he could only watch, so this was hugely exciting for him!

Over in the bug exhibit, I showed Megan why we can't eat anywhere but the kitchen - bugs, bugs, bugs. The roaches gave me the heebie-jeebies.

There was a screen with butterflies flying, and when you stood still, the butterflies sat on you. So interesting.

Down on the first floor, we always check out the reptiles.

Standing in line to see the laser show, one of the guys from the gift shop came around with flying balloons. Clever marketing, as we were sucked into paying $10 for rocket balloons - and we've gotten our money's worth - they are so fun!

The laser show was cute. And the kids had a great time.

Tesniere Family Christmas Party

My sisters and I had decided that we weren't going to exchange gifts between families this year. However, I just can't arrive at the annual Tesniere Christmas Party with empty hands. So, I came up with the idea of a practical gift and bought new pillows for my 5 nieces and nephews. Some inexpensive (thank you, Marshals!) pillow cases and some quality time with my sewing/embroidering machine later and voila!...inexpensive, fun something new for the kids.

Here's a shot of the kids this morning as we are on our way out the door for church. We came home from church, had a small snack, changed clothes and loaded up the minivan for the ride over to Nana's house in the Daytona Beach area.

Not to being able to give up the weekly Sabbath nap, Daniel passed out cold in the back of the van.
Daniel brought Nana one of his Sabbath School crafts. She loved it! Then we moved out onto the porch to have lunch with the other grandkids.

Say cheese! What a goofy group. The ran around like wild Indians outside with the weather got cooler and cooler.

Mom let me borrow one of Bill's old jackets - brrrrr....

Nana's second Christmas tree. Her house is very festive both inside and out.

Alexis opening up her new pillow. I think all the kids liked them.

I've seen these three stockings for years and years - they were our stockings from when we were kids.

The Christmas tree in the kitchen. So cute!

Megan was so excited to open up a basket full of Madeline stuff. How exciting.

Joshua really likes his aircraft carrier.

Oh my goodness....is that a Superman snuggie?

Oh, yes, it sure is.
That's right, ladies. He's all mine.

Daniel likes his Big Foot dinosaur thing a lot.

Then we walked next door to check out Pam's house.

I see Chewbacca is all decorated for the holidays.

Austin was telling me, "no, you can't have our tree".

We had a great time. It's always so much fun to see Nana and my sisters and all the cousins.

It's the most yummiest time of the year!

This time of year is so much fun! We've been a little non-stop, but it's been so worth it! This is such a fun time of the year to spend with our friends and family.

Last week was the annual Adventurers Christmas party. Just like last year there were games, songs, snacks and crafts. The kids all had a blast.

Daniel especially liked the cookies and cocoa part of the night. He shared 2 of his 4 cookies with me, so sweet!
There's Daniel, right up front watching Pastor Barb.

Joshua went out tonight with some of the high school students that Grandpa works with. The plan was for him to go go-carting, but unfortunately the cast was a problem and he wasn't able to participate. Grandma picked him up and spent some time with him instead. In the mean time, it was spirit-day at Chick-Fil-A today, which means that CFA partnered up with Forest City Elementary to donate a percentage of tonight's profits to the school. The CFA cow visited the kids today and all of the kids were pretty excited about it.

Keith and I took the remaining two kids to CFA, and it was packed! Daniel and I sat at one table and Keith and Megan sat at another.
The kids handed in their Box Tops for a chance to spin the big wheel.

It was so fun! Yummy food, and great company....what more can I ask for? Except maybe this sign for my driveway...
We are almost finished with the last few Christmas projects we are making for presents. Fortunately, I've got a clump of days off and can hopefully get all of the remaining projects completed and wrapped. I've been taking pictures, but can't post them until after the holidays are over, and the recipients have opened their gifts.

Our trusty artificial tree fits perfectly in our livingroom. Because we don't really do Santa (but don't worry, our kids know not to say anything) - the presents are put under the tree as they are wrapped. Because I have to work on Christmas morning this year, we are still trying to figure out when to sit around the tree exchanging gifts.

Every year we try to look for a fun way to count down to Christmas. This year, we are doing a Lego Advent calendar. The kids take turns popping out the little window on the box and putting together the lego part and then adding it to the winter scene.

We are also moving the star along out Advent quilt. In years past, I've put trinkets or notes for different activities in the pockets. This year, I've hidden some money in some of the pockets.

In my hurry to finish putting out the Christmas decorations, I left the manger scene on the kitchen table until I could get the piano top cleaned off to put the manger up there. But then I noticed the kids were playing with it and retelling the story, and so on the kitchen table it stays. Although, tonight's retelling had an extra large cow outside the stable.

Daniel's teacher sent home a notice informing the parents that the children will be learning different Christmas traditions from all around the world. Above is a wooden shoe he made for St. Nick's Day. Today, Joshua's class learned all about Pearl Harbor. I'm really pleased with the kids school.

I just have to brag on Megan. Look at the neatness in her handwriting. She's working so hard! I know she was discouraged to have 2 Cs on her report card, but she's showing such great improvement we tell her that all that counts right now is that she's doing her best.

Thanksgiving 2011

This year for Thanksgiving, our day started of with watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade with our pillows and blankets on the couch...so fun! Then we loaded up for our 2 minute drive over to Grandma and Grandpa Holloway's house. Each of the kids had Thanksgiving celebrations at school this week, and during Daniel's classroom celebration, they made costumes.
Daniel's Indian name is Gentle Wind. Of course, between Keith and the 3rd grader, I'm not sure who got more laughs out of this.

Grandma went above and beyond for lunch. Everything was amazing - from the table to the food to the weather (yeah, we'll give her credit for that, too!).

Keith helped carve the turkey in Grandma's awesome new kitchen. While Grandma finished putting the rest of the food together. If you look really close, you can see that Lilly is supervising this whole thing to see if any scraps fall her way.

Resting away the post-turkey sleepiness.

The kids all got their report cards last week. Joshua earned all As and an Honor Roll certificate. We are so proud of him. Megan earned 2 As, 1B and 2 Cs. I'm so pleased with how much she's been able to bring up her grades. I'm still baffled at how little progress she made in school last year. She's getting lots of extra help at school to bring her up to speed. Daniel earned all Ss.

In other news, we are really enjoying the Coast Guard Alaska show on the Weather Channel. New episodes air on Wednesday nights. It's really cool to watch and remember how much we enjoyed living there (sometimes).

Keith is wrapping up his semester of school in the next week or so, and has been studying in most of his spare time. He's registered for a challenging 13 credits next semester, eek!