home made Christmas

This year we had all the kids draw a name and that is who they would be giving a gift to. There was only one condition, it had to be homemade by them and not a bought gift from the store. In my mind I was thinking of them making a cute little paper craft or painting a picture, no big deal. So we started thinking of ideas of what they would do and they kept getting into bigger projects. I was so excited by their enthusiasm to make a gift for one of their siblings that I was willing to help them with whatever it was they wanted to do. I owe a HUGE thank you to my neighbor Michelle for letting us borrow her sewing machine so we could work on these projects. They all did such a beautiful job on them and to see their faces when they opened the present was such a wonderful thing. They were all so grateful for how much work their sister had put into making something for them. I think this will be a tradition we continue to do.

Katie tied a fleece blanket for Morgan


Morgan sewed an apron for Lacey


Tyece knitted a hat and scarf for Katie and sewed a rice pack for her


Ashley tied a fleece blanket for Beckham


Lacey tied a flannel blanket for Ty


Mikaiah helped sew and cut a blanket for Ashley


Beckham (me) sewed an apron for Kia

What kids do while you are gone.......

I know I'm really far behind with posting but this one couldn't wait. I promise I will get caught up later. Yesterday we went on a date for my birthday and left Morgan to babysit. When we got home everything was great, the kids were all ready for bed and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But do you ever wonder what really goes on during the 3 hours that your gone? When you have a bunch of drama queens and a video recorder on a cell phone it leaves some proof of what really goes on and leaves a good laugh for the parents before they go to bed.

The girl that may look unfamiliar is Morgan's friend Lina, a little Russian girl that has been staying with us. There are quite a few more videos that I will try to post as soon as I get my hands on Morgan's phone ;o)