New Years Eve Eve!

Back on Thanksmas, Papa & Ruth gave these wonderful baskets with all sorts of fun things including money to go to the lights at the Puyallup Fairgrounds. A couple days after Thanksmas I went online and there were only 2 spots still available....9pm-10pm on 12/30 or 12/31. I chose December 30th because we typically celebrate New Year's Eve at Ga-Ga & Pa's on the 31st. 

At Christmas we found out that the Kuch family would not be able to make it to New Year's Eve this year. One of my main goals during Christmas break was to have as many days as we could without us going anywhere. I know that sounds weird after the year 2020...that we would want to stay home more, but really we had a great year and made the most of it as you can see from this blog. 

Since Michael works in the water industry his day to day life hasn't really changed. He still goes to work everyday like normal. My extra gift to him for the holidays was to make his 11 days off be as relaxing as possible. Keeping this in mind, I decided to see if Ga-Ga & Pa would be okay celebrating New Year's Eve on the 30th instead of the 31st. That would make it so we would go only out on the 30th and be able to stay at home on the 31st. Ga-Ga & Pa were all for it! 

We came down around noon and got a bunch of snacks set up. We planned to have a taco bar for dinner...yay for an easy dinner! The kids went off and played for a bit and then later we started playing board games. That's usually what we do the whole day. We introduced Ga-Ga & Pa to Play 9 and they enjoyed it. We tried to play El Dorado and got frustrated. We played a few other games as well like voice Monopoly and Uno. After dinner Pa gathered the kids around for something fun! 

Normally when the Kuch's are here we play a silly game and the kids get gifts. This time around there was no game there was just gifts. Pa read some fun statements that he wrote to each of the kids. I asked him to send them to me so I could include them in the blog. 

For Bein’:  THE FIRST BORN!!  The TALLEST,  For LOVIN’ Books,  And Playin’ Mine Craft,  Monopoly,  Other Board Games,  Card Games,  Like Tripoli,  AND For Buildin’ EXCELLENT Sandbox Volcanos . . .   I Present THIS GRAND PRIZE TO:  O.W.E.N.  Owen Michael Martin!! 

SIDE NOTE:  I LOVE the memory of askin’ Owen:  “How do You spell Your NAME??”   HE must’ve been 2..   AND He said:  “O.W.E.N.  Spells:  Owen Michael Martin!!”   I’m not sure that O.W.E.N. Believes,  that he said that… 

For Bein’:  THE FIRST TO BE BAPTIZED!!  The GRAND MASTER Of Bey Blades,  For LOVIN’ and WANTIN’ GAGA From DAY 1!!   For Lovin’ Red Shirts AND Shoes Too,  And For Never EVER EVER Bein’:  JACKSON FROST . . .   I Present THIS GRAND PRIZE TO:  Jackson Daniel Martin!!

For Bein’:  THE FIRST,  FEMALE Martin Child!!  For LOVIN’ Logan,  Kendra,  Lilyann,  Addison,  Anna,  PLUS:  Daddy Martin,  Mommy Martin,  Owen Martin,  Jackson Martin,  Zeke Martin,  Gaga Martin,  AND Pa Martin . . .   I Present THIS GRAND PRIZE TO:  Ella Grace Martin!! 

For Bein’:  THE FIRST To Get A GAZILLION 100% At The Martin Family Christian Academy!!  For Bein’ The Shortest,  Busiest Jitterbug,  For LOVIN’ Dinosaurs,  legos,  Star Wars,  Mints,  AND MORE Than Just ONE HUG . . .   I Present THIS GRAND PRIZE TO:  Zeke Russell Martin!!  

This was such fun for the kids to hear all those neat things about themselves. The gifts they got included fun things that were personal to them. Jackson got hand wipes with a poop emoji on them, Zeke got his very own container of mints, Owen got this big box of chewy Nerds, Ella got white Tic Tac's. They all got a $10 Starbucks gift card and a box with apples slices and caramel. Unfortunately I didn't know that those needed to be refrigerated until a couple days later. I felt so bad!! All the apples had gotten mushy! :( 

We left about 30 minutes prior to 9pm to get to the Holiday Magic Lights at the fairgrounds. I thought it wouldn't be so busy since it was later at night, but there were lots of people there. 

There was a long line to get in, but thankfully it moved pretty quickly. 

It was fun driving by all the tree displays that were set up by different businesses. 

As we were driving in we could see different inflatables. I thought it would be fun if they had a scavenger hunt for certain things. When we got up to the front they actually did hand out a little scavenger hunt paper. When you found what was listed you got to scratch away the circle next to it to reveal a letter. Once you scratched them all you had to unscramble the word. 

We were having the hardest time unscrambling it and then Michael finally figured it out. It was WONDER! 

They had a whole section that you could drive to and get in line to get yummy fair food. I did not want to get a bunch of food at 9pm at night so we skipped it. Thankfully right around the corner was the stand for the Kettle Corn. You can never pass up Kettle Corn. That is actually our truck in this picture. I didn't take any pictures at the Holiday Magic Lights...these are all Ga-Ga & Pa's pictures. 

At the very end was this cool light tunnel you drove through. Right before this on the right was a bunch of movie scenes from different Christmas Movies. My favorite of course the the trashy trailer set up with a guy dressed like Cousin Eddie. He was so great! 

Inside the tunnel! 

Once we got to the end we turned in our unscrambled word and got 2 tickets to the spring fair. I'm not sure if we'll go, but at least two of us will get in for free if we decided to. It was a super fun activity that we probably wouldn't have even thought to do if it hadn't been for Papa & Ruth gifting the money for it and bringing it to our attention. 

Gingerbread House & Christmas Jammies!

Last year for Christmas Uncle Ry & Aunt Stephie gave the kids one of those Gingerbread kits from Costco. We never actually got around to putting it together last year so we saved it for this year. I knew that it would be shrink wrapped up and would be totally fine to put together...maybe not the best to eat, but it would still be fun.  

On December 23rd I finally brought it out so the kids could decorate it. I love that these things already come put together! 

They each got a side to focus on! 

I had divided all the candy bits up equally, but everyone was sweet and gave Owen most of their holly leaves so he could make this wreath on his side. 

Ella wanted the side with the front door. She wanted to make it look like there was a string of lights on the home. 

Zeke did the back side. He was more excited about decorating the gingerbread man than the house! 

As you can see in the back of this picture once he was finished decorating he went straight to eating! :) Also the poor chimney just would not stay up! 

Jack really wanted to be the one to put all the colored orange slices on the top of the roof. After that he just sort of did some stuff to the rest of the roof and then was finished! 

Owen and Zeke thoroughly enjoyed eating the gingerbread house over the next few days! 

Last year I surprised the kids with Christmas jammies. I hid them under their pillows and called down to them saying I thought they should check under their pillows. They loved it! Ella had asked me about it this year not knowing that I had already bought the new jammies. 

The night of the 23rd I called down to them to check under their pillows and they came running upstairs. Let me just say it is almost impossible to find matching jammies for teenage boys. I think I would have to order them in July to find the right size or maybe they don't make them at all. 

I bought these at Kohl's again like I did last year. All the boys pants still fit them so I decided to just look up long sleeve Christmas shirts. I got the boys all the same shirt with Yoda that said....'Good I have been'! Ella's nightgown from last year still fits her as long as she wears leggings under it. This nightgown I bought in a size 14/16. It's a bit big, but it totally works. Plus I love that they come with a matching nightgown for her doll. 

I wore my jammies from last year and so did Michael except I bought him a Christmas T-shirt that has Darth Vader on it and it says, 'I am your Father...Christmas!' 

After we all got in our Jammies we piled into the truck to drive around and look at lights. Normally when we get to this one neighborhood in Federal Way we like to walk around, but we all agreed that since we were in our jammies and it was so cold outside we'd rather just drive through and look instead. 

DIY Snow Globes!

Every year Kim and I get together with the kids during the month of December to do something Christmas related. I didn't really want to do anything in regards to food this year...although they did come over for lunch. While I was looking online for ideas of fun things to do, I found this step by step guide for how to make DIY snow globes.

I texted Kim and asked her what she thought. She was up for it...so we divided up the things we'd need to buy and planned our lunch and craft day for December 9th. 

 

For the inside I bought a bunch of Christmas Village characters and trees. Because the lip of the mason jars are so deep, Kim saved a bunch of caps from RX bottles and wine bottles and I had some water bottles caps for us to glue to the lids. This made it so whatever was inside the jar was propped up and was able to be seen better. 

Of course Jackson decided he didn't like any of the Christmas options so he chose to put a Beyblade in his. This particular Beyblade took a special launcher that had broken so he wasn't able to use it anyways. Owen chose the tree and the boy getting ready to throw a snowball. 

The instructions online said that you could use epoxy to glue the pieces to the lid, E-3000 or any type of super glue. I found this glue at Lowe's called Rapid Fuse. It said that it sets up in 30 seconds. I thought that was awesome since I doubted the kids would want to wait for hours for the other glue to set. Well turns out that set and cure are two different things. It might set in 30 seconds....it actually didn't, but it wouldn't cure for 30 minutes...actually a little longer than that. The kids didn't mind though...they just played and Kim and I worked on one of my Christmas puzzles. 

We actually made two snow globes with the choir singing. One of them the cap stayed, but the other one the glue could not get the cap to stay so I just glued the choir straight to the lid. Zeke chose the snowman and lantern. See that tiny white rectangle sticker on the right next to the snowman. That comes into play later! 

We filled a measuring cup with distilled water and then added a few teaspoons of glycerin to thicken the water. Then we filled the jars with how much water we thought they needed. We did go back and add more water so there wouldn't be so much empty space at the top of the snow globe. 

Remember that sticker? Well I had peeled it off of the bottom of one of the figurines because I wanted the glue to have as much surface area in order to adhere it to the lid. I just stuck in on the piece of paper and didn't think anything of it. Then I finished Zeke's snow globe and noticed that it somehow had gotten stuck to the belly of his snowman. Then Zeke said that he had done it on purpose! He wanted there to be a 'Made in China' sticker on his snowman's belly. He's such a silly kid! 

Here his is all shaken up! 

Here's Ella with her choir! 

They fit in this jar so perfectly! 

It's a snowstorm in there! 

After 30 minutes of letting the figurines cure we tried to put them in the jar. Zeke's snowman fell off in the water and I had to go fishing for it. That's when we decided to glue them again and let them cure longer. I don't remember exactly what happened, but Owen's boy ended up getting decapitated. Thankful the Rapid Fuse was able to fix that! 

What a fun snow scene! 

Owen made his almost a full whiteout! 

The funny thing we didn't think about was the green colored tree. Now that Owen's has been sitting for a while the water has turned a light shade of green and so has the boys face. It honestly gives it this nostalgic old time look! 

Jackson with is Beyblade! 

Since Jack chose a Beyblade and it was so short it seemed silly to use the same size jar as the other kids. Kim had brought a smaller jar so she let Jack use that. It worked perfectly! 

As for the extra choir snow globe we gave that to the Kuch's as part of their Christmas present. I knew that Christina would really appreciate something that was homemade. It was a super fun craft and I've been really impressed with how they've held up! 

Singing Christmas Tree

On Saturday, December 21st we had plans to go to the Singing Christmas Tree down at Life Center in Tacoma with my parent. This was the church that Pastor Andy had gone to work at back in September. I wasn't sure if we'd run into him, but then we saw him right when we walked in the door. 

It was so nice to see him and talk for a bit! I had never been to Life Center before....it's HUGE and beautifully decorated for Christmas! 

He took a picture of our whole family in front of the tree! 

My Dad had bought the tickets when they very first came out. We were right down front in the center aisle. The entire row was just for our family. It was nice not having to worry about bumping into someone you don't know if you need to get up and go to the restroom. 

This year it was a whole new production called The Vinny Vindaloo's Joy of Christmas. It was like a 1950's Christmas TV special hosted by Vinny Vindaloo. Pastor Andy had warned us that they would incorporate some of the audience in the show. Michael was talking with one of the greeters out in the lobby and he said the guy kept saying his and Ella's name over and over...like...so nice to meet you Michael and Ella. Michael and Ella you enjoy the show...things like that. Lo and behold...Vinny Vindaloo came right up and signed one of the programs for Michael and Ella. It was so fun! 

The production was super cute and very well done. I was worried that kids might get bored, but there was no way that was going to happen. They all really liked it. After the production we had reservations at Mama Stortini's for dinner...four of us got pizza and all of us had leftovers to eat for lunch the next day. Which was perfect since the next day was our choirs big production at church. Dad and I were both in the adult choir and Jack, Ella and Zeke were in the kids choir. Jack was a narrator for one part and Zeke played one of the wisemen. Because it was so busy and I was in the choir I didn't even think to take pictures of the kids on stage.

Christmas Activities - 2nd Week!

I started to not feel good on Saturday, December 7th. I had so much to do that first week in December leading up to the Christmas Dinner I was willing myself not to get sick. Once it was done I was spent. Thankfully I didn't get nearly as sick as the kids. I had the worst headache, my chest felt tight and my body ached and ached! So Sunday and Monday's Christmas Activities were more Christmas movies. 

 By Tuesday everyone was feeling better and back at school! Praise the Lord! After school we went to the Dollar Tree closest to our house to get Christmas wrapping paper. This particular Dollar Tree we had never gone to before because it's in an area that I feel is really run down and doesn't scream safety! Traffic was so bad coming from Des Moines though and I had to get home to make dinner in time to leave again to go to choir practice so I figured it would be okay just this once. The kids noticed right away that the parking lot was a mess....there were even car parts with wires and everything on the ground. We stayed together, went into the store and thankfully the wrapping paper was right by the door. We bought that, some bows and some tape and got out of there. I will say the store clerk was sweet and friendly. When we got back in the van Owen said to me..."That was a one time thing Mom!" 

Each of the kids picked one new design for their presents. Zeke had to get two of the same kind since that particular roll was smaller than the others. I also had them pick another kind of wrapping paper from our stash at home just in case the new rolls weren't enough. 

On Wednesday, December 11th we did not stick to the schedule since all the kids had dentist appointments and Awanas that night. Jack and Zeke also had to go to church for a dress rehearsal for their parts in the Kids Christmas Production. To say it was a busy, crazy night was an understatement. 

To add to the craziness we had to deal with a little situation with our neighbor and his tenants. Since I had to take Jack and Zeke to church in the van, Michael had to take Owen and Ella to Awanas using his little red car.  The easement was blocked though by one of the neighbors tenants cars so this started a good discussion with our neighbor about his tenants and how they cannot park their cars in the easement. Especially if they aren't going to answer the door when Michael knocks on it! Since this time I've only had to text our neighbor once about another one of his tenants parking there so hopefully they have figured it out now. He really is a nice guy and was super apologetic...in the end it was all taken care of! 

On Thursday, December 12th we had the Storer family over for dinner and crafts.

Zeke had been wanting to make gingerbread man cookies, but then I saw these cute houses at Winco. They were only $9 for four house. I bought two packages and thought the kids would enjoy them. Plus since there are only 3 kids in the Storer family if there were any broken parts we would have an extra set. 

Owen did really great getting his house to stay together. I think with him being older he was more patient that the younger kiddos. 

Charlie was not sure what all the fuss was about! 

Jackson my sweet impatient boy kept having his house fall over. 

Andrew did really well! 

Josiah's collapsed so he gave up trying and just started eating! 

Zeke got his house to stay up for a bit. 

I think Micah worked on helping Caitlynn with her house. 

I did the icing work on Owen's house and then he decorated it. After he was done he put it on the mantel to display it. 

I think after a while Jackson gave up. 

I think this might be Andrew's house! 

Of course Ella couldn't decorate with any of the dyed candies so she used chocolate chips instead. 

Caitlin enjoyed eating her house once she was finished. 

In retrospect I think we should have built the houses the day before so the icing could have completely dried and then they would have had better luck staying together. Zeke has already requested actual Gingerbread Man cookies next year so I'll just have to make that happen! 

Friday, December 13th I took all the presents out of there hiding places and organized them by kiddo. Right from the bus stop I took the kids down to Ga-Ga & Pa's house to spend the night. They always go down to stay right around the middle of the month. Pa loves to take the kids to the Spanaway Lights and then the kids go shopping for Michael and I. This year the wait time for the lights was over 2 hours! No thank you! They took the kids out to eat at Red Robin instead. 

When I got back from dropping them off Michael and I went out for a date at Mama Stortini's. Once we got home I put in my typical Christmas Movies and started wrapping. 

The nice thing about the kids sleeping over is I don't have to put everything away if I don't finish. On Friday I got about halfway done and then saved the rest for Saturday. As you can see Amazon was my best friend this year! 

I was able to finish wrapping almost all the gifts. I was still waiting for one gift for Jack and Zeke. Wrapping is one of my favorite things and I got to watch Lifetime Christmas movies that are so cheesy...I loved it!!! 

To top off December 14th we also went to our Youngish Adult Christmas Party at church. We brought all the boys with us...Ella was at a birthday party. It was great fun...we had finger foods, we decorated people up as Christmas Trees, did a flashlight search for candy canes in the Auditorium and we even had prizes for who brought the ugliest coffee mug. Then we played a game to see who got to take home what mug. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard over coffee mugs! It was great fun!!!