Peter's birthday date

Yesterday Peter had his special birthday date with Aunt Karen.  He also chose Culver's!

Peter's Sleepover Party

Since we have allowed our kids to have a friend birthday party at ages 5 and 8 (so far), it was Peter's turn this year.  He decided to have a sleepover, which is also what Esther did when she turned 8.  We invited all the boys in his class, but a few were out of town or unable to come, and 1 of his buddies was sick.  We ended up with 5 boys for the evening part of the party, and 3 of them slept over, which was a great number.  It was a lot of fun and it was neat to get to know some of his friends better.

We started with pizza and then went to Mulick Park to sled (hoping that if we tired them out, they would actually sleep!)  It was a perfect night for sledding and we had a great time and thankfully no injuries.  Miriam joined in the sledding fun, but Esther opted to hang out with Aunt Karen instead.

When we got home, we had cupcakes and ice cream and Peter opened his gifts.  He received some very cool gifts from his friends and has already had a lot of fun with them.

It's hard to get a picture in the dark,
but you get the idea!

Cupcakes, decorated by the birthday boy himself!

Toys 'r Us Gift Card

Rush Hour logic game and NASCAR bashers car

Despicable Me 2 Movie

Mouse Trap game

Nerf Gun with laser

Next it was time for a game.  Peter came up with "pin the checkered flag on the car" so we used a car cutout that was part of the party decorations and printed out little checkered flags.  Then it was on to a Lego building contest.  Peter had specific rules and guidelines, which he explained very thoroughly to the boys.  They each received wheels, a steering wheel, and a windshield and they had to create some type of vehicle.  We put all the Lego drawers in the middle of the floor and they went to town.  They were down there for a long time, and probably would have stayed down there all night if we had let them!  It was so fun to see the variety of creations that they made and the creativity and ideas that each one put into his vehicle.  Peter wanted Casey to be the judge, so he came up with 6 different categories so that each kid won first place in a different category.  :)

Two of the boys were picked up around 10:00 and then the other boys got into pj's and watched Despicable Me 2.  They were very quiet and apparently fell asleep quickly after the movie ended.  In the morning they stayed quiet and watched the first Despicable Me movie until Casey had waffles ready for breakfast.  Then they played Legos again for a while and Casey took them home.

Peter had a great time, and we are thankful for the nice friends that he has.  Now his birthday is officially over until next year!

Skiing and Meijer Gardens

We enjoyed another fun day of Christmas break today!  After a couple errands this morning and a special date for Miriam with Aunt Karen, we spent some time outside at my parents' house so that the kids could try their new sleds and also try cross country skiing for the first time.  They were all naturals at it and loved it!

New Christmas sleds from Grandpa and Grandma K.

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Late this afternoon we went to Meijer Gardens to see the Christmas trees from around the world and the trains.  Esther took a lot of great pictures:

We always enjoy the trains and trolleys and looking at the replicas of landmarks from around West Michigan.  They are all made from natural materials and it's neat to see the creativity of the items from nature that are used to create different parts of the buildings.

Meijer Gardens

Civic Theater

Fifth Third Ballpark

Holland Lighthouse

Fish Ladder

We went late in the afternoon hoping that it would be getting dark while we were there.  We had never been there in the evening, but had heard that the outdoor areas and children's gardens were decorated with lights.  It was very pretty!

Miriam's birthday date

Miriam got to have her birthday date with Aunt Karen.  She chose Culver's!

Merry Christmas!

This year we celebrated Christmas Day with Casey's side of the family, and we had a nice, relaxing family day.  We started our morning with cinnamon rolls and opening stockings...

Peter's Lego-filled stocking:
Lego erasers, pencil box, mini Lego set
and a K'nex Jimmie Johnson car

Crossword puzzle book, mini Lego Friends set,
nail polish and a hat for Miriam

School spirit headband, Dutch Blitz card game,
nail polish and lotion for Esther

We went to church with Casey's parents and enjoyed their service, which included the children's Christmas program.  Then we spent the day at their house eating goodies and a yummy ham dinner, opening gifts, playing outside, doing crafts, playing games, and relaxing.

One activity that consumed much of our time was untangling the huge wad of yarn that came with Esther's knitting machine that she got from us for Christmas.  It was in a huge tangle when it came out of the package, and Casey, his dad, Jeff and I all spend a lot of time working on untangling it and getting it back into a ball.  It was funny to see those guys get so into it and be absolutely determined that it WAS going to be done before the end of the day.

Near the start of the untangling process...

Grandma and her girls



Buddies!

These 2 love Uncle Nick!

The kids each opened 1 gift from Grandpa and Grandma first.



Esther got a lot of yarn to use for finger knitting
and with her knitting machine, and a fuzzy warm robe!

Peter got an erector set which can
make 10 different things.

Miriam got a decorate-your-own-headband kit,
a scratch art fashion design kit, and an outfit for her doll.

Then the kids were told that they each had another gift to open.  They waited on the couch while Grandma and Daddy brought the gifts upstairs...

 

Making some guesses as to what's inside those big packages!

New sleds for everyone!

Of course they all ran to put on their winter gear and try out the new sleds.  There is just a small hill in Casey's parents' yard, but they had fun anyway!

 

When we came back in, everyone wanted to try out their other new gifts.

 

Esther was excited because she had new yarn to use with
her knitting machine and didn't have to wait for the
untangling process to be completed on the original yarn.

Yes, the untangling was still going on...

FINALLY finished and in a ball!
Thumbs up for the persistence of these guys!

Esther and Grandma working on some scratch art.

Cassie and her new Light Bright.
Nothing like the Light Bright of our childhood!

The finished product of the knitting machine's
first run--a beautiful scarf!

We are thankful for the blessing of our families, and that we could spend time with both of them celebrating Christmas this week.  It's always hard to believe when Christmas is over after all the planning and anticipation.  Now we look forward to the New Year and the excitement and blessings that await us in 2014!