Our Family Christmas

This morning we celebrated our family Christmas with just the 5 of us.  We started the day with Daddy's waffles and cartoons. 

We're crazy about Daddy's waffles!

Then we opened gifts!

This was Peter's gift to us.  He made it at school by using his hand prints in paint to make the tree shape. 
So cute!

Esther made a cool ornament by using her hand print to make snowmen shapes which she decorated.  There was a cute poem attached about how we'll be able to remember how small her hand was in 2011 when we look at the ornament in future years.  Their teachers are so creative!

Casey got a Marge's Donut Den mug and a Calvin (or Harry Potter) tie!

I actually opened my anniversary/Christmas/birthday gift last week, but we hadn't taken a picture of it yet.  Casey and the kids gave me a beautiful mother's ring!  I just love it.

Esther got roller blades, the game Bunco, an outfit for her Build-a-Bear bunny and an electronic snap circuit set.

Peter got a guitar, a new Hess truck with a race car, and a Tiger's outfit for his Build-a-Bear tiger.

Miriam got a sticker activity book and color wonder coloring set, her very own "girlie" Lego set, and an outfit for her Build-a-Bear bunny.

Trying out the new guitar:

Jammin'!

Lego creating!

Finished horse stable:

Trying out the electric circuit set... very cool!

The animals with their new duds:

It was a very nice and relaxing morning.  We're looking forward to celebrating with my family later today and with Casey's family tomorrow.  We are so blessed and thankful for our family and that we are able to be together to celebrate our Savior's birth!

Chuck E. Cheese's!

Peter didn't have a friend birthday party this year, but we told him he could take 1 friend and choose a special outing.  He chose his friend Simon and Chuck E. Cheese's!  We went today since Casey was off work and of course he didn't want to miss a chance to go to Chuck E. Cheese's.

The only other time we have been to CEC was for Esther's 6th birthday.  We went on a weekday then as well and went right when they opened.  We decided that was a good plan to repeat, and we were happy to have the whole place to ourselves for about an hour.  That meant no waiting, no chaos, and lots of free tickets since the machines all spit out tickets when they are turned on in the morning! 

Posing with the Big Mouse himself!  (Simon was busy playing a game at the time)

We had an early lunch, and by then it was getting busier, so we headed home so the boys could play at home for a while.

Simon got Peter this cool Lego set, an ice cream truck, and a Pez dispenser.  They had fun putting the Lego set together (ok, actually Casey did it) and then playing with it for a while before we took Simon home.

Peter also tried out his new bike this afternoon!

Happy 6th Birthday Peter!

We had a really fun day today celebrating the coolest 6 year old around.  Casey worked today so that he could take tomorrow off and have a 4 day weekend, but he still got to be in on some of the fun.  We started our morning by going to Marge's for donuts (and angel cookies for the girls) with Grandma K, Aunt Renee, Ty and Cassie. 

Our next stop was Breton Village to see the trains...

We went home for a little while and then went to Casey's office to pick him up and go our for lunch.  What did Peter pick as his lunch destination?  McDonald's, of course!

We had a fun and relaxing afternoon of playing Wii, Monopoly, and hide and seek and watching a Charlie Brown video.  Peter started getting quite anxious to open his gifts, so we did that when Casey got home before we ate dinner.

Peter got a harmonica and a grow fish aquarium from princess Miriam:

Esther made her money go a long way by buying books at the thrift store that she thought Peter would like:

For the last few days Casey has been teasing Peter that he would be getting socks and underwear for his birthday.  It became quite a joke between them, so the first gift we told him to open contained...

some of his own socks and underwear (yes, they were CLEAN!).  He wasn't too impressed at first, but we clarified that it was a joke and then he thought it was funny. 

Then it was on to the real gifts:  a US map puzzle for our map-loving boy and a Finn McMissle car.

For his final gift, he opened a box that contained a word puzzle that he had to solve.  He set to work right away...

The answer was "Basement Storage Room."

This is what he found... hopefully he can actually ride it a bit this week since we don't have any snow!

After dinner and showers, it was time for cupcakes...

We are so thankful that God has blessed our family with Peter.  He makes us laugh, gives excellent hugs, is extremely ticklish, tells us every street name that we drive on and provides directions when necessary, loves any type of toy vehicle, enjoys reading and music and school and playing outside, and is a really great brother to his sisters.  He's a super cool kid!

Esther's Nativity Scene

Esther made this cute project during children in worship class at church during December:

She had a lot of fun making it, and it turned out so cute!  I'm sure it will be part of our Christmas decorations for years to come!

Peter's 6th Birthday Party

Yikes, our favorite little dude is almost 6!?  Tonight we celebrated Peter with Casey's family and had a great time. 

Peter chose a Detroit Tigers theme this year...

We typically give the kids their gifts from us on their actual birthdays, but we needed to give Peter one gift early this year. Casey has been wanting to get him a slot car track, and so he spent much time researching and finding the perfect one. Uncle Nick and the McCauls bought him extra cars to go with the track, so in order for them to be able to give him those tonight, we had to give him the track first!

Peter is such a great gift receiver. He is genuinely grateful for each one, and gives many hugs, thank yous, and excited "oh my word!" reactions to his gifts.

He got a Finn McMissle car for the track from Uncle Nick:

Lightning McQueen car for the track and a TobyMac Christmas CD from Uncle Jeff, Aunt Renee, Tyler and Cassie (his cousins were too busy playing to be in the picture):

Grandpa and Grandma gave him a remote control monster truck, a Holly Shiftwell car, a wooden airplane, and a framed picture of Peter and Tyler, taken when we had family pictures done this fall.

Time for cake!

Casey told Peter that he'd set up the slot car track after everyone left.  He was patient for a long time, but eventually he started asking when everyone was going to leave.  :)  They got it set up and had some time to try it out before bedtime.  I think this is going to provide many hours of fun!

We're looking forward to a fun week of celebrating Peter's birthday and of course Christmas!  We just need to make it through a couple more school days and get to break.  It will be wonderful to have family time and be able to focus on the true meaning of the season.