Our Family Christmas

Tonight we celebrated an early Christmas with just the 5 of us.  We ate our dinner and drank our sparkling juice at record speed and then got to opening gifts.  The kids seemed very excited with their presents and we had fun playing for a while before bed.

Stompeez for Everyone!

Roller Blades for Peter and Miriam
so they can try to keep up with Esther!



Tri-Ominos and the updated version of Life



Our Generation dolls for the girls

Beer sampler and a new waffle maker for Daddy
to make sure we keep getting our Saturday morning waffles!

With Daddy's help, the kids filled my stocking with
an assortment of candy, treats, and a Starbucks gift card!

The kids got a couple little games
and a Pez dispenser in their stockings.

The girls also got Turbie Twist towels
in their stockings.  Here is Casey
demonstrating how to use one!

Trying out the blades!



The girls with Ashley-Rose and Audrey-Ann

The boys got the new Lego creation put together
(the one on the left is the new one)

Next up this weekend... Peter's birthday party and Christmas with Casey's family!

Miriam's Birthday, Part 3

Wow, Miriam is really stretching out her birthday this year!  This is the final installment of the Miriam's Birthday blog posts. 

Today she had the girls from her preschool class over for a party.  She has a class where some kids go all day, some just in the morning, and some just in the afternoon.  Because of that, there are more kids than in a usual preschool class, so there are 15 girls total.  She invited them all, and only 1 was unable to come, so including Miriam we had 14 girls at the party.  It was a little crazy, but also really fun!  When I asked Miriam tonight if she had fun at her party or if it was too crazy, she said, "No, I want to do it again!"  Good thing we've established the rule in our family that you get a friend party at age 5 and age 8 (so far), so she's going to have to wait a few years.

We played a bunch of games including bingo, pin the map on Dora's backpack, Hullabaloo, musical chairs (actually musical Hullabaloo pads), and did a candy hunt.  We had pink strawberry cupcakes and Birthday Cake ice cream, and of course Miriam opened her gifts.  She got so many fun things, and amazingly there were no duplicates, and nothing she already has!  The girls were all really cute and sweet, and it was fun to get to know her friends a little better. 

Esther stayed around and was a huge help, but Peter chose to escape to the McCauls' house and play with his cousins.  He was excited because he got to go swimming with them and get away from all the girls.

Miriam's Birthday, Part 2

Today was Miriam's actual birthday and she had a great day. We started the day by taking the kids to school and staying for chapel. Then we went to Marge's Donut Den and Miriam picked out a snowflake cookie as a treat. We also stopped by Daddy's office to say hi and drop off a donut for him.

We went home and baked cupcakes for her friend party tomorrow, put up decorations, played some games and hung out until it was time to pick the kids up from school. She also got birthday phone calls from her grandparents and aunts throughout the day and a visit from her friend Mary Kate.

When Casey got home from work we went out for dinner to the place of Miriam's choice, Olga's Kitchen. Then she opened her gifts and we had cupcakes.

It's so hard to believe that Miriam is 5 already!  She fills our lives with laughter and really looks up to Peter and Esther.  She loves preschool, Barbies, dolls, coloring, riding her bike and scooter, and playing games.  She's a whiz at memory match and beats me almost every time.  We are so thankful that Miriam is a part of our family!

Miriam's Birthday, Part 1

It's so hard to believe that Miriam is almost 5 already!  Tonight we celebrated her birthday with our families.  We had our usual pizza with Grandma K's cake for dessert.  The kids had fun playing together and Miriam received some really fun gifts! 

Her actual birthday is Friday, and she has invited all the girls from her class for a party next Saturday.  Stay tuned for that post!

Here are some pictures from today:

Barbie set, ballet slippers and money for ballet class
from Grandpa and Grandma W.

Lego Friends sets from friends Anna and Elizabeth

Annoyingly loud "merry-oke" microphone toy
and a date to get a pedicure and manicure
from Uncle Jeff, Aunt Renee, Tyler and Cassie.

Build-a-Bear outfit and shoes for her bunny Ella
from Grandpa and Grandma K.

Also a backpack for Miriam with a
matching smaller backpack for Ella.

Sorry game from G and G Kuperus

Three fun puzzles from Uncle Nick

 

Beautiful cake!