Our Tree, mostly decorated by KK, hence the multiple ornament branches!!

Max helped me decorate...

Justice for a fallen comrade

Oh and this is the one where the nutcrackers protect baby Jesus...what ?!?! You don't remember that story?

Also we put up garland and lights in K's room!

Finally christmas Is here

Fun in the snow...

No, there is not snow at my house right now, these are late!!  Suprise suprise!

Building our snowman

Going down the slide...  Three times and then, "OK mom, lets get some hot chocolate"

So we did!

We make our own hot chocolate (the real stuff) but we have been making it sugar free and its not bad!  We always have to make several batches at home because KayLynn has hers with soymilk, I have mine with non-fat milk and guests have theirs with real milk and sugar!  And sometimes we add schnapps - but not with KayLynn!!

I know that I am late

But I just found this article by Mark Driscoll.  I love it.  It is all about how they handle the 'Santa thing' in their home and it puts into words exactly how I feel about it.  Just thought I would share in case anyone else was interested!

Monthly Goals for 2011

After reading on A Bowl full of Lemons about her getting organized challenge, I have been inspired.  I have decided to give each month a theme (subject to change depending on family needs).  Then I will spend the month doing things around each theme. 

For instance:  January's theme is organization.  I wrote a list of 15 things in my home that need some serious organizing.  My goal is to have all of them done this month.  This is a better system for me since I sometimes have the desire (and time) to do more than one thing in a day, and sometimes I just need the day off!  So feel free to join me if you would like...

My 15 organizational tasks for January are:
1.    Bathroom Shelves
2.    Art Supplies
3.    Pots and Pans
4.    Bedroom Closet
5.    K's Clothes downstairs
6.    Corner Cabinet in the dining room
7.    Cabinet above the stove
8.    Pantry (if you can call it that)
9.    Linen Closet
10.  Hope Chest
11.  Jewelry Box
12.  Papers for Filing
13.  Kitchen Shelves
14.  Mud Room (or what I refer to as the Mud Room)
15.  Call to Haul!!!

Here are my tentative monthly themes...Some are a little obvious!  Let me know if you can think of anymore for my missing months..

January - organization
February - Romance (this was Max's idea)
March - Scrapbooking...
April - Learning to knit?
May - Painting
June - Flowers and Friends (Taking flowers to friends or Family)
July - Correspondence (writing real hand-written letters to friends)
August - Walks and Parks (try all new walks and parks each week)
September -
October - Sewing
November - Thanksgiving
December - Christ's Birth

Christmas Day

This was truly one of our best Christmas Seasons ever!  First thing in the morning (well we let Daddy sleep in a little bit) we opened gifts.  This was really fun with KayLynn this year.  We had really been working on being sweet and cheerful when others get gifts.  Every time Max or I received a gift we made her sit down next us and watch us open it and then talk to us about what it was, and how nice it was.  And though she sometimes needed reminders, she proved to have learned well and even helped hand gifts to others.  We ended up getting her a new outfit, some new tennis shoes (her old ones a getting too small) and a doll with a car seat.  I decided to keep up our families tradition of getting a pomegranate in the stocking.  So KayLynn also got to have that as a snack later - which she loved!

Later on in the morning my sister and her husband came over for about an hour to open gifts.   They got KayLynn a Vtech (?) and we have yet to turn it on (and find out what it does) because it doesn't come with its own plug, so we have to purchase batteries or buy a cord for it.  I had made cinnamon rolls that Jayson loved - so I convinced him to take them home.  Its always fun to see my sister.  Plus I got to feel baby Jack move - finally!  We tried to get KayLynn to feel him, but she was busy with her new toys!

After having my sister over we went to Tam and James for Prime Rib Christmas Dinner!  So good.  We really enjoyed our day, which despite not sounding low-key, it was.

25 Days of Christmas ~ The last few days

I will upload the pics soon - but I figured I would do the words while on break.

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 21
On the 21st we got to have Wren over for the evening.  The girls did so well playing together.  They enjoyed a little craft as well as dinner together with hot chocolate.  They took a bath which Wren had been begging to do since she arrived.  I really enjoyed hearing the laughter as they talked and played together.  I decided that I do want another child - but I want a girl the same age as KayLynn!

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 23
This evening (due to her abundance of gifts under the tree)we let K open her gifts from her South Carolina relatives so she wouldn't be quite so overwhelmed on the following days.  She was in heaven.  She got matching Elmo and me blankets as well as an Elmo DVD set.  She got right to watching it and cuddling with Elmo.

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 24
On Christmas Eve we went to Gig Harbor with Max's parents.  It was a really fun time with some good food!  That evening we went to Tam's for the annual Christmas Eve Party!

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 20

Since I was a little overwhelmed with all that there is to do in the house, last night after we got done working out, Max took KayLynn duty and I got to get some stuff done.  I really enjoyed washing the dishes while listening to them talk about what they were doing.  There is something so comforting about hearing them!

I made a list of all that I want to get done this week.  It contains 33 items.  Some of them are as simple as take the (blank) downstairs.  Others are a little more detailed.  I got about 15 of them done last night and I look forward to getting more done tonight. 

Tonight we get to have Wren for the evening, so KayLynn and Wren will get to do a project that I got (again from Oriental trading) and decorate a cookies each after dinner!

25 Days of Christmas - Catch up

25 Days of Christmas - Day 19

Well, on Sunday we had KayLynn's Christmas program which she was pretty excited about!  She did well, although seemed to have trouble leaving her little angel dress alone...  I took a video and it is pretty shaky in spots because I could not stop laughing!

 Doesn't she look angelic?

 Biting her nails - ugh!

 And, of course, I had to get one of her in front of the tree

 We found this gingerbread man at Trader Joe's, and decided to get it for KayLynn.  She (OK actually both of us) really enjoyed this and has since eaten his foot.  Kinda sick when you think about it!

 25 Days of Christmas - Day 18

 These pics got a little turned around!  On Saturday Tam and James took Michael, Kristin, Max and I to Teatro Zinzanni - it was a great experience.  Their current show is a little risque but it is nothing short of amazing.  KayLynn got to stay with her Great Grandma Kay and they did lots of Projects...

KayLynn also got into the dress-up mood and stole Uncle Micheal's hat and danced for us.

Here is the picture of the ladies from the show.  We enjoyed dressing up - although poor Kristin was sick on the way up to the show.  But she pulled through and was eventually able to eat her dinner! 

 25 Days of Christmas - Day 17

Work Christmas party at the RAM - no pics!  We did have a good time, and KayLynn got to play with the other kids a bit. 

25 Days of Christmas - Day 16

So I cheated a little bit!!  I bought these ornaments from Oriental trading and we did them together.  They are the kind that come black and you scratch it off to find the color underneath!

That package under the ornament - the beautiful one - is my Christmas present from Max...I have no clue and it is driving me crazy!

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 15

Last night we got to go to Zoolights with Jim and Shari, their Korean student, friend Jenny and her granddaughter Lili.  We really enjoyed ourselves this year (in the rain) and were so happy that it was not as freezing as it was last year.  Afterwards we had a late dinner at Twokoi.

 It was pretty wet!

 KayLynn's favorite was the rainbow.  I know because she said, "Mom its my favorite rainbow.  my favorite!"

 Her other favorite were the elephants!

And she got to go on the merry-go-round twice.  She was so thrilled.  She laughed everytime she went past everyone waving at her!

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 14

Last night was a Christmas Party with our closest friends the Baders.  These are the same people that we went trick-or-treating with on Halloween.  The kids had a blast and I think we parents enjoyed ourselves as well.  I had so much fun getting their Christmas gifts.  I got their three children matching outfits!!  Something that those of us with one child don't often get to do!!

 KayLynn loved holding baby Jack, whom she liked to call Jacky!!

 Opening their gifts - kids are really so much more fun at Christmas

 The kids in their new outfits and KayLynn 'helping' the baby

 KayLynn with her new stroller (that she wanted to take to bed with her!)

Stockings...

We always have so much fun with the Baders, and though it was a late night, we really enjoyed ourselves.

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 13

Well, tonight will be low-key for us in the LeFebvre household.  Last week due to sickness I was not able to get to the gym at all - and Max got to go once.  So, this week we are going to both try to get there at least 2x.  That on top of the 2 Christmas parties we have this week and the shopping that I need to do to get ready to go to Teatro Zinzanni on Saturday, its a busy week.  So tonight we are going to work out, and then have a mini picnic in the car on the way home while we look for Christmas lights - one of KayLynn's favorite Christmas activities...although I think she is a little confused because the other day when we saw lots of Christmas lights on our way home KayLynn said, "There's the lights, mom.  Let's go trick-or-treating!"

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 12

Well this morning we got to go to church (although sick Max was at home hopped up on Nyquil) and most importantly for KayLynn she got to go to Sunday School, which she had begged to do every day since last week. 

After Sunday School we went to an all-day cookie bake with a friend from work and a fewe others.  We baked from 11:30AM till 5:30PM.  A good time was had by all.  I went home and divided the cookies (after Max had taken all that he liked - his favorite was Kristin's oatmeal scotchies!) into tins for the Great Grandparents and a neigbor.  This week we will be delivering the goodies and seeing the family.

For dessert KayLynn got to decorate her own sugar cookie with frosting and green and red sugar crystals!  She had so much fun that I was laughing too hard to take pictures!

It was such a late night that there were no Christmas stories, just Away in a Manger before bedtime and thats it!

Merry Christmas everyone and I hope that you are also stopping for some rest and reflection and not just overwhelming yourselves with making Christmas 'perfect'.

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 10 and 11

KayLynn has been sick...Max is sick...too much going on so this was a little vacation from having to do anything.

Although Saturday mornign bright and early we went to the Sunday School rehearsal for KayLynn and than we went to McDonalds with the Krulish women for the kids to play.  After that we came home and made some more cookies, then Daddy and KayLynn went to play on the toys at the mall while I got some cleaning done and some more cookies made (and incidentaly thrown away because they were digusting - but more on that later.)

This is KayLynn's favorite Christmas movie so far...

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 9

Today we made cookie dough...lots and lots of cookie dough.

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 8

This afternoon we went over to Kaiya's house (at least thats what KayLynn calls the Whaley house!) and did gingerbread houses with some other kids and their moms.  Though it was a short get-together, when we left KayLynn said, "Mom, that was just so much fun.  So much fun."  It was nice to visit with some moms for a little bit, and to see KayLynn playing with some kids her own age.  At bed time we read her christmas book - not enough beds and she laughed and laughed at the people sleeping in the tub!  Although it is a lot of work to do projects and fun things with her (after working all day) it is so worth it.  I love the excitement when we get to do a "special Christmas project".

I will have to beg Ms Kjerste for some more pictures of the event!  Merry Christmas and hope you all are enjoying your holiday thus far!

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 7

Tonight we practiced KayLynn's Sunday School song - Away in a Manger.  We looked up several different versions on Youtube.  KayLynn's favorite was the little kids church choir that was singing the song.  She kept saying, "look mom, they're singing it!"  She is pretty adept at the first verse now, and we are working on the rest!

I have to tell you that we did find one video of this lady singing the song and KayLynn said, "I no can like this lady mom".

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 6

OK for some reason I can't upload pictures, but on this day we did puzzles.  I made felt puzzles of a christmas tree and a snowman.   I put the pieces for each in their own bag and KayLynn had at it.  She was a little uncertain how to do the snowman pieces until I showed her - but the tree she was really excited about.  She put all the pieces on and loved doing the or-ments.  Although I must admit that she had no idea where to put the star, which may be because we dont have one!

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 5

Today was another down day.  KayLynn is still getting over being sick...we didn't even go to church because she cant stop coughing...  Today we just watched movies and read Christmas books - we also played with her trains...not very Chritmassy!

25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 4

Today we made ornaments...please ignore the lunch tray -- she was impatient to start!  I can't show you the finished project yet because they are a surprise for the grandmas!

That night I also got all of our christmas wrapping done!  It was so fun to sit there with a glass of champagne, watching Snowglobe and wrapping Christmas gifts.