Christmas Before Christmas

The weekend before Christmas, we travelled to my parents' house for an early Christmas celebration. All of my siblings were there(except Fr. Brian, who is currently stationed in Germany) with their families. We drove up in our new-to-us Suburban, which we got in the middle of December. Goodbye to the no longer reliable minivan!

Watching movies with fancy wireless headphones, which were part of  the deal for our new car.

Catherine got to play Risk with her cousin Andrew...

...and a word game with Grandpa.

Joseph and Grandma.

All 16 of the grandkids.

Silly picture!

Grandpa and Grandma with all of their grandchildren.

We managed to be smart enough to take pictures before dinner!

Elizabeth, Isabella, Emily and Anne

Clara, Isaac, and Anthony

After dinner, it was time for lots of Christmas gifts.

A chaotic, but fun scene.

There were gifts from grandparents, as well as a cousin gift-exchange.

Dominic and Joseph checked out their new Legos.

We had a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa and all the cousins!

December, Before Christmas

Made my first lemon meringue pie for the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Yummy!

Anne made her very own little apple pie with the extra pie dough.

We went over to play at a friend's house.

All the girls.  The boys were too busy (and uninterested) for a photo.

We made Christmas cut-out cookies.

When the boys were doing their share, I was helping too much to take pictures.

One day, when it snowed...

...the kids went out...

...to build...

...some snowmen!

Here's what the girls made.

If you look closely, you'll see that the shepherd lost his head.  No one seems to know what happened.  I guess it just fell off.

Christmas Tree 2014

On the third Sunday in Advent, we decorated the Christmas tree.  Dan got the tree on Saturday, but we had to let it settle and dry out.

Here comes the tree!

Picking up needles.

My stair steps.

I unpacked ornaments and we all put on the hooks for hanging.

I think Anthony could have reached this spot without the step stool.  :)

Catherine placed one in the right spot.

Anne shows off one of her ornaments.

Dominic was ready for another ornament.

Lots of ornaments, many of them now homemade by the kids.

All done!

Someone did not want in the picture.

At the Roller Rink

Once a month on a Friday, a Wichita roller rink holds an afternoon session for homeschoolers.  We went for the first time in early December.  The three older kids have roller skates and have skated in our garage and out onto the sidewalk and the part of the driveway that is paved, but they had never skated at a rink before.  They loved it!

Dominic

Anne

Anthony had never really skated before, so I had to help him learn how to balance on his skates.  It was a lot of work!

Anthony practiced on the carpet.

Shall we go out onto the floor?

Doing the limbo.

Joseph made it!

Catherine

Joseph

Watching one of the races.

Dominic was ready to race.

Kayaking in the Fall

Saturday after Thanksgiving was a beautiful day.

Perfect for kayaking.

Anne waited for her turn.

Joseph out on the pond.

The kids watch.

Exploring along the bank.

 

 

Anne and Anthony spotted something.

Anthony close-up!

Dominic in action.

The rope is attached to the kayak to help pull it back up on the shore.

Anthony likes to play with the rope.  :)

Catherine

Joseph climbed trees while waiting.

Catherine checked her pictures on her new camera.