The Christmas Tree...

We like to put up the tree and decorate it the weekend or Monday after Thanksgiving. I don't know what it is this year but I guess I've been some what of a Scrooge. I just can't seem to get into the excitement of Christmas. So Monday rolled around and we went and looked at some Christmas trees that the Shelley High School had decorated for an auction and then went and looked at the house with the Christmas lights that go to music and then came home and we dug out the tree and started putting it up. We even had on White Christmas - my favorite Christmas movie!!! After we got it up I just didn't feel like decorating it. And so it sat... 5 days - bare, undecorated. No other Christmas decorations up in the house. Well, on Thursday we had a special Pack Meeting that the cub scouts had done alot of work for.

We like to do a service project for Pack Meeting in November because we don't have Pack Meeting in December. This year we had decided to make Christmas wreaths for the widows and elderly at The Gables here in Shelley - it's an assisted living place. I wanted all the wreaths to be different from each other so that they could hang them on their doors of their rooms and have something that was just theirs. Well, I called and found out that there were 15 residents - kind of a big project but we did it! I had to find wreaths that the boys could do, that looked nice and that were about $5 - $6 each. This is what we came up with and how they turned out. (I was in a hurry and taking pictures at the Church before we left for the Gables so the pictures aren't the greatest.)

Felt Snowman Wreath - one of the boys actually stitched these cute little snowmen!

Paper Loop Wreath - loved this one!

Heart Candy Cane Wreath - this was supposed to look different but the candy canes kept breaking and so this is what it turned out like.

Tissue Paper Wreath - lacking a little in the fluffing department but still cute! :)

Glass Ball Wreath - this one was really easy, just gluing on glass balls - one of my
favorites though.

Plastic Bag Wreath - this one was fun but kind of time consuming cutting out all the plastic bag strips. Turned out really neat though - another of my favorites!

Pipe Cleaner Snowflake Wreath - the poor boy that was doing this one had such a hard time doing a twist in the pipe cleaner but when it was all done he said, "This is really fun. I like
doing this!"

Cotton Ball Snowflake Wreath - also LOVE how this one turned out!

Curled Candy Cane Wreath - this wreath was done by Bryson. He had learned to do these candy canes last year in school. Turned out pretty cute!

Fabric Wreath - easy one for the boys to do and it turns out great!

Frosty Fuzz Wreath - this I think was my most favorite. Just pom poms in different textured yarn. So fun!! I think I'll make one for my own house! :)

Present Wreath - the boy doing this one was so proud of his wrapping job on each little present.

Ribbon Wreath - lots of different Christmas Ribbon. This is the one that Dillon did. The picture doesn't do it justice - it was one of the cutest ones! He was so funny - when he first started on it he kept saying, "Mom, I don't know how to tie." Which he does because he can tie his shoes but I think he was a little overwhelmed but once he got going he was liking how it was turning out.

Paper Scrapbook Wreath - this one was huge but still cute!

Quilled Candy Cane Wreath - this one was really time consuming but I love how it turned out!

I just loved how all the wreaths turned out! The boys did such a great job on them and I think they liked seeing what their work had turned into. David and I stayed up and made over 100 Christmas cookies and we put them on plates with an orange for the residents at the Gables the night before. We took everything over to the church where all the scouts and families got to look at the wreaths and eat some of the cookies and make a tag for the plates that said "Merry Christmas from Pack 58".

While we were at the church some awards were given out and we welcomed Dillon into our pack. Wow! I can't believe he is 8 years old this month!

So we headed on over to the Gables. We had asked Mariann Frost if she would help do some Christmas Songs with the boys and all of us. It was so much fun! We sang some classic Christmas carols and some different fun ones - with a ukulele and bells that the boys rang. Then her father in law was up visiting and plays the harmonica and that was awesome! We also did that song that they sing on You've Got Mail - "The clarinet, the clarinet, goes doodle doodle doodle det... " It was so much FUN and the residents were loving every minute of it! Then came time to give them the wreaths and cookies - they were to draw a number from a bowl and the boys would bring them the wreath that matched that number. It touched my heart to see how excited and happy and appreciative they were. I could tell that we had definitely brightened their evening. The boys were so excited to see how appreciative they were over the wreaths and how much they loved them and said that they were so pretty. It was kind of funny because one of the boys went over to the lady that got the wreath he made and she was just saying how beautiful it was and he said, "Um... be really careful with that wreath. It's really fragile." "Oh, I will honey! I will! It is so beautiful!" It was so cute.

We then took some into the rooms of the residents that can't get out of their beds. It was such a special night. It is amazing what doing something for someone else can do to yourself! That night I came home and was definitely filled with the spirit of Christmas. What a special time of year - and the neat thing is that we can have the spirit of Christmas all throughout the year - not just in December. Saturday we got the tree decorated, watched White Christmas all the way through and I enjoyed it so much more this time. Then the next night we watched Polar Express with the boys and they slept out by the tree.

Love this time of year!! :)

At the Cummings House...

Well, it's been a little while since our last post. We enjoyed Thanksgiving with family. Lot's of yummy food and fun games. Then I stayed the night at David's mom and dad's because as tradition has it the Cummings girls and mom go shopping EARLY on Black Friday and they always try and get me to come. Well, this year Toys R' Us opened at midnight, so we went and got there about 5 to midnight - HOLY COW! People were parking across the street because the parking for the plaza was full! We ended up having to stand outside in line in the FREEZING COLD for 2 hours!! There were some pretty good deals but never again... that was so cold!! It was like 15 degrees out!! Brrrrrr!! Luckily one of my sister-in-laws was in line way ahead of us and was able to grab our stuff for us and so once we got in we then stood in line for the checkout which I didn't mind because it was WARM!! From there we went to Old Navy because they were supposed to open at 3:00 a.m. (all the ads said this). We were in line for about 45 minutes and it was about 5 after 3 and the Mall Security guy comes up and says that the whole mall wasn't opening until 4:00 a.m. so Old Navy decided not to open until then too! Oh!!! Well, from there we went to Wal Mart and stood in line (inside) for forever until 5:00 a.m. until their sale started. Then a few other places after that and then to breakfast. I got all the things I wanted to get and I was pretty tired so me and one of my sister-in-law's headed home. Whew! So glad it's only once a year. Anyways - then I came down with a cold (probably from standing outside of Toys R' Us for 2 hours! Argggghhhh! :( Logan and Mason kind of already had a cold and I probably got it from them. Logan's didn't last too long but Mason still has his. He has a nasty cough and a really runny nose - so glad that it hasn't gone into an ear infection though. So, here is Logan being a good big brother and feeding Mason his bottle and giving him kisses because Mason doesn't feel good. He has been so good to Mason since Mason has been sick - always bringing him toys and trying to play with him. It's so cute.

Little Maser...

Dillon completed his job chart and got to pick a family activity to do. He pulled out a card and it was a game night. He was a little disappointed because he wanted the bowling card or the arcade card but then I told him that he could pick 3 special treats and pick 3 games to play he was excited. So he picked Clue Jr., Castle Keep and Sorry for the games and for the treats - popcorn, licorice and of course his most favorite - Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum! As mentioned before in a previous post I just can't eat the stuff anymore but David still loves it. Here they are, ready to play... Logan showing off his bubble gum and David blowing a bubble with his gum. It was a fun night!

A Little Thanksgiving Fun...

Mason turned 7 months on November 5th! He has been sitting up by himself for a couple of weeks now and doing really well. Lately he has been doing this funny thing with his top lip - he pushes it down and juts out his lower lip, it's so cute and funny when he does it. Some of these pictures have him doing it. He also has 2 little teeth coming in on the bottom. One has started to poke through and the other one is just about to. They have been bothering him a little but not too bad. He still gives me big hugs and squeezes when I pick him up - love that!! :)

The first of November we had my sister and brother in law and their family over for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner I guess you could say? David is such a great cook - he made a delectable turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls and he would of done pies too but my sister made those (and they were yummy!! :) ) All I did was the beans, corn and stuffing and those aren't hard - lol! It was yummy, yummy, yummy!! We saved the wishbone from the turkey for Bryson and Dillon (I have memories of me and my sister making a wish and pulling on the wishbone every Thanksgiving.) Dillon ended up getting the longest piece when the wishbone broke and he was about to tell us all what he had wished for when Bryson stopped him and told him not to tell or his wish wouldn't come true.

Dillon has always loved police, army - in fact when he was really little everything turned into a pretend gun and he would call it his "shoot" - "Look at my "shoot" mom!" When he grows up he wants to be a policeman - however, he is my most soft hearted and tenderest boy. He loves to dress up in his army costume and pretend he's in the army. We had to cut some large circles out of cardboard for some scout stuff and he immediately took the remains and started setting it up. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was making a fort and then he got his army stuff on and his play gun and helmet. He even took time out and put the helmet and the gun by Mason. Too funny.

For FHE last night the boys made some Hand and Feet Turkeys and then wrote what they are thankful for on the feathers. It was so cute some of the things that were said. Bryson was being a "turkey" - when I tried to take a picture he kept pulling faces and these 2 are the best ones - he's pretending to eat his turkey in the top one. Silly boy.

5 THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR...
1. My 4 adorable loveable silly fun boys!
2. My wonderful loveable patient and great cook of a husband! :)
3. The beautiful peaceful place that I live.
4. The wonderful gospel in my life.
5. Awesome friends who I can laugh and have fun with.

Halloween...

October 31, 2009

HALLOWEEN!! Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!! We had a really fun Halloween this year! Logan was the "nice" Big Bad Wolf (that is what he kept saying, "Mom, I'm the nice Big Bad Wolf, huh?" - Mason was one of the 3 Little Pigs. Bryson was Zorro and Dillon was Indiana Jones.

Dillon had a cool whip with his costume that made the sound of a whip and then played the Indiana Jones theme song - except that he was embarrassed to show people when we went trick or treating - silly boy! :)

Bryson had a cool sword that made a sword sound like when you make a "Z" for Zorro.

We went down to the Pumpkin Walk and trick or treated and saw the awesome pumpkin displays - such talent!! It was alot of fun.

The boys waiting to go into the pumpkin walk.

There was a display of the 3 Little Pigs and of course Logan had to get his picture taken with them. :)

After we went to the Pumpkin Walk we came home and ate our traditional Halloween dinner and then took the boys trick or treating. We usually just go around to houses around here. The boys were getting so excited about all the candy they were getting.

Logan telling Grandpa Gardner something about trick or treating - it was funny because he sucked on this pixie stick for about 45 minutes. I guess he wanted to make sure he got it all out of there and that he didn't miss any.

Bryson with some of his loot!

Dillon got 5 boxes of Dots - one of his favorites!

And Logan asking for just 1 more candy... gotta love Halloween!! :)