Our family

Christmas 2015

I can't think of a more special time of year than Christmas.  I love shopping for the perfect gift, I love baking with the boys, decorating, listening to Christmas music, you name it.  I love it all.

This year was even more special as I have recently left my 8-5 and am self-employed as a Realtor.  That has allowed me greater flexibility and more time with my loved ones.  The boys and I even caught a mid afternoon movie on the 23rd.  It was bliss.

For the second year in a row, we spent the holiday at our cabin, Knotty Pine Guest House.  We all get a little giddy about the thought of "going away," even though it's only 1/2 mile away.  We pack food, clothing and all the presents and make it a point not to return to our house for anything.  The boys love it!

Tradition has it that we head to my parents on Christmas Eve.  The kids have a blast and I'm sure prior to exchanging gifts they've already shared with each other what they got them.  This year there was a new baby in the family.  Baby Jett got passed around and I'm pretty sure got a thousand kisses.  We then head back to the cabin for the night and settled in for a reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas.

 

 

 

 Why is it that boys wrestle so much.  We always joke and say what are we going to do when these 5 boys are all teenagers? 

 

 

Christmas morning was magical.  The boys woke early and peeked over the railing.  There faces and giddy smiles confirmed that Santa had arrived.

 

 

They were so quick to start diving into their presents I could barely snap photos fast enough.  It was all over in about 5 minutes and they quickly started planning what they were going to play with first.

 

Later that morning, Grandma Debbie and Great Grandma Barb came over.  We had a wonderful lunch and the boys got to open even more presents.  The rest of the day was spent lounging around, playing games and toys and enjoying a warm fire.

 

We are so thankful for this Christmas season.  We have health, happiness and each other and that's all we need.

Thanksgiving Play

A couple weeks ago I shared photos with you from the 2nd grade Thanksgiving play.  Click here to view.  Here is the video taken by Landon's teacher that I'm finally getting around to sharing.  Pay close attention to the narrator (I happen to think the narrator did a fantastic job)!  Something else fun I noticed was Asher's preschool class was sitting there watching.  Too cute!

Eight

 

How is it that I am writing about my little guy turning 8? As much as I hate to admit it, it's true, and he's loving it

This year was different, a sign of times to come, I guess.  Landon had a choice of how he would like to celebrate his birthday.  He could have all his family over to celebrate with a little party like how we've done it for years past.  With all the boys in his second grade class to come over for the afternoon for games and snacks, etc.  Or with a couple boys who could stay overnight and I would bring them back home late morning the next day.  Without hesitation, Landon chose to celebrate with a few of his good friends staying over for the night.

Let me tell you, this group of friends is just wonderful.  Such kind and courteous boys.  I was afraid that little brother would be the annoying 5th wheel, but they were so nice to him.  They included Asher in their nerf gun wars, played hide and seek with him, and were just sweeter than I could have imagined.  Both Landon and Asher had a wonderful time and we hope his friends did as well.

 

Landon's birthday celebration continued throughout the weekend with friends and family popping in to see him and share their well wishes.  He even got to see the new Star Wars movie this past weekend with his Dad.

Happy 8th Birthday, Landon.  We love you more than words!

Baking with the pro

Over Thanksgiving weekend, my sisters and I, along with a few cousins, got together at my Grandma Hackman's to learn the art of Culvert baking.   Grandma has been baking these for as long as I can remember and they are one of the most delicious pastry's out there.  If you google culvert, all your going to find is a picture of a ditch culvert.  Not at all the same thing.  Culverts are probably similar to a cream horn, but even then, there are a lot of differences between the two. 

Grandma followed the recipe to a T, however, there are a lot of tricks that she hasn't written down, such as beating the egg yolks briskly before mixing, having the eggs at room temperature, using 2% milk, etc.  Interesting enough, she also uses this dough for kolache's and cinnamon rolls. 

After mixing the dough and letting it rise for a couple hours, you punch it down and let it rise again.  Then you wrap pieces of the dough around these wooden dolls.  That takes some practice...

I decided I was better off manning the oven and letting my Grandma and cousins roll the dough.  They quickly developed a groove and were on a roll.  (Pun intended).

Then they rise again as they wait to head into the oven. 

After they came out of the oven, they immediately get brushed with butter.  Before filling, they must cool completely. 

And some of the finished product.  We made 4 batches and I can't even tell you how many hundreds that is.  Because our family is so large it takes a lot of Culverts for Christmas time.  We all took a bunch home, but most went into the freezer for Christmas. 

It was so much fun learning from Grandma how to make these.  It was also fun to hang out with my sisters and baby Jett, as well as a couple of my cousins.  I don't know that any of us are ready to tackle these on our own, and I have a whole new appreciation for how much work this is for Grandma (and Grandpa). 

Christmas in Calmar

This past week, our boys had a chance to meet Mr. & Mrs. Claus.  Every year the town of Calmar, which is where I grew up, and about 5 miles from where we live now, hosts Christmas in Calmar.  Most of the business host some type of Christmas activity.  It is so much fun and the boys love it.  This is usually the first opportunity the boys have to share their Christmas list with Santa.  I think this may be our first picture with the jolly couple that Mom and Dad are not in.  That's a sure sign our boys are getting big!

Up on Landon's list is Lego's and Asher's is a fire truck tanker truck.  Santa asked the boys if they could each name three things they wanted and the boys could each only come up with one.  They said they didn't want anything else.  Let's hope Santa can come up with what they want!

After our visit with Santa we hopped on a tractor ride throughout town to check out some Christmas lights.  We were lucky enough to have an elf and the Grinch accompany us.  Despite it being cold, we had warm chicken noodle soup in a cup served by the local fireman.  It was so good!

A few other stops included Christmas ornament making, wine and beer sampling (for the adults), a live nativity, a stop to pick up miniature tractors made out of candy, popcorn for the little guy and caramel corn for the rest of us, and of course cookie decorating.  We had a blast and did I mention that all of this is free!  This event is just another reason why we love living in our small community and why it's so important to support local businesses.