Christmas Gift Playing!

Mommy and Daddy celebrated their anniversary on December 27th with a simple dinner to the local Chinese restaurant and then hone to watch a movie together. The kids stayed with Pop and Grandma for the evening and overnight.

The kids have had fun playing with their new Christmas gifts over the last few days before we head to Iowa to celebrate with the Bents family! Callie’s tent house has been a favorite. And the robot Aunt Kim and Uncle Chuck gave Joel has been a huge success. He got it put together right away and charged up to get ready to roll. All of the kids have been loving their Amazon Fire tablets and the opportunity to play games and listen to books. Cade loves his noise cancelling headphones and all of comfy clothes!

Prime Quarter Dinner!

Merry Christmas Odell Family! What a fun night we spent at Prime Quarter on December 26th! I think I can get use to this tradition of steaks and great company! Though we didn’t get a family picture, I think we got everyone photographed sometime throughout the night! We only had 4 kids meals this year!! They are all getting so old! 

Christmas with the Odell’s

We had a wonderful time with the Odell Family on Christmas morning. It is always so fun to surprise one another and give!

 Callie got a necklace from Pop that looks just like Walter. Cade got a box of magic tricks from Pop and Grandma. And Cade some new slides. Pop got the boys mini arcade games that were a big hit!  Aunt Kim and Uncle Chuck also have the kids some really nice gifts. Joel  got a remote control LEGO robot that he absolutely loves. Cade got a really nice Fitbit like watch. Callie got some fun crafts to make. 

This year we have Grandma a locket with the kids’ pictures in it. The outside of it is gold and sparkly and just looked like she would wear it. We got Pop the same John Deere ornament Cade got. They were delighted with their special gifts! 

Christmas Morning!

We caught a few photos of our Christmas morning! The kids each got their own Amazon Fire Tablet this Christmas. They were so excited! We also surprised them with Laser Guns. We bought an extra set of the guns so they could play with cousins and friends. Plus the kids each got some books, a movie, an audio adventure, and some clothes. Callie and Joel each have their siblings a toy. This year Cade used his own money and got Callie, Joel, and Mommy gifts. It was fun to see him be so giving. Daddy gave Callie a special locket, Cade a forearm strengthener, and Joel an invention set. Mommy got everyone an ornament - Joel got a  basketball for his first year as a PCA Eagle, Cade a John Deere lawn mower, Daddy a Stanley Coffee Mug, and Callie a bicycle. What a fun and special time of giving. The Lord has blessed us. 

Lambert’s Arrive

The Lambert’s arrived on Sunday afternoon and the fun of being together has started! We enjoyed some yummy ribs smoked by Pop on Monday! We finished up the gingerbread house supplies with the last three houses we had. Jake, Anna, Ethan, and Callie had fun designing. 

On Tuesday late afternoon we prepared for the Christmas Eve service. Cade dressed as a shepherd to be a live model for Mr. Rob Jensen’s sharing about shepherds. Cade later sang with Pastor Justin and a couple other boys from youth group in the service. Callie and Joel participated in the service by singing in the children’s choir led by Miss Chariss. Daddy shared about John’s account of the Christmas story from John 1. The service ended with a beautiful candle lighting and the singing of Silent Night. 

We enjoyed a soup supper at our home with the Lambert’s after the service. Tomorrow is Christmas! 

Small Group Christmas Party!

We had a fun evening with our care group families at the Bullington home the Sunday before Christmas. We enjoyed dinner together  with everyone bringing some delicious yummy food. The fun activity for the night was frosting and decorating gingerbread houses. Momma hot glued graham crackers together before the party to make little cottages, and brought items for the kids to decorate with. The kids did a great job and had fun creating and making their houses homes! Miss Deb and the Bullington kids made yummy gingerbread cookies so the kids could decorate those and eat them. The houses were not eatable so the cookies were perfect. Thanks Miss Deb! 

Kindergarten Party!

Mommy helped lead the kindergarten classroom party. We read The Legend of the Candy Cane and then had candy cane themed games and activities for the party. The kids made a candy cane bead ornament, wrapped each other with red and white streamers to make candy canes, played pin the stripe on the candy cane, and did a fun candy cane drop in the bucket. One of the other moms made some cute cookies and the kids enjoyed them with some yummy cold milk! 

The students said goodbye to Mrs. Whitlock. She will be leaving for 10 weeks after Christmas. We will see her again when the weather starts to warm up!

Last Week of School in 2019!

Christmas celebrations came quickly this year with just three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas! The days flew by and we tried to soak in as much Christmas fun and traditions as we could!

 We had a little bit of snow and Mrs. Whitlock took the kindergarteners out to play. Callie and Miriam made a snowman one recess! 

Our Wednesday evening was full of Christmas fun! Miss Chariss had a fun party for the Sparks girls and glittered yo their faces! Cade and Mommy went caroling with the youth group kids. We made it to 6 different homes! 

During the week Cade helped Callie with her blend book homework. She was so excited to tell Mrs. Whitlock her brother helped her. 

Cade and Daddy tinkered with the Christmas tree in the boys’ room and figured out how to fix the light bulb that went out. They got a new light bulb and then we’re able to attach the wires so it worked again. 

On Friday night we drove over and saw the LaSalle Light Festival. The light park had grown a lot since last year and it took us a full 30 minutes to drive through. It was fun! On our way home we drove through Spring Valley, and stopped by a neighborhood we had seen some pretty cool lights at in the past. And they didn’t disappoint this year with an excellent synchronized light and musical display again. Now that we have stopped by two years in a row, I guess we get to call it a tradition! Fun! 

Meeting Luke!

The kids got to meet little Luke before Josh and Tori headed home to Wisconsin on the 15th or December. They were all so excited to see and hold him. He had to have his diaper changed twice in the process of being at our home. It was kind of funny! We are so glad Luke arrived safely into the world and is growing well!