Weekly Menu

Last week was a quiet week.  We didn't totally stick to the menu more so because we ended up not being hungry for dinner a few nights.  One day we went to see a movie and were full of popcorn so just had simple things (like cereal) before bed.  Another day, we had a big, late lunch so at dinner time we weren't really hungry so had . . .well, cereal . .again.  That's ok though - it makes meal planning the next week easier!

We actually have another quiet week coming up.  I do find it crazy that it is the beginning of February.  This winter has been extremely mild which has made January move at a normal speed (unlike last year when we were trapped in FRIGID cold and January was about 342 days long HA).  It's easy to cook when it isn't -475 degrees outside for some reason!

We do get to enjoy the Superbowl this weekend for which we are super excited!

Friday - After a long day at Friday School, dinner is simple.  Tonight is just pot pies and salad.

Saturday - Spaghetti and  Garlic Bread - something easy on a Saturday night.

Sunday - Superbowl Sunday!  I try to do a mix of snacks and food.  Homemade Pizza is always a hit (plus it's pretty easy).  Otherwise, probably chips and dip, cheese and crackers, and fruit and dip are always fun and easy to have around.

Monday - Ham and Scalloped Potatoes - a carry over from last week.

Tuesday - Stuffed Shells, Salad, and Garlic Bread

Wednesday - AWANA night - so easy kid food.

Thursday - Chicken and Dumplings

Weekly Worship - Jordan Feliz - Satisfied (Lyrics)

Several years ago for my birthday, Darryl took me to a Michael W. Smith Concert.  Jordan Feliz was the opening act along with another guy from Australia.  That night, if you bought Michael W. Smith's CD you also got a CD of each of the other opening acts.  Well, Jordan Feliz is one of Nate's favorite artists and somehow this CD got misplaced for about 2 years.  I found it a few weeks ago and, while heading to his sleep study on Tuesday night we played it in the truck.  The last song on the CD is this song and I just loved it so I thought I would share it.  Enjoy!

2020 Week #4 Photos

We had a great week!  Here's a look back (In words and a few photos!)

Saturday - Nate's birthday party started on Friday evening and  went overnight into Saturday.  It was a great night that ended up a snow storm!

 Nate had 2 friends spend the night - he had one more coming but he ended up with the flu!  

 This was Nate's request!  I made a cake similar to this years ago for him and he wanted it again.  It's actually M and M Cookie Bars that I stacked in a "two layer cake", surrounded by Kit Kat's and topped with more M and M's!  Yum! 

Sunday - We had another quiet Sunday at home thanks to a winter weather advisory.  It was nice to sleep in after the all night party HA!  Plus we enjoyed hours of football too!

Monday - This is a break week from school so I took advantage of that on Monday and Josh and I cleaned his shelves and put his Christmas gifts away.  I always love a clean room!  Our evening ended with Nate and I heading to TKD.

Tuesday - The boys had a piano lesson.  Then, Tuesday evening Nate and I headed into town as he had a sleep study!  I did take photos of him all wired up but he did not like them and does not want me to share them - so I won't!  I thought he looked pretty cute :-)  It was a long night (or a short night) but a good experience.  The room was comfortable, we had snacks, and it was quiet.  It was almost like a little vacation!

Wednesday - Needless to say, Nate and I were tired HA!  We didn't do much except read and watch TV until it was time or AWANA.

Thursday - The boys actually stayed Wednesday night at my moms as I had a doctor's appointment in the morning.  I enjoyed a little bit of a "me" day.  After my quick appointment, I went to my favorite little Mexican place for the best Tacos ever.  From there, I even treated myself to a rarity - a cupcake from the Cakeabakery!  yum!  Best cupcakes ever.

Friday - It's Friday School!!

 Josh and his friend Ty playing games in the Game Fever Class. 

 Josh working on art using homemade art supplies in Crazy Kid Concoctions. 

Nate (on the blue Yoga mat) is his Healthy Mind, Body and Spirit class.  

Weekly Menu - A Quiet Week Ahead

We had a great birthday weekend and then a little bit of a crazy week - well at least for dinner.  We seemed to be running a lot this week and that always impacts dinner time.  If I'm gone all day, I don't love the crock pot because things over cook but if I'm gone all day, I hate coming home to cook which means I have to prep the day before!  It's the never ending circle of .. DINNER!! :-)  Before kids, when I worked full time - sometimes 50+ hours a week, it's no wonder we ate out a lot!  After working all day, it was never fun to come home and make dinner!  Anyway, I'm getting distracted. HA!  This coming week is a very quiet, stay at home kind of week.  We will hit school hard as we start the 2nd semester and not make too many plans outside of what needs to be done at home.

Friday - It's Friday School time which means I'm usually tired when I get home!  I love things I can just pop in the oven and require no work on my part.  I'm going to put in a frozen lasagna for dinner along with garlic bread and green beans.

Saturday - The weekend is the perfect time for the crock pot since we tend to be home all day.  Slow Cooker Zuppa Tuscana is one of our favorites.  I'll make some "homemade" yeast rolls to go with it.

Sunday - Scalloped Potatoes and Ham in the Crock pot with Salad and green beans

Monday - This is leftover night since we eat in shifts.

Tuesday - Crock Pot Fajitas, Beans, and Chips and Salsa

Wednesday - AWANA night = Pizza (or chicken nuggets or whatever else is easy!)

Thursday - Homemade chicken nuggets, buttered noodles, and carrots

I'm hungry just writing this plan!

January Goals

We were forecast to get a super huge storm this past weekend (plus we got more this weekend too!)   We did get a storm with freezing rain, sleet and a little bit of snow but it wasn't nearly as bad as they said it would be, which I am thankful for as we did not want to lose power.  From Friday Evening until Monday morning - we stayed home.  Darryl had planned to take the weekend off due to the storm and I made sure everything was done as far as errands.  We hung out, watched football, played, and enjoyed just being at home.  It also gave me some much needed time to plan, make my lists  and get some things typed up!  One of the things I got done was my January goals.  As I had said previously, the first two weeks of January were totally 100% school focused so we could finish up our semester  With that in mind, I knew I didn't need any goals for the first two weeks or goals that would take the whole month to accomplish.  Instead I wrote all of my goals with the idea that I only have two weeks to accomplish them!

So, here's the goal plan for January

1. One of my yearly goals is to go fun places and take photos.  I don't foresee us going into Grand Rapids this month so I'm going to try and find some place local that is fun to take a photo.

2. Scrapbooking - I have a couple of goals for this month.  1) Clean up my desk so I can scrapbook again.  2) By January 31st go through all of the "January" photos on my hard drive and make sure they are sorted and uploaded to Snapfish.

3) Reading - My goal is to read 4 books in January. 1) The Printed Letter Bookshop 2) The Bright Season 3) The Boy in the Photo 4) The Power of a Positive Mom  I'm also working on finding a book to support my Goal Word - Perfect Peace.

4) Cleaning - I've created my January plan for the rest of the month!   Now to accomplish it all!

5) Family - I'd like to go see a movie as the family - there are some really great ones out.

6)  Homeschool - Wrap up the 1st semester; Create a set of flashcards and a speed test for both boys to use during seatwork time: find division problems for seatwork time for practice, set up a Monday morning meeting time to start each week off on the right foot; Make sure both boys are current in their AWANA books

7. Update my Holiday journal with information from this past Thanksgiving and Christmas; Look ahead at my plans for Valentines day and set that in motion.

8) Get Nate new shoes and Josh a new pair of dress pants

9) Pick out a piano song to practice and . .. well, practice it until I have it down.  Also, practice my song for special music.

10) A friend shared a bible study online on James - I plan to start that this month.

11) Finances - Stick to my January plan for the rest of the month.

12) Complete our 2019 Taxes

I think that's it for this month!  Here's to another great year of getting things done!

Weekly Worship - Shane & Shane: I Will Wait For You (Psalm 130)

One of the Bible Study books I have for this year is on Psalms so I've been looking for songs based on the Psalms as well.  I might not make it very far in the Bible Study Book but music speaks to my soul - sometimes even more then a book. 

2020 Week #3 Photos

Here's what our week looked like.

Saturday - We went no where and did nothing.  We were forecasted to get a huge ice storm.  We did get freezing rain, sleet and snow but not as heavy as they thought (which was good - we didn't want to lose power!).  We hung out at home and watch playoff football games.  It was awesome.

Sunday - Read what I wrote for Saturday - same thing HA!  Church was cancelled - we went no where!

Monday - School!  My mom surprised us and took us out to lunch which was very nice.  Finally, Nate had TKD :-)

Tuesday - School! We were wrapping up projects today like Josh's food truck and Nate's science experiment.

Wednesday - We finished up the last few projects.  I took Nate to get new tennis shoes and the boys went to AWANA.  It was actually a low key day.

Thursday - School is done!  Yeah!  Today we headed to the library for the homeschool activity.  Our friends had a half day so that was added fun!

Friday - Today is the first day of Friday School and Nate's birthday party!  I'll be honest, I don't think I'll get a chance to post photos before this automatically posts on Saturday morning.  Darryl and I are being banned to the playroom after dinner and cake so the boys can have the living room HA!  So, I'll share photos from his birthday weekend in next weeks post!

Weekly Menu - The mixed up week!

This coming week has lots of little things that are different than the norm!  I'll still work on keeping it simple and easy!

Friday - Since Nate's birthday is so close to Christmas, it was too hard to get is friends together for a party so, tonight is the night!  He has three friends coming over to spend the night and he wants Pizza Hut Pizza and Breadsticks so that is what he gets!

Saturday - Since the party is an all-night, I might be sleeping by dinner time HA!  For real though, simple is the key so leftovers are on the menu or Spaghetti.

Sunday - It's still football!  My plan is to have Chili going in the crock pot before we leave for church.  I'll cook up some spaghetti noodles after church (because Darryl loves his chili over spaghetti!) and we will enjoy that while we watch football!

Monday - It's TKD night so dinner is eaten in shifts.  I think we will just have chicken noodle soup and french bread.  It's simple and tastes good :-)

Tuesday - Nate and I have to go in for a sleep study (well, technically Nate does, I'm just along for the ride . .. well, actually I'm driving HA) Josh will be at my mom's so maybe Darryl, Nate and I will eat at McDonald's (Nate's favorite) before he and I leave.

Wednesday - AWANA - Pizza night!

Thursday - I might actually cook!  Zuppa Tuscana Soup - I can put it in the crock pot and let it go!  I'll make some garlic bread and maybe even add a nice salad to round it all out.

20 in 2020 Goals

This year our little goal group is doing 20 in 2020.  The plan is to write out 20 goals to accomplish in 2020.  This are always bigger items, not the little monthly goals I try to accomplish.  Often these are goals that can be broken down into smaller chunks - sometimes not.


1. Take the boys to fun places in Grand Rapids and get photos.  (Fish ladder, the huge tire swing, the lion mural, the blue bridge, and more.  I want to take advantage of our city while the boys are "this" age.

2. Scrapbooking goals.  I'm learning to be more intentional  with scrapbooking at home.  It's been difficult to find scrapbook crops that I can actually attend so I have to make time to do what I love at home.  I'd really like to finish 2014 (almost there).  Then look at the other years and see where I'm at and work on the next year (I think it's 2016) while also working on 2020.  It is hard to work on multiple years but I'd like to be current with this year while working on catching up the other years.

3. Reading.  I want to focus more on reading.  I had some issues with my contacts last year and found it very hard to read so, well, I didn't.  That problem is now corrected so it's time to read again.  My goal is to set a reading goal each month and try to accomplish that goal.

4. Cleaning I am working on creating a 20 day a month cleaning challenge for myself.  It is based on the concept I did over a year ago where the group I'm part of set a goal to get rid of the number if items to match the date.  It worked well for me - I don't tend to have hours to dedicate to a project but I can carve out 20 minutes or so around our school day.

5.  Family.  Go see movies we want to see; do things we want to do; and enjoy time together.  The boys are looking forward to playing flag football this year so I want to help that happen.  Josh loves to run so I want to help him success at that by getting the right shoes and seeking out guidance from friends who are runners.

6. The last "McMaster" niece graduates this year so I need to complete her graduation album by May.

7. Complete some simple projects around the house including replacing the difficult lightbulb above m sink, getting the seal for a piece on the sink (that I dropped down the drain a year or so ago HA!), and maybe even a new thermostat just to name a few items.

8. Homeschool - I have some new ideas for our second semester including a "Monday Morning Meeting" were we can go over our week and also the goal of both boys working on their multiplication memorization.  I also, as always, will need to decide what to do about the fall when it comes to the program we will use for homeschooling.

9. Learn how to make Macaroons.  It doesn't seem like much but I love them and would just like to try my hand at making them.

10.  Plan our "Holidays" - This includes Birthdays and traditional holidays.  I need to update my my holiday journal and then start on plans for Valentine's Day :-)

11. The Misc List  - I tend to have a list of things that are just needed or need done - such as - Josh needs new dress pants, Nate needs a light jacket, I have two gifts we got Nate I need to return/replace, the boys need sleds, I need to hang up Nate's racetrack we moved to the basement, Darryl needs to help Nate make shelves for his TKD boards that he has broken, clean out the misc card in the bathroom.  As you can see that list is long and I'm sure there more!

12. Buy a "new" car.  It might seem odd to add to the goals but, we kind of now this has to happen so, I guess, making it a goal is a good thing.

13. Go camping at least once in the summer.

14. The basement - this is separate then the other cleaning goal.  Last year I worked hard to make the basement need and basically organized.  This year, it's time to go shelf by shelf, bin by bin, and really clean stuff out.

15. The garage - the boys want to have a garage sale, I do not HA!  So, no matter what the garage will get cleaned up and organized as stuff will either get sold that has been sitting out there for close to a year OR it will go to charity.

16. Music - The boys are continuing piano lessons.  I would like to focus on "perfecting" one song a month on the piano and also having my next song for special music ready before it's time to sing :-)

17. Take a photography class.  There is a local photographer that does classes several times a year.  I have a goal to sign up and take one this year.  I took one from my friend several years ago and enjoyed it but have forgotten most of it - I'd like to learn to use my camera better.

18. Plan some dates with Darryl.  With my mom close by, it is easier to make this happen now.

19. Spiritual - I'm a strong starter and a slow finisher when it comes to Bible Study Books.  I have one picked out to start - I'm part of an accountability group so hopefully that will help :-)

20. Finances - I have some savings goals for this year as well as continuing to look for way to make a little extra income that fits well with our family life.


I feel like I'm a little more  "broad" this year in my goals.  As the year progresses I will narrow them down to more specific things, I'm sure.  I'm also a little scattered on goals still this year.  These first two weeks of the year are 100% school focused as we push to finish up lessons.  Plus, just "recovering" from the holidays seems to take up my time.  I won't really start even January goals (which are not written) until the 20th! 

My Word of the Year

For quite a few years I've picked a word or phrase that I want to focus on for the coming year.  Some (that I can remember) from past years included Joy (I've used that one a few years), Discipline, and Living with Purpose.   As much as I love the whole idea of Joy, and the reason I've used it several times, I wanted to pick something new this year.  I was drawing a total blank; total lack of inspiration until a Camp and Conference Center I follow on Facebook shared their word of the year.  I even took a few moments to do a little research of their choice and it challenged me so I decided that it was my "word" too.

Perfect Peace

I want to focus this coming year on Perfect Peace.  I want to possibly do a study on peace as it is shared in the Bible.  I'm also thinking about ways to make my life and the lives of my family full of peace.  I'm not even 100% sure how that will look yet other then to try and take away things that cause stress both individually and as a family  I do believe that Peace and Joy go hand in hand so this is a natural progression.  I also want to find ways to keep our home peaceful - simple things like playing music throughout the day, helping each family member achieve the things they need to get done during the day (really thinking about school and not getting overwhelmed with projects!), and other simple things like that.    I might even look for a piece of artwork for our home that will incorporate my theme word/phrase and that verse.  (I still want to find one related to "Joy"!) 

Do you pick a theme each year?  I know that people either seem to love the idea or think it's crazy!  Either way is fine because we are all different people and have different ideas for things like goals and themes!  

Weekly Worship - Redeemer of the Rain

I had never heard this song until this past Thursday evening when a friend shared it on Facebook.  The video begins with the back story about the reason for the song - you can fast forward past that and just listen to the song if you would like :-) 

2020 Week #2 Photos (or lack thereof)

This was what would chalk up to an unexciting week.  Everything kind of calmed down after the busy holiday season and, honestly, it's been kind of nice. 

Saturday - The boys and I hung out at home while I put away "Christmas".  It was nice to get all of that done.  Then, we enjoyed watching both playoff football games.

Sunday - We all went to church and then headed home for football!  We did take the Christmas tree down but otherwise, we just enjoyed being a little lazy :-)

Monday - Back to the grind!  We worked on school all day and then Nate started back to TKD after a few weeks off.

Tuesday - Just school!  It was a perfect day to get alot done.

Wednesday - Just school all day and the boys went to AWANA at night. 

Thursday -  Nate had a doctors appointment with the "lung" doctor so he and were at that for a good portion of the day.  He's now got a couple of inhalers to help him out and he has to do a sleep study.  It was a fun spending the day with Nate :-)

Friday - Today was just a leadership team meeting which took a good chunk of the day!

No photos of this week!!  Maybe next week I'll challenge myself to take one photo each day of something :-)

Weekly Menu

Last weeks menu shifted some just because of things like football games :-) We did eat at home though, which was a win in my book!

Here's the plan for the coming week:

Friday - Ham and Cheese Quiche, Muffins and Hashbrowns

Saturday - There are football games today!  I'm trying to keep our meals "football" style.  With that in mind, we will have Sloppy Joe's, Salad, and Chips.

Sunday - More Football!  After church we will have Tacos!  Then later for dinner I'll use leftover sloppy joe's and make "chili" dogs and chips.

Monday - Leftovers - Sloppy Joe's, Hot Dogs, or Tacos.

Tuesday -  Beef Drip, Crash Potatoes, and Carrots

Wednesday - AWANA night!  Frozen Pizza :-)

Thursday - Chicken Scaloppini, Buttered Noodles, and Green Beans

We are actually supposed to get hit with a pretty significant winter storm this weekend sohere's hoping we don't lose power and can just enjoy being snowed in!

2020 Week in Photos #1

Welcome to 2020!  I really do love these weekly photo posts.  It's fun for me to look back at the year and a great way to put some photos all in one place.  I love scrapbooking and I see this as one more way to scrapbook!

Saturday - We had our final "Christmas" with Darryl's family.

I didn't take many photos but I did manage this precious gem HA!  

Sunday - We went to church, had dinner out with my mom, and then we came home.  I  cleaned and picked a lot of things up to get ready for the week and hit the grocery store too.  It was a busy day. 

Monday - Our Friends were back from vacation so we got to enjoy them for the day.  A quick trip to the store and trying to get things done.  

Tuesday - New Years Eve!  We had a low key day.  We enjoyed a snow storm, snacks, fireworks, and a countdown! 

Wednesday - New Years Day!  Darryl worked and the boys and just hung out at home.  We went to my mom's for dinner before coming home and kind of crashing :-) 

Thursday - We had a fun day with lots of playing, a trip to the Library, and I even took down the outdoor decor since it was "warm" (in the 40's!)

You may notice Nate is "missing" - he did not enjoy making the igloo with the packing peanuts.  They had to dip them in water so they got sticky and gross feeling - he was gagging HA!  

Friday - Today the kids played and I worked on undecorating the house.  My mom and I went and saw Little Women together too!

Weekly Menu

Welcome to 2020!  One thing that remains true every single year is that we eat dinner HA!  I'm hoping to plan a little better and be more consistent in that planning.  The boys are starting to open up to trying more things (even my finicky one!) so I'm hoping to stretch them a little this year. As I say that, though, this coming weeks menu is super duper easy.  Trying to use up some things in the fridge, freezer, and cupboards. 

Friday - Homemade pizza

Saturday - Soup and French Bread

Sunday - Ham and Scalloped potatoes, green beans, and rolls

Monday - We are back to our busy Monday evenings so dinner has to be flexible!  Tonight will be Spaghetti and Garlic Bread.  Nate and I can eat and I can leave the rest for Darryl and Josh to warm up!

Tuesday - Ham and Cheese Quiche, Muffins, and diced potatoes.

Wednesday - AWANA starts back up tonight so it is Frozen Pizza! 

Thursday - Amish Baked Chicken, Butter Noodles, and Peas and Carrots

December Goal Recap

December flew by and I never once looked back at my goals!  Amazingly, I actually accomplished some!

Here's the recap:

Here's what I'm hoping to accomplish this month!

1. Scrapbook January 2019 completely. -- Not done.  I did do a little scrapbooking but once the tree went up my desk was used for school and scrapbooking stuff got put away. 

2. Do Christmas activities each week with the boys - I've searched pinterest for fun, easy ideas and now I just have to follow through.  Not Done.  Well, I did make out a great plan and even printed the ideas/activity sheets for week one but, honestly, we were pushing so hard in school we didn't have a lot of extra time.  

3. Write my 2020 goals. Not Done (yet)! 

4. End December current on school work.  When we come back after Christmas break we will have about 2 1/2 weeks left in the semester to wrap things up. Done! We did end current and have to hit it hard for the last few weeks of the semester but then, we are taking a week off (actually we are taking 2 days off - the rest of the days are schedule school break/teacher in service days. )

5. Have all Christmas gifts wrapped by December 21st.  Why?  Nate's birthday is the 22nd and then we are onto Christmas week and I want zero stress. I was almost done.  I finished up wrapping on Monday the 23rd!! 

6. Finances - this goal stays the same . . .trying to just track everything all month.  It does help curb extra spending when I have to write it down!  I count this as a success.  I was very intentional with stretching funds where I could. 

7.  Take care of that random black bin in the bathroom from last month HA! Not Done. Well, it's half done.  Nate got a display board for his belts so half the things are out of the bin! 

8. Get our Christmas tree and decorate it! Done! 

9. Make some Christmas cookies - ideally I'd like to make a couple of new cookie recipes - true Christmas style cookies but even just to make some cookies might be nice! Done! I did make some cookies - just not anything new! 

10. Celebrate Nate's birthday - the plan is already in place, now just to enjoy his day. Done! 

11. Practice my song for our Christmas Eve Service. Done!

12. Make one of the White Hanger Snowflakes that are the rage of the Internet right now.  I'm hoping that if they as easy to make they appear that I can make several to use as outdoor decor next year. Nope, never happened! 

13. Hang up Nate's race track on the wall downstairs. We took it out of his room and just need to hang it downstairs where there is more room! Nope!  Still need to do this! 

14. Work on my song for when I sing in January.  The more I practice, the less nervous I am :-) Still need to practice :-) 

15. Focus on Flylady's "Home Blessing Hour" each week - not deep cleaning, not special projects, just doing some Home Blessing each week so the house looks nice :-) Done :-) 

16. Take my dog to get his nails clipped.Maybe in January! 

17. Mail my Christmas Cards.Done! 

18. Repair the boys Milk Jug Snowmen - it is a project we made several years ago and a few of the pieces have fallen off so I need to repair them! Not Done! 

19. Well, I usually try to do 19 goals but I have nothing for number 19!!  Imagine that!  Oh well, I can handle 18 :-)

Our week in photos #48

This should have been posted before the new year so I'm counting it as the last photo post of the year!  Based on it being the 48th post, I obviously missed a few weeks and I may have messed up a number along the way.  I look forward to starting over again this coming weekend with 2020 #1!

Saturday - this was the official start to Christmas break and this was a spur of the moment fun activity!  It popped up on my Facebook feed and was within 20 miles so we took off to another little town for their Christmas Fun!  We got free pizza, cookies and chocolate milk plus I splurged on Elephant Ears too. 

 The grinch was there - which was great since we were wrapping up our Grinch Countdown Calendar.  

Plus there was a real hay ride!  The day was beautiful.  It was sunny and crisp but not too cold to be outside for a couple of hours. 

Sunday- Nate's birthday!  We celebrated this amazing kid all day long!  We started the day with lunch at Olive Garden! 

 We spent a few hours at Chuck-E-Cheese

And then a few hours at Glow Golf playing a round of mini golf and a lot of video games.  We then went to McDonald's for dinner and drove around our local town looking at Christmas lights. 

Monday - Monday was a day to get things done.  I wrapped, organized, baked and relaxed.  

Tuesday - Christmas Eve!  Since we were a "week short" in the holiday season this year, we did multiple things today!  We baked cut out cookies and made Gingerbread Houses (well, our version!).  Honestly, the cookies never did get decorated and they were slightly underbaked so when I went to take them out on New Years Eve they were in one big clump!  Oops!  I might have to try again at Valentines days :-) 

We ended the evening with dinner at my moms, the Christmas Eve Service, and then dessert at my mom's too! 

 We opened Christmas Eve gifts at my mom's before heading for home.  

 Once home, the boys put on their new PJ's and let me take my favorite photos. 

The stockings!  The boys had put out cookies and milk for Santa and went to bed.  I stayed up to finish all of the final touches!  Christmas is coming! 

Wednesday - Christmas Morning!  The boys were up at 6:45 ready to go! 

 We started by giving the animals their stockings.  I'm not sure who has more fun, the animals or the kids. 

 Stockings!  

 We ate breakfast at home before loading up the gifts and heading to my mom's house. 

 Nate was very excited to get a new bike.  This was a big item on his list!  

 Josh was really hoping for a Virtual Reality Head set so he was thrilled to get this!  

 We spent the rest of the morning (and a little bit of the afternoon) opening gifts!  The boys love to give their gifts out too.  They do a great job! 

It was warm.  A little flag football happened outside in Pj's, without coats.  Crazy weather. 

Thursday - We took off and went to a free movie at the library - they were showing the animated movie "The Grinch".  I had never seen it and I laughed so much!  What a great movie!!  We ran a few errands and just enjoyed the 60 degree weather (for real!) 

Friday - My mom, the boys and I took off to visit my nephew and his family.  It was an amazing day! 

 We all played outside - Nate enjoyed pulling the two littles around in the wagon. 

The boys also loved the cats.  This little one, Phoebe, followed Nate around and let him hold her.  He loved it :-) 

So our Christmas week was amazing.  So many great, fun memories!