More Surprise House fun!

Now that Christmas is over, I finally have time to catch up on my blogging! We left off on the Day 7 of the Surprise House, so on Day 8....

....Sadie was excited to take a turn opening the door....

....while Parker pulled out the surprise!

It said "Make Christmas cookies!". Parker and Sadie were excited to take turn putting cookies on the cookie sheet.

Here they are ready to bake!

Yummy!

Day 9. What are we doing today?

Going to see "Wonderland", our church's Christmas production.

Here we are waiting for it to start! The kids loved it and even behaved really well and remained quiet throughout the show.

Day 10. We took out Christmas card photo on this day....

....and also....

....drove around and looked at lights again. The kids loved this one so much that we did it a few times.

Day 11. At this point I'm surprised that I'm still remembering to do something every day!

The note said "Eat candy canes!".

If you're keeping track you know that we've got 14 days of fun left, so stay tuned....

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree....

On Day 7 of the Surprise House, the kids couldn't wait to see what we would be doing that evening.

After dinner, it was time to check the House!

The note said "Decorate for Christmas"! We were all excited to put up the tree and stockings, so we put on some Christmas music and got to work. Here is Sadie with some of the decorations.

And Parker couldn't wait to put the star on the tree!

Parker and Daddy getting the tree ready to string with lights.

So pretty!

Sadie was, and continues to be, fascinated with the lights.

Time to hang the stockings!

Finished product!

Christmas Fun!

If you read my last post, you know that we have started a new Christmas tradition called the Surprise House. On Day 2, the kids were so excited to see what our next activity was going to be.

The note said "Eat Christmas ice cream!". So we headed over to Yo-Yogurt to get some peppermint bark frozen yogurt. Yummy!

On Day 3, I forgot to take pictures (Boo!) but the note said "Play with Cousins A & Z". Andrew's office Christmas party was that evening, and my cousin Stephanie and her husband Troy generously agreed to watch the kiddos so that we could enjoy an evening out. THANKS, guys! We had such a great time having dinner and going to see "The Lion King" with his co-workers!

Day 4 we were back on track and it was super cold outside....

....so the note said....

...."Make a fire in the fireplace!". We were all ready to enjoy a nice relaxing fire....

....and this was the last picture I snapped before the smoke started coming into the house! I'm not sure what the problem was because the fireplace flue was in the correct position, but instead of enjoying a fire we spent the rest of the evening trying to air out the house. Thanks, Surprise House.

Day 5....again I forgot to take pictures, but the kids were so pumped when the note said "Watch Charlie Brown Christmas".

Day 6. Are we running out of ideas yet?

Nope! The note said "Read Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer".

Here they are reading with Daddy!

This has been a fun tradition, and the kids look forward to it every single day. Stay tuned for more updates!

The Surprise House

This year for Christmas, I wanted to start a fun tradition for our family. It all began when I saw this....

....on a recent visit to Target. Each day of December (up until Christmas Day) has it's own door that can be opened to reveal a message showing a fun surprise for the day! For example, messages may be something like making Christmas cookies, watching The Polar Express, putting up our Christmas tree, or opening stockings. The kids were so excited last night to open the first door. * As a side note, when asked what they thought the first door to be opened was, Sadie correctly pointed the the "1" while Parker pointed to the "5". Oh, boy.*

The kids will take turn opening the door and pulling out the note. Sadie got to open the door first, so here she is ready to see what's inside....

....and Parker was all ready and excited to pull out the note.

The note said "Drive around and look at Christmas lights!".

Here is a little video showing the kids' excitement. (Please ignore the annoying Mommy-voice.)

We all had a super fun time pointing out all of the pretty light displays while listening to Christmas music. There were even snowflakes falling while we were out! And the first thing the kids did when they got up this morning was ask to open the 2nd door....which we will do the evening when Andrew gets home. Excited for a new and fun surprise each day up until Christmas!

Thanksgiving #3

The final stop of our trip to Oklahoma was in Alva. We had a great time, as always! Here are some pictures from our time there. (Disclaimer: There are lots of pictures in this post because my awesome hubby got me a new camera on Black Friday. Eek! I. Am. In. Love.)

Sage, Rusty, and Andrew in the food line.

LOVE this picture of my sweet girl!

Watching a movie with Cousin Abbey!

Some of the group.

Some of the guys playing cards.

At breakfast!

Sadie with Nonni....

....and Parker with Nonni!

Parker and Papa.

Sweet boy!

Gram busy in the kitchen.

Sleepy Sissy.

Most of the group!

Gram and Papa with the kiddos.

 Our little family!

My adorable kids!