Winter Break, Keokuk/Washington Christmas & Fun in the Snow

 So the kids were out of school for two full weeks for the holiday break. I was a tad worried about what the heck we were going to do to stay busy but I think we did pretty well!  The  first day we stayed in our PJs all day and did all kinds of little paper holiday projects…gluing, cutting, coloring etc. Then the second day the kids had fun ( primarily Kennon) putting this gingerbread house together. I just bought one of those kits and it was perfect! Kennon was CERTAIN to use up ALL the candy right down to the last little gum drop :) 

 Thank goodness for kits!! So easy and fun! 

 This year we replaced the Kies Christmas Eve traditional meal of nachos with a 10 pound roasted turkey and all the fix ins !!  Certainly opposite ends of the spectrum right…but I have really centered my inner 'chef' and have been enjoying being in the kitchen whipping up new dishes and desserts. The kids like to help me too. Everything was super delicious and crowd pleasing…even to Blade and Dusty who joined us for the meal. We attended Christmas Eve service at church after the meal and then headed home for bed and for Santa's arrival. 

 The kids got up Christmas Day at a relatively good time..I think it was 7 o'clock or so.  They were happy to see their stockings full of trinkets and candy and a few small gifts under the tree from Santa.  Eric and I got Maddox a new big girl bike and Kennon a new scooter.  They were both thrilled with everything.  We quickly got dressed and headed over to our usual 'bike learning' environment…The Planning Center.  Eric and I had deemed this day 'good bye to Kennon's training wheels day' and after a bit of practicing he was off and running, or flying as Kennon described it, and super happy with himself.  The Planning Center basement is currently undergoing a massive renovation. All the dark red walls are being ripped out and replaced with clean white painted drywall.  Lights and electricity will be added to allow proper lighting and the floor is going to be cleaned, buffed and shined.  No more dark Planning Center basement photos.  It already looks fabulously different, even in the early stages of renovation.  The kids won't know what to do when they ride down there for the first time.  Eric and his partners are going to add a small workout area in one corner  of the basement ( they already have showers upstairs in the employee bathrooms) with the hopes of working out over the lunch hour or in between client meetings.  There is talk of a pool table and a ping pong table too. Even with all these pieces of equipment there will still be plenty of room for the kids to ride their bikes in the winter. 

 The Saturday after Christmas we traveled over to Washington to celebrate Christmas with Great Grandma Reta. We were happy to get to visit with her as well as 'cousins' Jaci and Alex.  I"m actually not sure what Jaci and Alex are to Maddox and Kennon…second cousins…?? Anybody know? Anyhow the kids always love going to Great Grandma Reta's apartment complex. They get to visit with her neighbors and explore the complex. This time they counted all the Christmas trees that are displayed about the halls. It was a good time had by all. 

 Kennon, Alex, Jaci, Maddox….with their McDonald's Happy Meal toys.  We had to miss Grandma Jean and Grandpa Jim this trip as they were both sick with influenza…YIKES!! But, it sounds like they are making a good recovery now and are feeling better. 

 From Washington we traveled south to Keokuk to have Christmas with the Kies clan. Maddox and Kennon are the youngest cousins of the bunch but you wouldn't know it. The older kids ( or well adults…as some of them are now) are gracious enough to include Maddox and Kennon in their board games and are happy to do 'little kid activities' while we are there.  It is so fun to see them all interact together.  Lots of memories made. 

 From left around the table….Aunt Lori, cousins Brandon, Jessica, Chelsea ( holding Kennon), Kelby  ( holding Maddox ) and Zach.  phew….. and that doesn't include the Ohio clan and 3 more cousins from Minnesota who weren't able to make the trip. 

 ….the Ohio clan…Nicole and Jake..were able to join us the next day. 

 Maddox got a Frozen Sing A Long DVD for Christmas from Chelsea and Kelby.  Of course we HAD to try it out. All the girls singing together!!  So fun. Thanks to Aunt Lora and Uncle Jim for hosting the celebrations for 3 days straight!! And to Aunt Lori and Uncle Bryan for helping Lora and Jim in providing us great meals the entire time we were there.

 Kennon and Maddox coloring on some of Kennon's new Planes papers.  Our good neighbors Lori and Lee gave the kids each a new sets of crayons and a new coloring book. They treat Maddox and Kennon like their very own grand kids.  Actually they don't have any grand kids so they are getting good practice with our kiddos. So nice to have them next door. 

 We headed to the museum the Friday after New Years. It was pretty crowded but Maddox quickly found a couple of her classmates to run around with and Kennon was happy playing basketball in the atrium.  He played for what seemed like an eternity, before he requested to go into the museum.  The lady in the background is a sort of 'staple' at the museum. She does all the fun scientific activities and specific projects with the kids.  She seems to really love her job and explaining educational material the kids.

This is what happens when we are stuck inside for an ENTIRE day because of the cold…the kids get crazy creative!

 We did one last 'hoorah' activity the Saturday before we all went back to school/work.  I got us tickets to The Globe Trotters.  I really thought Kennon, with his love of basketball, would be the one most interested in the game but it was actually the opposite. Kennon did fine, but Maddox was REALLY into watching the performers and knowing who was winning the score etc.  It was a fun time. 

Maddox and Kennon playing with kinetic sand.  This is the coolest stuff.  I recommend it to all my friends.  Thanks to Aunt Brooke for letting us know about it.  Santa brought the kids a couple of boxes as did Aunt Veta, Jaci and Alex. The kids will play for what seems like forever at the table…making sand castles, stirring, baking and making all kinds of creations. Thank goodness for this stuff last week when the kids missed 2 days of school due to cold weather. 

 Aunt Brooke got Maddox this cute outfit. I thought she looked so old when I put it on.  She loves it and is wearing the jeans again as I sit here and type this. We have finally moved past the ' I don't want to wear jeans phase'.  The world of fashion awaits us Maddox :) 

 With The Planning Center basement under demolition we were happy to be able to get outside and get some physical activity.  Old man winter took a break from the Quad Cities on Sunday and the kids took advantage of it. They were outside for two hours or more I think.  We got out the food coloring spray bottles, all the shovels and buckets we could lug to the backyard, and put on our happy smiles. The kids had a blast in the backyard breaking up the shards of icy snow.  When we finally came inside I discovered that both of Maddox's feet were totally soaked all the way up to her knees practically.  A load of snow had gotten into the top of both of her boots.  She hadn't complained ONE TIME the whole time we were out there…that's how much fun she was having.  Kennon we had to practically drag inside. Now today it is back to being too cold to go out :(  

 Kennon is always emphatic on 'shoveling the yard'. I'm not sure if he thinks it is helpful to have the yard shoveled or what. But, that is always the FIRST thing he wants to do when he goes outside. The trouble is when the snow is drifted a foot or so he can't get his footing to get through the snow and this frustrates him. He has learned in recent years if he stays in the front yard he doesn't encounter so many drifts and can get his 'job' done! 

 Maddox with all her paraphernalia for digging. 

Christmas in Waunakee & Church School Christmas Programs

 Last weekend we traveled up to Waunakee to do some celebrating. We celebrated Christmas, Uncle Tyler's birthday and most importantly the arrival of baby Cashin.  Everyone knows in the Kies/Knowles household you can't have a celebration without cake!! So we traveled with a Hawkeye cake in the back of Sienna.  This was my first 'out of class' cake and I was really happy with how it turned out AND, most importantly, it was surprisingly efficient to make.  

  

 The flowers on the sides are a tad gaudy, I will admit, but they served two purposes…using up frosting in our fridge as well as more frosting to eat!! We love our frosting in the Kies/Knowles family. 

 Friday evening we joined the Knowles family and Grandpa Jim and Grandma Jean on the Polar Express train to the North pole. I got the kids new matching Elf on the Shelf PJs for the event.  We all had a great time!! 

Grandpa Jim, Uncle Tyler with Reid on his lap, Carter and Aunt Brooke with Cashin on her lap…right across the aisle from us. 

 Maddox waiting for the conductor of the train to punch her golden ticket. 

 Kennon with a little bit of a hot chocolate smile. The ride included 'hot hot hot' chocolate and cookies…just like in the movie.  ( it wasn't really hot…just the perfect temp for little mouths! ) 

 Maddox and her train shaped sugar cookie….

 The kids anxiously waiting to see the North Pole out their windows…. Kennon, Maddox, Carter…

 And there he is!!  If you look to the left of Maddox's head you can see Santa. There was a real live Santa in a 'set up' North pole along with a sled, reindeer and some elves!!  The kids kept their faces glued to the window to see the sights for quite a long time.  

 On our way back from the North Pole Santa arrived in our train car. He posed for pictures with all the families and gave each child a silver bell…..just like in the movie. This Santa was rather friendly and motioned to Aunt Brooke to scoop Cashin up so he could get his own solo picture!!  I think Santa has done this a time or two…It looks like Cashin is smiling.  How sweet! 

 Our family with Santa and his elf. 

 Saturday afternoon we celebrated Christmas at Tyler and Brooke's house.  The kids posed quite nicely for this picture!!  

 ….got Cashin in this one…you can see he was severely concerned about being included in the photo….!! But his mama was looking out for him :) 

 Maddox and Reid reading books with Grandma Jean and Grandpa Jim…a favorite pastime.  

 Maddox was so happy to finally meet Cashin.  To her…he's like one of her baby dolls…but REAL!!  She snuggled with him multiple times over the weekend.  

 Birthday cake time!! Happy birthday Uncle Tyler and Cashin. 

 Both Kennon and Maddox had their Christmas programs at church school this week.  They both did soooo well…  both kids were super animated singing the songs with big smiles and doing all the actions. This is Kennon's post program smile…so proud of himself! 

 After the program in the sanctuary, they have a birthday party for Baby Jesus complete with brownies and milk….!! You can see Kennon decided to wear some of the party goodies home :) 

 Kennon, Brecken, and Grace!! His two friends are in the 2 year old class, about a year or so younger than Kennon.  These 3 kiddos have been kind of growing up together through playgroups and neighborhood activities since they were infants!!  They all look so old here….man how time flies. 

 Daddy always takes time out of his busy schedule to make it over for both the kids' programs.  They are always at 10:00am…not the most convenient time for a working dad but he makes it :)  The kids are always happy to see him out in the audience. 

Mrs. Lindauer and Kennon.  Mrs. Lindauer is one of two of Kennon's teachers.  We are really happy with Mrs. Lindauer. She keeps us abreast of Kennon's behavior and what educational activities they are working on in the classroom.  Both Mrs. Lindauer and Mrs. Powell commented to us after the program that Kennon is such a sweet boy.  As a parent it is always nice to get that positive feedback about your kids.  Especially since KTK had a bit of a rough couple of weeks back in October and was being kind of naughty in class….a parent's worst nightmare..!! So we are happy to hear those positive comments.

 Maddox after her program…with HER proud smile!!  She was so cute during her program. I was beaming from ear to ear watching her perform. She is our little singer/actress. In fact Kennon's class came in to watch the big 4 year olds perform their program. Mrs. Lindauer and Kennon's classmates sat right behind Eric and I during Maddox's program. Even Mrs. Lindauer commented that 'Maddox needs to be in show biz!!' as she was super into being on stage. A great gift from God…we'll see where it leads.

 Grandpa Jim and Grandma Jean got the kids nice soccer nets and cones for Christmas.  We took them over to The Planning Center and they were put to good use yesterday.  Maddox worked on her soccer ball dribbling…and Kennon and I took turns scoring goals in the new nets.   Then Kennon came up with the brilliant idea of roller coaster bowling with the cones!!  Both kids took turns running into the cones.

Look closely and you'll see two sticks of butter in Maddox's arm pits!  Aunt Brooke got me Ina Garten's new cookbook for Christmas last week and Maddox and I have already been putting it to good use. We made her oatmeal chocolate-cherry cookies yesterday…so yummy!! The recipe called for 'room temperature' butter and eggs ( which most all baking recipes do..it helps everything combine together much better) but I didn't get them set out in time so Maddox decided to warm the butter herself :)  We are making chocolate cake tonight and goat cheese mashed potatoes and are following her recipe for a big roasted turkey for our holiday dinner on Thursday.  So love to cook. Ina has taken a slight front seat to my other favorite chef, Giada. Thanks Aunt Brooke for the great book. Merry Christmas everyone.