Christmas and New Years

 

Nicole and I have had fun with learning different braids. This is a Dutch braid headband.

 

We got some snow a few days before Christmas. It didn't last for more than an hour and didn't stick much past that...but it was really fun for the kids!

 

We made nativity sets together. I LOVE how much better the kids are at doing projects the older they get. Attention span greater than 30 seconds is such a joy to me!

 

We welcomed a 6 month old bearded dragon into our family. His name was dubbed "Spike Paco Del Bianco" He is orange and blue, although he is young and the colors will be brighter when he gets older.

 

At the reptile breeder's house, Michael got to hold this special bull snake and he was so thrilled. I told him he was brave and he replied, "It's not poisonous mom" as if that is the only reason I wouldn't want to hold the slithery slimy thing.

 

He kept looking up and smiling with this look...of glee! He wanted to hold the other snakes, and the reptile owner was thrilled Michael was so brave, but that was enough for me.

 

All December we studied Matthew and the life of Christ. We marked His travels and wrote/drew pictures about what happened in each place. It was new and interesting to think about how far apart places were and really think about what Christ's life was like.

 

Christmas morning all ready!

 

Coming down the stairs for presents!

 

Mike got a whole pack of mustaches. Actually the oldest three got a sheet of them. I've been finding them everywhere from the washing machine to our FHE chart.

 

Michael's remote control dinosaur.

 

Nicole's bakery lego set.

 

Jim made a drum for Jake and they have fun jamming together.

 

Jake in his fearsome dino slippers.

 

Fat backyard squirrel watching us eat.

 

Michael wants to paint Jake's drum and I found this diagram of how he wants to paint it.

 

 

Sunday morning pic by Jake.

 

Another pic by Jake.

 

After a week of being indoors thanks to Diana being sick and finally getting better... we went to a bounce house to burn off all that energy. The kids had an awesome time and didn't stop moving.

 

Diana went down the big slide a few times with "help" from Nicole. She loved climbing up but always screamed when Nicole put her down. She spent a half hour bouncing around at the top watching everyone else go.

 

These air cannons are always a favorite! My friend Robin and her boys joined us and it was fun to have them battle each other and watch the little ones Diana and Levi help load the cannons with the puffy balls.

 

New Years games ready to go! I put together a bunch of Minute-To-Win-It games and it turned out to be a really fun party. We divided into two teams and had 7 games. We set a timer for 10 minutes and each team tried to earn as many points as they could in those ten minutes before we moved on to the next game. If a player did the challenge in one minute, their team got 3 points. If they did the challenge but it took longer than a minute, their team got 2 points. If they tried but didn't complete it, their team got 1 point. We eventually stopped keeping track of points we were having so much fun. I did get some great video which is at the bottom of the post (you'll have to go to http://delbifamily.blogspot.com if you get this via email to watch)

Face the Cookie Cookie starts at the top of the forehead and then you have to get it into your mouth without using your hands. Cookie must remain in contact with face. Must end securely in mouth. If it falls, place complete cookie on forehead for restart. To complete game, must move a cookie from forehead to held in teeth within 60 seconds.

 

The kids didn't really mind if they lost this game as the cookie was sufficient reward.

 

 

Victory! Almost all of the adults did it and the kids got very very close!

 

 

Breakfast Scramble Assemble a puzzle made from the front of a cereal box, which has been cut into 16 equal squares. Stack squares randomly in single pile before start. Complete in 60 seconds.



Marshmallow Toss See how many marshmallows you can toss in the bucket in a minute. Contender can only throw one at a time.

The number of available marshmallows decreased significantly over time as the kids kept eating them!

Vaseline Move-it Transfer 25 cotton balls from one bowl to another using your nose (that has Vaseline on it) in one minute. The kids had to move 7 cotton balls.

Kiersten was laughing so hard! This game got some of the best laughs, it was hilarious to watch and to do!

 

One-Handed Cup Pyramid When the clock starts, player may begin stacking 36 cups into a pyramid shape using only one hand. When the triangle is complete, with 1 cup at the top, 2 cups below it, and so on, the player may begin to get the cups into a single stack. To complete the game, the player must build a complete pyramid using all of the cups, then get all the cups back into a single stack within the 60-second time limit. Kids had to complete a pyramid of 29 cups.

 

Balloon Hop Relay Each team has a balloon. Holding the balloon between their legs, one player from each team waddles from one end of the room to the other. Use hands only to transfer balloon to teammate. If balloon falls, must go back to start.

 

 

Balloons In the Air Each contender gets 3 balloons. They need to keep all balloons afloat for 1 minute by using any part of their body. Kids had to keep one balloon up.

 

Waterbottle Knock Knock over 12 water bottles using a tennis ball inside of a nylon stuck on your head. Jim said this was his favorite game.

 

Devin had some help from Brandon.

 

Michael was so funny to watch. There is some great video of him trying to get the last waterbottle and he just couldn't maneuver the tennis ball to hit it over it was hilarious.

 

Brandon had a methodical approach and completed the challenge in 40 something seconds.

 

We did a countdown and pulled poppers!

 

Then with glowsticks, glowbracelets, and glow earrings we had a dance party to "Everything is Awesome," "Happy" "Let it Go" and then finished it off watching fireworks in Sydney and Paris while toasting in the new year (or 9pm before the new year) with orange soda for the kids and Martinellis for the adults.

 

This morning I made snowman and Minnie mouse pancakes. The kids slept in until 7:45! Well they were reading books on their bed like I told them...so I'm not sure when they woke up. But it was so nice to sleep in!

 

Spike has settled in and Nicole and Jim do all of the care. Nicole does 75 percent of everything, including cleaning up his once-a-day mess (we are lucky that he goes in the same place on the tile each day).

 

Jim's cage looks so nice and we have spent so much time just lookin at our little Paco beardie.

 

 

Here is the video from Christmas and New Years! Happy 2015!