A new tradition: Gag Gifts

This year at Thanksgiving with the Wood's someone suggested that we do gag gifts.  This is something that Brent and his entire extended family would do when he was growing up in Rio Del.  Everyone would draw names and make something hand made for that person.  But you wouldn't know who made it, you'd have to guess.

The running joke about the gag gifts was "you make it out of card board and fill it with candy."  We would all start laughing, I know, it's one of those, "you had to be there moments".

My kids were full of all sorts of questions.  We had no idea what this tradition looked like, or it all goes down.  All but one of our gag gifts that came form our family was literally made from card board and filled with candy. 

I have to admit, when we brought our gifts in it was a huge surprise to see what everyone else had made and done for each other. 

All the GAG gifts.

Beckham made Brook her own Ipad out of cardboard.

And filled it with candy.

 

Alleah(with the help of Kelli) made Isabel something 

to hand her hair clips on.

There is a back story to this that I need to document.  Isabel was sitting at the table sulking away.  She is pro at the sulking.  I pulled her into the bathroom and asked her what was wrong.  She was upset that everyone else was getting gag gifts that had lots of candy on it.  I just happen to have a talk by Elder Uchtdorf titled the Gracious Receiver. I read to her about the girl her made her crotchety old Aunt a handmade bracelet which she so rudely dropped back into her hand without even acknowledging the little girls efforts.  I explained to Isabel that when Kelli asked Alleah what she thought of when she thinks of Isabel she said her long hair and how she likes to do it.  Alleah was spot on.  So they came up with this Rapunzel looking hair to hang and hold hair clips.  I tried to explain to Isabel that it's not about the candy, but the thought that is put into the gifts.  I left Isabel alone in the bathroom to think things over.  Isabel turned out to be a gracious receiver.  

 

Annika made Kelli a plate separater,

Made out of cardboard and filled with Candy.

Everyone in our family knows that Kelli doesn't like her food to touch on her plate.

 

 

I crafted a Tar-Hell for Cory,

made out of card board filled with candy.

Cory is a die-hard North Carolina fan.

Sean made me a garden,

Complete with Roman tirds

It was not made out of cardboard, but it was adorned with Candy.

 

Grandma Donna made Grace these Ginormous Glasses

Grandpa Woody made Hannah a house,

made out of cardboard and adorned with Candy

Hannah made Sean his very own pair of Skinny Jeans,

crafted out of card board and filled with Candy.

Cory made Annika a Soccer field.

It was her and Isabel against the rest of us. I'm pretty sure they won.

 

Beckham received lego Candy from Elsie.

This one made me laugh the hardest

Kelli made Jaren a Bieber Mirror.

Jaren is proud of his Bieber hair and even gives himself whip lash as he whips his head from side to side to get that perfect wave you see.

The mirror was made out of cardboard and filled with... a deck of cards.

Grace made a T.V. for Grandma Donna.

She was ecstatic to give it to her. 

It was made out of cardboard, and filled with cuties(Grandma can't eat candy).

This was probably the most creative gift of the entire night.

Brooke made a football statium for Brent. 

It really was amazing, good job Brooke.

 

We all thought the gag gift idea was a blast.  I think we will do it again next year. 

Christmas Quilt, Ornaments, Paleontology, and Progressive Dinner

First I thought I'd show you the photos of this year's quilt. Probably my least favorite of them all. I wasn't even going to do a quilt and then thought twice about it.  Although the tradition was very difficult to do this year, the kids still loved having it rotate from bed to bed.  I feel as though this tradition is going to have to morph into something different.

Alleah's Birthday Party:
Another tradition we have each year is to celebrate Alleah's birthday.  Her birthday falls on the First day of Christmas.  Unfortunately schedules as they were this year, the party was delayed.   We still have a good time gathering, talking and preparing for our annual Progressive Dinner.

I couldn't resist this cute face squished by 

ridiculously large headphones.

It's Tradition:

All the cousins hold up Alleah. 

Making and Delivering Ornaments:

Another one of our fun 12 Days of Christmas traditions is to make home made ornaments.  We started out just making them for Grandma Donna, since she makes so many for us we thought we'd return the favor and help decorate her tree. This year her tree was extra bare since Aunt Brooke decided to take her ornaments with her this year.  The ornaments we made this year were ribbon candy.  Special thanks goes out to Snefalie.  She called the day I was to do this craft, and I needed her help.  Even when the kids get older, it's hard to be a helper to 6.  Thanks Snefalie for making this craft a success.

Photo with Grandma Penny

I neglected to get a photo with Grandma Donna.  I was a hot mess emotionally and was trying to keep everything inside.  The result was a Mother whose anxiety was shooting through the roof and worried about the kids touching both Grandma's work desks, and things, and asking question after question.  When we got to Grandma Donna's work, the recreceptionist told her that a small crowd was there to see her.  In my worrying about the kids I completely forgot to get a photo.  My apologies to Grandma Donna.  

View from my Mom's office.  

BREATHTAKING!!

Meseum of Paleontology :

After we were done making our special deliveries, Grace requested to go to the Dinosaur Museum.  My heart went out to her.  When my older kids were younger we were frequent patrons of the Museums on BYU Campus.  To protests from the other kids, I battled my inner hot mess and drove to honor Grace's request.  Once inside the other kids remembered how much they love this Museum.  In fact they didn't want to leave when I said it was finally time to go.  

  

Wood Family Progressive Dinner:
We started this tradition before I had Grace and Kelli had Alleah.  In fact I think we had our first or second dinner just days before Kelli had Alleah.  This year we started at Kelli's.  She made(Cory) made salsa and bean dip with chips as an appetizer.  Next stop was our house.  I made a soup that everyone could enjoy, even Grandma Donna being allergic to wheat.  I came up with a recipe that morning and it was a big hit.  I made a sausage, potato and leek soup.  It really was good.  I almade home made french bread.  I found the recipe for it here on Pinterest.  It's never failed me.  People, I'm not a baker.  So for me to be success with this recipe 3 out of 3 times, is saying something.  For my family here is the recipe for the fabulous soup I made:

 Sausage, Potato and Leek Soup
1 package jimmy dean mild italian sausage
1  package jimmy dean lite sausage
1 onion finely diced
1 cup chopped carrots
3 leeks, rinsed, halved and thinly sliced
4 potatos cleaned and diced
12 cups chicken broth
8 tablespoon butter
1 small container of heavy whipping cream  
salt and pepper to taste
1. Over medium heat place a large dutch oven.  Cook sausage until fully cooked.  Remove from the pan.
2. Melt butter in same pan, add carrots, onion and leeks.  Cook until just softened.  
3. Over with 12 cups of chicken broth(I just used better then boullion and water)
4. Add Sausage and potatoes, bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer until potatoes are tender.
5. Add cream. Serve when ready.  

The last stop was at Mike and Donna's for dessert.  Hannah mentioned that Grandma was going to have hot chocolate and maybe one other item.  I told her, knowing Grandma Donna it's not just going to be one other item.  Let's see?  She and Brooke made a chocolate bundt cake, tapioca pudding, chocolate chip cookies, I know I'm forgetting something(or maybe two).  It was a sugary feast.
   

I love watching Brent with Babies.

Cory, Alleah, Kelli and Elsie
I think Cory hates taking pictures even more then his brothers.

My Small Crowd.

Notice all the teeth showing!! 

Sean, Brook , Mike and Donna

Our Babies:

5 years ago Kelli and I were preggers at the same time in December.  We got photos of us and our big bulbous bellies.  I thought it would be fun to continue to see how our babies grow each year.  It' been fun to see how much they've changed from year to year.  

 

The Festival of Lights

Like I mentioned before, my 12 days of Christmas this year seemed to be more of a bust rather then a success.  Take our trip to see the lights.  We were suppose to go on a Monday night, but Brent suggested we wait a day.  There was snow in the forecast and the lights are always so magical when there's actually snow on the ground.  With much disappointment, we waited till Tuesday.  But what I thought was going to be a bust, turned out to be a magical, whimsical night. 

I flipped the camera around to capture the kids in the back seat.  They are all hilarious.  Beckham pretending to be surprised(he told me later that he meant to do that), Isabel being over joyous, and Annika being a silly billy. 

Really, Jaren?  

Like his headphones?  He got those for his birthday and they've been a permanent fixture on his body.

I'm so glad that we waited til the snow fell.  It really made for a magical night.  

One of my favorite sites that night were all the

 christmas tree lights covered in snow.

I tell my kids every year that this is one 

of my favorite things about the holidays. 

More trees covered with snow. 

The day we went to the festival of lights there was no looping for a second time.  We had to make the most of our turn around the park.  Brent was going way too fast and I insisted that he slow down.  He heeded my request and we all thoroughly enjoyed the lights this year.  The kids look forward to the tradition every year.  Some years there are new light exhibits and we have fun trying to point them out.  This year we think we spotted a leopard hiding behind a tree. 

12 Days of Christmas or bust

Why is it that good intentions sometimes dwindle as schedules get busy, and priorities shift. This year I feel as though my 12 days of Christmas efforts have been a bust this year.  I didn't get my snowballs hung, or sit around the table and watch the kids make snowflakes.  A few of them tried, but their efforts became frustrated and they split.  I chose to be flexible and not let it get to me, too much.  Other activities as well just seemed to dissolve.  We can't even figure out a time when the kids can all gather around to open up the darn notes. 

One activity that did go off without a hitch was the annual Weiss Family Bingo.  The kids look forward to it EVERY year since it's inception 4 years ago.  Me, it gives me anxiety.  I never seem to get the first bingo, and the one person I don't want to get it, does and then takes all the good stuff, or the biggest gifts.  I'm a hot mess the entire night.  I shouldn't be cuz I always leave with such great gifts.  My parents always do a wonderful job coordinating everything.  You can tell they put a lot of effort and love into it.

Just chillin after the controlled chaos.

It was chaos this year too.

Everyone was together when in the past Grandma had the kids in the basement;

While Grandpa entertained the adults upstairs.

This year the main themes were games and books.  

So great.

This was my Mom's home made tree this year.

And by home made I mean she went to her back yard and cut down this beauty.

Pictures don't do it justice.

Can you see it's spiky trunk? 

This is probbly the most unique tree I've ever layed eyes on.  

It's fabulous!

The warm glow of the Christmas Village.

Warm glow of Christmas Lights.

This evening as I prepared to finish my day, I turned all the lights off and just left  the Christmas lights on.  There isn't anything at Christmas time more inviting, more soothing, or more cheerful(to me) then the warm glow of hundreds of tiny lights.  That is the one thing I miss most about the season ending.  

This year I feel a little less organized then I usually am.  I have plenty of time on my hands, and yet I still can't seem to pull it together.  I think it's cuz I have other things occupying my mind.  All of it's good, but it's causing me to be stressed out.  

The last few days I've been a hot mess and I just haven't been myself.  I've noticed that I've snapped more at the children, I have little to no patience for their shenanigans.  They deserve to have a chilled out, relaxed and flexible Mom during Christmas.  I know, I know, that is nigh impossible, or is it.  

Will there ever be a year where I can juggle everything and manage to pull it off with a smile and a happy heart?  Maybe, with some preparation.  

I think what I need to do is to remember that it's the spirit that I'm trying to capture. I need to remember the reason for the season.  It's not about the 12 days of Christmas, although it's fun and my kids look forward to it, or even bingo.  The spirit of Christmas is Christ.  Giving of ourselves to others in service.  

Maybe next year I'll do the 12 Days of Christmas Service.  Now the wheels are turning.  But let's not get them spinning too fast or I'll just fall to pieces. 

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing - Mormon Tabernacle Choir

This is probably my most favorite hymn of all time! I heard it this morning while getting ready for church and it brought tears to my eyes. Oh how I love my Savior. How I wander sometimes, but his love always brings me back home.