SANTA WAS GOOD TO US!

It is the day after Christmas..........always kind of a sad day.  We look forward to Christmas all year long.  It always seems so far off and then it is here and gone in the blink of an eye!  The good news is that the weekend is now here so at least I have 2 more days to spend at home before heading back to work.  Santa definitely visited our home and he was very good to us!  Before going to bed on Christmasa Eve the kids put out the Reindeer mix and some carrots (out on the back deck).  They also made sure Santa had his cookies and milk ready to go.  The next morning Cade was the first one down the steps and the second pic is what he saw in our living room:

The kids quickly got busy and tore into their stockings.  Stockings are always so much fun.  We then moved on to the gifts from Santa.  As I said, Sant was very good to both Cade and Cali!  They were both very thrilled with everything!

                 

Mother Nature continued to wreak havoc on us overnight so we woke up on Christmas morning to blizzard like conditions!  It was just plain nasty outside.  The roads were a mess and it was absolutely freezing cold!  Normally we open our gifts early then head to Boca and Pop's for breakfast and gifts.  That did not happen.  We would then go to Grandma and Grandpa's house for lunch and presents........that did not happen either.  Kim and I ended up going out and scooped for quite a while.  We were able to create just enough of a path that I was able to get the Jeep up the drive.  We took off to Boca and Pop's around 12:30 then headed to Grandma and Grandpa's after that.  It was not pretty out on the roads but we made it just fine.  Here is a shot of our drive (where it is supposed to be anyway) from our front door.

Here are a few shots from our quick trips to Boca and Pop's and Grandma and Grandpa's house:

After we made our rounds, we came back home and settled in for the night.  Cali and Daddy took naps so we were revived and ready to roll!  A majority of the evening was spent playing American Idol on the Wii (Cade's new game).  It is very addicting!  Cali also spent some time reading, doing artwork, etc.  It was very nice to spend the evening having some family fun!  Today we are going to continue to learn about all of our new goodies.  Our driveway is covered up again so we will have to go out and scoop again.......ugh!  I hope all of you guys had a great Christmas as well.  I will do another post tomorrow.  Check back in soon!

                         

          

IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE!!

Only a few more hours until the big man in the red suit arrives!  Everyone here is very, very excited!  Today was not a "normal" Christmas Eve thanks to Mother Nature.  I worked at the bank until noon.  It was raining early in the morning, but then the temps started to fall and by the time I left at noon the rain started to turn to an icy mix.  Once I got home we ate and then opened our gifts.  The kids loved all of their new goodies.  It was so much fun to watch their reactions as they opened their gifts.  The first picture below is of the kiddos waiting for Daddy to get home from work:

 

 As I was working this morning the kids and mommy decorated Christmas Cookies.  They had to makes sure we had some cookies ready for Santa!  Here are some shots from the decorating party: 

 

Back to Mother Nature.............on a normal Christmas Eve we would have ran over to Boca and Pop's house for a gathering with our relatives.  Due to the deteriorating weather conditions, the decision was made to postpone the gathering and try it again on Saturday.  We did not know what to do with our afternoon/evening!  It was very strange not going over there!  It did not really seem like Christmas Eve to us.  We made the best of it and enjoyed our time together.  Right now we are watching Cade's new movie, Night At the Museum 2.  It is now snowing outside.  It will be interesting to see how much we end up with!  The weather guys are saying anywhere from 3 to 10 inches!

Tomorrow morning we will wake up and see what Santa left for us.  After tearing through those gifts we are supposed to head back to Boca and Pop's for breakfast and gifts.  We are then scheduled to head to Grandma and Grandpa's house for lunch and gifts.  The day is supposed to end back at Boca and Pop's to see Marcie, Kyle, and Taylor.  The weather could come in to play and could alter our plans.  We will hope for the best!  Good night and Merry Christmas!     

CHRISTMAS IN CHINA

Over the weekend Cade had a school project called "Christmas Around the World".  He had to pick one country and then answer a bunch of questions about that country's Christmas traditions, etc.  Guess what country he chose?  If you said China then you are the winner!  It was a very beneficial project for all of us. 

Is Christmas celebrated in China??  The answer is yes and no.  A growing number of Chinese, especially young urbanites, celebrate some version of Christmas in China, but the central part of the holiday – the religious celebration of Christ’s birth – is not typically acknowledged nor even known because less than 5% of the 1.3 billion people living in China identify as Christians.

The ones who do celebrate by lighting their homes with paper lanterns, and they decorate their trees, which they call "trees of light", with paper chains, paper flowers, and paper lanterns.  As during Chinese New Year, they will display bowls of oranges and tangerines, symbolizing prosperity and good fortune.  The Chinese children hang muslin stockings and await a visit from Santa Claus, whom they call Dun Che Lao Ren (dwyn-chuh-lau-oh-run) which means "Christmas Old Man.".  On Christmas morning, the children typically receive new clothes and a few toys from their parents, alongside the small gifts that Dun Che Lao Ren left in their stockings.  The Chinese also spend a lot of time with family during this holiday and they eat many special foods.

  

 

 

 

 

 

    

We were in China in January of 2007.  There were still several Christmas/Holiday decorations on display:

Hopefully you learned something while reading this post.  As I said, we learned quite a bit and are very thankful that Cade's teacher assigned this project.  Only 2 more days until Dun Che Lao Ren (Christmas Old Man) arrives!   

The Joy of Tammy's House...........

For those of you that have followed this blog for a long time, you know how much Tammy means to our family and how much she has done for both Cade and Cali Liu over the years.  Cade started going there when he was 2 and Cali started when she was 11 months old.  Cade no longer goes to Tammy's but she still has a special place in her heart for him (and vice versa).  The holidays are always a special time at Tammy's house.  Her parties have become legendary!  Today was no different.  Kim and Cade were lucky enough to attend the big Christmas Party this afternoon.  Kim snapped some photos of all the excitement:

         

Cali chows down with her buddies

Cali and Bubby at the big party

Cade hangs with the gals at the big kid table

Look at all of that wrapping paper!

 

The whole crew!

Cali and Cade both brought home some great gifts after the party.  Tammy is just way too good to these kiddos, but you know what???  We are not complaining one bit!  Only 3 days until Christmas!  I bet you that the North Pole is hopping!

5 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!

That's right.........only 5 more days remain until the "big day"!  Needless to say, the kids are so excited!

Kim finished her shopping on Friday.  Cade and I went out on Saturday and battled the masses and finished our shopping as well.  Saturday night we headed south to Longview Lake and drove through Christmas in the Park.  Today Cade had a soccer game and we made our Wally World (Wal Mart) run.  We have had a nice afternoon and evening here at home. 

There has been quite a bit of wrapping going on around here lately.  We have had 2 big helpers this year:

This past week Boca took Cali to have her nails polished and painted.  Whether it is going to the doctor, having her hair cut, or doing her nails, Cali prefers women to men.  A man did her nails and I guess she was very concerned the entire time!  She was going to have snowflakes painted on her pointer finger, but her little fingernails were just too small so he could only paint her thumbs!  They turned out very nice and she was so proud!

   

 

Just like Boca's!!

The kids both wrote letters to Santa recently.  On Friday night they recieved a message from Santa on the computer!  One was for Cali and one for Cade.  It was a video message from Santa talking to them about things that he had read in the letters.  It was very cool.  Here they are checking it out:

We are all sitting here in the living room watching the The Polar Express right now!  What a great movie!

Kim and Cade go to school on Monday and Tuesday then they are off until January 4th of 2010!  Must be nice, huh?!  Cali has her Christmas Party at Tammy's on Monday afternoon.  It will be a very exciting week!  Check back soon for some more pics and updates. 

Cali's visit to Santa & a few Party Pics

Last night we took Cali Liu up to the library to see Santa Claus.  This was an event sponsored by our local Parents As Teachers association (this is an organization through our school district).  Cali was so excited and knew exactly what she was going to tell him..............not so fast.  As soon as we walked into that room with the big guy, she wanted out!  Miss Jen (our PAT rep) took Cali out into the library and read her a book hoping that would get her mind off of things for a little while.  It kind of worked.  Santa told a story to all of the kids and Cali did sit on my lap and listened very well.  Once the story was over with the kids began to sit on his lap.  Cali was very curious but would not get too close.  She said she needed to get a little bit bigger before she sat on his lap.  So we came home and wrote a letter to Santa.  He will still know what she wants for Christmas!  Cade was too cool for Santa so he just moseyed around the library and looked at books.  He wrote his letter to Santa a couple of weeks ago.  He is on it!

Miss Jen reads to Cali Liu

Santa waits for the kiddos to arrive

This is as close as Cali would get to the big guy!

As my previous post stated, we held our annual Christmas Party this past weekend.  Here are a few pics from the event:

The Girls

The Guys

Adam & Kim

We are sitting here watching the Grinch.  This was Cali's choice.  We watched Elf on Sunday night (Cade's choice).  Christmas movies and shows are all over the place!  Good night.