New Year's Eve

Daniel made it to midnight! (He wants me to delete this picture)

I went back through 2015 to see what we did this year. I have no memory of making any resolutions, so I guess if I can't remember any, I don't have to 'fess up to whether I kept them or not.

I am sorry there were only 95 blog posts. Maybe I should resolve to post more? Have more adventures so I have something post-worthy?

Christmas Morning

And true to his nature, Jason was up first on Christmas morning and got to bask in the glow of the Christmas lights as he waited for the rest of his siblings to appear....

Jason in the glow of the tree

 This mama got five hours of interrupted sleep, but at least the Yule Kaga turned out.

Jason's stocking is bigger than he is!

A cute little gift under the tree

Ian and Shane were the first up (I think they set their alarm)

 When the kids were all awake and ready to unwrap their gifts, I had them start with the presents that contained clothes.  They all looked up disappointed.  "Why did we have to start with these?" one asked.  Shane, wise beyond his years, told them that it was so we could get the bad presents out of the way first and not have to end with them.

Fiona was so excited to get this jewelry box.  It was just what she wanted!

 They each had one practical clothing item from us, a fun present from their grandparents, and a few fun things from Santa.  The older girls each got a lockable trunk so that Lula would stop stealing their precious things.

Cow!

He got his "coal!"

Genevieve and her handmade gifts

 Ian had a great idea for a sibling secret Santa gift exchange.  The five older kids participated.  The rules were 1) Don't tell who you have 2) Make the gift yourself 3) No white elephants.  Ian wove a mat and cleaned up an old horseshoe for Evie.  Shane gave Daniel a Pokemon poster and a few cards, so he didn't exactly make Daniel anything.  Genevieve made Shane a cool ornament that had a shark inside that could swim around inside. Fiona repotted Ian's cactus and added two more cacti for company. Danial laboriously sewed an ornament and embroidered an F for Fiona (with my help).  This activity was my favorite part of Christmas this year.

Lula gets her own chapstick. Hopefully she will stop stealing her sisters'.

 Ian also made a present for every person in the family.  He was so thoughtful.  I got a key chain, especially for my new set of work keys! (why yes, I got a job)

 A lot of kids make a lot of mess!  I think we found just the right balance between granting wishes and not going overboard this year.  It did feel like WalMart barfed all over my room for awhile though.

And when it was all over, all I wanted was a nap....

Christmas Eve

So we usually have a slumber party down by the fire and stay up all night watching Christmas movies on Christmas Adam.  This year was no different, only I didn't join them because of chronic sleep deprivation (thanks, Jason).  When Jason went back down for his first nap, Mark tucked him in with Genevieve (who was mostly awake and would not dream of dropping her baby brother off the couch).

Christmas Eve is the longest day and night of the year for mamas all over the country....

Christmas Adam

We had the best Christmas Adam ever.  Ever.  This day was the first in Downen history that all ten Downen kids, plus their significant others and children, were all under one roof.  With six of the 11 children being three years old or younger, no adult had a free hand.

This is the worst time of year to get good family pictures. Maybe we can convince them all to come back this summer?

Selkie Girl

I took my four youngest to the beach today. I'm supposed to be getting ready for the big day coming up, but watching Daniel, Lula, and Heidi jump on the couch for the forty-millionth time after being told not to made me desperate to do something else.

Too bad I didn't check the tide table before I left the house.  Oh well.  There was just enough beach for kids to walk on.

Heidi decided that she didn't want to wear her boots.  We had the beach to ourselves, so there wasn't anyone around to call CPS on me, so I decided to not fight her on it.

That would be the high tide line from this morning-up over the bank.

 The colors and light of the beach were perfect for pictures.

Greens, browns, grays... Pacific Northwest perfection.

Heidi, come get your boots on!

"Wa-wa!!!"

 PUT YOUR BOOTS ON!!!

Noooooooooooo!

This is when she finally wanted her boots back on

 And then I got to drag her kicking and screaming back to the van when it was time to go home! Fun!

Ooo! Dogs!

All done crying.

Greens, greys, and browns.

Santa Claus is coming....

...to Twin Firs!

Tonight, the local fire department brought Mr. and Mrs. Claus down our dark and deserted road just to visit the children that live in our neck of the woods.

We waited at the top of our driveway in the glow of the van's headlights, listening to the howling coyotes in the distance.  The stars were bright through the overhead trees and the little girls were just a tiny bit spooked...

...But then we could hear them in the distance! Christmas music and large trucks!

We were jumping and waving and calling, "Merry Christmas!"

Lula hasn't smiled in a Santa picture since the year she was born.  I guess it is now a tradition.

Heidi liked waving to the fire fighters.

Daniel finally got to ask for a jelly gun (thanks, Rudolph movie) and a lump of coal (thanks Ian and Shane).  Santa laughed and laughed at Daniel's request.  But don't you know that coal is a source of energy and if you put it under enough pressure and temperature, you get a diamond? You DON'T want to know how a certain older brother told Daniel he could accomplish this, but I can tell you I really wanted to ground him from screen forever, but I was laughing too hard.  Daniel is my lump of coal that will be a very shiny diamond someday.

Jason wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he was cute nonetheless.

My kids kept accidentally pulling on the elastic next to Santa's ear...

Living on the dead end of the KP isn't always so bad.

Chopping Kindling

Friday, Mark tested two of his students for black belt.  These were his first students to test, so Mark was pretty nervous to bring them up to our old friend and Taekwondo master.  They tested wonderfully and passed.  And at the end of the test, all the boards that the black belt testing students broke came down to be kindling for our wood stove.  Most need to be split into smaller pieces and our little Downen dojang was happy to oblige.

Breaking the boards was Ian's idea

Bam!

Evie's turn!

Bounce.

Okay, we'll try this again. Shane!

Ahh! My face!

Ian. Your turn again.

Bam!

Good job. For a quitter.

Genevieve. Try again!

Ahh! My fingers!

Ahh! My other fingers!

Try again. You can do it!

Ahh! My heel!

Again!

Ahh! My fingers again! Shane's turn.

Up and down kick!

Bam!

Tutu cute!

Fiona! Ha-YAH!

Ouch.

Ian! Two boards. Punch!

Oh, that had to hurt!

That too.

Oh yes, yes it did. Mark is done holding boards.

Now he is ready to PUNCH! (he is left handed, so he is drawn back and ready)

Wow, these boards really are hard (and they had already been broken by black belts)

Knuckle marks. Ouch.

The boards were really hard to break.  They had already been broken once and the smaller the board, the harder it is to break.  I think we'll use the little ax for the rest of the boards...