Keeping Up With the Klauses

Oh my G-O-S-H, you guys. When we were talking with our landlords about renting this house, they told us how Christmas is a big deal here, and that everyone on our pipe stem goes all out with the lights and decorations. They were not kidding, and it makes me SO happy. The pictures I'll be posting do NOT do it any sort of justice, so you'll have to take my word for it when I say it is fabulous!

I don't have any pictures of our outside decorating job in New Jersey. That's probably because it was only two strands of fifty lights that went around the pillars outside our front door. It was kind of sad, but there really wasn't more we could do when living in a townhouse.

This year though, this year things were drastically different. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving we went out shopping for lights and decorations and all sorts of things. The Friday after Thanksgiving and the Saturday after Thanksgiving we were all out there putting up our tons and tons and tons of decorations.

 Friday

Saturday

There are 7 houses on our pipe stem (8 if you count the one on the corner that faces the main street), and by the end of Saturday, 6 of us were lit up like...like...something that lights up really brightly. It was so much fun setting it all up. The guys (and some gals) putting up lights, the kids running around the street "helping." Halfway through Saturday we had this conversation:

Josh: This is great! It's like a two day long block party!
Me: No wonder I'm so exhausted.

Josh: Yeah. We've been partying it up for two days.

And we had been. But it was totally worth it because our house, and the street at large, looks amazing! (One of our neighbors even rigged some of his lights to move in time with some music that he has constantly playing - awww yisss!)

I'm telling you again, it really does look better in person.  Here are some shots of the whole street. I tried getting fancy with the panoramic feature, but it still falls short of seeing the whole thing in its glory.

Here are the numbers, since Josh took the time to figure them out. We have 2,466 lights up on and around our house. That is about 754 feet of light strands. And we aren't entirely sure we're completely finished. I did order some Snoopy lawn ornaments that we're waiting on for this year, that'll come in the next day or two. Apparently the thing to do is hit the after Christmas sales to stock up for next year.

Like I said, totally crazy (#embracingthecrazy) but totally amazing!

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time!

This month truly flew by. As such, I have decided to finish out the year with one big post of all of our Christmas activities and festivities and the like. I hope you're ready.

December 2nd I took the boys to the post tree lighting and carol singing. Santa showed up, riding in on a fire truck.

December 7th we got, set up, and decorated our Christmas tree.

December 22nd Santa came around post, handing out candy canes to all the kids. Again, he was riding on a fire truck.

Truth be told, if I had the option, I would totally motor around town hanging out the top of a fire truck.

December 24th we made gingerbread cookies (and went to the candle light service at chapel).

December 25th was Christmas!

My dad and Karen came over around lunchtime. My mom and all them came for dinner. Josh's parents came the next day. It was great!

I Spy is fun for ALL ages. I'm just saying.

December 27th we hosted the extended family Christmas party at the community center on base. It was so much fun. The weather was mild so the kids could play outside on the playground. There was plenty of room and tables and food and family and presents. 

The day before the party I had gone to The Home Depot to buy a Christmas tree for the party. It was kind of hilarious. First, I got a great deal on a tree (a $60 tree for $10 what?!). Second, so many people were shocked and confused. Most of the people saw my Alaska license plate and figured that that explained it all. I'm not sure how, but okay. One lady walked up to me, put her hand on my arm and said, "Oh! Don't even explain it to me!" then laughed like we were besties sharing an inside joke. Oh yeah.

And now it's December 31st, New Year's Eve. As we wait for the ball to drop, and a new year to begin, I'm here posting and toasting the end of 2014. It's been a really good year. I'm praying 2015 is even better for us and for all of you reading this as well. Happy New Year's!

December 2013 in a Nutshell

December was a busy month filled with (mostly) holiday things. Besides going to school: 

 Aren't the sweetest?

There was visiting Santa at the Home Depot. We didn't go there to visit Santa, but since he was there while we were there, it worked out nicely.

We decorated our tree with stars and lights and all sorts of fun items.

Finn got bored with the tree decorating festivities rather quickly, so we handed him the iPad and let him chill.

 Pele photo-bombing my kids as they decorate.

For some reason we had cupcakes one day. Probably with some hot chocolate after they came in from playing in the snow.

Santa drove around post on a firetruck again, handing out stuffed animals to the kids on post. This is one of our favorite holiday traditions here.

The Saturday before Christmas was my family's big gathering. This pretty much sums up how we all feel at the end of the day: 

Which brings us to the big day - Christmas!

Like most years, we all made out like a bunch of bandits. My dad and stepmom came around lunch time to have Christmas with us. After they left, my mom, stepdad and sisters came for dinner. The following day Josh's parents came up. It's nice that we're close and everyone can come here so we don't have to pack up the boys and make them travel around on Christmas Day. Something we'll miss whenever we move.

And that's about it for the month. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

A Wonderful Christmastime

I figured before the year ends, I should get back on here and write about the end of our year.

 

 The Wednesday before school ended, the kids had a little winter concert during school.  Josh and I both made it and it was...interesting.  I have some notes on things I'd change, but it was still cute, and the boys were beside themselves with excitement that we were there.

 

 

 

(I LOVE the picture of Zeke.  I always knew he was tall, but I didn't realize how tall until this day.)

 

School ended that Friday (Thursday for Deacon), and winter recess started.  With winter recess came CHRISTMAS, and what a Christmas it was.  I don't know about the rest of my family, but I had a great couple of days.

 

Christmas Eve we went to my uncle's house for the extended family Christmas party.  It was nice seeing everyone again, and especially funny watching Finn spend a good portion of the afternoon hanging out with my cousin Molly, whom he has never met before (I think?).

 

After the festivities at my uncle's were finished, we rolled on over to my mom's to do Christmas with all of my sisters.  Once the many presents were opened (we all seriously got spoiled this year) we had some dinner, put the boys in their new "Christmas jammies" and headed home in the snow!

 

The next day was Christmas Day and again, what a day we had!  Zeke woke up a little before 7am but had to stay in his bed until his brothers woke up, which wasn't too much later, about 7:15 or so.  At 7:30 we let them loose, and it was so sweet.  Zeke and Deacon had gone "shopping" at the Christmas "store" in school this month, and they were both so excited, that they insisted on handing out the presents they bought before they opened the presents they got.  Soon enough though, all of the presents were handed out, opened, and being played with. 

 

Once presents were "finished" and Christmas donuts were eaten, Deacon and I got to work on making a birthday cake for Jesus.

 



 

Around noon Grandpa Bob, Grandma Karen, Uncle Bobby and Great-Grandma Vint came over to have Christmas.  More wonderful presents, more fun and another great time with family.  Which was followed closely by a second round of visitors.  Grammy, Pappy, Tia (Katherine), Tante (Kirsten), Great-Grandma Rudy, Shawn and Ivan (K&K's boyfriends) came over to hang out and have Christmas dinner.

 

And what a Christmas dinner it was! Besides the normal green bean casserole and cranberry sauce, we did things a little differently.  Instead of mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes, I made homemade potato soup.  Then, instead of the "usual" turkey (or ham), Josh deep fried a goose.  All of it was so good.  Dessert was cookies and treats that I had made during my week of nap time baking, and our cake for Jesus.

 

As you can see, I let the boys decorate it. I guess I shouldn't've wasted time writing on it. Heh.

 

Eventually it was time for bed for the boys, then time for guests to leave, and time to relax and reflect on a really good 2 days. 

 

The Friday after Christmas Josh's parents came up and spent the day with us, having Christmas all over again.  Again, more spoiling of us, more fun time with family,  and another great day celebrating the birth of our Savior.

 

And since this post is getting pretty lengthy, I'll post another day about the fun the kids have been having in all of the snow we've been getting.  But I hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas as well, and may you have a wonderful New Year!

Trimming Our Own Tree

Saturday morning we all piled into the car, and we went out and got our Christmas tree.  We got a really nice tree for a really nice price.  When we got home, Deacon was so excited by the whole thing that he was more than happy to help us set the thing up.  (Zeke decided to color and Finn curled up on the big chair with the iPad.)  Here we are, cutting it free after putting it in its stand

 

 

After nap time was over, the older boys helped Josh string the tree with lights:



 

 

Because Deacon was the only one who helped set up the tree he got the priviledge of helping Josh put the star on the top of the tree:

 

 

Once the star was up, the rest of the ornaments followed.  And I must say, we have the most ecclectic collection of ornaments ever.  There's no rhyme or reason to it at all, and I love it.

 



 

Once the tree was all set up it was, apparently, time for dancing.  After all, who doesn't love a good wild man dance around a newly set up and decorated Christmas tree?

 



Trimming Trees All Over Town

That title might be a little misleading.  We weren't all over town, we were all over base.  And by "all over base" I mean we were at Josh's office "Tree Trimming and Potluck" party for lunch, then the post Tree Lighting Ceremony later in the afternoon.  Also, we didn't actually trim any trees.  At Josh's office thing, the younger 2 boys and I showed up and went immediately to the potluck portion of the festivities.

 

 

Later in the day, as soon as Zeke and Thomas got off the bus, I scooped up all 4 boys and took them over to the tree lighting ceremony on post, just like last year.  Josh met us there, and it was a nice time.  They had people in costumes this year, waving and dancing as people showed up.

 

 

The boys had a great time running around in the snow with their friends, I had a good time chatting with some of my friends, and Josh probably didn't have that good of a time continually trying to wrangle the kids.

 

The ceremony consisted of an adult choir that sang a few songs, then a choir made up of children from the CDC, the lighting of the tree, and Santa showing up on a fire truck.

 

This year, unlike last year, the boys were thrilled to see Santa and had no problem going up to him this year to get candy canes.  It could be that they're old enough this year to understand a little better.  OR it could be that before they went to school this morning I told them we'd be going and that Santa would be there, but just like how in Scooby-Doo the monster is always a person in a suit or a machine and there's no need to be afraid, this Santa is just a man in a suit and nothing to be afraid of.  Either way, it was a fun thing to do on a chilly afternoon in November.  Let the Christmas season and all its festivites begin!

Ho Ho Ho NO!

I'm not sure where things went wrong. I can't tell you what happened specifically as I wasn't there, assuming there was even a "there" to be at. All I know is that one day my boys were thrilled with Santa, and the next Zeke was scared and Deacon was angry. Yes, you read that right, angry. Deacon came out of his bed room one day, and we had the following conversation:

Deacon: Mom, I don't want Santa to bring me any presents because I'm angry with him.
Me: You're angry with Santa?
Deacon: Yes.
Me: Why?
Deacon: Because he makes me angry. He can bring Ezekiel presents, but not me.

Then he walked away. The other night we put on "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and as it started Zeke said to the TV, "Santa Claus, I don't like you, you scare me." As far as I know, this is the first Christmas they're really aware of anything Santa at all, so I'm not sure where these feelings are coming from. Thus, when Santa visited our street on Wednesday, Finn was the only one who went out to greet him, and that's because Mommy physically made him (I picked him up and carried him outside).

(Sorry it's blurry. I only had my iPhone, and things were going quickly and my neighbor took the picture for me.) Finn did pretty well being near Santa. He sort of stared like he was trying to figure Santa out. Then he cried a little, but that was only when Santa patted his head.

When one of the police escorts saw the other two boys up in the window he asked if they were going to come out too. I told him one was scared of Santa and the other was angry with Santa. He chuckled and said, "Well, keep the angry one in there. We don't need Santa getting beat up." Heh.

It was a cool thing though. Santa drove up and down every street on base, in a fire truck, and handed out teddy bears to all the kids that came out to see him. So, that means we've seen Santa roll up in a paladin and now a fire truck. That guy really enjoys using alternative methods of transportation, huh? I think he also rode around on a little train thing the Spaghetti with Santa nights, but we didn't go to that, so I'm not positive that actually happened. And, as you can see by the picture below, he stopped right in front of our house.

If you look close enough to our window above the garage, you can also see Scaredy Scott and Angry Andy watching from the safety of their living room. I love how they keep life interesting like this. Oh, those Walter boys.

This Year's Tree

In Alaska, our house came with an arificial Christmas tree. It was a nice enough tree so we used it the 2 years we were there. However, much to Josh's disappointment, our place here in New Jersey did NOT come with an artificial tree, so we decided to go out and buy a real one this year. This news thrilled Zeke, who counted down the days until we could buy a tree. Every day as he got off the bus he would say, "Three more days until we buy a Christmas tree, right Mom?" and so on.

So, Saturday morning off we went to get ourselves a real Christmas tree. When we got to the tree lot, we put Finn in the stroller, much to his dismay. Josh said, "Here, give him a rock to play with, he'll be fine."

Of course, Finn immediately put the rock in his mouth. Sigh. Notice the second rock between his legs. Deacon decided giving Finn rocks was a good idea, and was more than happy to go along with it.

I found one tree that was beautiful, but unfortunately it was also a little on the big side.

Even Deacon was skeptical. Oh well.

We did eventually find one, and despite the look on Finn's face, it is a lovely tree. (He was SO over being in that stroller.)

While Zeke and Josh paid for the tree, Finn, Deacon and I roamed around, mostly watching the guys open the trees that had just arrived from the farm. It was a pretty neat process. The one guy was super sweet and even gave Finn a little branch to run around with.

Once the tree was paid for and strapped to the top of the car we were on our way back home.

Here's Josh bringing the tree in. You know, before he set the stand up to put the tree in.

We set up the tree then left it for the rest of the day as we had that ball and what's it to go to. Sunday, however, Sunday is when the rest of the fun happened.

Since Zeke was super thrilled about the whole "tree thing" it seemed fitting that he put the star on the top of the tree (with some help, of course).

After the star came the lights.

After lights, Josh took the boys outside to put some more lights up out there, but not before Zeke got his one special ornament up on the tree.

After we came back in, Christmas tree decorating commenced...for everyone except Mommy who was sent into the kitchen to make dinner. Sigh.

And here's the finished product.

We are all very pleased with it. And now that I've written this post I realized I haven't watered it since we set it up so I should probably go and check on that. Ciao!