Christmas Eve

I love our family tradition of a quiet Christmas Eve...We have a family dinner, make cookies for Santa, open our gifts to each other, have our Happy Birthday Jesus cake, watch a Christmas movie, and then all the kids are off to bed. The big boys all camp out together and the twins are in another room.

Christmas Eve 2014

Trying to get a kid picture, M did not want to stand still :)

Week 51- Christmas Family Time

The family has been enjoying all the Christmas time activities....

One of the first gifts I received this Christmas was a date night with these three. We went to one of my favorite restaurants for some yummy seafood. Those boys had me laughing so hard I had tears flowing. Such a sweet gift, laughter and time out with my boys.

Eric had his special time out with the twins. They were all dressed in their Christmas clothes and headed out for special donuts time with dad.

L delivering his Christmas letter to Santa

J and Eric went to the Liverpool fan club Christmas Party

On Friday night we had our first Christmas celebration, after watching the Polar Express everyone opened the first Christmas gifts from Grandma Patti.

2014- yearly update on the kids

As the year comes to end I wanted to take some time to reflect on each of the kids….

C- You have truly grown this year, when I say grown I really mean grown. You are now as tall as both dad and I (if not a little taller). You are enjoying your high school life (sometimes a little too much). You may give me a heart attack when you choose not to turn in your assignments on time but you always seem to pull off the good grades. I guess the biggest thing this year was you getting that learners permit. It is hard to believe that our first born is now sitting behind the wheel of the car. We are so proud of you and the man you are becoming!

Activities-JV soccer team, FCA member, Hooligan, FCA homecoming representative, CASL Premier, Driver (learning), Frisbee club, CAPP, typical high school student!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J-Our busy boy. I need my own calendar to keep up with your schedule. You hate down time and love to be on the go. You rarely sit still. You are exceling in school and received the top student award of 6^th grade by all your teachers. When you are not on the field you are busy with many of your school clubs. I love to watch you on the field but watching you help out at your school with the PE pals is amazing. It was such an honor to be chosen to help out with this program and I love that you get to travel with your kids to help them in the Special Olympics.

Activities- CASL academy Jrs, ODP, futsal, CAPP, chess club, peer tutors, school spelling bee, PE pals, Duke Tip member, AIG, middle school student!

 

L-Our talker. It is amazing how many questions you have up in that head of yours. You are a little sponge! I love that your teacher said she had to move you away from her desk because you two would debate about things all day. You are the biggest helper too. You are always right there beside me ready to help out. You are my little gentleman. Any time we go anywhere you always open the door for me before you get in the car. All the little acts of kindness mean so much. You also keep us busy with all your soccer activities and hanging out with friends. You definitely are following in your dad and brothers footsteps with your love for soccer.

Activities- CAYA Academy, Next Level Academy, Soccer Genome, CAPP, futsal, Duke Tip member, AIG,  3v3 champ, Top AR reader in school, elementary student.

A-Our Princess! You are truly a girlie girl. I love it but I think the boys love it even more. You love your dolls, tea parties, and anything princess. You wear a dress every day and hate jeans. You always pick out a bow to wear with your outfit and either your sparkly shoes or pink shoes! You are really loving the Christmas time. You are all about the Christmas clothes, Christmas songs, and Christmas movies. You did not like Santa at all! You are our little talker. You have the sweetest voice but will change it in an instant to argue with you brothers/dad! You love your brother and always ask where he is.

Activities- Coloring, Tea parties, driving your Cozy Coupe, playing outside, walks, Mickey Mouse, having donuts with dad, Chick-fil-a field trips, wearing a tutu.

M-Our smiley boy. You are so full of joy. You wake up with a smile on your face. You may not be talking much yet but you can yell out Hi Mom as soon as I walk in the door. You love the phone and ipad. You are always having conversations on the phone with your Grangran. You love music. You have a special playlist and can find it right away on the ipad. You also have a love for soccer balls and cars. You love to play with your basket of cars and leave them all over the house. Your real love is balls! You are always running around with one attached to your foot. You act out what you see on tv, if they celebrate a goal you will throw yourself down on the floor and yell out GOAL too! You are definitely a Bratager Boy! You are also so full of love. You give out the sweetest hugs and love to jump into our arms. When we tell you how much we love you, you will squeeze a little tighter and pat our back. It is the most precious thing.

Activities- Playing soccer, running, going in your brothers’ rooms, driving your cozy coupe, chasing your sister around, turning the lights on and off, playing on electronics.