Zack and Andy went to a gingerbread party with their Bible study group and made these terrific houses. Thanks to Kassy for hosting a fun party and for all her hard work!
I think the gingerbread man on the right lost the snowball fight. :o)
Zack’s house apparently needs guards… :o)
They look super boys and I don’t think they’ll collapse any time soon!
This past week I did two Christmas bazaars. Crafty Wonderland was on Sunday and the Homeschool Holiday Bazaar was Tuesday. I spent the past few weeks hurriedly sewing as fast as I could!
grown-up journal covers
taggy balls
kids journal covers
with crayons
and pencils
coloring book bags
crinkly blankets
taggy blankets
I didn’t get to go to Crafty Wonderland but my stuff went with Amy and Theresa. Thanks you two! Thankfully the winter weather warning didn’t stop people from coming (2000 people were waiting at the door when they opened and 7500 shopped that day). Unfortunately, the economy did keep people from buying. :o(
our booth at Crafty Wonderland before people came
The homeschool bazaar went well and I am looking forward to doing it again next year. But I will start sewing NOW!!! :o)
This year the Journey to Bethlehem was even more special because Zack was in it. Since Ian had to go to China, Zack was able to take his place as a soup peddler.
The weather this year was FREEZING!!! And thanks to the winter weather advisory everyone was afraid of snow and ice, which NEVER came. Whew!
the camel was ready to go
Zack did a great job and had a fantastic time! He looked so authentic we almost didn’t recognize him. (see if you can spot him in the movie)
We went twice this year. Once as a family and then again with Maggie, Charlie, Grandpa and Grandma. It was really cool because we were the first group the second night!
first we watched Charlie Brown’s Christmas while we waited
then we listened to Nehemiah Brown (he had a beautiful voice)
almost ready to go
listening to the scribe read from Isaiah
heading into Bethlehem
the merchants were busy (and a little pushy) LOL
paying our taxes to Rome
Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus
Maybe next year, we’ll all be in Journey to Bethlehem???
Zack’s made it through the night but not long after.
Andy’s did better but had that pregnant look just before it got a giant hole in it.
Instead of throwing them away, Andy boxed them up and gave them as gifts at the Youth Group white elephant gift exchange. :o)
My friend Donna and I saw an ad in a magazine where they used rice krispy treats to make gingerbread. It seemed like a fun idea for a change and way easier than real gingerbread, so we decided to give it a try.
I made all the pieces in advance, giving them time to get hard and crisp. Which they did… So much so that they cracked in places. But we glued them onto pieces of cardboard to fix them and give them extra stability. Unfortunately it was not enough.
Shortly after getting started it was apparent that they weren’t as hard as we thought and they soon began to bend and bow. Zack and Andy were able to salvage theirs, but I’m not sure they’ll last until morning. Will wasn’t so lucky…. :o(
Will’s cereal and Now & Later fireman
the firehouse is showing signs of distress
going…
going…
Look out little fireman! It’s coming down!!!
still going…
going more…
Gone! That little fireman is pretty strong!
Zack and Andy’s surviving houses
I love Zack’s cereal wreath
the shutters on the windows
and his gumdrop tree
Andy’s house has a nicely manicured front lawn with a fence, pathway and gumdrop bushes. I also love the round cookie and cereal window above the door!
He also included a lighted landing strip for Santa on the roof
They all did a great job and were so creative! I just feel bad that they probably won’t last long… Hopefully it went better for the McNews.
Last night we hosted the Co-op’s Teen Group’s Christmas Party. We had about 30 teens at our house (about 40 people altogether) and had a blast!!! The noise was a bit overwhelming, but it was such a happy noise that I didn’t mind a bit! They are truly a FANTASTIC group of kids!!!
a noisy but fun game of Pit
There was TONS of great treats, a huge pile of shoes by the front door, and foam cups and paper plates everywhere!!!
But my favorite event was the white elephant Yankee Swap gift exchange. Everyone brought some great gifts! We had everything from a packet of Kool-Aid to Turtle Wax to spray starch to empty gift cards to a TMNT stocking! It was so funny to watch everyone’s faces when they opened their “gifts” or had them stolen from them. I also found some abandoned presents along with the other things left behind… :o)
this fish gift was by far the most creative
everyone wants to know what the gift is???
Saori looks so happy despite the fact that she got an old broken sump pump :o)
how many layers does poor Alex have to go through to find his gift???
almost there…
It’s Happy Feet!
awesome gift Jonathan!!!
Nathan makes such a cute reindeer! Awww!
Jonathan got a glowing flower wand
But Stewart definitely cleaned up at the gift exchange with pop, cake mix and Nutcracker tea
Christmas arrives at the Leingang house the day after Thanksgiving complete with decorations, cookies and music. Here’s a look at our place this year…
But the piese de resistance is the outside. Zack has spent the last 7 months planning out the outside Christmas lights this year, using the new light show program he got for his birthday. He did a pretty great job!!! If you get the chance, you should drive by and see it…
Again this year, the boys helped me decorate the gingerbread. And when you let teenage boys have free creative license, you never know what you’ll get… :o)
at first glance they look pretty much like your standard cookies…
but then there’s “angry snowman”
“gunshot snowman”
and our personal favorite “reindeer skeleton”
Last night was our co-op’s Presentation Nite. I had a table set up for my 3 classes (WWI, Dangerous Class for Boys and Writing Made Easy & Fun), but forgot to take any pictures of it. :o( But I did take pictures of the boys and their band playing. They did FM Static’s “Take Me As I Am”. They did a fantastic job! In fact the whole evening went really well and pretty fast, too!
you can barely see Andy in the back on the drums
This year’s Harvest Party was lots of fun and a big success, but seemed very strange without Zack and Andy there. They really wanted to be but just weren’t feeling up to it quite yet. But even though we were down some of our helpers, God still provided. No surprise!!!
We had quite a few members there to help, the youth group came to help run games, and some of our dear friends from our homeschool group came as well.
I want to thank all those who took pictures that I could steal off Facebook. I didn’t get to take any this year.
Macy and Nate (the very cute turtle)
Kevin and Falynne play golf
Kate and her girls
Walt and Peter
Kevin got himself a very cute pumpkin
and he takes a try at the ping-pong toss
mmmm! candy!!!
Kevin takes a turn at running Tic-Tac-Toe
Joey makes a cute pumpkin, too!
but I’m not sure how he feels about fishing???
Nate loved fishing, golf and his candy
Dave is a great “scarecrow” again this year (Will said it won’t be the same after he’s in seminary. I suggested Will should take over, but he doesn’t think he can sit that long…) Will’s right, it won’t be the same without him.
making crafts
and just in case you didn’t get enough candy playing games, there’s always more out trunk-r-treating!
I also want to say a big huge thank you to all those who stayed to help clean up afterwards. We could not have done it without your help!!!
