Sibling Gift Exchange

This year's gift exchange was really great.  The kids are getting older and more proficient at creating gifts.  

Westley and Alejandra had Caleb.  He likes to read, so they created some great bookmarks for him.  Westley drew the pictures and Alejandra colored them and then they laminated them with my laminator.  

Caleb had Nathan. He made him this cool Minecraft box with the numbers 6 and 7 inside.  He used a woodcutter that he had access to on campus.

Eliza gave Jonah a piano book filled with some simplified versions of classic pieces for Jonah to learn.

Jonah gave Annmarie a picture he drew featuring cowboy boots, a hat, and a microphone.

Annmarie gave Westley and Alejandra a King-o-poly game that I helped her make, featuring the King Family.  

Nathan gave Eliza a necklace/jewelry holder similar to mine that Dad helped him make.

Sibling Exchange and Nana Shirts

Since 2014, we have done a sibling gift exchange with the requirement that the gift has to be homemade. We have loved this tradition.

Travis made Eliza a pencil jar out of a can that she can keep on her dresser or nightstand.

Jonah made Travis a name sign with different football symbols.

Caleb made Nathan a sword out of cardboard and Nathan helped me paint a name sign for Caleb.

Annmarie made Jonah an Avengers activity book with word puzzles and coloring pages.

Westley drew a picture of Annmarie for Annmarie.

Eliza designed a trumpet baseball cap for Westley.

And here are the kids in their shirts that Nana made them for their birthdays.  They love the shirts that Nana gives them.  Westley's had a trumpet, Caleb's had the In-N-Out palm trees, Travis' had a football, Eliza's had the Deathly Hallows on it (from Harry Potter), Jonah's had Steve from Minecraft, Annmarie's had Ariel, the Little Mermaid and Nathan's had a transformer. 

Chilling at Home

The kids are just chilling out.  Jonah, Annmarie and Nathan play around with each other.  There is always a lot of fighting but sometimes they have fun with each other too.  And the last picture here is when Jonah threw a stuffed monkey we have that has magnets in its hands and feet and it got stuck in the air vent on the ceiling.

Getting Along

I took this picture to show how the kids DO occasionally get along.  I'm not sure what they were looking at, probably LEGO pictures or a funny Youtube video, but I had to prove that they actually do like each other on occasion.