2008 McKnight-Weekly Christmas

The McKnight-Weekly Christmas was held on Saturday, Dec. 20th at Doug's parent's house in Plattsmouth. There were 32 people there! Alden was unhappy most of the day, as we discovered that he doesn't like crowded spaces! Samantha was very entertaining because she taught all the people what Handy Manny's tools' names were. It was pretty hillarious! We played the gift card game where everyone brings a $10 gift card and we draw numbers and go in order and you can open or steal a gift. It's always very entertaining with this group of people! The most popular gift cards were Dicks' Sporting Goods, Whole Foods, Pannera, and Victoria's Secret. There was lots of good fun and we always love seeing everyone. Brett was home from Houston with his girlfriend Cassie and Dustin came from Columbia with his wife Goldie. Curtis brought his fiance Holly for the 1st time! Lots of fun with the cousins! The Weekly's came from Kansas City and their son Patrick and his wife Ashley came from Alabama. We hardly ever get to see those family members. The one weird part was that Doug's cousin Jamie wasn't there because she was on a cruise!

Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa McKnight Christmas

Each year we have a special individual Christmas with Doug's grandma and grandmpa McKnight at their house. We aren't able to go to be at their Christmas Eve party, so we have our own. Doug & I went to Famous Daves in Bellevue and picked up food and brought it back to Plattsmouth for all of us to eat. Then, we opened presents and talked. Samantha got 2 dolls (twins - she named them Maggie & Betsy because she has friends that are twins), a jewelry box, and some books and activity books! Alden got Handy Manny's toolbox and it was a big hit with both the kids. They sang and danced to the music the rest of the night. She even told us all the tools' names. I had no idea she new the names of all the tools! (She may watch a little too much Disney Channel!) I got 2 pairs of pink lounge pants and a cross-stitch wall hanging of Santa Clause that Lila made. Doug got a dress shirt and socks and a solid silver statue of a little boy playing a trumpet (which was really neat). They also collected all of the 50 quarters from the 50 states that have come out over the last 10 years, so they gave a set to each grandchild! We have them a photo calendar. It was good to have some one-on-one time with just time! They have lots of space for the kids to play.

Snow Day

I took the kids out on Friday afternoon for a few minutes, as the temperature rose to 15 degrees outside (hey---it was better than 4 degrees earlier in the week). Samantha was disappointed she didn't get to make a snowman due to the "crunchy/icey" snow, but she did do a lot of running around and jumped all over the yard yelling "crunch" as the snow broke below her. Alden was unsure about the snow, but he liked touching the snow with his bare hands and smiled when he realized it was really cold snow (he kept taking his gloves off).

Sunday School Program

Samantha had her 1st Sunday School Program last Sunday - December 14th. She was a "Twinkling Star". (Well, she was supposed to be, but the star she had to wear kept hitting her in the face, so she refused to wear it! :) She new the words, but refused to stand up, so she spent most of her time sitting down and singing along too. She was really cute! Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa McKnight, Nebraska City Grandma & Grandpa, Aunt Jodi, & Grandma & Grandpa McKnight came to watch her perform. She made a special trip (during her part of the program) to see her special guests. She told them she just wanted to say "hi" to them! :)

Making Sugar Cookies

Samantha & I made sugar cookies last week (okay...so we just rolled out the pre-made sugar cookie dough from Pillsbury, but we did cut them out into Christmas shapes). My mom made me do it! :) Samantha did have a blast, but it was not so fun to clean up! We frosted them the next day and Samantha concentrated very hard on the frosting. It was cute. We delivered cookies to Grandma & Grandpa McKnight, Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa McKnight, & Great-Grandma & Great-Granddad Holman. Nebraska City Grandma & Grandpa tasted some when they came to babysit the other night. They all gave great reviews! :)

Visiting Santa

I took the kids to Nebraska City to the outlet mall to see Santa Clause. My mom and dad's pastor at their church as being Santa Clause for the day at the mall, so we thought we'd head down there, since we actually knew who was under the big white beard. Alden & Nebraska City papa went out and played ball with Santa Clause while Samantha colored a picture for Santa. I think this helped Alden to be a little less scared. Samantha told Santa everything she wants for Christmas with every detail! (Big pink doll house with a green roof....). I think Santa was shocked that she knew exactly what she wanted. She told Santa that Alden wanted a truck. Santa made me sit on his lap too and he made sure I was good this year.

O Christmas Tree

We put up the Christmas Tree on Sunday, November 30th. The kids were actually pretty good help this year (well....better than last year). Samantha put up a few ornaments and helped "fluff the tree branches. Alden just said "ball" alot because we have lots of round ornaments. We sang some Christmas tunes and had fun getting all the other Christmas decor out, too. Samantha used our Trumpet ornaments to act like she was playing the trumpet to the Christmas music. It was cute, and I think she really thought she was playing the trumpet. Alden saw her playing with a trumpet ornament and he decided to do the same thing and play the trumpet by sticking the wrong end of it to his nose.

Visiting Nebraska City

A few weeks ago, I took the kids to Nebraska City to see "Nebraska City Grandma & Papa." Alden had quite the time! He decided that he LOVED to ride the coin operated trucks/cars they have in the hall way in the mall. He would just laugh and smile and giggle! And he kept walking/crawling back into the hallway to ride them again. He also got to go for a ride on Papa's cart that he halls cabinets with. :)

Operation Christmas Child

Just in case you all didn't know....in August I became our church's Sunday School Superintendent, along with my friend and fellow church member Kasey Barr. We have done a few different things this year, and I suggested participating in Operation Christmas Child. Operation Christmas Child is a program through Samaritan's Purse, that gives presents to kids that have never received a Christmas present before in different countries around the world. We had all of our Sunday School kids buy something to put in the boxes for the kids. We were able to fill 9 shoe boxes with items the kids will like and need. It was a lot of fun and the kids got to learn how some kids aren't as fortunate as they are. The picture above is Samantha's Pre-K through Kindergarten class for Sunday school.

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we spent it with Doug's family. We traveled to Fremont to Doug's aunt & uncle's house, Evie & Tom, for supper. It was a lot of fun. Sam, Doug, Auntie Debra, and Tom rode the 4-wheeler to the barn to see the horses for supper. Samantha liked them from far away, but up close, she was very reserved. She wouldn't pet them and was actually scared when Tom went to pet them. :)

We had the whole big Thanksgiving dinner with Turkey (and ham for me), mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans, mac & cheese, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and much more. Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa McKnight were there, Jim & Sandy, Auntie Debra, Uncle Greg, Tom & Evie, Curtis & Holly, Jodi, Eric, & Jamie, and Evie's mom Sophie. Sam played with legos and Alden enjoyed head butting everyone! :) Afterward, we drove back to Plattsmouth and put the kids to bed and I got ready for a Black Friday Shopping Trip!

"I'm Bigger Now Mom" said by Samantha McKnight on Nov. 9, 2008

Sam woke up on her actual birthday (November 9th) and as I sang to her, she said "I'm bigger now mom....look mom....I'm bigger now!" She thinks she magically got bigger overnight. It was so cute! We got up early and went to church and Sunday School and then we went to Omaha to the mall and Samantha and Alden got to "Build-A-Bear" for Sam's birthday. Alden chose the Zebra and Sam chose the penguin. Samantha named hers "Chilly" and Alden named his "Stripes." We did a little more shopping and then headed home because it had been a long weekend full of Birthdays and Huskers.