Neeley Family Blog

I finally had the chance to make a cake for a friend.  Her younger son was turning 5 and wanted a Pirate themed cake to go with his party.  I asked him for details of what kind of cake he would want and went to work gathering ideas from Pinterest. I will admit this was hard and more stressful on me because I wanted it to turn out so well! It started out super well!  I had shape ideas from Pinterest and another blog I found about how to create the ship. I also ordered and went on a hunt for Pirate of the Caribbean figures (turns out these are much harder to find these days since the movies are a bit older now!) Here are the some of the steps: base of the cake- chocolate as requested. :)  Cupcakes to go with...fishes included to look like the sea.  The boat constructed and frosted.  A few more details  And the final product!   Now the boat started to shift (I apparently did not get the cake pieces level enough) and...

Merry Christmas! Today is the day we have been waiting for.  All the preparations, baking, wrapping, cards, get togethers, and so on come to today.  We stay in our jammies opening presents, eating and playing with our new things until we go do it all over again at my parent's house. :) Here is the start to our day, each one sitting next to their pile of presents:   And all the kids at my parent's house: We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and joyous times with your loved ones!

We took a trip to a local Christmas Landmark- Peacock Lane.  It is in Portland.  Every house on the lane decorates with Christmas lights.  Several do amazing things! I had not been since I was younger.  I had wanted to take the kids in the past couple years, but we just did not make it. We had a clear, dry night and took advantage. :)

We recently did a fundraiser at Brayden's school.  A local Tae Kwon Do offered to give 4 weeks of classes, with a graduation party at the end for any students in the school that wanted to sign up.  They had the student pay $20, all of which the PTA got to keep! Pretty easy and awesome! I signed up both the boys to give it a try. They really enjoyed it! It was twice a week for two weeks.  They would ask me each night if it was Tae Kwon Do night or not.  Brock especially. At their graduation, they got to show off all their skills they had learned and break boards! Yep, break boards! Check it out!!!   It was such a great experience.  Tae Kwon Do teaches respect, confidence and strength.  We haven't made the decision yet to sign either one of the boys up yet.  They both would like to, but I am not sure they understand the commitment it takes and that they would probably not be able to participate in other sports as well.  So we ar...

Brayden worked for several weeks on his songs for the Winter concert.  He practiced at home and was happy to give us a preview every so often of what his big night would be like. It was a pretty packed house by the time we got there, so I could not get as close of seats as I would have liked.  So please don't judge the photos.  I did what I could. Brayden is in the middle under the boy in the blue shirt. He has a grey plaid sweater on.    Brayden even was picked to play an instrument that night for one of their performances.  He did an excellent job!       The kids invested lots of hard work and it turned out really well.  The music teacher Mr. Noyes is really great at creating a whole performance with the kids. 

Our friendly, mischievous elf, Clover has returned!!! He made his appearance on the 1st of December.  We had been having some discussions about when he might return.  The kids were wanting to start giving him Christmas present wishes.  Clover listens to the kids tell them their wants for Christmas.  He also watches their every move so he can fly off each night back to the North Pole and report to Santa.  He uses magic.  So the kids cannot touch him or he may lose that magic and not be able to get to Santa.  When he returns the next morning he is in a new spot and sometimes is getting in trouble himself! He doesn't always set the best example that little elf. Anyway, he flies back with Santa on Christmas Eve and does not return until the next year.  So here are a few looks at what we found Clover doing during some of his time here with us. :) If you don't have an elf, you should think about adopting ...

For the second year in a row since we have lived here, the Operation Santa Claus comes thru the neighborhood.  They come to collect canned goods, toys and money to help local families in need.  The fire trucks come through and Santa waves from one of the old fire trucks! How cool is that, huh!?! It was a super cold night, but we were able to make it again this year. Here is a video for your viewing pleasure :). We donated a bag of goods and the kids got candy canes from Santa's helpers.  It feels good to help some others during the holiday season and we enjoy the bonus of seeing Santa another time! :)