10 Great Toddler Books for Fall!

My favorite season deserves to be celebrated with food, fun, and of course, books! I think I currently have close to 100 books checked out from our library between what I'm reading and what the kids are enjoying. Sean has his own stack checked out on his card. Since books are such an important part of our family, we thought we would share with you: 10 Great Toddler Books for Fall!

It's Fall by Jimmy Pickering
A fun book about Sally and her dog, Sam, as they explore the outdoors during fall. The words "blow" across the pages as they jump in leaves, eat pumpkin pie, and visit the fair. The illustrations are as lively as the text, and manage to keep a whimsical flair while still keeping objects easily recognizable. Doggies are a huge favorite at our house right now, so any book that has a dog in it is a clear winner!

A Surprise for the Nutbrown Hares by Sam McBratney
The Nutbrown Hares books are classics! This is a sweet story about Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare enjoying an autumn day. When Big Nutbrown Hare gets too tired to play, Little Nutbrown Hare wanders off and finds a box. He then comes back and pretends like he is a monster. Big Nutbrown Hare plays along and then chases his child continuing their day of fun.

Fall is for Friends by Suzy Spafford
Confession, I knew this book would make the list when I saw that it had "Suzy and Friends" illustrations. I've always loved her kid-friendly animal drawings! In this book, Suzy and Emily who are best friends, are anxiously waiting to jump in a pile of leaves so that they can officially welcome fall. The only problem is that the leaves haven't fallen yet! The two friends put their heads together and come up with a series of ways to try to get the leaves to fall to the ground. Follow their antics as they encourage fall to arrive!

Max and Maggie in Autumn by Janet Craig
This book has two stories in it: The Falling Leaves and The Perfect Pumpkin. Max and Maggie are best friends who make quite the team. In The Falling Leaves, Maggie heads over to Max's house to help him rake his leaves, but it seems Max has other plans for his leaves. In The Perfect Pumpkin, Maggie tries to help Max find a pumpkin, but Max turns down every pumpkin she suggests. Maggie ends up frustrated and leaves the pumpkin patch, while Max tries to figure out how to make it up to her. A little later, he shows up at her house with a special gift.

P is for Pumpkin: God's Harvest Alphabet by Kathy-Jo Wargin
We are still learning to identify letters at our house, and this book is the perfect autumn-esque way to encourage that! Wargin does a marvelous job coming up with a fall-inspired rhyme for each letter of the alphabet while reinforcing with every page that autumn and everything we love about it are special blessings from God.

Who Loves the Fall? by Bob Raczka
Bright colors make this book very visually appealing for little ones. The book goes through all of the different types of people who love the autumn months, including leaf rakers, corn-crop reapers, and taffy lickers. It's a fun approach to appreciating fall!

What Small Rabbit Heard by Sheryl Webster and Tim Warners
This adorable book is about a rabbit and his mother. She insists they go for an autumn walk even though Small Rabbit doesn't want to. Once they get outside, the wind keeps whipping Big Rabbit's words away, and Small Rabbit thinks he hears her telling him to do something else. He gets into all sorts of mischief as his mom tries to keep up with him. They end up back at home after a wonderful time playing outside.

The Leaves on the Trees by Thom Wiley
Set to the rhythm of "London Bridges Falling Down," this book teaches all of the different types of leaves and what colors they turn in the fall. It would be neat to read this book and then head out on a nature walk to practice identifying leaves!

Fall Leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall
Another book with wonderful, bright illustrations! Exploring types of leaves along with all of the different activities that can be done with fall leaves, this book does a great job of inspiring a lots of outdoor fall activities.

Leaf Trouble by Jonathan Emmett
In a panic, Pip Squirrel suddenly realizes that his tree home is losing its leaves! He races around trying to put them back, and when his sister sees him, she tries to help as well. But no matter how hard they try, they can't get the leaves to stick back on the tree. Then their Mom shows up and explains that the tree has been taking care of its leaves all summer and needs a little break. But then encourages the little squirrels by letting them know that the leaves will come back.

What are your favorite toddler books for fall? Share in the comments below! We are always looking for new book ideas!

This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

My favorite season deserves to be celebrated with food, fun, and of course, books! I think I currently have close to 100 books checked out from our library between what I'm reading and what the kids are enjoying. Sean has his own stack checked out on his card. Since books are such an important part of our family, we thought we would share with you: 10 Great Toddler Books for Fall!

It's Fall by Jimmy Pickering
A fun book about Sally and her dog, Sam, as they explore the outdoors during fall. The words "blow" across the pages as they jump in leaves, eat pumpkin pie, and visit the fair. The illustrations are as lively as the text, and manage to keep a whimsical flair while still keeping objects easily recognizable. Doggies are a huge favorite at our house right now, so any book that has a dog in it is a clear winner!

A Surprise for the Nutbrown Hares by Sam McBratney
The Nutbrown Hares books are classics! This is a sweet story about Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare enjoying an autumn day. When Big Nutbrown Hare gets too tired to play, Little Nutbrown Hare wanders off and finds a box. He then comes back and pretends like he is a monster. Big Nutbrown Hare plays along and then chases his child continuing their day of fun.

Fall is for Friends by Suzy Spafford
Confession, I knew this book would make the list when I saw that it had "Suzy and Friends" illustrations. I've always loved her kid-friendly animal drawings! In this book, Suzy and Emily who are best friends, are anxiously waiting to jump in a pile of leaves so that they can officially welcome fall. The only problem is that the leaves haven't fallen yet! The two friends put their heads together and come up with a series of ways to try to get the leaves to fall to the ground. Follow their antics as they encourage fall to arrive!

Max and Maggie in Autumn by Janet Craig
This book has two stories in it: The Falling Leaves and The Perfect Pumpkin. Max and Maggie are best friends who make quite the team. In The Falling Leaves, Maggie heads over to Max's house to help him rake his leaves, but it seems Max has other plans for his leaves. In The Perfect Pumpkin, Maggie tries to help Max find a pumpkin, but Max turns down every pumpkin she suggests. Maggie ends up frustrated and leaves the pumpkin patch, while Max tries to figure out how to make it up to her. A little later, he shows up at her house with a special gift.

P is for Pumpkin: God's Harvest Alphabet by Kathy-Jo Wargin
We are still learning to identify letters at our house, and this book is the perfect autumn-esque way to encourage that! Wargin does a marvelous job coming up with a fall-inspired rhyme for each letter of the alphabet while reinforcing with every page that autumn and everything we love about it are special blessings from God.

Who Loves the Fall? by Bob Raczka
Bright colors make this book very visually appealing for little ones. The book goes through all of the different types of people who love the autumn months, including leaf rakers, corn-crop reapers, and taffy lickers. It's a fun approach to appreciating fall!

What Small Rabbit Heard by Sheryl Webster and Tim Warners
This adorable book is about a rabbit and his mother. She insists they go for an autumn walk even though Small Rabbit doesn't want to. Once they get outside, the wind keeps whipping Big Rabbit's words away, and Small Rabbit thinks he hears her telling him to do something else. He gets into all sorts of mischief as his mom tries to keep up with him. They end up back at home after a wonderful time playing outside.

The Leaves on the Trees by Thom Wiley
Set to the rhythm of "London Bridges Falling Down," this book teaches all of the different types of leaves and what colors they turn in the fall. It would be neat to read this book and then head out on a nature walk to practice identifying leaves!

Fall Leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall
Another book with wonderful, bright illustrations! Exploring types of leaves along with all of the different activities that can be done with fall leaves, this book does a great job of inspiring a lots of outdoor fall activities.

Leaf Trouble by Jonathan Emmett
In a panic, Pip Squirrel suddenly realizes that his tree home is losing its leaves! He races around trying to put them back, and when his sister sees him, she tries to help as well. But no matter how hard they try, they can't get the leaves to stick back on the tree. Then their Mom shows up and explains that the tree has been taking care of its leaves all summer and needs a little break. But then encourages the little squirrels by letting them know that the leaves will come back.

What are your favorite toddler books for fall? Share in the comments below! We are always looking for new book ideas!

This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

My ABC of God Loves Me - Giveaway

Remember when I said that there was a second Tommy Nelson resource and giveaway that I wanted to share with you this month? Here it is!

My ABC of God Loves Me is a padded board book with a handle. Don't you just love those little handles? My kids do! This book has the same whimsical illustrations that you've seen in other resources that I've reviewed over the last few months. I guess I'm always partial to those because I think they perfectly capture the innocence and joy of childhood.

The contents of the book are as precious as the illustrations. Each page shares an attribute of God that begins with a letter of the alphabet and is described with a short rhyme. For example, the first page says,

"God is AMAZING.

He is brighter than the sun,

More powerful than all of us,

and He loves everyone!"

The book is a great way to help children understand how wonderful God is with engaging illustrations and rhymes that will draw them in and captivate them.

My ABC of God Loves Me retails for $6.99 and can be found on Tommy Nelson and Amazon. You can also click HERE to see the inside of the book.

~Giveaway!~

One A Beautiful Ruckus reader will win a copy of My ABC of God Loves Me. To enter the giveaway, please use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. The first two tasks are not optional and must be completed to qualify for this giveaway. The additional entry tasks are optional. Winning entries will be validated prior to announcing the winner with an alternate drawn if the entries cannot be verified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
The contest ends at 11:59pm on Monday, August 5th. The winner(s) will be randomly chosen and contacted by email on Tuesday, August 6th. The winner(s) will have 48 hours to respond to the email with their information so that the prize can be forwarded to them. A Beautiful Ruckus is not responsible for the delivery of the prize and is not responsible if the sponsor does not deliver. This giveaway is open to residents of the United States. A Beautiful Ruckus received complimentary item(s) for review in exchange  for hosting this giveaway from Tommy Nelson. This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

Remember when I said that there was a second Tommy Nelson resource and giveaway that I wanted to share with you this month? Here it is!

My ABC of God Loves Me is a padded board book with a handle. Don't you just love those little handles? My kids do! This book has the same whimsical illustrations that you've seen in other resources that I've reviewed over the last few months. I guess I'm always partial to those because I think they perfectly capture the innocence and joy of childhood.

The contents of the book are as precious as the illustrations. Each page shares an attribute of God that begins with a letter of the alphabet and is described with a short rhyme. For example, the first page says,

"God is AMAZING.

He is brighter than the sun,

More powerful than all of us,

and He loves everyone!"

The book is a great way to help children understand how wonderful God is with engaging illustrations and rhymes that will draw them in and captivate them.

My ABC of God Loves Me retails for $6.99 and can be found on Tommy Nelson and Amazon. You can also click HERE to see the inside of the book.

~Giveaway!~

One A Beautiful Ruckus reader will win a copy of My ABC of God Loves Me. To enter the giveaway, please use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. The first two tasks are not optional and must be completed to qualify for this giveaway. The additional entry tasks are optional. Winning entries will be validated prior to announcing the winner with an alternate drawn if the entries cannot be verified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
The contest ends at 11:59pm on Monday, August 5th. The winner(s) will be randomly chosen and contacted by email on Tuesday, August 6th. The winner(s) will have 48 hours to respond to the email with their information so that the prize can be forwarded to them. A Beautiful Ruckus is not responsible for the delivery of the prize and is not responsible if the sponsor does not deliver. This giveaway is open to residents of the United States. A Beautiful Ruckus received complimentary item(s) for review in exchange  for hosting this giveaway from Tommy Nelson. This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

{2013 Summer Bucket List} The Library

We are still plugging away at our Summer Bucket List. It's the end of July, so I'm not sure if we are going to get the whole list finished, but I'm totally okay with that! I love the memories that we've made with our kids, and I love that we've documented them here so that they can read about it later on. Or maybe they won't care, but I care and I'll want to read about it again someday.

Anyhow! This post is a double check on our Summer Bucket List! If you want to see what else we've done, you can click HERE to go back to our original list.

I seriously thought I was crazy when I brought the idea of Preschool Story Time up to Debbie, our occupational therapist. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I approached it from the, "please tell me this is a horrible idea and that I shouldn't try it" angle. 

Apparently, she didn't catch on, because she thought that taking the kids to the library...which is known for being quiet...was a good idea.

The whole point of occupational therapy is teaching kids to adapt to every day life. Since being around other kids, learning to be quiet and sit still, and generally being in public are all daily life activities, it made sense to have a therapy session at the library. Because she had a previous appointment, Debbie got there about 15 minutes after I did.

I took the monkey backpacks, but let me tell you: Those kids can RUN! It wouldn't have been so bad, but story time was not in an enclosed room. It was in the open library and set off with a curtain. Uh...curtains don't contain quadruplets. It got much easier after Debbie arrived and we could divide and conquer, but I was in a serious sweat by the time we left. Thank goodness, for other understanding parents who started guarding the perimeter to help me catch them. So awkward, but they were so gracious. And I think a bit surprised at the number of children I brought with me. Ha!

Long story short: We need to work on "quiet, hold still activities" more.

I think this will be a great activity once we get used to it though. There had story time, song time, musical instrument time, and play time. The kids did well interacting with others, so once they understand they need to stay with mom, I think we will be golden.

 We've also been participating in the Summer Reading Program at the library. The kids read tons and tons of books, so it wasn't hard to meet our quota. Learning from our Story Time adventures, I recruited Sean to help me get them into and out of the library. Much better!

The kids each picked out their own books. Ellie especially enjoyed getting to choose her own book since they share everything. She reads it constantly.

The library is a big stretch for us. It would be much easier with one or two kids (you know, to match the number of hands I have), but I don't want to prevent my kids from experiencing normal kid things. So we just keep taking the bull by the horns and charging forward.

This will get easier, right?!

We are still plugging away at our Summer Bucket List. It's the end of July, so I'm not sure if we are going to get the whole list finished, but I'm totally okay with that! I love the memories that we've made with our kids, and I love that we've documented them here so that they can read about it later on. Or maybe they won't care, but I care and I'll want to read about it again someday.

Anyhow! This post is a double check on our Summer Bucket List! If you want to see what else we've done, you can click HERE to go back to our original list.

I seriously thought I was crazy when I brought the idea of Preschool Story Time up to Debbie, our occupational therapist. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I approached it from the, "please tell me this is a horrible idea and that I shouldn't try it" angle. 

Apparently, she didn't catch on, because she thought that taking the kids to the library...which is known for being quiet...was a good idea.

The whole point of occupational therapy is teaching kids to adapt to every day life. Since being around other kids, learning to be quiet and sit still, and generally being in public are all daily life activities, it made sense to have a therapy session at the library. Because she had a previous appointment, Debbie got there about 15 minutes after I did.

I took the monkey backpacks, but let me tell you: Those kids can RUN! It wouldn't have been so bad, but story time was not in an enclosed room. It was in the open library and set off with a curtain. Uh...curtains don't contain quadruplets. It got much easier after Debbie arrived and we could divide and conquer, but I was in a serious sweat by the time we left. Thank goodness, for other understanding parents who started guarding the perimeter to help me catch them. So awkward, but they were so gracious. And I think a bit surprised at the number of children I brought with me. Ha!

Long story short: We need to work on "quiet, hold still activities" more.

I think this will be a great activity once we get used to it though. There had story time, song time, musical instrument time, and play time. The kids did well interacting with others, so once they understand they need to stay with mom, I think we will be golden.

 We've also been participating in the Summer Reading Program at the library. The kids read tons and tons of books, so it wasn't hard to meet our quota. Learning from our Story Time adventures, I recruited Sean to help me get them into and out of the library. Much better!

The kids each picked out their own books. Ellie especially enjoyed getting to choose her own book since they share everything. She reads it constantly.

The library is a big stretch for us. It would be much easier with one or two kids (you know, to match the number of hands I have), but I don't want to prevent my kids from experiencing normal kid things. So we just keep taking the bull by the horns and charging forward.

This will get easier, right?!

The Blessings Jar: A Story about Being Thankful - Giveaway

When I received the July resource list from Tommy Nelson, I saw two books that I thought looked great! So this month, I'm going to giveaway both books since I just couldn't narrow it down to one choice. The first book giveaway is today, and you can look for the second one at the end of the month.

The Blessings Jar: A Story About Being Thankful is about a little girl named, Punky, who is having an icky awful day. She wakes up in the morning with a case of the grumpies that threaten to make her entire day miserable. Her Grammy suggests that she take a jar and fill it with things that remind her of God's blessings during the day. The rest of the book is the story of her adventures that day and the items she collects as she goes. At the end of the book, she realizes that her grumpies disappeared as she refocused on all of the good things that God has given her.

Plus, she has a dog named Jake that my kids absolutely love to point out on each page!

The book retails for $12.99 and can be found on Thomas Nelson and Amazon. You can flip through the book HERE and also go HERE to print off some free coloring pages!

~Giveaway!~

One A Beautiful Ruckus reader will win a copy of The Blessings Jar: A Story About Being Thankful. To enter the giveaway, please use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. The first two tasks are not optional and must be completed to qualify for this giveaway. The additional entry tasks are optional. Winning entries will be validated prior to announcing the winner with an alternate drawn if the entries cannot be verified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
The contest ends at 11:59pm on Monday, July 22nd. The winner(s) will be randomly chosen and contacted by email on Tuesday, July 23rd. The winner(s) will have 48 hours to respond to the email with their information so that the prize can be forwarded to them. A Beautiful Ruckus is not responsible for the delivery of the prize and is not responsible if the sponsor does not deliver. This giveaway is open to residents of the United States. A Beautiful Ruckus received complimentary item(s) for review in exchange  for hosting this giveaway from Tommy Nelson. This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

When I received the July resource list from Tommy Nelson, I saw two books that I thought looked great! So this month, I'm going to giveaway both books since I just couldn't narrow it down to one choice. The first book giveaway is today, and you can look for the second one at the end of the month.

The Blessings Jar: A Story About Being Thankful is about a little girl named, Punky, who is having an icky awful day. She wakes up in the morning with a case of the grumpies that threaten to make her entire day miserable. Her Grammy suggests that she take a jar and fill it with things that remind her of God's blessings during the day. The rest of the book is the story of her adventures that day and the items she collects as she goes. At the end of the book, she realizes that her grumpies disappeared as she refocused on all of the good things that God has given her.

Plus, she has a dog named Jake that my kids absolutely love to point out on each page!

The book retails for $12.99 and can be found on Thomas Nelson and Amazon. You can flip through the book HERE and also go HERE to print off some free coloring pages!

~Giveaway!~

One A Beautiful Ruckus reader will win a copy of The Blessings Jar: A Story About Being Thankful. To enter the giveaway, please use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. The first two tasks are not optional and must be completed to qualify for this giveaway. The additional entry tasks are optional. Winning entries will be validated prior to announcing the winner with an alternate drawn if the entries cannot be verified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
The contest ends at 11:59pm on Monday, July 22nd. The winner(s) will be randomly chosen and contacted by email on Tuesday, July 23rd. The winner(s) will have 48 hours to respond to the email with their information so that the prize can be forwarded to them. A Beautiful Ruckus is not responsible for the delivery of the prize and is not responsible if the sponsor does not deliver. This giveaway is open to residents of the United States. A Beautiful Ruckus received complimentary item(s) for review in exchange  for hosting this giveaway from Tommy Nelson. This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

"Prayers for Boys" and "Prayers for Girls" Book Giveaway

I’m thrilled to be part of the Tommy Nelson Mommy BloggerProgram! They chose a few select bloggers to review their products and offer giveaways to their readers, and A Beautiful Ruckus was chosen as one of them! Whoohoo! They are one of the top Christian publishing houses for children’s books and DVDs, so the chance to review and use their high quality materials with my kids plus offer them to you, is really exciting!

April 30th is National Honesty Day, so that is the direction that Tommy Nelson went with this month's resources. While it’s true that my kids aren’t “telling” lies yet, it is obvious that they try not to get caught when they do something wrong. We have lots of kids books in our living room, and also a bookshelf with adult books on it. For some reason, the most interesting books in the living room are the adult books. We have tried to explain that they can read them when they are older, but they insist on wanting the books now. Unfortunately, they have paper pages. Paper pages and quadruplet toddlers don’t mix at all.

They know that shelf is off limits, so when I do hear the books being pulled down, I immediately go to investigate, and the kids scatter so they won’t get caught. We have a lot of work to do with teaching them to own up when they do wrong (or preferably NOT doing wrong in the first place!)

That’s why I was delighted to find the books Prayers for Boys and Prayers for Girls on their resource list! The book's simple poetry teaches kids that they can talk to God in every circumstance. For parents looking for an introduction to the idea of talking to God, these books fit the bill perfectly! Sean and I want our kids to learn that they can talk to God and that He is watching and cares about what they are doing. Those kind of lessons are important to start instilling now.

The whimsical drawings are engaging and vibrant, and the handle on the board books make carrying them about the house easy. My kids love looking through the books…multiple times a day! In fact, when our package arrived in the mail, I had to get in line to look at the books myself. The kids took off with them as soon as I got them out of the box!

Caleb Entranced by Prayers for Boys

~GIVEAWAY~

Tommy Nelson has generously offered to giveaway one copy of each book. That means that this giveaway will have TWO winners! With one Prayers for Boys and one Prayers for Girls up for grabs, you will definitely want to enter this giveaway to get your hands on one for your kids!

Please use the Rafflecopter giveaway below to enter. The first two tasks are not optional and must be completed to qualify for this giveaway. If you choose the "anonymous option" to comment, please at least include your first name and first letter of your last name. It's impossible to verify comment entries without names! The additional entry tasks are optional. Winning entries will be validated prior to announcing the winner with an alternate drawn if the entries cannot be verified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The contest ends at 11:59pm on Tuesday, April 16th. The winner randomly chosen and contacted by email on Wednesday, April 17th. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the email with their information so that the prize can be forwarded to them. A Beautiful Ruckus is not responsible for the delivery of the prize and is not responsible if the sponsor does not deliver. This giveaway is open to residents of the United States. A Beautiful Ruckus received complimentary item(s) for review in exchange  for hosting this giveaway from Tommy Nelson. No other compensation was received and all opinions are 100% my own. This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

I’m thrilled to be part of the Tommy Nelson Mommy BloggerProgram! They chose a few select bloggers to review their products and offer giveaways to their readers, and A Beautiful Ruckus was chosen as one of them! Whoohoo! They are one of the top Christian publishing houses for children’s books and DVDs, so the chance to review and use their high quality materials with my kids plus offer them to you, is really exciting!

April 30th is National Honesty Day, so that is the direction that Tommy Nelson went with this month's resources. While it’s true that my kids aren’t “telling” lies yet, it is obvious that they try not to get caught when they do something wrong. We have lots of kids books in our living room, and also a bookshelf with adult books on it. For some reason, the most interesting books in the living room are the adult books. We have tried to explain that they can read them when they are older, but they insist on wanting the books now. Unfortunately, they have paper pages. Paper pages and quadruplet toddlers don’t mix at all.

They know that shelf is off limits, so when I do hear the books being pulled down, I immediately go to investigate, and the kids scatter so they won’t get caught. We have a lot of work to do with teaching them to own up when they do wrong (or preferably NOT doing wrong in the first place!)

That’s why I was delighted to find the books Prayers for Boys and Prayers for Girls on their resource list! The book's simple poetry teaches kids that they can talk to God in every circumstance. For parents looking for an introduction to the idea of talking to God, these books fit the bill perfectly! Sean and I want our kids to learn that they can talk to God and that He is watching and cares about what they are doing. Those kind of lessons are important to start instilling now.

The whimsical drawings are engaging and vibrant, and the handle on the board books make carrying them about the house easy. My kids love looking through the books…multiple times a day! In fact, when our package arrived in the mail, I had to get in line to look at the books myself. The kids took off with them as soon as I got them out of the box!

Caleb Entranced by Prayers for Boys

~GIVEAWAY~

Tommy Nelson has generously offered to giveaway one copy of each book. That means that this giveaway will have TWO winners! With one Prayers for Boys and one Prayers for Girls up for grabs, you will definitely want to enter this giveaway to get your hands on one for your kids!

Please use the Rafflecopter giveaway below to enter. The first two tasks are not optional and must be completed to qualify for this giveaway. If you choose the "anonymous option" to comment, please at least include your first name and first letter of your last name. It's impossible to verify comment entries without names! The additional entry tasks are optional. Winning entries will be validated prior to announcing the winner with an alternate drawn if the entries cannot be verified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The contest ends at 11:59pm on Tuesday, April 16th. The winner randomly chosen and contacted by email on Wednesday, April 17th. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the email with their information so that the prize can be forwarded to them. A Beautiful Ruckus is not responsible for the delivery of the prize and is not responsible if the sponsor does not deliver. This giveaway is open to residents of the United States. A Beautiful Ruckus received complimentary item(s) for review in exchange  for hosting this giveaway from Tommy Nelson. No other compensation was received and all opinions are 100% my own. This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

Three Days of Christmas

Our First Christmas Together!

We are still recovering from our long Christmas weekend. Whoa. It was wonderful to get to see our family, but the kids especially were worn out by the time it was over.

THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS

We started the weekend off with a visit from the babies’ Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Winn. The babies seemed to really enjoy the visit, and Ellie discovered that Great-Grandma wears necklaces that are really fun to chew on. :-)

With Great-Grandparents Winn: Ellie, Caleb, Abby, and Eli

They brought a gift with them that was big enough to pile all of the babies on top of. Abby didn’t seem to get into the Christmas spirit as quickly as the others, but eventually, they all took turns tearing (really more like chewing) on the wrapping paper. They brought us one of those Super XL Play Yards. Or as I affectionately refer to it, “The Baby Cage. “ We’ve already started using it to corral the kids. Awesome gift because these little people are all over the place now!

What is this big box?Opening their first Christmas gift

Friday evening, my parents, brother Mike and his wife and daughter, and my two youngest brothers, Josh and Chris, came over for dinner. We decided to have a New Mexican Christmas dinner as a nod to our childhood. It’s so hard to find good Mexican food here in the Midwest, so we like to make it ourselves to make sure it is good. :-)

New Mexican Christmas Dinner

I made Chicken Fajitas with homemade salsa and homemade guacamole.

I baked some bischochitos as well. They are the traditional New Mexican Christmas cookie. Made with brandy or white wine, rolled thin, and dipped TWICE in sugar and cinnamon. Yummy!

Bischochitos

My Mom wrote down my grandma’s posole recipe while she was in Mesilla, New Mexico visiting last week. Cooked correctly, it takes a while to get that perfect flavor of pork, hominy, and red chili, but it is so worth it. Mom made her red chili sauce from scratch just like grandma used to do. She also brought a big pot of chile con queso (not rotel, mind you. I’m taking about the real stuff!)

Sarah brought Little Smokeys and Taquitos. Little Smokeys? That’s not technically Mexican, but every Christmas Eve, we had a potluck at my grandparents’ house and someone always brought Little Smokeys. It’s just not Christmas without them. The only food item that got a complaint were the Taquitos. Mike told Sarah that they weren’t quite right because she didn’t cut them in half for him like when we were growing up.

But, other than Mike’s small complaint, everyone thoroughly enjoyed skipping the Traditional Christmas Dinner, and going with the New Mexican version. Can you tell it was one of my favorite parts of the entire weekend??

Uncle Josh, Uncle Christopher, Grandpa, Cita, Daddy, Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Mike

There is even talk about making it a tradition from here on out. I’m totally on board with that!

The kids thought that the wrapping paper was the best part of the evening. Then they got to the toys and realized that Grandpa and Cita brought all toys that make noise. The kids LOVE the fact that they light up, move, and play music. (Sean and I are still coming to terms with the extra layer of noise in our house now.)

First Christmas!

Two of my siblings couldn’t make it back from Christmas, but we were lucky enough to get to Skype with my brother, Mark, from New Mexico (he moved back to the area that we grew up in). We wish that he could have made it here, but Skype is a good compromise!

THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS

Saturday afternoon, Sean’s parents, and sister Ruby and her husband and daughter came over for a traditional Christmas dinner. Ham, sweet potatoes, cheesy corn, rolls, and pumpkin pie. Another delicious meal! Which reminds me, I still need to get that cheesy corn recipe from Ruby. It was beyond amazing!

That was followed up by some Wii Bowling before we dug into pie and then into presents.

Pa, Cousin Marissa, Ma, and Daddy Playing the Wii

Cousin Marissa, Uncle Todd, and Aunt Ruby recovering from Christmas Dinner

So much for our kids not being spoiled! They were simply showered with toys, books, and clothes! But they are having a great time exploring all of their new items! Ellie was also held for two solid days, so we are still suffering from the ramifications of that. I didn’t really think it would be possible to spoil quadruplets. Uh…I was so wrong.

Abby, Cousin Mo, Eli, and Caleb looking at the Bilingual Learning Table from Uncle Todd and Aunt Ruby

Ellie and Abby unwrapping a new book from Ma and Pa

CHRISTMAS DAY

Sunday morning, it was just our little family. How fun to have their first Christmas! Unfortunately, by the time we got to Sunday, they were completely done with anything related to Christmas. Sean and I didn’t do much in terms of gifts for them (consignment sales is where it is at!), but even the little we did was completely unnecessary after the windfall of gifts they got on Friday and Saturday. In fact, I collected all of the puzzles they got from us for Christmas, and I’m going to rewrap them as birthday gifts. Yep, I’m that kind of mom. I won’t be able to get away with that for long, but I’ll take it while I can!

The babies and their three days of loot

Post-Christmas Day

Monday morning, our kids who are usually awake and playing in their cribs by 8am, slept until we woke them up at 10am. We didn’t take them anywhere due to our lockdown, but apparently they were exhausted just from interacting with everyone.  Whew!

Eli and Caleb, tired but still playing...

The only thing that Ellie wanted to do all day on Monday.

This was not posed! Abby was just too worn out to play or crawl around anymore. Eli makes a nice pillow. :)

Even though we enjoyed our first Christmas together, all six of us need a break. I hate to say that I’m glad it’s over, but it’s nice to get back to the regular way our house runs.

But, I’m already looking forward to next year when our kids will be able to make Christmas crafts, eat Christmas Dinner with us at the table, help us decorate the tree, and start understanding the real reason for the CHRISTmas season!

Our First Christmas Together!

We are still recovering from our long Christmas weekend. Whoa. It was wonderful to get to see our family, but the kids especially were worn out by the time it was over.

THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS

We started the weekend off with a visit from the babies’ Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Winn. The babies seemed to really enjoy the visit, and Ellie discovered that Great-Grandma wears necklaces that are really fun to chew on. :-)

With Great-Grandparents Winn: Ellie, Caleb, Abby, and Eli

They brought a gift with them that was big enough to pile all of the babies on top of. Abby didn’t seem to get into the Christmas spirit as quickly as the others, but eventually, they all took turns tearing (really more like chewing) on the wrapping paper. They brought us one of those Super XL Play Yards. Or as I affectionately refer to it, “The Baby Cage. “ We’ve already started using it to corral the kids. Awesome gift because these little people are all over the place now!

What is this big box?Opening their first Christmas gift

Friday evening, my parents, brother Mike and his wife and daughter, and my two youngest brothers, Josh and Chris, came over for dinner. We decided to have a New Mexican Christmas dinner as a nod to our childhood. It’s so hard to find good Mexican food here in the Midwest, so we like to make it ourselves to make sure it is good. :-)

New Mexican Christmas Dinner

I made Chicken Fajitas with homemade salsa and homemade guacamole.

I baked some bischochitos as well. They are the traditional New Mexican Christmas cookie. Made with brandy or white wine, rolled thin, and dipped TWICE in sugar and cinnamon. Yummy!

Bischochitos

My Mom wrote down my grandma’s posole recipe while she was in Mesilla, New Mexico visiting last week. Cooked correctly, it takes a while to get that perfect flavor of pork, hominy, and red chili, but it is so worth it. Mom made her red chili sauce from scratch just like grandma used to do. She also brought a big pot of chile con queso (not rotel, mind you. I’m taking about the real stuff!)

Sarah brought Little Smokeys and Taquitos. Little Smokeys? That’s not technically Mexican, but every Christmas Eve, we had a potluck at my grandparents’ house and someone always brought Little Smokeys. It’s just not Christmas without them. The only food item that got a complaint were the Taquitos. Mike told Sarah that they weren’t quite right because she didn’t cut them in half for him like when we were growing up.

But, other than Mike’s small complaint, everyone thoroughly enjoyed skipping the Traditional Christmas Dinner, and going with the New Mexican version. Can you tell it was one of my favorite parts of the entire weekend??

Uncle Josh, Uncle Christopher, Grandpa, Cita, Daddy, Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Mike

There is even talk about making it a tradition from here on out. I’m totally on board with that!

The kids thought that the wrapping paper was the best part of the evening. Then they got to the toys and realized that Grandpa and Cita brought all toys that make noise. The kids LOVE the fact that they light up, move, and play music. (Sean and I are still coming to terms with the extra layer of noise in our house now.)

First Christmas!

Two of my siblings couldn’t make it back from Christmas, but we were lucky enough to get to Skype with my brother, Mark, from New Mexico (he moved back to the area that we grew up in). We wish that he could have made it here, but Skype is a good compromise!

THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS

Saturday afternoon, Sean’s parents, and sister Ruby and her husband and daughter came over for a traditional Christmas dinner. Ham, sweet potatoes, cheesy corn, rolls, and pumpkin pie. Another delicious meal! Which reminds me, I still need to get that cheesy corn recipe from Ruby. It was beyond amazing!

That was followed up by some Wii Bowling before we dug into pie and then into presents.

Pa, Cousin Marissa, Ma, and Daddy Playing the Wii

Cousin Marissa, Uncle Todd, and Aunt Ruby recovering from Christmas Dinner

So much for our kids not being spoiled! They were simply showered with toys, books, and clothes! But they are having a great time exploring all of their new items! Ellie was also held for two solid days, so we are still suffering from the ramifications of that. I didn’t really think it would be possible to spoil quadruplets. Uh…I was so wrong.

Abby, Cousin Mo, Eli, and Caleb looking at the Bilingual Learning Table from Uncle Todd and Aunt Ruby

Ellie and Abby unwrapping a new book from Ma and Pa

CHRISTMAS DAY

Sunday morning, it was just our little family. How fun to have their first Christmas! Unfortunately, by the time we got to Sunday, they were completely done with anything related to Christmas. Sean and I didn’t do much in terms of gifts for them (consignment sales is where it is at!), but even the little we did was completely unnecessary after the windfall of gifts they got on Friday and Saturday. In fact, I collected all of the puzzles they got from us for Christmas, and I’m going to rewrap them as birthday gifts. Yep, I’m that kind of mom. I won’t be able to get away with that for long, but I’ll take it while I can!

The babies and their three days of loot

Post-Christmas Day

Monday morning, our kids who are usually awake and playing in their cribs by 8am, slept until we woke them up at 10am. We didn’t take them anywhere due to our lockdown, but apparently they were exhausted just from interacting with everyone.  Whew!

Eli and Caleb, tired but still playing...

The only thing that Ellie wanted to do all day on Monday.

This was not posed! Abby was just too worn out to play or crawl around anymore. Eli makes a nice pillow. :)

Even though we enjoyed our first Christmas together, all six of us need a break. I hate to say that I’m glad it’s over, but it’s nice to get back to the regular way our house runs.

But, I’m already looking forward to next year when our kids will be able to make Christmas crafts, eat Christmas Dinner with us at the table, help us decorate the tree, and start understanding the real reason for the CHRISTmas season!