Our Christmas

Each year, we rotate Christmas Eve between our house and Steve's sister's house.  (Christmas Day then is always spent with my family).  This year, Christmas Eve was at Deb's house, so we split the meal and loaded lots of presents -- and the kids! -- in the van and headed over there around 1:30 pm.  We began with appetizers and a hot cocoa bar, followed by dinner, a few games and the much-anticipated opening of gifts.

Our family pic:

(I feel the need to comment on the puffiness of my face, and whole body really.  This pregnancy has been the hardest on me physically.  Because of the position of this little one, I developed varicose veins that I was fortunate enough to avoid with the other pregnancies.  They have been painful and have resulted in a lot of extra fluid retention all over.  At this time, I was about 33 weeks pregnant ... but was feeling even bigger).

Lots of smiles from the girls after opening their gifts:

Jack was just as excited and took a few minutes in between to play with his toys:

One of his favorite gifts was a Spiderman shovel from Aunt Deb.  It became obvious very early on that we needed to move him and his shovel out of our confined circle or there might be some damage.  Now, we just need a little bit of snow ...

Samantha received a new MSU shirt from her cousin, Amberlee, and put it on immediately.

And the BEST gift?!  Jack got his own battery-operated chainsaw from Grandpa!

We arrived home around 7:45 pm, but the youngest one in our brood was already done in from his celebrating with no nap:

We woke Jack up from his mini-snooze and then let the kids sprinkle their Reindeer Food in the front yard.

The girls paced themselves and spread the food all around the front yard.  Jack did one big dump of his Reindeer Food and then moved on.

Afterwards, we headed inside so that the kids could open their new pajamas from Steve and me -- our annual tradition.

Fresh pajamas for Christmas morning!

Samantha was most excited because her package contained a matching nightgown for her American Girl doll (which was mine when I was younger):

The last part of their evening involved putting cookies out for Santa:

Santa and his elves went to work that night putting out all of the presents and filling the stockings.  They finally went to bed around 11 pm ... tired, but excited about the next morning.

Jack was up by 6:45 am the next morning -- with his chainsaw in tow -- so we settled him in to watch a show, while we waited for the girls to get up.

We began with stockings in the back family room:

Jack is getting really good at ripping open the paper on packages, especially since Santa makes sure to wrap everything in the stockings!

Sophia only asked Santa for one item this year -- an American Girl doll.  And she got it!  I would like you to meet Mary Ellen Larkin.

Jack's favorite gifts were a new Nerf gun (with extra darts):

A set of construction trucks (he can name all of them):

And a hammer -- the one thing that he asked Santa for:

Samantha received a camping set for her American Girl doll and some new clothes for her, as well. 

At lunchtime, my family came over and we feasted on ham and all of the fixings.  It was a casual day -- just as I requested.  And the best part was that the weather was nicer than we ever remember it being ... perfect for travel.

A Christmas Play-Date

School was out for Christmas Break at the end of the day on Friday, December 18th for both of the girls.  It seemed that a couple of girls wanted to come over to our house for a play-date right away, so I talked to Steve and we made a plan to invite three of Sam's friends and two of Sophia's friends over on Saturday afternoon from 4-7 pm.  And, we told them to wear their pajamas!

As is my usual thing, I planned a couple of crafts for the kids (we need to have some organized play amongst the chaos) and opted to order pizza.  Steve chose a Christmas movie for them to watch in between and there was hot chocolate, cookies and candy canes before they left.

Our first craft consisted of making snowflake and gingerbread boy-shaped crayons out of old, broken ones that we had in our house.  I did this with Samantha two years ago and she gave them to her friends as gifts.  I still had the molds so I had my two girls sort through all of the crayons earlier in the day and set aside the broken ones for the project.  Then, I baked them in the oven and let them cool.  Later in the evening, the girls were each able to choose two snowflakes and two gingerbread boy crayons to take home with them.

Peeling the papers off the crayons:

Cooling:

Sitting in a circle, taking turns choosing their crayons:

Our other craft project involved each person making their own glitter ornament that they could take home and put on their tree.  I already had the glitter on hand (of course!) and the ornaments were cheap at this time of year.  Add a hook (again, I have lots!) and they were all ready to take home to hang on their tree later that night.

I filled the ornaments with floor wax, one of the best options for a sticky inside and Steve helped the girls (and Jack) funnel their chosen glitter colors into the ornaments:

Making sure that the ornaments were completely dry before packing them -- carefully -- into their take-home bags:

Pizza for everyone, always a crowd-pleaser ... and easy for me too!

Sophia and her friend, Claire.  They attended preschool together last year, but do not see each other much right now because Claire is a bit older and is in kindergarten. 

Sam's friend, Lily, is the oldest of four and just adores Jack.  They cuddled in together to watch the Grinch movie.

 

Overall, it was a fun event for the kids and really helped to put everyone into the Christmas spirit.  It was perfect amount of time (three hours) and the kids were already in their pajamas and ready for bed by the time all of our guests departed!

Christmas Parties

Both of the girls had Christmas parties on Friday ... in the morning.  Samantha's party started at 9:00 am and Sophia's began at 10:00 am.  So, I left Jack with Steve and headed out to Samantha's party first ... taking fruit cups for the "breakfast-themed/pajama" event. 

Upon arriving (and parking soooooo far away), I realized that I somehow left my camera at home.  I put in a quick call to Steve, who promised me that he would come to the rescue!

Steve showed up in no time, with Jack in tow, and Jack settled right in.  There was so much food that I fixed Jack a plate and let him hang out with the 'big kids' for a while.  He was a perfect angel.

At 9:45 am, I gathered my things and prepared to head to Sophia's school.  Samantha started to cry -- so weird for her -- but I realized that for most of her other parties, I was able to stay for the full duration and then take her home with me.  With this party being in the morning, she still had a lot more partying (with a little schoolwork thrown in there) to do.  I was able to get her calmed down and then snuck out the door when she was distracted with several of her friends.

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For Sophia's party, I made some white chocolate-covered snowman oreos and graham cracker reindeer.  The kids loved them!

I also volunteered to be in charge of the Reindeer Food.  Such a fun (and easy!) activity for kids.  I already had everything at home, with the exception of some little bags to put it in, so it was not a problem at all.

The kids played a fun game of Snowman, Snowman, Where Is Your Nose ...

And Pin the Hat on the Polar Bear:

They also made an easy snowflake craft:

Afterwards, Sophia was able to come home with me and we all rested while we waited for Samantha to arrive home on the bus from school.  When she came in the house, she was ecstatic to tell us all about her day ...

Sophia's Christmas Concert

Sophia had a Christmas concert on Friday night and we were able to all go as a family.  She had been practicing her songs for weeks -- singing them whenever she had a chance.  In fact, Jack was becoming a bit, well, annoyed by all of the singing and the songs, and began holding up his hand in the form of a STOP sign saying, "Stop, Fi-fi."

When did Samantha grow up?  I mean, I can hardly handle how old she looks in this picture.

And Sophia ... that girl is never lacking for sparkle.  The more glitter and glamor, the better for her.  Sequins on her shoes, her skirt and even on her headband.  It's her love language.

Steve and his girls:

Jack is at such a joking age.  I asked him to pose for a photo with his dad and this is what I got.  Boys ...

In the classroom, before the show.  Sophia with her friend, Teagan.

Sophia and Owen.  That kids just warms my heart.  I'm not sure who smiles more on a daily basis, Sophia or Owen.

"Performing" her songs at the show.  For all of the practicing that she did at home, I don't think that she sang a single word.  Ha!  But she sure looked beautiful up on the altar.  And she grinned from ear to ear when we stood up and waved to her from the audience.

Visiting Santa at the Legion

Steve is a member of the American Legion in town and we go there for Sunday morning breakfast probably about once a month or so.  It is a filling breakfast for a good price and the proceeds go to support the Legion.  We found out that Santa was going to be there for breakfast on the 13th and cleared our calendar so that we would be able to attend.  This would be a good opportunity for Samantha to see Santa (she was a little disappointed that she was not able to see him when Sophia and Jack went to the Peacock Tree Farm).

A quick picture with all of the kids:

We weren't originally planning on a family picture, but I'm glad that we did.  We're all in there, even Little Brother -- who is set to make his debut in about 7 weeks ...

Sophia is always smiling.  Always.

My two girls.  They both have curly hair (Sophia's is just as curly as mine when I was younger), but that is about the only physical similarity that they share. 

Samantha finally had her chance to ask Santa for the things that she would like for Christmas this year.  Somehow, they all seem to center around her American Girl doll -- the one that was actually mine when I was younger.

And Jack.  He wasn't afraid of Santa at all.  His personality is bigger than anyone I know.

This was a wonderful opportunity for us as a family to visit Santa and not have to stand in a long line.  Plus, we received a great breakfast!