Christmas Day 2020

With the kids all snuggled in bed on Christmas Eve, Santa made a stop at our house to drop off lots of special things for them.  Everything is always wrapped and the gifts are all mixed up under the tree.  There is always one "big" gift for each child from Steve and me but the rest are from Santa.  One day, they will all know that their mom was behind it all -- picking out the perfect things for them based on their favorite things/interests, but for now, I prefer to let the 'man in the red suit' have the glory.  

I love giving gifts -- of the five "love languages," this is probably mine; the hunt to find the perfect item and then wrapping it up in beautiful paper with pretty ribbon and a special tag.  After all of the gifts are placed under the tree, with just the glow and twinkle of the Christmas lights, I like to take a few minutes to survey everything.  We are so lucky to be able to provide for the kids and for each other and knowing just how excited they will be in a few short hours always makes me smile.

Jimmy received a bat and tee-ball set from us and it was likely the highlight of the entire morning for him.

The kids are asked to go slowly from one to the other opening gifts so that everyone can see.  They mostly follow that rule ...

Samantha was so excited to see that Santa left a special surprise for Mia in a stocking -- cat treats that will probably last her the rest of her lifetime.

It is a tradition that each of the kids receives a new calendar for Christmas.  Both of the boys opened funny Squirrel Calendars (each different from one another) and were completely giddy over them.

Jimmy opened a gift that was "To: James and Hedgie, From: Santa."  It was a momma hedgehog for his beloved stuffed hedgehog named Hedgie.  She is the softest thing ever and the look on his face was priceless.

A group picture with Mia included.

Oh!  And Pepper, Samantha's hamster received something too -- microwaveable popcorn on a cob that she can pick off and eat in her cage as a special snack.

The kids also bought gifts for each other and Samantha gave Jack a 6-pack of Coke bottles.  Coca-cola is Jack's favorite and only allowed in small amounts on special occasions.  He was thrilled!

Steve and I gave Jack a timed feeding station for the woods to feed the deer and squirrels (and crows ... and anything else!) which has already gotten a lot of use.  The girls each received Hoverboards and mastered them within an hour!

Later that day, my family came over for lasagna and all of the fixings.  And of course, dessert!

(I am really loving the sugar-coated cranberries this season and the rosemary for greenery.  The penguin molds were left over from a birthday party that Sophia had, so I made chocolate penguins -- even though they reside at the South Pole and not the North Pole, ha!).

Our neighbors also joined us, as they had no big plans this year because of COVID and are considered to be "in our bubble."  We always have lots of food and drinks and we enjoyed adding a few more people into the festivity and games!

Christmas Eve 2020

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Steve's dad coming over to our house for an early dinner.  It was low-key and the best way to spend a Friday night.  The guys played pool and enjoyed snacks while I put the finishing touches on our meal and the side dishes for the next day.  

Grandpa did his own shopping for the kids ... and they loved his idea of Amazon gift cards where they could choose ANYTHING that they wanted.  Anything at all.  They boys also received some old fashioned cap guns which they used excessively for the rest of the night -- and the next day -- and forever forward.  In fact, Steve made a special trip to the Farm Store to get them more caps after they used up the lifetime supply that Grandpa gave them.

One of our favorite things to do on Christmas Eve is to don coats and boots and head outside to sprinkle Reindeer Food on the lawn.  I love looking back at the pictures to see how much the kids have grown and how much (or how little) snow there is on the ground.  

This year, there was no snow on the ground for the sprinkling, but we woke to a covering on everything the next morning.

Lots of glitter for Santa's reindeer to see, illuminated by the moonlight on the lawn.

They were all posed and ready to throw their Reindeer Food in the air!

Luckily, this 12-year old still believes in the magic of traditions.

Pure joy!

Afterwards, the kids came back inside and opened their traditional Christmas Eve gift from Steve and me.  By now, they all know that it is pajamas -- and ones that they are to wear to bed that night -- but they are thrilled to see just which ones I picked out for them.  It also means that I am able to have the presents wrapped way ahead of time under the tree for them to speculate about ...

Yes, fleece pajama pants for the WIN.  And pink ones too.

Sleigh All Day!  The softest shirt ever and fleece pants again.  Nailed it.

Jack's are probably his favorite pair ever.  Again, fleece.  But with dinosaurs.  And Santa hats.

Jimmy ripped his open so fast that I did not grab a picture, but his were fleece also.  This picture might end up being one of my favorites ever.  Clean and in new pajamas, ready to see what Santa brings them the next morning.

After Grandpa left, the last tradition of the night was to pick out cookies for Santa and set them out (with chocolate milk!) on a plate for him.  There were SO MANY options, but they managed to each choose one -- sugar cookies and a gingerbread cookie.  Santa definitely approved.

And to all, a good night!

More Christmas Fun!

In order to mix things up a bit, Christmas Catherine planned a few more activities that the kids found to be very fun.  Given that they were exclusively doing "virtual learning," there was not the usual rush in the morning to get off to school and that made some of these things even better.

One morning, there was a Holiday Hunt where the kids had to work as a team and find gold coins scattered throughout the dining room and the living room.  Some of the coins were chocolate and different denominations and others were real $1 coins.  

The tricky part of it was that they needed to then divide out the coins so that everyone ended up with exactly 5 coins: one real $1 coin and the other 4 coins totaling $1.50 in chocolate.  Also, they needed to leave two chocolate coins for C.C. to take back with her to the North Pole totaling $1.00.

This activity was SO MUCH FUN because the coins took a bit of time to find and the math problem involved both of the girls working together to solve it.

Still in pajamas with the Holiday Hunt complete!

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Later that same day, with Christmas Catherine overlooking the scene, Jack helped me string together some garland for the fireplace mantle.

Jack is very detailed-oriented and this was the perfect afternoon project for him while his little brother was napping.

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Another fun set-up that Christmas Catherine devised was a "Make Your Own S'Mores" station.  She personally delivered a portable s'mores maker and had all of the supplies set out for it.  This will be a fun device to pull out during a party and have it set up on a table for guests to roast their own marshmallows inside.  

The kids were pretty excited about it and managed to make a least 3 s'mores apiece that day!

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Our traditional holiday Reindeer Food has now become a special activity that Christmas Catherine assists with.  The kids don't know which day it will be, but they know to expect a table with all of the "fixings" ready to go.  Oatmeal, powdered sugar, marshmallows, chocolate chips ... and of course, glitter!  Notice that C.C. wasn't too far away -- in the plant -- to observe the excitement.

And, if you have a Rudolph Hat handy that you just made in school, it is imperative that you wear it.

There is no set recipe -- a little of this and a little of that.

Total concentration while Rudolph plays on the speakers in the background.  What can I say?  We take our holiday traditions very seriously around here.

The magic of Santa's reindeer may have worn off for the 12-year old, but she is a great sport for her younger siblings (and her momma, who yearns to keep the spirit alive for as long as possible).

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I have a confession to make: I don't enjoy putting gingerbread houses together.  Now don't get me wrong: I LOVE to decorate them.  But, it is the engineering that is a struggle for me.  In fact, I have been known to HOT GLUE them together before.  It's true.

For that reason, any gingerbread houses that we decorate in this house are purchased "pre-assembled."  The best part is that the kids don't mind because the decorating is their most favorite part too.

This year, I bought 2 houses and split the kids up one night (brown-eyed kids vs. blue-eyed kids) and let them decorate until their hearts were content.

They took turns with the frosting and the candies and bounced ideas off one another freely.

Of course, I did notice that a few of the candies ended up in their mouths ... but that is part of the fun!

Sophia frosted and Jimmy observed and added candy appropriately.  They are a pretty good team.

Jack always sticks his tongue out when he is concentrating; Jimmy bites his lower lip.

This picture makes me smile because I can see Christmas Catherine hanging out in the background in her "hot air balloon basket."

They turned out great and I am so happy that there was no assembly required!  Ha!

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Another fun Christmas tradition -- Christmas cookie making and decorating.  

I like to wait until the week of Christmas for this because then the cookies are fresh for Santa.  We usually cut the cookies and bake them on one day and then decorate them the next day.

This year, we had to make some adjustments to our schedule because Sam was babysitting so we baked and decorated all in one day.

We started with sugar cookies and lots of cookie cutters.

And I am happy to report that the kids now understand the importance of maximizing their real estate when cutting shapes out of the dough.

Later, when the boys tired of the activity, the girls worked on gingerbread boys/girls.  Geez, I'm not sure why I have SO MANY gingerbread cookie cutters, but we were able to make several families out of the various sizes.

By the time that we were able to decorate the cookies, it was after dinner and dark outside.  But ... I loved that!  We turned up the Christmas music, gathered around the table and managed to get covered in frosting and sprinkles -- just in time for showers and pajamas.

Small bowls of colored frosting, knives, plastic trays, a disposable table cloth and lots of creativity.  We were all set.  (And I am pretty sure that Jack was sticking out his tongue in concentration here).

Sophia opted to go rogue and frost some of the gingerbread cookies too.

Sam spent a lot of time with her "piping bag" adding details, like eyes on her emoji cookie.

Jimmy has come a long way in the last year, as he now knows how to use a knife properly and be cautious with the frosting.  "Less is more!"

We all joined in at one point, including Steve; making this one of the best cookie decorating parties ever!

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