Christmas Afternoon

We had the pleasure of seeing our family again on Christmas this year. As long as Paul and I have been married we've invited everyone over on Christmas. So what's that been, 18 years? It sure doesn't seem like it.

So we socialize a little (well, a lot)...

...and exchange presents with one another...

...and just enjoy the day...

We also enjoyed dinner together. Well, except Kristin, she was in her room when we were eating and didn't realize it was dinner time. Oops! She did get to eat though but it was after everyone else was done and half of the food was already put away. She didn't even realize there were sweet potatoes until the following day. Next year I'll have to do a head count!

Despite Kristin not eating we had a great Christmas and loved being able to share the day with the rest of the family. Lots of great memories were created not only for our kids but for Paul and I as well. Thank you everyone for coming!

Christmas Morning

Zach was the first one ready to go downstairs Christmas morning. He couldn't wait to see if Santa came! He had to wait though until his sisters were ready. Lauren and Kristin were not enthused about being up so early (it was 7:00 am) and we reminded them that they were the same as Zach when they were his age.

We did our annual picture on the stairs before heading down.

They checked out the tree and Zach said, "Whoa!" when he saw all the presents. Then he announced that "Santa came."

After checking to see if Santa ate our cookies and reading the note he left us we opened our stockings first and then opened the presents under the tree. Zach was very good at handing out our presents, he took charge of that and made sure we had at least two in front of us at all times. Here's one of the presents he got, a Texas Longhorns sweatshirt. Now he can really look like his dad.

Paul got a head massager. It kind of tickles when you use it.

This present, Criss Cross Crash, was the one thing that Zach asked Santa for. It was probably his 4th present that he opened and he was very excited.

Here's Megan with her zebra Pillow Pet.

They all got one. Lauren got a panda, Kristin got a penguin and Zach got a monkey. They're so soft and cuddly, I want one too! Megan also got her DSi that she wanted and a few new games to go with it. She got some clothes, books, stuff for her hair, and a game she can play with her friends too.

Here's Kristin with a new DS game, a cooking one. This game has tons of recipes that you can make and I guess it tells you step by step how to cook them. Plus there's a shopping list you can check things off as you buy them. She's excited to start cooking now.

She also got a new bike (picture of that later), a jewelry box, lots of clothes and books and new slippers.

Like I said, Zach was very good at handing out the presents. We took turns opening them so we could see what everyone got. We went youngest to oldest with Paul and I included. It got tough after awhile though because Paul and I didn't have as many as the kids did so Zach crawled under the tree looking for more presents for us!

I didn't plan this but Lauren's two big presents she didn't open till near the end. She asked for Uggs and a North Face jacket. Here she is with her jacket...

Besides those two things she also got a bare escentuals starter kit, a few clothes, some Flyers gear (yoga pants and short sleeve shirt, NOT a jersey!), books and some lotions and hair stuff.

We also got a few family gifts like games and a new DVD. Santa was good to us this year, we got a Blue Ray player too!

Kristin's bike wasn't wrapped, it was just sitting next to the tree with a blue bow on it. It's been so cold that she has yet to try it.

So presents are done and now it's time to play! Here's a short video of Zach playing with his Criss Cross Crash.

More about Christmas later...

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve began with the kids giving us the presents they got us and each other. Lauren got Paul this Phillies Santa hat... Here is Paul's mini me...

Kristin got Lauren this plush soccer ball...

Zach even handed out presents. At his school they do a cute little thing where you send in money with your child and then parent volunteers take the kids to the Santa Shop to pick out presents. Even though I work at his preschool I had no idea what Zach got everyone. He was so proud to give everyone something, it was cute.

When they were all done it was my turn to give them what I made/put together for them. I always tell the kids that I come up with the idea and make it but Paul pays for it!

Zach is really into signs, like traffic signs. This past summer I took lots of pictures of various signs and made him a photo book...See that #48 gift bag next to Zach in the above picture? Well the sign book was on top of other stuff. I just figured he would toss the book aside to get to the other stuff on the bottom but he surprised me by looking at each page. Not only did he look at each page but he wanted to know what each sign said.

The other things in the bag were different kinds of cars that he didn't have already like a color changing car. He also got a box of sign lollipops. Another box had 12 different mini wooden signs. He unwrapped every single sign until finally the last one was a stop sign. I think he was waiting for that one...

Megan's turn was next since we were going from youngest to oldest. I put together a box of different types of drawing tablets and drawing utensils and even included a few how to books for her. I also got her an artist set that has crayons, markers, pencils, etc., it even folds up in the middle to form an easel. That was one of my black Friday purchases.

Kristin received her present in her room. I did this for Lauren either last year or the year before so it wasn't exactly original. Her tree though is different from Lauren's, her's is a metal tree that she can reuse to hang necklaces off of it if she wants to. When Kristin first saw it though she saw it wrapped in red garland with lots of candy, gift cards and various other things hanging from it. There were even a few presents under the tree.

Now for Lauren ...it took me forever to come up with an idea for her. I finally found something that was perfect for her. I made a giant card...

It wasn't just any card though, it was a card that had lots of surprises in it. There was a toy (whoopie cushion), lots of candy (Mr. Goodbar, Nerds, Lifesavers, etc.) and even a few gift cards (Deal$, Auntie Anne's and Forever XXI).

Click on the above picture to make it bigger and read it. Where it says NUTRAGEOUS on the second page there was supposed to have been an actual Nutrageous bar taped there. I had bought one but somehow misplaced it in the house and was unable to find a replacement one anywhere. In desperation, on Christmas Eve I just taped the name down instead. Oh well, one of these days that nutrageous bar will show up.

I'm not done with our night yet. I feel like this is the never ending blog entry...

I had two more little gag gifts to hand out. Megan received one. I'm not going to explain it on here but feel free to ask her what it was.

The second went to Kristin. A lot of times when I ask her something in a text she'll reply, "Okey Dokey Artichokey." So she got some Okey Dokey Artichokey dip mix.
Our night is almost ending. We can't forget to feed the reindeer. Zach did a good job at scattering the reindeer food on our deck and our lawn.
I can't believe that I was able to find matching pajamas for them this year. Online at The Children's Place they sell adult ones that match the kids. I guess I could have had Paul and I match too!
Whew! That's it. We put the cookies and milk out for Santa and hung our stockings. The kids all went to bed and then the wait for Santa began...

Having lots of Fun!

Roller Skating
Megan's class went on a roller skating field trip on their last day of school before the holiday vacation. Paul, Zach and I went to watch her. Well, Paul actually went to skate and Zach and I went to watch. While they were waiting for someone to come and hand out skates Zach got to hang out with Megan.
Zach didn't skate but he did enjoy a game of air hockey with Paul.

He later played a couple games of skee ball with me and then played a candy claw game that guarantees that you win candy when you play it.

Meanwhile...Megan had fun skating around with her friends. This isn't the best picture since I didn't use a flash and they were moving but you can see Megan on the right.

Of course it wasn't very long before Megan wanted to get a drink so off to the concession stand for icees. Megan sat with her friends and Paul, Zach and I sat by ourselves.

It was hot in there so the icees were a nice treat. Paul stayed for the whole thing since he was skating but Zach and I left once he finished his icee. It'll be a few years before we get to enjoy another skating field trip, we'll have to wait till Zach is old enough.

Gingerbread House

Every year I say I'm not going to put together a gingerbread house, the icing is a pain. Of course every year we end up putting one together. This year though it was Jingles fault because he brought us one for a present and how could we not put it together? That would just hurt poor Jingles feelings. About the only thing I did this year was mix the sugar and water together. Paul took over with filling the bag with the icing and "gluing" the sides and roof of the house together. How did I get so lucky?

The fun part of a gingerbread house is decorating it. Zach wanted to help and he did put a few pieces of candy on but I think that more went in his mouth!

The finished gingerbread house...

Immediately afterwards Zach started pulling off the candy and eating it! It's going to be a sorry looking thing in a couple of days.

Holiday Happenings

Jingles came back!
Our elf that visited us last year came back again to visit us. He freezes and can't move whenever we're awake but as soon as we go to bed Jingles has been having lots of fun in our house. One morning we found him with a cup of hot chocolate.
He must have been missing Santa because we found him sitting next to our Santa pillow reading a book on another morning.

This morning we found Jingles riding on Zach's train that he had built at Lowe's (more on the train later...).

Jingles is a silly elf and Zach seems to be having more fun with him this year. Tonight he's going to get a note from Jingles reminding him to be good. Zach's been a piece of work lately!

First Snow

Last Thursday we got enough snow to cover the ground and wreak havoc on the roads. I was very thankful that the snow waited to start until Zach and I were home from work/preschool. Lauren and Kristin both got home on time from school but because Megan's school gets out later her bus ended up being 45 minutes late. Once she came home I took Zach out for a few minutes so he could play in it.

We didn't stay out long, it was very cold!

Making a Train

It was supposed to be a 3-part train but we missed one of the workshops because of the breakfast with Santa we went to. At least he got to make 2 parts of it, the engine and the caboose.

Santa's Helper
Lauren even got in the Christmas spirit by helping Santa out at a party at the karate studio. Santa had already left when I picked her up but I was told that Santa had said Lauren and her friend were the best helpers he's ever had.

Children's Choir

They sang "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" yesterday in church. All the kids had solos and Megan started it off by singing the first verse.

Kristin played the clarinet but I couldn't hear her. I think she needs her own microphone!

Sing-a-long Time

Zach's class put on a little performance of songs and fingerplays at the end of today's class. I got a few of them on video for you. This one is "Five Little Christmas Trees," a fingerplay.

As you can tell he didn't say any of the words, you think he could have at least done the chopping motion!

They handed out bells for the kids to use for this next song, "Jingle Bells." He started out singing this one but then he got a little preoccupied with the bells about halfway through the song. This video is a little longer (46 seconds) but I couldn't stop recording with the way he shook his bells.

They ended their sing-a-long with simply singing "Happy Birthday Jesus."

It was very cute but I wished I could have gotten "Feliz Navidad" on video. I arrived about a minute late (due to grocery shopping at BJ's AND Zingos) and came in while they were singing it. Zach promised me that he would sing it for me at home so I could video it, we'll see.

I'll end this with a picture. Did you notice who he was sitting next to?

Christmas Pageant

Every year the preschool puts on a pageant. Last year Zach was some kind of animal, a cow maybe? I'd have to look back at pictures to be sure. This year he really moved up, he was the innkeeper! The innkeeper has the only speaking part, he says: "No room!" There was a videographer taping the show but I did sneak a few pics and video. Here he is entering the church in his innkeeper costume (he's in green.)

Zach stood between the wisemen and Mary. In case you don't recognize her, Mary is being played by Megan, his "girlfriend."

The Christmas Story was being narrated. We are now up to where Zach says his line...

When the Christmas story was over it was then time for the kids to sing. Not for Zach though, he just stood there. At least he didn't start twirling like he did at last year's Mother's Day tea!

I took short video clips of 2 of their songs. Here's everybody but Zach singing, "You Are the Lamb of God."

Singing "Happy Birthday Jesus."

At the conclusion of the program Zach's class posed for pictures at the side of the altar.

It was a cute little program and the kids did great. Zach and I grabbed a cookie and some juice and then I had to head back to work. They are so family friendly where I work, they let me have the time off to go upstairs and watch the pageant and had a sub come in and cover me. Sitting and watching a 30 minute pageant was so much better than watching 9 two-year-olds eat iced cookies for their "Happy Birthday Jesus" treat. When I came back downstairs after the kids were gone I heard how all the kids played in the icing and had it everywhere. I sure got the better end of the deal with that one!