Here it is the eve of me going back to work and I'm just now starting to update the blog. Cut me some slack - I have 4 blogs to update and one still to set up for baby W.
Christmas season around here is quite a busy time. Plus it's also the time of birthdays. However, we've made it through the gauntlet of birthdays and holidays and we are still alive. All six of us. That sounds like a lot, doesn't it?!? Anytime we show up somewhere we create an instant party because there are so many of us. But that is the great fun of it!
Side note - thank goodness for dictation on my phone. I walked around with a baby in one arm, my phone in the another and I updated.
Where to begin? Well my birthday was celebrated a few different ways. First, I did get to go out with my girlfriends. It's become an annual tradition for us since there's a couple of us that have birthdays during this time. Then my family took me to dinner at our favorite family place. We did skip out on Scouts that night but our Scout leader was totally supportive of us celebrating my birthday otherwise we may not have ever made it to celebrate. The kids and their activities keep us quite busy - especially S's gymnastics. Plus, her meet season has started. Her first meet - the Teddy Bear Classic - went pretty good. She placed for vault and qualified for the state meet. They awarded teddy bears instead of medals.
Christmas time was quite fun. We got about 6 inches of snow the two days leading up to Christmas. On December 23rd, Ss gymnastics class was canceled because of all the snow and we decided to spend that free evening making graham cracker gingerbread houses. For T's class party, which I was in charge of, I wanted everyone in the class to be able to make a gingerbread graham cracker house. With the help of a few other moms I assembled 26 houses and put together 26 packets of frosting.. There may or may not have been some drama involved getting all that frosting done at the last minute. My good friend Ms. KN saved me by delivering 7 pounds of powdered sugar at the last minute. That was actually the hardest part. Yes, assembling the homes in advance wasn't too difficult. Transporting them in their per-assembled state was quite difficult. The kids had a great time and they were super adorable. I just remember doing something very similar as a first grader and it is one of my very favorite memories. I also had an aunt that used to make me a gingerbread house every year. They were super elaborate and super amazing and edible. However, these ones were not edible because I did assemble them with hot glue.
Whenever you have six people in your family anything you do becomes an instant party and therefore our gingerbread house assembling became a party at our house. It was quite fun. On Christmas Eve we did want to go visit my in-laws, the kids grandparents. The normal 45 minute drive turned into an hour and a half drive. But it was a beautiful white Christmas. The family was great. That night we opened gifts from everyone but our mediate family and obviously not Santa either. We skipped the traditional Christmas eve dinner and I actually fed the kids tub side. Initially, I thought it was an epic parenting failure to not have a beautiful sit down meal for Christmas eve dinner. However, they were really excited and thought it was a super special treat since they had never done that before. They had just come in from playing in the snow and building a snowman and they were very cold so I thought a warm bath to warm them up would be a good idea. Plus, it saved about an hour of prep and clean up so that they could then bake and decorate their gingerbread cookies.
We did our traditional viewing of A Charlie Brown Christmas before the kids went to bed. Little S was worried that we don't have a chimney so she drew a fireplace and a chimney for Santa and hung it. It was quite charming and she even left a little note on it too. Christmas morning was wonderful. Everybody did sleep in a little bit later and the older kids were most excited about the fact that little BB got her blue package that she asked Santa for.
Speaking of Santa they had an amazing visit to see Santa. We we went to the mall which is where we traditionally go to visit Santa. Little BB was a little nervous so her big brother T went first. He sat down on Santa's lap and Santa immediately said "What would you like for Christmas, Little Boy?" His reply was "I would very much like to answer that. However I have a couple questions for you first. How are you? And how is Mrs. Claus?" Then little S went and her first comment was "thank you so much, Santa, for the lovely gifts last year." Then little BB sat on his lap and just kindly asked for a blue present with some surprises and a "Meow Meow" book.Then they had their photo. It wasn't a super spectacular picture but it was a very nice visit and at the end Santa told them that they were the most polite children he had met. Then T looked at me and said basically that there was no way Santa wasn't going to be visiting the house with a complement like that!
Christmas morning was wonderful, magical - all the adjectives that describe an absolutely perfect day. They were super excited for their sister. Little W slept through a good chunk of it and we all got just the perfect gifts. It did warm my heart that little S's favorite gifts for the ones that I crafted for her. I would often get up at about 5:30 or 6 AM to craft after the baby's second or third feeding of the night. This is my only quiet uninterrupted time and I am certainly not a morning person. Therefore, it was truly an act of love to get up and craft all these gifts for them. Each of the kids got a hooded blanket and I also made them their own blog books and for my husband I made him a family vacation book from our trip to Maui. I also crafted each of them a toy. I made T the 11th doctor. For a little S I made her a mama and baby owl and for little BB I made her a polar bear in a sleeping bag. They were all very happy with all their gifts and they were all quite modest in what they asked for. Later on Christmas Day we went over for prime rib at my sister's and that was also great fun to spend some time with them and my nephew and just enjoy their company. Plus, get to enjoy my mom who is feeling well.
We're looking forward to the new year I start work up right after the new year 2016 has been spectacular to us - one of our best years ever! Especially with our amazing family vacation and the birth of our sweet little boy.
We wish you and your family and loved ones a great happiness this year and hope that we all have a great 2017.
Photos:
- Birthday celebration with friends, then with my family, and lastly the gift from little S.
- T decorating his graham cracker house in his classroom.
- Decorating houses here at home.
- Snow-magedon 2016
- Night of Christmas Eve
- Christmas morning - fresh snow, baby's first Christmas, gift opening.
- Gifts from the kids.
- Santa photo
- Photos of baby from the season
- Ss first gymnastics meet
- Other miscellaneous photos
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