I am determined to get this post in before 2009 arrives! :) So I sit here this afternoon on the couch, with just the tic-toc of the clock filling the air. My love is snoozing happily on the couch nearby and my little ones are snug in their beds for a much needed nap! I half wish I was napping too! With no voice and an achy, stuffy head, I'm not feeling my best today. BUT...neglecting this blog will only cause my memories of such a fun, happy few days to fade. So here I type.
Our Christmas this year lasted three days! I think I like it that way, in fact! It spread out the cheer and the time with family, which made it all the more enjoyable. The shotgun approach to seeing everyone in one day is just too hectic for my taste! Three days was awesome!
On Christmas Eve, the kids and I spent much of the day at home doing whatever it is we do on a daily basis. Laundry, wrapping up last minute gifts, playing...you know the drill. Ty arrived home in the later afternoon and we attempted to ready the kids in their cute, new Christmas outfits for a nice dinner at at Ty's cousin Michael's house. Luke unfortunately woke from his nap on the WRONG side of the bed, and threw fit after fit about not wanting to wear his new, oh-so-cute button down Christmas shirt. I have NO idea what his deal is with button down shirts, but this isn't the first time he threw a fit over one. Weird! Between the tantrums and my sluggishness from feeling rather ill, we ended up arriving at dinner nearly an hour late! SOOO unlike us! While we missed the family sitting down to eat together :( there was still plenty of food for us and we still got to enjoy the most important part...visiting with Ty's family!
All the kids ran around like crazy children (LOL!) while we chatted and visited, and when the little ones couldn't stand the waiting any longer, we all piled into the living room for them to open their gifts! We certainly were NOT expecting our kids to be part of the gift opening, but to our surprise and their delight, Luke and Ellie each had a couple of gifts to open! I think this little guy won the prize for the night's favorite toy! (Even though this pic is from the following day!)
We headed home sometime around 8pm, with a very tired little girl and a very wound up little boy who couldn't wait to get home to set out his cookies for Santa and put on his new Christmas jammies!
After Santa's snacks were all ready to go, Luke picked out his gift from Aunt Kim as his one present to open on Christmas Eve. He was delighted when he realized what it was! So delighted, in fact, that on Christmas morning, he asked if he could play 'pirate' BEFORE he opened his gifts from Santa! Seriously?!!
We heard the pitter-patter of little feet sometime around 6:30 the next morning, and we all headed downstairs to see what awaited us under the tree!
And let me just to you...the rest of our day was p-e-r-f-e-c-t! We had no plans for family or visitors until late in the afternoon, and with the rain falling steadily outside, we soaked up every opportunity to linger in the moments, enjoy our new gifts and marinate in the blessings of just being together! I made a delicious breakfast of homemade blueberry crepes and a yummy egg frittata thing-a-ma-jig!
A kiss from my little man....
When Ellie went down for her morning nap, Luke and I got to work making a birthday cake for Baby Jesus that we would enjoy after dinner!
He LOVED this part...especially when he could nibble of the chocolate chips or lick the beaters! (It was a chocolate chip cake that we made!) Once the cake was baking away in the oven, he kept me company baking pizzas on the counter with his new pizza play set that Santa brought while I prepared dinner for the crock pot! We planned to have gingersnap pot roast with sweet potatoes and carrots that evening and boy was it yummy!!!!!!
Sometime well after lunch, the kids napped and us grown ups finally decided it was time to get dressed for the day! (Oh how I LOVED lounging around in my jammies all day!!!!! It just seemed like that is EXACTLY how it SHOULD be! Perfection!) As the pot roast cooked away in the crock pot, we spent the remainder of the day (after the kids finished napping, of-course!) sitting on the family room floor, listening to music, playing with Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys! Ellie took care of her new little baby doll and learned how to give it a bottle, kisses and lots of snuggles while Luke worked with Daddy to build whatever it was their imaginations would muster up!
I caught Luke pretending to be a weight lifter with his Tinker Toys! He built the dumbbell himself! :)
Does this look like a happy kid or what?!
Before we knew it, dinner time had rolled around and we sat down as a family to enjoy a lovely meal in celebration of Jesus's birth! We ended the day singing "Happy Birthday" to baby Jesus and blowing out birthday candles on the cake we had baked for him! I think the birthday cake really drove the concept home for Luke as to what Christmas is all about and why we celebrate!
After all, He is the reason for the season!
Lighting and blowing out the birthday candles...
On Friday, we enjoyed our third Christmas at my parent's house with my side of the family. My sister, her boyfriend, and the girls were all there, along with my aunt and uncle (my mom's sister) and my grandparents. We opened presents and ate yummy, YUMMY fillet that Ty had prepared while we visited and reminisced about all sorts of things! The kids, as usual, LOVED just being together and after dinner, they entertained us with several rounds of wrestling and rough housing! It was well after Luke's bedtime when we again made our way home, and with no nap to speak of that day, he was asleep before we even hit the highway! His cousin's definitely wore him out!
Three Christmases...three days....and too many blessings to count! How fortunate we feel to have been able to share such a special holiday with those we hold dearest to our hearts! And how immensely grateful I feel now as I type to have my three beside me....they are my deepest joys and I love them so!!!!
Just as a little side note.....
Here they are in their Christmas outfits! (Even if it's a tad blurry and a terrible photoshopping job!!) I haven't ever bought them matching outfits for special occasions before (I'm just frugal that way and hate the thought of them only getting to wear an outfit once!) But I splurged a little this year and bought these! And I have to say..they are so darn cute in them! I'm glad I did! :)
This last one just makes me smile! Oh how they LOVE one another! This was right before Ellie planted a big 'ol kiss on Luke's head! :)
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