Christmas Morning

Our original plan included hopping in the car, zipping to the airport, dashing through the snow to collect my dad from a plane, over the river and through the city to Maga's house we were then supposed to go . . . but they all got sick. My mom, my nephews, my neice . . . no thanks! That is not the kind of Christmas gifts we were wanting to receive :) So, much to everyone's *insert sigh here* we postponed until New Year's (and are looking forward to it!)

Thus, Buck's Christmas wish came true--we got to stay home and enjoy the day low-key style, as a family. After the kids took in the amazing number of blessings sent from family across the country, we began emptying our Christmas stocking and discovering all the surprises inside. We opened several gifts, but then the kids were getting a little more grabby than thankful, so we took a break and ate. Breakfast was simple, Costco cinnamon rolls and juice.

Everyone enjoyed the new things they'd opened earlier for awhile, then the girls helped the boys through a scavenger hunt they put together way back in November. Each clue led to a puzzle piece, which once collected and assembled, led to a treasure trove of little gifts they'd purchased while shopping with their dad (suckers, little plastic dinos, packets of gum, very sweet, thoughtful items). With that game complete, they returned for some more gift opening. So many exciting things to unwrap--Buck's family really sends the love at Christmas, so awesome for our kids!

Buck also came up with a sweet, thoughtful gift for me . . . he bought me a piece of Ireland! Somewhere in Co. Roscommon, I am a landowner, just a tiny little patch, but he knows how I left a little bit of my heart there each time I've visited. He said that he hopes we will be able to go see my Irish green bit of grass on or before our 15th anniversary. I can hardly wait! And can I get a huge, "Awwwwww!" for my husband! :)

Lunch--was of course Christmas blina! I cannot believe how much Caelan was able to eat--twice what I did easily! I forgot to mention in the earlier post about her, that at her well-child check, she'd grown three inches and gained 11 pounds in the last year . . . which is awesome, because it bumps her out of the barely 25% percentile for weight into a healthier category in the middle (yay gluten!!) She's also very excited that she's now less than a foot shorter than me (and gaining every day!)

That's pretty much how the day went, building Legos, modeling (and then washing) new Christmas clothes, reading new books, listening to CDS, watching a couple of new DVDS (VeggieTales, they're still cool at our house :) For supper we put in a ham from the hog that we bought, oh my goodness! This was one amazingly tasty pig . . . we are enjoying every bite of that unexpected freezer filler. Fantastic!

Well, that's about it . . . more pictures follow, thank you for whatever part you played in praying for our family, blessing us with gifts, or contributing to special Christmas traditions (like our Advent calendar, Nancy :) Merry Christmas!

 Audio books from Aunt Shannon!

 My cute Broncos fan :)

 Opening gifts from Grandpa Perry

 Yes! New bedding (pics of "new" rooms to follow :)

 Lots of Legos!

 Buck and Brennen worked on this 1500 piece set (thank you Costco!) for three hours!

Gift cards from Aunt Joanie!

Christmas Fashion Show

Buck's mom and I have a new Thanksgiving tradition--online shopping at Kohls! She may be half a country away, but we can still pick out cute outfits together :) So, here is the Christmas fashion show to show Grandma J all the fun clothes she sent and how they fit her intended gift-recievers. Enjoy! :)

 Sequins on Gab's shirt up=purple . . .

 Sequins down = silver (she wanted you to see both options :)

And because the girls had done such an impressive job posing . . . Mr. G thought he should too (and how we laughed when he tried on his sweater vest with no shirt underneath, guess we'll have to explain that better next time, ha! :)

Christmas Eve

With the exception of two gifts which were supposed to arrive on Christmas Eve (but mysteriously appeared on Christmas morning with ONLY Chauncey as a witness as to who dropped it off . . . hmmmm), all our gifts were secreted away in the closet, waiting to be place 'neath the Christmas tree. Amazingly, this was Buck's second day in a row off--the first was Caelan's birthday, which he has NEVER been able to spend with her (well, since day 1 in the hospital :) because of his work schedule. I will say, the combination of the kids getting old enough to dress themselves and the fact that he was home to help me get them ready for the Christmas Eve service at church made those preps a breeze! And don't they look snazzy in the Christmas dresses and suits Maga got for them?!

 It's so nice to see everyone together at the church, with more than one service, you tend to miss people who regularly attend at one time or another. Plus you can't beat Christmas song and candlelight--insert contented sigh here. :)


After church, we ate supper, then sent the kids to bed, tuned in to It's a Wonderful Life, and wrapped the few gifts and stocking stuffers we'd collected that day. Chauncey made sure to guard it all (from in his kennel, where we put him, because we did not trust him to roam free with candy in the stocking toes and a frisbee of gingerbread men awaiting him from Grandma J :)

Graysen Reads Chauncey a Story

 

Puppy cuddles make book reading even better! :)

Double Digits

We recently celebrated the anniversary of 10 years of parenting, better known as Caelan's birthday. Wow. My firstborn is 10? She's rather quickly becoming a young lady instead of a growing girl. She's smart, funny, loves to help in the kitchen (or chef on her own), loves to read, writes a great story, and is generally very pleasant to spend time with . . . I mean she's human right, so there are moments of oldest child syndrome (which I wouldn't know ANYTHING about myself, right sibs? hee hee :) And, her easy-going, thoughtful nature again selected a birthday theme that went right along with our overall household decor--Christmas lights.

I must admit, it was fun shopping the pre-Christmas 70% off sales on lights and ornaments shaped like lights (I never get to buy Christmas ornaments, we are existing off of childhood hand-me downs, several gifts for the kids, ornaments made by the kids, and a few leftover boxes from Buck's bachelor tree days :) I strung extra colored lights throughout the Christmas tree room, and it just glows, and I just love it!

We "woke" her with the traditional family birthday singalong as she kicked her way through 20 pink balloons on the floor of her shared room. In the kitchen, ribbon spelled out her name and age in pink and purple sparkle. We also have the kids open a gift first thing at the table, something that will keep them all busy while we are getting breakfast together. Caelan opened a Cat's Cradle guide book, with DVD! Oh yeah! It was about this time that we discovered we didn't have any bread and she wanted French Toast . . . oops. Now in "normal" locations, this wouldn't cause the moments of panic and debate that immediately ensued. See, on Sundays around here, EVERYTHING is closed . . . except the new gas station, so yes, we had gas station bread french toast for breakfast, and everyone was happy :)

Just before church, I surprised Caelan with a light up Christmas lights necklace for her to wear . . . so cool! She was given many happy birthday greetings at church, and then we walked (through the snow) to the Mexican restaurant (who's surprised? :) for our birthday kid gets to drink pop and wear a sombrero and gets to eat a specially provided dessert luncheon.

Afterwards, we scooted back home, played a board game together (thanks Uncle C), and then ate birthday cake . . . again, easy-going, no frosting just marshmallows, cake, and strawberries ooooh yummy! She had to strong arm her little brother to prevent his "helping" blow out her candles . . . ah little brothers.

Next, gift opening! Turns out Grandma J and her dad and I had the same idea for gift giving this year--a light up fashion design table :) She's thrilled with them both, and shares with her sister and brothers (G designed a pretty sweet outfit on the Project Runway version :O)

As a surprise, following an impromptu dinner of homemade pizza (she's been asking for a year, and it has been on the meal planning list that long . . . moving from week to week, never getting made because Costco pizzas are so much easier and faster :O); the original plan was beans and rice, but I forgot it takes 2 hours to make, oops!

We were on a schedule, because what she didn't know was that we had an appointment in Bethlehem that night! A local family and their church line their property with luminaries and invite "travelers" to see if the inn has any room. Of course it doesn't, so a "shepherd" led our crew past a roaring bonfire, along a moonlit snowpath to a half-shed filled with angels . . . guess who they were singing about? That's right, a bit farther up the path, indeed inside a chilly barn, Mary, Joseph, and the baby were waiting to visit with their visitors. Several years ago, our pediatrician invited Buck and myself to play these roles, along with our newborn baby (but we had three older babies and that would have thrown off the storyline a bit :o) Four couples gave their time to dress as the blessed family this year, and it is just so special to imagine what it must have been like for Mary and Joseph when Jesus arrived in such meager surroundings. Such a neat opportunity for the kids to witness!

Our grand finale was a drive through the Christmas lights display in our town's City Park. The mayor handed out candy canes and we all ooohed and ahhhed at the drummer boys and gingerbread men all glowing in festive colors, reflected off the snow. Pretty special day for a very special girl!

 In decorating I learned that Chauncey is afraid of balloons . . . you should have seen him when one of these pink monsters got static cling on his fur! :)

 Gabby in the Christmas lights room, waiting to sing to her sister.

 The sister strong arm :)

Thanks Grandma J!