We had a great Christmas and are looking forward to starting a Happy New Year next week. The kids were very fortunate to get most everything they wanted this year. I’m thankful that our present-to-plastic ratio went way down (i.e., not a lot of big hunks of plastic from China that will end up broken and spread all over the basement within a month). If you love winter then the past few weeks would have been great for you – lots of snow and crisp cold air. The kids and Orca had a blast playing outside while they are on a two week break from school.
We made some cookies (for Santa of course). Guess who the artist is? Guess who thought Santa needed some red-hot-encrusted cookies?
Here the kids are late on Christmas Eve sprinkling reindeer dust on the snow. Pajamas and 0 degree weather – I think we easily topped Anne’s Christmas card letter telling about panicking in 40 degree weather wearing t-shirts 🙂
Last year the kids weren’t so good at telling time so when we told them they had to sleep in until 6 or 7 a.m. we could keep sending them back to bed without them really knowing what time it was. This year was a different story. They were checking out their stockings at 5:30 a.m. and by 6:01 a.m. we had the whole house downstairs ready to start they day off. We spent Christmas day as usual – pajamas most of the day and opening presents one by one, letting the kids play in between gifts, lots of snacking, and making it last until the afternoon. Megan was the first one dressed and if not for a fire call (small chimney fire) I probably never would have changed clothes all day. Colleen and Christopher made it the entire day in their pajamas – that’s the way Christmas should be 🙂
We are now an official Nintendo DS family. I’m glad the batteries run out every 15 hours; otherwise, the kids would never take a break from playing it!!! Similar to the foul baseball I caught at a Twins game a few years ago (that TC the mascot signed for us) – the Nintendo has yet to be set down – it gets passed from Colleen to Christopher to Colleen to Christopher (to Daddy) and over and over. Although I was never the biggest game player it seems like this is exactly what I played 20 years ago – true? Christopher got lots of science experiment stuff – he is really into all sorts of experiments. Here he is make the volcano erupt that we had to build from a mold the night before.
Megan got a light-up nose from the woman up the street who will be helping us with daycare going forward. Megan decided it would go perfectly with her Christmas outfit. She wore it non-stop from our house to church but realized as we were walking up the steps to church that maybe she would be the only one with a light-up nose at church this year. There’s always next year…
Why is mommy always surprised at what goes on when daddy is in charge? We have a mat out. I’m trained in first aid. Megan clearly has a big smile on her face. I’m not pushing the kids down the stairs. What could possibly go wrong? Here’s Megan jumping from 5 steps, Colleen from 6 steps, and Christopher from the top of the stairs.
Beth won a $75 gift certificate earlier this year to go bowling…so we went yesterday. It is amazing how expensive things like bowling are – having 2-hours for free was great. I bowled lefty the entire day (and proudly used the bumpers). Colleen ended up getting the overall high score (122). Here she is airborne!
What a happy family you have!!! You spent Christmas day just the way I remember when you were a little boy. I loved spending all day in our pajamas and taking our time opening presents and eating in between. We had a great Christmas day, too. Erik, Katherine and Sarah were here until noon and it was fun eating egg casserole and cinnamon rolls while opening our gifts. Then they left and dad and I had about an hour to pick things up and the second round began with Daniel, Jackie and Preston arriving. Again, more gifts and later more eating. Martie also joined us later in the day for a ham dinner. Fun, relaxed day!!! Glad to see Christopher had goggles on when doing the volcano – he really looks like a scientist – hope he learns a lot while having fun. Did the children get new pajamas for Christmas? The nightgowns look very Christmasy and pretty. Now, I’m not sure about all that stairs jumping – looks pretty dangerous to me, so if Beth was nervous, I side with her. Looking forward to seeing you in two weeks. Tell the kids I want them to teach me how to do the Nintendo DS. Miss all of you so much. Hugs and Kisses to all.
[Colleen] Grandma – it’s not dangerous! It’s really cool! I’m going to show you how to play Mario Brothers too.
[Christopher] Grandma – (cough, cough, cough), no, it’s not dangerous! It’s totally awesome (cough, cough, cough).
[Daddy] The goggles came with the science kit – they are a great touch, huh? We just finished doing 3 more experiments – he is fascinated by all of it. Beth’s mom gave all of the girl cousins similar pajamas (when we celebrated Christmas at Thanksgiving). We also ate egg casserole and cinnamon rolls plus a Scrabble cheese ball. I couldn’t believe how much the cinnamon rolls grew when rising – next time I’ll roll them smaller to get more cinnamon (and less bread) per each bite. Lesson learned 🙂