Monday, March 22, 2010

December 2009

Christmas morning 2009...
#4 shows the fun book he made us in kindergarten.
#2 so thrilled that he couldn't stay sitting up.
#5 and cousin "Whirlwind" opening the video that was the hit of Christmas. #5 actually refused to open more presents or stockings until about 2 in the afternoon in favor of watching.
#1 got the makings of a reading nook for his room. We can't keep these boys' noses out of books! They even try to hide them on their laps during meals...
Scary mom who had insisted on sleeping in the same room as her boys to see her favorite part of the celebrations--her boys waking up! That was more involved this year since we picked Ann and Adam up from the airport in a freezing rain storm after midnight (during the ride I managed to pull off a crown eating a popcorn ball--so exciting! (: ), didn't get to bed until after 1am, and woke to Caleb's alarm which he had accidentally set an hour ahead. Luckily, since I let Michael play his tuba to wake up the household, everyone else (including B,A,+Whirlwind) was too tired to be aroused at 4:45am. So if I look a little scary, hey, I earned it.
Tiny Tim or the Grinch? I'll let you decide. We sure loved having these guys with us!
Ann and Adam got a lot of little things this Christmas...because after 4 years of waiting and hoping for a baby, little Charlie is finally on his way!
Dad traditionally hands out, then gives time for playing, exploring, and sharing before the next round. Would drive grandpa nuts if he had been here, but instead grandpa had a present-feeding-frenzy that could rival the pirhanas. I think they were done in under half an hour with their group! Ours didn't finish until like 2:30.
Breakfast at 6:00am. Normally we do our huge brunch mid-morning, but since all the boys and I were up at five and under contract not to awaken anyone else until 6, we got going early. We make a favorite of everyone in the family plus a few staples and really chow down. Then, since we do our big dinner Christmas Eve, mom gets the rest of the day off from cooking!
This is our Christmas Eve pageant with my sweet friend Jerilyn's family. We had a lovely dinner (they brought fabulous edible creations, rolls, and popcorn balls--we really got to FEAST!), read the Christmas story, had our pageant, and opened our pictures (how we tell which wrapping is for whom--we each open a wrapped baby picture and then trade to whomever it belongs so we know which wrap is ours) and pajamas. A little later A+B+"W" came over. Late that night we added Ann and Adam.
We got to go with the scouts to welcome home some of our troops for their R&R. A really humbling, terrific experience that left me filled with gratitude for these sacrifices and for our country.
We got to deliver our hats to Parkland. From this pic, you may be able to tell that Mom MAY have been just a wee bit stressed guiding these 5 yahoos through the hospital.
I think we had 120 hats this year!We were so blessed to have so many wonderful guests this year. My camera had issues, and I don't have many pics, but Grandma and Grandpa and Eddie and Miranda also joined us. We loved every minute!! We even got Eddie to ride a bull on Ann's birthday--automatic sainthood? One of the things we were able to do was to celebrate Charlie's coming with a baby shower. Now, I asked them to write "pea IN the pod," not "pea on the pod," which sounded suspiciously like "pee on the pot" to this potty training mom.
Annual chocolate dipping. Absolutely nothing like honey pretzels and oreos heavily dipped and sprinkled. I think #3 ate as many as he dipped!

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