ok, i'm wrapping up christmas tonite! i have to. we're nearing february, people. one of the blessings of christmas is spending time with family. we are thankful that we were able to celebrate christmas several times with different parts of our family! it really was the 12 days of christmas around here! we kicked off the celebrating exactly 12 days before christmas with the unwrapping of presents from my aunt and uncle.
my uncle lloyd and aunt susan live pretty far away from us, and we just don't see them often enough. but they are so sweet to always remember my kids at christmas. their package kicked off the christmas presents...
i love those toys that occupy all three kids at once!
my dad and joy were going to be out of town for christmas, so we celebrated with them and my grandma a week early. they came over to our house for a lasagna dinner (mmmm, remind me to share that recipe soon.). and then the present opening began!
grandma gave ethan the toy story lego truck that shoots pizzas! he couldn't believe it!
and one of ethan's favorite presents this christmas was this spy watch. he can now be found lurking around every corner taking random pictures and videos of feet, ceiling fans, and rogue stuffed animals. he definitely has a future as a secret agent.
except that he lost the watch for a few days.... and we thought we'd need to hire a spy to find the spy watch. and you know, the watch would probably blend in a little better in say, 1985... but ethan thinks it is the coolest thing ever. so if you see the big honkin' watch on his wrist, watch out. he may just get a dark, blurry picture of whatever you're doing.
you've already met jenny in our christmas morning post, but i had to include this picture of my grandma, caroline, and jenny in the box. caroline was completely surprised to receive her very own doll. (a big girl doll... not a baby doll.) she has adored this doll and plays with her every day.
i failed to take very many pictures of us actually spending time with my dad, joy, and my grandma. we did do more than just open presents. i guess i was actually enjoying our time together instead of snapping away! i did steal this shot of grandma joy reading to amelia. it's a precious one!
it was a wonderful evening together. one of these days, maybe we'll get a picture of all of us. but here's the kids with papa, grandma joy, and my grandma. (if you look closely, you can see our super spy taking a picture of me as i take the picture. he's sneaky, i tell ya.)
the monday before christmas, the kids opened their gifts from my other grandmother. i am determined to get her down here again for christmas, but it didn't happen this year. i videotaped the kids opening her presents and uploaded it to flickr for her to see. i hope it made her feel like she was a part of our christmas.... but i really hope she'll get to come down here next year. here are the kids showing grandmother their presents. amelia did not get the whole idea of "turn your toy around for the picture!"... she wanted to look at her new toy! i never did convince her of this throughout christmas...
(if you're curious, her gift was a little critter clinic. it's adorable. another one for all the kids to enjoy.)
i snapped this picture of the kids playing grocery store one day before christmas and thought it was a great shot of them using several of their christmas presents. dad and joy also gave the girls the wonderful shopping cart, which should last us for years to come! it is solid!
at one point during the grocery store play, amelia took off with jenny in the shopping cart without us realizing it. we went to put the groceries in the cart, and oh no! the cart had been stolen! but never fear... our secret spy was on top of it. :)
my mom brought her presents over a few days before christmas. she spends christmas day with us, but it's a busy, fun-filled day... so we do presents with just her earlier in the week. i loved surprising her (and the rest of the grandparents and great-grandparents!) with a shutterfly book of the kids. they had a steal of a deal running before christmas, and it was the perfect gift for those family members who have everything or tell you not to buy them anything! :) here's mom looking at her book with amelia.
mom's gift to ethan and caroline was a leapfrog tag reader. i am usually not all that fond of the electronic "we'll teach you to read" kinds of things.... but these are pretty cool! i won't be depending on them to teach my kids to read, but caroline is enjoying being able to follow the stories, and ethan is having fun with all the games. and i really love that they come with headphones.
the tag maps are what attracted me to the whole tag reader system! the kids have both the united states and world maps... and they are so much fun!! i may just learn all those square-ish western states before too long. :) juuuuust kidding. sort of.
a couple of days before christmas, we took a road trip for the day to see brian's grandparents, aunts, and uncles.
we were out of the car less than 10 minutes when i found ethan and caroline sharing their tag book with grandmommy. :)
tom's daughter was so sweet to make a photo album for brian's parents of old family pictures. i think we laughed about something on every single page. this family shares lots of laughter!
brian's aunts are just the sweetest. here they are opening a little card from us with a picture of the kids. they just oooohed and ahhhhed over that picture. i love these precious women....
brian's aunts and grandparents gave the kids some wonderful, classic toys.
and aunt pam searched high and low for a little doll stroller for caroline! i think it was all worth it when she saw caroline's face...
i cracked up when brian's mom gave aunt pam this coaster. where does she find this stuff?!
after getting some energy out at the park, we all gathered up for a family picture. (uncle joe had to run an errand and missed the picture... i am planning on photoshopping him in, but i haven't had a chance to do that yet!) 4 generations all together!
as we drove home, God gave us a beautiful gigantic moon in the sky. this was my feeble attempt to capture His creation. (brian said, "that's definitely feeble." thanks honey.)
we finally made it to christmas day! after christmas morning at our house, we headed over to jeff and kristie's to celebrate with brian's family and my mom.
nana bought us all new stockings this year... aren't they adorable?!
this is the only picture of me and brian this christmas! i have got to do a better job at documenting the adults next year.
nana gave the girls these great cupcake decorating sets! these were a complete hit! you can draw on the cupcakes with the markers and wipe them off. caroline has made some great designs (at the kitchen table and only at the table) and amelia still has no idea that there are markers. :) but she has had a ball singing happy birthday to us and to herself over and over. and over and over.
nana and pappy snuck these woody and jessie dolls home from disney for the kids! they have loved these things and keep asking me to write their names on the bottom of their shoes like andy does in the movie. we love when jessie says, "sweet mother of abraham lincoln!" it really caught me off guard the first time she said it, and now we laugh every time.
here's another peek at the shutterfly books i made... brian's grandmother loved it, too.
i thought this sign was perfect for grandparents!
i could not resist giving brian's dad this "world's best parking attendant" shirt. he absolutely earned this title during our disney trip. this man is completely obsessed with parking exactly perfectly in the lines. every. single. time. we needed a fastpass just to park at our hotel! i had to laugh or i would've cried!
after filling the room with crumpled up paper and bows, it was time to eat! we had a delicious meal, thanks to our beautiful hostess kristie and all the fixings that everyone brought. here's a peek at kristie's big ole' ham!
and here's the kids at their table. they hardly ate anything. next year, we should just skip their meal altogether. they just wanted to play! but they did a great job pretending that they were going to eat.
ethan did take time out from playing to enjoy some sweet potato pie with pappy. he sure does love his pappy.
the guys and the kids stayed busy on the wii that jeff and kristie got... and we ladies snuck back to enjoy a cozy fire and a game of cards! have you ever played quiddler? it's a word-making card game. i was saying the whole time that i hated playing with my mom because she would beat us all... and yep! i was right. she smoked us. but i really did love playing with her even if i lost. (ahem, i'm presently trying to teach my 5 year old such a concept!)
so that was our christmas! we sure have been blessed. in the midst of the busyness of visiting with family and presents and cooking, i pray that we kept first in our hearts the precious Babe born for us.
and now that i've filled you to overflowing with christmas, you'll just have to see what's next on my plate here at tenlittletoes!
ok, so it's not a surprise. new year's eve is next...and my baby's birthday is just around the corner!
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