(Catching up) Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was lovely.  We started the day early with a visit from Sarah Jane who had found a book from Santa at the end of her bed.  He brought her The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusan.  What was most exciting though was that he had written in it "To Sarah Jane, Love Santa 2012" which she read aloud to me!

When the rest of the kiddos woke up we headed downstairs to see what Santa had delivered.  The boys were a bit dazed (see below.)  You might be dazed too if you suddenly found yourself sitting on a potty holding a giant soccer ball in footie pajamas while someone took your picture.  They figured it out pretty quickly after this.

 Here is Eli's "Cheeeese" face

 There were some tears.  I don't remember what about.

 They were fixed by some "Santa Milk" (e.g., Egg Nog. Anna is a big fan.)

The boys got phones from Santa as well as potties, soccer balls and other fun stuff.  The girls got a lot of art projects and whoopee cushions which were a hit.

 Next up was oatmeal as we waited for the folks from 690 to arrive.  They were moving slowly and arrived in less than full strength.  Grandma and Aunt Ellie had been felled by Roby's flu.  Zeke was tottering on the edge (soon to fall over) and poor Danise succumbed the next day.

 Despite the reduced (and subdued) guests, I got to check off  "use wedding china once a year" for 2012.  We had a spinach and Gruyere breakfast strata, bacon, nut bread from Aunt Whitney and chocolate croissants.  It was yummy but we missed Grandma and Aunt Ellie.

After breakfast we started on the presents.  We made it about 2/3's of the way through before everyone fell apart.  Much better than last year!  The highlight was probably the play cardboard house from Amy.  It was the second present opened, probably could have ended Christmas right there.  The kids immediately entered and all declined to come out. 

This Christmas was fun to see Sarah Jane start to understand giving as opposed to just getting.  She told Dave she wanted to make me a bird house and they did.  Anna helped paint it.  She also requested a pink princess dress for Anna (and then was an excellent sport when Anna decided what she really wanted was the yellow dress she'd "picked out" for Sarah Jane), blocks for the boys and a sweatshirt for Daddy.  All great presents. Made me very proud!   (Anna below sporting the yellow dress she "gave" SJ, checking out her loot.)

We finished Christmas at Uncle Dave's.  The kids ate Pirate Booty and chased Daddy Dave around the living room.  Uncle Dave, Uncle Phil and Aunt Elizabeth all got sick the next day.  Potent flu.  No pictures.  I was beat.  Even writing this makes me tired.  Good thing Christmas comes just once a year!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a bit of a whirlwind this year.  Four of us had just had the stomach flu (Roby, Anna, Eli and me, in that order) so we were feeling a bit wobbly.

In any case, the kids looked pretty spiffy if I do say so myself.  The boys in bona fide blazers and red Christmas vests, the girls in the fancy schmancy flower girl dresses from Aunt Lauri (AND Aunt Julia's) weddings with green sashes and hair bows (a la William Sonoma packaging.)  We managed a successful photo shoot on the front steps and then dove into the insanity.

 They were excited!

And it was insane; less so than last year but still crazy.  We are nine kids with the Lawrences and the Berrien-Schmitz.  That's a lot of kids making a LOT of noise.

Zeke read the Night Before Christmas and some of them listened.  Zeke also nearly lit the house on fire with the Plum Pudding which continues to be a very popular source of conversation in our house.

The boys have recently started doing this when someone points a camera at them.  I'm not sure why.  They love to wear these PJs and say "ho ho ho" whenever they see them.

 Looking pretty different than last year! Same vests though:)

More rocking out

Last holiday post, I couldn't resist.  

Anna got a guitar for Christmas this year so she could finally join the family band.  Sarah Jane likes to use hers to be Maria (a la the Sound of Music.)

Anna has a different sound in mind.

Christmas!

The big day finally arrived and Santa came through.  Not pictured are the magnificent stockings Aunt Whitney made for Eli and Roby.  We promise to stop making her make us stockings.

Sarah Jane ripped into her stocking.  Anna was a bit more deliberate.

 Roby and Eli thought the whole thing was very entertaining.

Anna was the slowest present opener I have ever witnessed.  Each item had to be carefully examined.  Including each of the three pairs of exactly identical white socks that Santa delivered.

Sarah Jane wondered by Santa brought things like socks and toothpaste.  So not fun.  It was good he also delivered a flashing pink bouncy ball.

 Sarah Jane got fed up with waiting for Anna to finish and helped her out.

 Sticker books were a big hit with the ladies this year.

We had a champagne breakfast with Nana and Papa, Uncle Mike and Aunt Julia.  My once a year wedding china usage.  Checking it off the list.

No pictures after breakfast.  We were consumed with present opening. It took a long time.  Thankfully Anna eventually got the hang of things.  The boys got bouncy seats, the girls got a pink play-house tent for the back yard, I got a new camera lens (just wait for the next post!) and Dave got a kegerator.  He claims it has changed his life.  All in, a very merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a bit insane this year.  We managed to get everyone everyone dressed and out of the house in time for church.  By the time everyone was dressed, I was pretty much ready to be done.  [Side note, how many times have I written, "we managed to..." this year?]  Our rockstar neighbors line the street with luminaria, giving Santa an illuminated landing strip to aim for.  The girls inspected their work before we headed off to church.

The girls and Juli.

Pretty dresses.  Sparkly shoes. 

 Eli and his Sophie.  Roby was there too.  Just imagine another picture, that looks exactly like this one.  (Switch the blue shirt out for a white one. Bam.  We're good to go.)

The girls were angels in the chaotic FCCB nativity thing (pageant? play? illicit photo op?)  Actually, Sarah Jane was an angel but Anna claimed to be a butterfly.  She was therefore technically part of the barn animal crew.  Grandma sat with both of them while they semi-listened to the story and Eli and Roby made lots of animal noises in the pews.

 

After church we headed to 690 for sit-down dinner for 26.  Nine children six and under.  Chaos reigned.  Roby and Eli were somewhat uncooperative in their photo shoot.  This was just the beginning of the uncooperativeness.

 I have about 10 of these.

 Eli finally stopped trying to eat Roby.  Unfortunately they were not looking at me.  I gave up after this.

 We managed to get all nine children on the couch for a picture.  This was accomplished with a pre-dinner chocolate bribe.  For the record, Thomas would prefer chocolate without mint.  (Note to self for next year.)

After dinner Zeke read Twas the Night Before Christmas.  His audience quintupled compared to last year (when only Sarah Jane listened.) This year we were all wowed by Reid's ability to finish each sentence with the correct word. Very impressive.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good __________!

Getting ready for Christmas

Christmas 2011 was full of traditions, yummy food and lots and lots of Aunts and Uncles.  Pictures of our prep below.

Sarah Jane and Anna went to the annual kids-no-parents-allowed Smoverby luncheon.  We had a photo shoot while we were waiting for Grandma and Zeke to pick them up.

Showing off their fancy dresses which their mother couldn't resist.  Very dangerous to work in such close proximity to Baby Gap.  

 Aunt Ellie arrived.  We were excited to see her.

 Roby and Eli were there too.  This is one of them.  If you look closely enough, you'll know who.

 We made cookies with Aunt Julia.  Aunts are a hit in our house.

Making your Xmas presents

Get excited!