Mia got a potty.
AND a princess dolly. She found a Christmas morning cozy place on Nana's lap. My parents were here for Christmas! It was great! They stayed home with Miss Mia while we went out--- I didn't want her going anywhere until after her biopsy. It was already postponed once.
Ellie opened a Barbie a large Doll, a Webkin, and a pillow pet.
Mia's favorite toy was a phone... she named it "HI!" and an Olivia dress up chest-
pictures to come
pictures to come
Santa's workshop part one: The kids gave pencils to their classmates that said Merry Christmas, love Ellie, or Jensen. How fun is that? I want some pencils engraved with my name! not really... but truly would have as a kid.
Along with the pencils they loaded up an "un-assembled snowman" and a Rudolph toy. It might have well of been Christmas morning, because the kids were elated when I pulled out the gifts for them to put together for their friends. Thank you Oriental Trading clearance... you really pulled through.
The kids thought that Santa would be extra hungry and would want a break from the traditional cookie snack. This year he even got a gift from Ellie... it was the same gift she gave her classmates.
We had a Christmas Day party at Michelle's for Grandma and Grandpa McDonalds side of the family. We ate loads of yummy food! Ellie spent her evening raiding the diaper bag for extra gifts she could give to the teenage cousins in attendance. Luckily daddy had some Michael Jordan Jerseys in the car that did the trick.
Hello Mr. Adorable! Have you ever met a happier kid? I haven't!
JB has a lot of nicknames for Sam... but my favorite right now is:
Sammamish. If you don't live in WA it probably won't make sense.
She decided to take a break from the chaos and chill in the stable. There was a manger scene all ready to go for the Christmas Story. I don't know who made it but I am assuming grandpa Conway- now that is going the extra mile!
Jense was sooo excited to be Joseph! He usually doesn't enjoy the spot light, but he didn't complain once... until we asked him to sing.
Jensen and Ellie sang "silent night" for the program.
Ellie always likes to step it up a notch and decided to balance on his feet instead. They are well practiced and need a healthy dosing of circus trick at least once a week. Mia can do circus trick as well, and happy screams the whole time- it's darling!
Sam's circus trick... or just "the trick."
Ellie wanted to do one last "performance" she was supposed to do a tap dance in her candy cane costume, but her mother completely forgot her costume, and shoes, and music. woopsie.
Happily opening her gifts.
Sam and his little cousin Trey. Again... this face... when I blog about him, I forget what I was going to say because I just get carried away with his sweetness! He may or may not be spoiled... FOREVER!
Santa always makes an appearance at the Christmas party! This year it was a particularly handsome Santa! Ellie spotted him first when she was standing by the door. I was about 10 seconds away from capturing Santa Claus falling through the trampoline as he tried to impress all the kids with his jumping skills. Luckily Santa wasn't hurt... the the trampoline however, will never be the same.
Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus (Wesley) in the manger
All the Grandchildren wearing their Christmas nightgowns. We love these pajamas! Jensen and Ellie both use their night caps when going to bed- it's a crack up. They have a few years worth of night caps that still fit so they rotate through them. I am amazed she can sew this many nightgowns... maybe John gets his sewing skills from his mom. It's a pretty safe bet!
The cast of the Christmas Story Play... and Sam. He wasn't in the play, but he has his way of being in front of the camera when I'm behind it!
Jense is so fun around Christmas time. His favorite thing is "secret santa." He loved dropping off things to our friends... and LOVED receiving them. Every time someone would knock on our door he would yell out... SECRET SANTA! We had some delicious treats this year- some truly were secret! Thanks to our secret Santa- you know who you are! Thank you!
Mia was the lucky recipient of this "secret santa" treat. She ate off
all the "num nums" and gave the rest to her siblings. It's just nice to
know that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. John used to get
angry when I would eat all of the moose tracks out of the ice cream. I
don't do it any more... with the ice cream at least:-)
My very most favorite gift was this "A really good story" by my husberdin. His story was a total crack up! It was mostly about me... a little about him, and ended with our kids. This is not my first book. He has skills with creating collage books. He always makes me laugh! Although the first time I read it I missed my favorite page. An excerpt from "a really good story...."
She had many skills. For example, she was a ninja. She practiced throwing her Chinese stars until she was able to split a hair at 50 yards. She was a cool ninja too. sort of a cross between the dragon slayer and shambo....also on the list of talents are: trapeze artist (blue belt,) underwater basket weaver, tree topping, monkey wrenching, snipe hunter, spelunking, heavy equipment operator, fence post straightener, bomb technician, pillow fluffer, piano mover, vampire bite survivor, poodle trainer, limo driver, and gas pump operator... to name a few.
His story got better with every page turn... you can imagine. Thanks B! Me love you long time.
The End