Once Upon a Christmas 2010

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

Jensen opened a guitar and a remote control helicopter... that records video.  He told me, mom, "If Santa doesn't bring me the remote control I think I'll be really sad."  Santa got his elves to work straight way.

Sam Ellie opened a bunch of baby toys.  He also got some clothes, but his favorite gift was the few candy canes Santa left him in his stocking. I am amazed how quickly he can turn it into a sharp dagger-- just like he sister did on the Santa Train.

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.

Ellie enjoyed her baby on Christmas Eve. We bought that walker for Ellie when she was a baby. It has been at grandma's ever since- now she is pushing it... oh my heart. sorry about the blurry pics.

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. 

Then, they demonstrated their "circus tricks."  Jensen stands on John's hands he raises and lowers him over and over...and he counts.  Then daddy tells him to jump off because his arms are burning.
 

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.

Ellie was one of the angels in the play.  She was proud of her role, and did a good job as an angel.

Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus (Wesley) in the manger

Savannah and Sam chillin on the bean bag.  Our first year of marriage I really wanted a "love sac" in our place.  John, being handy in all things, made me one. Yes, he sewed the fabric and stuffed it with an insane amount of foam.  It was so comfy!  When we moved here we didn't have room for it- it has been a fun cousin landing pad for daddies throwing their kids across the room.

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

Merry Christmas!

 Just wanted to write a quick Post Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

 Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus and we celebrate the birthday
of my daughters sweet heart donor. 

 Christmas Day is very special for our family.

 I am so thankful to have this little peanut in my life-

 She is such a Joy and I wish I could give her donor's mom a big hug today.

 We love you!

Pretend this came in the Mail... please.

Wishing you a very very merry Christmas from the McDonald Family!!

I had every intention of printing a Christmas card, but it wasn't in the cards this year.  Instead... you get a whole Christmas post instead.  Yes, a whole post where I get to brag about my children- shocking deviation from all of my "usual" posts.

My friend and I did a photo swap to get our Christmas card photos ready to go.  I took pictures of her family and then she manned the camera for mine.  It was POURING rain the day we decided to do it.  Despite all of the ruined hair-dos. I still love the pics. 

Jense: He is our big 7 year old big boy.  He is our artist.  He has an entire picture book filled with his drawings.  He is really into "self portraits."  I don't have the heart to tell him that a "self portrait" is supposed to be of ones "self."  He LOVES when i am willing to sketch a "self portrait" of him at bed time.  He giggles and tries to hold a straight face, and is always thrilled with the end result.  My sketching rivals that of a kindergartner and his "self portraits" look creepy with his eyes in his forehead and his chin a few inches past his lip. He is an excellent student and a great reader.  Aside from his artistry he also thoroughly enjoys writing his own books.  He keeps a stash of paper and his stapler well stocked with staples for when he is up at night writing away.  I think I encouraged him so much the first time that he will often greet me in the morning with a new book he wrote.  Two mornings ago his book was as follows:

The peopl on the ships.

by Jensen McDonald

I was on Juprdr frst

Oh no mor peopl ar kumen

O the ar my friens

Hi Frens

I thot you giz wer alens

Thar ar to mene frens on juprdr

I want to go bak

The End

Bi Bi See you next tim. 

The best part of his books are his illustrations.  This particular book had solar systems on each page with multiple space ships.  He has a thing for rockets and space ships.  I want to save all of his books.  I am not big on saving his "crafts," but these books are priceless.

He is a good little worker and generally has a good attitude about it.  He keeps his room really clean most of the time, although I think he finally learned the loop hole of just shoving things under his bed.  He loves to play with his sisters and often creates fun things for them to do. He holds a lot of responsibility and is self sufficient beyond his years.  His favorite task is making his own eggs.  He is creative to say the least and is by far the artist of the family.  And just like his daddy he can sing really well but doesn't want to sing in front of anyone.  He will sing songs with me at night, but refuses to sing out loud for anyone else. He is looking forward to turning 8 and can be baptized. We are so proud of him.

 

Elvis: Miss passionate and nurturer extraordinaire.  She is sensitive and fiery but is the sweetest girlie girl I know.  One thing about Ellie that is so unique to her is how much she smothers loves her younger siblings.  Her life would be entirely different with out her two babies to take care of.  Honestly I don't know what she would do all day without them. I am in awe of her dedication and attention she pays to them both.  Barbies and coloring often get put on the back burner because she is busy "teaching" Mia and Sam new things.  Sam is constantly in a "fort" or a "cart" and she dresses Mia and tries to brush her hair- although Mia protests her hair getting done by anyone.  She is also a cute little reader and likes to memorize everything so she can read it really fast.  She has been taking dance all year and for the last few months has been in a musical theater class that she loves.  She is a little performer by nature and if it involves dancing or singing on a stage she can't wait.

 Ellie also loves to cook- and eat!  She is always making a snack, or cooking something to give to someone.  Often her creations involve a mass production of something super sticky covered in sprinkles.  She can't keep her hands off the sprinkles.  She reassures me that it is "OK" because she is making something special for either a family member or one of her friends.  I don't mind most of the time, but I had to start drawing a line with ice cream toppings and syrups.  I don't mind cleaning out the fridge, but I also don't look forward to it.  She loves to watch cooking shows, and watches intently and usually has comments like, "mom, I want to be a really good cooker!!" when shes done watching.       

Mia- Oh my Mia, where to start.  She is an angel- for real- a wild and crazy- happy screaming angel.  She has two loves... Olivia "Livila" and Super Why "why."  She starts asking for them even before she has left her crib.  When Mia is asking for something it is always begins with a "aught oh."  She will say "aught oh, Olivia." or "aught oh, bottle" as if to communicate to us that we must have forgotten to give her or get her something.  It is hilarious.  She is at a fun place with her communicating that she is willing to repeat anything we say.  They don't always come out right, but she is always willing to attempt.  For example, she calls candy "nanny" which is also what she calls my mom.  You can imagine we hear a lot of "aught out... nanny!" at our house.  She also loves her baby Sam.  They have started to interact quite a bit.  Mia likes to jump up from behind the side of the couch and play peek a boo with him.  It is so fun to watch her initiate interacting with him.  She has been sicker this winter than she was last year.  We are trying to keep her home as much as possible.  She seems to be getting a little stir crazy because when I am headed out somewhere she always says, "go" and heads for the door.  It is sweet as well as heartbreaking.  We do take her in the car, but she is not a good car rider.  She wants "OUT" if she is "aught oh, buckled" in for too long.  She loves books, singing "issy bissy" and "cake."  My most favorite thing about her right now is when she says "what?" It is the cutest thing possibly ever.  When she is in a playful mood which is often around here she says "what?"  It is just so fun, you have to hear it. Lastly she is always willing to give anyone kisses! It is so endearing.  Jense and Ellie always insist on a "hug and kiss" before john or I leave the house.  Now Mia has joined the fun and chats.. "waaa? waa?" while we are getting coats on.  "Waaa" is the noise Mia makes when she gives or wants a kiss.  Now they all get a kiss (hopefully Mia doesn't get sick with all the "waas" going on) every time we leave. 

Samer Jam-  He has always been my ultra sleeper- things haven't changed.  Although he has had a few signature nights that he gets up at two in the morning fully expecting to play with his mommy.  He is now in a cribby... has been for a month now- and luckily he never fell out of the bassinet.  He sleeps sometimes 12-14 hours... it's crazy.  We slip a little rice cereal in his bottle at night and he stays in dream land long enough for me to want to wake him in the morning because I miss him. He crawls around zipping from place to place.  He is fast!  His new favorite hang out is right in front of our floor mirror- he loves himself.  I love watching babies interact with their reflection- it is adorable.  Sam is also only interested in being facing out when being held.  If you even try to hold him faced in get ready for a wrestling match.  We lovingly refer to his stance as "arm bar." He has the most expressive face and purposefully flirts with everyone!  We call him, "Janny, Sammer Jam, Sammer Jammy, Po Jammie, pa Jammie, Jammers, Sham Jam etc.  lots and lots of variations of Sam and Jam... you get the idea. 

Daddy- Has been extremely busy this year.  Besides being ultra handy, and building sheds and baby rooms he is busy busy studying.  After experiencing everything he has with Mia, he has decided he wants to pursue a degree in the medical field.  He returned to school this year and is planning on become an Anesthetist.  He is excited and is fully committed to his new path.  He will be in school for a LONG TIME and I am proud of him for sticking with it despite some difficult classes.  He is going to be great and I'll let you know in a MILLION years how he likes it ;-)

Mommy-  Is pretty much doing the same ol' same ol' she has been doing for the past couple years.  Mostly being a mommy, but doing a little selling stuff here and there, keeping the car biz flowing, dabbles in photography (mostly because she can't stop taking pictures of her own children to save her life,) loves her calling, and  unsuccessfully recommits every weekend to exercise the following week :-) Something slightly different this year was her completion of a mini nutcracker performance. She didn't do the dancing...Ellie did the dancing, mommy did the orchestrating.  More on this eventually.

Merry Merry Christmas to you all!