Christmas Week

Sarah was driving me crazy Christmas Eve night. She had this hair-brained idea that she was going to stay up late and catch Santa. She thinks this every year. Every year I tell her she can stay up as late as she wants but she has to be lying in her bed with the lights off. Past years she's out within 30 minutes. This year I went down to check on her after 45 minutes and she was sitting up in bed with the light on! I got after her pretty good because I just wanted to go to bed! An hour after that she was still awake. I didn't want to watch any more episodes of the Goodwife; I just wanted to put my presents under the tree and go to bed. So after another 30 minutes I shut the door to the basement and got to work. "If she stumbles upon mom and dad setting out presents and it ruins all the Santa magic for herself, that's what she gets." She didn't come up nor said anything about it the next morning so I guess she was finally asleep.

Henry woke us up after 7, per the rule. He admitted he'd been downstairs twice during the night. I remember doing the same thing as a kid, even unwrapping then rewrapping a present.

The kids checking out their stockings waiting for Justin. Justin likes to make them wait.

Surveying the loot that surrounds her.

 This is a pack of football cards but Henry can't figure that out.

 Dad will show you.

Erica is really excited about her thermals when we told her they were to wear under her snowpants for playing in the snow.

 Sarah was most excited for the new headphones they each got for the car DVD player.

 Henry got 32 little football helmets, one for each of the NFL teams. He knew them all by name. See Justin's proud face?

 It's hard to surprise someone who shares your bank and Amazon accounts. But I managed to order an inflatable mattress Justin wanted without him knowing.

 This is the gingerbread house Sarah made at Jaida's grandma's house on Friday. We needed the counter space Christmas morning so we took a picture of it and threw it away.

My parents came over on their morning rounds and the kids showed them all their favorite stuff. They changed into their baselayers and wore them all. day. long.

After James's morning nap we went to Justin's parents' for lunch and gave them their presents and they had some things for us too.

James loved whatever this is.

We had to strip him down to clean him up so he had to open presents in his onesie. He didn't care.

Justin's favorite and biggest present was this ginormous cutting board to cut his ginormous fish (or was it elk quarters?).

Henry's favorite gift was this ace bandage I got for him. He likes wrapping up his limbs for no reason.

We had a list of things we wanted to do during the break and we got to most of them. I managed to keep the Christmas decorations up until Thursday but then I could take no more. I left the tree up without ornaments but everything else came down.We played lots of games, saw Coco, I made a cooking video with my mom (link to that later), Justin and I did sealings at the temple. We managed to go bowling and to Chick-fil-a as consolation activities since the kids came down with fevers and colds and were too sick to go to Logan as planned.

 Poor thing was not feeling well at all but was a great sport.

 Man I'm a terrible bowler. I bet you have to go more than every 2 years to get good.

Saturday night Justin and I went to Bombay House to celebrate his birthday the next day. It was delicious as always and we even managed to order three dishes we had never had before instead of the dishes we are obsessed with. One I did not like, the other two were great but not the best.

Later that night while we were prepping his birthday dinner, I grabbed two oranges out of this box.

 And found this inside. I can't tell you how much it warms my heart. I've seen James playing at this box numerous times and have even helped him get a spoon out of it once. I had no idea he's been putting so much stuff in there. These are the things I'll miss when my kids are all big.

 Sunday was Justin's birthday. This was the day's headline.

 Or so he said.

 Everything he said he wanted he needed to pick out himself so it was a little tricky buying him gifts. He got socks he sent me to Costco for and a plastic egg carton Henry and I spotted while walking really slowly down the camping aisle at Walmart. It was only $1.88 so he still has plenty of money to pick out his own gifts but he still got a good birthday surprise. Win win.

 The kids made this cute birthday sign. This is like right after church but you wouldn't know it with Erica wearing a backpack or Henry dressed as Tom Brady.

A fun dad. A great dad.

Hard working.  A good put-to-bed-er. Strong.

Brave, helpful, happy. Nice. A good breakfast maker. He reads me stories. 

 Then we ate dinner (that he made) at his parents' house and then my brother and sister and their families and my mom came over to sing to him. I made him a cheesecake which I had never done. It turned out so good. The recipe is linked here. (The first one I made on Friday night turned out terrible. I won't link the recipe but I'm looking at you, Dorie Greenspan.)

 We sang to him in our ugliest voices which he loves so much. Then at 8 we all went home so we could put the baby to bed. We were going to stay up and play games but at 10 we drank Martinelli's with the New Yorkers and went to bed.

And that wraps up 2017! What will 2018 bring?

'Twas the Week Before Christmas

A week before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring except for Justin cramped under the kitchen sink. Our disposal leaked so bad I had to keep a bowl underneath it at all times so we decided to replace it before it flooded the cabinet for the 3rd time. But then we decided we'd better replace our sink because it's as shallow as the one in my college apartment. And if we're going to replace the sink we might as well replace the faucet. 

All that reasoning led to us spending $500 at Home Depot a week before Christmas plus Justin fitting in all this work after extra long days at the office.  It wasn't the best of timing but it turned out great! I didn't love not having a kitchen sink for a day while Justin was at work but I was sure grateful to him for appeasing me with a replacement. And a shout-out to Corey for coming over and helping him finish. It makes our whole kitchen look new.

Here are some photos of my kids on a rare quiet evening around the tree. Coincidentally they are all wearing their Christmas pjs from last year except for James (since his were 3 month size).

James is a blur in so many of these because he does not like to hold still.

Thursday was Rees' Christmas program. The grades sing the same songs every year so it was Sarah's turn to sing Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You.

They do a cool flashlight dance.

Henry's grade sang All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth. He did such a great job and did all the actions. See the blond lady standing in front of all the parents in the center aisle? Not a teacher, just a mom who walked all the way to the front and stood there the entire 2-song performance filming her son two to the right of Henry. It didn't bug me too bad because I still had a clear shot of Henry. And I planned ahead and brought a zoom lens so I could stand in the back and not be anyone's way. But the entire time all I could think about were all the kids she was in the way of. It still bugs me because she probably wrecked the shots of at least two other parents and now we all have her in our pictures. And who does she think she is? I have a hard time with school performances.

Let's see, must be the next day because the clothes are different. We decorated sugar cookies! Oh yes, this was Friday. Henry and Sarah spent most of the day at their friends Jaida and Lexi's grandma's house decorating gingerbread houses. But somehow they weren't frosted out.

Probably because sugar cookies are the best.

Even James defied death to get more of them.

Erica had a simple technique: pile the frosting high and dump sprinkles in the center.

My frosting technique is very similar.

Saturday night was Christmas Eve Eve. This is basically what Christmas Eve would be if we stayed home. Fist, fancy dinner with candles and fancy glasses.

Photo bomb Henry.

Our chef made French dip sandwiches and a salad. I made pretzel Jell-O and crème brulee for dessert.

James spent the entire meal throwing food off his tray and trying to grab my glass.

Then they took baths and opened Christmas jammes. Henry and James matchy-matched this year.

James did not want to get his picture taken even though they look so dang cute together.

Erica and Sarah matched again this year. They love that. I sure hope Erica and James like wearing these pajamas again in 5 years.

Christmas Eve we went to my mom's house with my sisters and their families. James loooved this ice skating toy.

Erica and Maddie played Uno Attack which meant they took turns hitting the button and collecting cards.

One of my favorite traditions is forcing teenage nephews into performing the nativity. This is Joseph and the shepherds/ninjas.

Mary.

Three wise men who held onto the frankincense together the entire time.

Pretty sure the girls are the only ones who enjoys doing this.

Allison and Erica were the multitude of heavenly hosts.

Then we played Telestrations while James screamed and screamed and the rest of us laughed and laughed.

Next post: Santa comes!