Christmas Day

Finally, the big day arrived!

We got home at 11:00 Christmas Eve, tucked the tired little cherubs in bed and got to work with final preparations to make Christmas special for the kiddos.  We went to bed at 2:00, then Logan got up at 6:00 to make sure the ligths were on when the kids got up.  Logan heard Josiah shortly after that, poking around the living room and opening his stocking.  He got us up at 6:30, then we had to drag Abbey kicking and screaming from her cozy crib so that the boys wouldn't have to wait for their presents.  She calmed down after she saw her new nail polish in her stocking.  "Presents" have become a new awareness for Abbey this fall, and she is a fan!

 The boys asked for Star Wars costumes from Santa, although they've been riddled with doubt this year about whether Santa is real.  One of Josiah's friends told him Santa had died, and they noticed his fishing boots when they went to meet him downtown.  But they weren't really too eager to dig out the truth on this one.

 Benjamin reenacting "Cello Star Wars" with his new guitar.

 

 Logan wanted Mark Twain's autobiography.

 

 Abbey got a Princess Leia costume. :)

 

 Here I am in all my morning glory. :)

 

Logan made delicious cheese biscuits for breakfast, and then he and I set about getting Christmas dinner ready.  The kids were happily playing with their new toys all morning and we had a great, relaxing time together.  At one, Uncle Jim and Aunt Linda, Nana and Papa came to enjoy the fruits of our labors:

 After dinner, the boys were starting to slow down a bit.  :)  We celebrated our final Advent candle-lighting after dessert, and then moved to the living room to open more presents.

 

 

The kids were proud of one of their dollar store finds for papa:

And the biggest hit was Papa's cool web cam with mics that you plug into your tv, so the picture and sound come through onto the big screen.  We had to pry the microphone away from Abigail, who was doing her "Rejoice! Rejoice!" chorus from "O Come, O Come Emmanuel", so the boys could take a turn:

 There were many, many more presents.  Our kids are spoiled rotten by their loved ones!  It was a lot of fun to see the joy and wonder on their faces.  Finally, they were tucked into bed at the end of a long, exciting day.  All that adrenaline pumping finally tuckered them out! 

Christmas Eve

We celebrated Christmas Eve at Danny and April's house this year.  Everyone but Matthew's family was there (they live in Delaware), plus the dogs, Willy, Echo and Molly.  It was a great night!  As soon as we got there, Uncle Danny unveiled his gift to the kids: new bikes!

 

Needless to say, they were super excited.  They rode their new bikes around outside until they got too cold. Thank you, Danny and April!

Abbey enjoyed following the dogs around.  She's a true animal lover!

Danny and April fixed a feast for us: bacon wrapped scallops, lobster rolls, crab dip, chicken wings, cheese and crackers, and then a sirloin roast, seafood casserole, green bean casserole, dinner rolls, etc.  Delish!  Followed by multiple desserts.  It was extraordinary.  SO good!

Then, of course, we dug into "present time:"

 

 

It was good to meet Jon's girlfriend, Stephanie:

 

And here's a picture of our spectacular hosts.  Thank you for everything!  It was great!

 And an attempt to get a nice picture of the kids by the tree:

Zaid's Birthday Party

We went to a fun birthday party at the Y pool a couple weeks ago.  I almost missed these pictures, but found them on Logan's phone yesterday.  Zaid is Mo and Jen's little boy (our bosses).  It was a lot of fun.  Josiah and Ben are more and more in their element in the pool.  They absolutely love going swimming!  And Abbey had a good time too, walking up and down the ramp in the heated therapy pool.  She also enjoyed sitting at the table with the big kids, eating pizza and an enormous slice of cake.  Good times!

  And here are a couple more pictures I found:  This one is from our train ride last week, with the kids sitting up in the caboose.

 And this one is of a little knight that showed up at our house last week:

Passing along an excellent article

I interrupt my Christmas posts to share this article I just read, written by Tim Keller:  "Blemishes in Christian Character: A List for Self-Examination". 

One more catch-up post...

Our church had a special Christmas concert on Sunday, during which the kids sang "Away in a Manger," complete with motions.  It was adorable!  After church, they all loaded up on donuts and Christmas cookies, so they were extra happy and excited.

Monday morning, Logan worked for hours with the boys building this Lego clock.  It is amazing!

Meanwhile, Abigail lounged around with my phone playing Angry Birds. :)

I had stayed up till 3 a.m. Saturday getting all my wrapping done, so Logan let me sleep in Monday morning.  I didn't hear a thing until 9:30!  Quite amazing!  Then we both stayed up until 2 a.m. Monday night getting ready for Christmas Day...just so Santa could get all the credit. :)  It will probably take us the rest of the week to recover from all of the Christmas festivities (pictures coming tomorrow).  It was worth every bit of effort though.  The kids had a magical Christmas. 

Riding the WW&F Christmas Train

Last Saturday, we went up to Alna to catch the Christmas train.  Even Abigail is all about train rides now.  It was a lot of fun!  They were giving free rides up to a station where you could catch a horse-drawn wagon ride, sit on Santa's lap, make some Christmas crafts, and stay warm by a bon fire (which Benjamin would not dare go near).  The kids got to sit up in the caboose on the way down, which was thrilling for them.  It was a lovely adventure!

December Memories

Lots of catching up to do before I can get to our Christmas fun:

The boys had their YARTS choir concert back on the 5th.  They did great!

My kiddos really enjoy being involved in the Healthy Kids playgroup.  Here they are making Gingerbread Boys with the Moriah, Zuri, Elijah and Dylan.

Josiah still loves dressing up.  Here he is as a "Frech banjo player."  Maybe he's Cajun? :)

 

And here they're supposed to be Toy Soldiers:

The boys really enjoy visiting the Gingerbread display at the Opera House each year.  These were my favorites:

We've been celebrating Advent each night with the kiddos.  This year they learned the books of the Bible, plus a couple carols and we practiced the Apostle's Creed.  Of course, their favorite part is lighting the candles, but they also enjoy answering the questions and praying for us.  Abigail just tears around the house and wont sit with us.  The boys got a big kick out of me telling them that she doesn't love Jesus...yet. :)  Good thing Jesus loves Abigail even when she's a terribl[y cute]e two year old! :)