December 25th - Christmas Night

We were planning on going to my parent's house on Christmas night for Christmas dinner, but my kids were so sick. So my mom graciously packed up dinner and brought it to our house. They also brought gifts for our family. 

Every year my mom gives Christian a nutcracker. He loves growing his collection. And this year she gave him baseball bases and the best DS game ever (more about that in a minute). McKenna loved her new Barbie car that she can park in the garage of her doll house. And her favorite gift was a CD player with 2 microphones and some music CDs. She and Christian have been having the best time carrying that thing around the house singing at the top of their lungs.

Okay, back to the DS game. If your kid (boy or girl) has a DS...listen up! 

First of all, I have a confession to make: Over Christian break I didn't make Christian read one book. Not one. And the packet of practice work his teacher sent home to work on over break got lost somewhere and we didn't do it. Ahhh...that is so not like me AT ALL!! But you know, people were throwing up and I barely slept and there were fevers and lots of other great excuses.

So when Christian went back to school and all the sudden moved up a reading group I was a little mystified until I remember this game. 

He loves this game. He spent hours playing this game. Yup hours. Like hours and hours, remember all the excuses I listed above....well that's also why he got to sit around and play video games for hours :) Anyway, this game is an interactive game where you have to help the little boy, Maxwell, complete challenges and you help Maxwell by adding your own ideas to the game. If you write the word "hammer" all the sudden Maxwell will have a hammer that he can use. Or if you write the word "snowmobile" Maxwell can then ride on a snowmobile over a snow covered mountain. So the entire game is based on the fact that you can spell words. So Christian was using his "stretch spelling" to try and sound out words that he wanted to use and whenever he would write a word it would come to life on the screen. And if he didn't spell it perfectly the game would give him a list of words to choose from that sound like the word he was trying to spell. It's a pretty amazing game and Christian was having such a good time he had no idea that he was practicing spelling and reading while he was playing. This game doesn't challenge your "video gaming skills" it challenges your creativity, imagination and reading/writing skills. And the best part is that it's one of Christian's favorite games. So check out ScribbleNauts if you got a little DSer in your house!

December 25th - Christmas Morning

 Christian woke us up at 7:30am to tell us it was Christmas!! He was so excited. We weren't sure what to do because we didn't want McKenna to miss Christmas morning, but she was sound asleep burning up with a fever and Will was still sound asleep (I should have known something was wrong with him). We decided to let Christian have a fun morning and not worry about waiting for the other kids. Christian loved the attention of PopPop, Grandmom, Mommy and Daddy while he opened his presents.

 

It was a very calm and quiet Christmas morning.

 McKenna got up around 9:30am. She wanted to stay in bed but she also wanted to enjoy Christmas. She looked rough when Ryan carried her downstairs. She started to perk up once her Tylenol started kicking in. And the precious girl smiled every time I took her picture. But as soon as the picture was over her sad, exhausted face showed back up.

 Will also woke up around 9am and seemed to be fine, but that changed a few hours later. He enjoyed watching all the Christmas commotion. Remember how I couldn't decide what to get him for Christmas?? Well, we ended up getting him a nice toy box, because it's something I would want him to have later on down the road and it's not a "fun" toy! I also got him a new cover for McKenna's old chair. The cover says "Will" but I bought it off of ebay for next to nothing and the monogram is crooked, so I'm disappointed. I might just take the name off and keep the cover. Christian gave Will a toy dinosaur and McKenna gave him my favorite gift...which was the "cruise around lion." It's so cute and perfect for Will at this age.

 McKenna opened all her doll house people first and then I asked her what she was going to do with those people. She said "I don't know, put them in a box?"  So I asked a few more questions and then it dawned on her that she had asked for a doll house. She hopped off the couch and started looking around. She found what she was looking for waiting for her in the playroom. It was a very subdued reaction, not the fun I had in mind, but she loved it and has played with it every day since! Then Christian headed down to the basement and was THRILLED to find an air hockey table. I was so relieved that he loved it. I wasn't sure since he didn't ask for it. He loves playing it and beats me every time and I don't go easy on him. He's just actually that good or maybe I'm just that bad!!

That was our Christmas morning. Definitely not the perfect morning I had planned. But I was still so thankful to spend it with my precious family in our home that God has blessed us with.

December 24th - Christmas Eve - Getting Ready

I love setting up Christmas morning. It's one of my favorite parts of the entire holiday season. Ryan put the finishing touches on McKenna's doll house (that my parent's had already spent 4 hours assembling).  Ryan and my dad put together Christian's new air hockey table and I got all the gifts out of hiding and arranged them around the tree.

Christian just about gave me a heart attack when he got out of bed and came downstairs around 11pm. He was crying and felt awful and thankfully didn't see any surprises. Then around 2am McKenna got up and said she needed daddy. Ryan went into her room and a few minutes later she started throwing up. It was so sad and disappointing. She had been so excited about Christmas.

December 24th - Christmas Eve

 Our Christmas Eve was pretty perfect. Only Christian was feeling a little rough, but even he had a great day.

 Our church had lots of Christmas Eve services, so we went to one in the afternoon so we could have a leisurely evening.

We did something new this year.  We had a shepherd's dinner (thanks for the idea Becki!!!). We all dressed up like shepherds and ate dinner. The whole point was to really impress upon the kids what this night was really about. Christian was so excited about being a shepherd.

 While we were eating dinner an "angel" named McKenna came and told us some great news....that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and we should go and see him. We all went to the manger scene and put baby Jesus in the manger and sang "Away in a Manger."  Isn't Christian so sweet standing there with his shepherd's staff.

 Then everyone opened one present. Both the kids got Lego sets.

And then it was time for bed. We have never made much of a big deal about Santa. In fact we have flat out told the kids that St. Nicholas was a real man, but that "Santa" isn't real. They know that lots of families like to play the "Santa" game, but we don't make a big deal out of it one way or the other. We have Santa stuff out and read Santa books and sing Santa songs, but we don't write letters to Santa. You get the idea. So earlier in the day on Christmas Eve I was putting a roast in the crock pot and I was cutting up some carrots. McKenna asked me if she could have one. I thought she wanted to take a bite but she took it and headed out the front door and put it on the porch for the reindeer. That was a first. Later that night she asked me if she could have a cookie. I told her she could have one, until she said "Well, I bet Santa wants more than one and he's going to want some milk too." So she sat out milk and cookies and much to all of our surprise the next morning we found that the cookies were eaten and the carrot had a big bit taken out of it. Hmmm...wonder how that happened? Maybe we do play that game after all!

Christmas Eve - Grammy & Grampy's Surprise

 What a surprise it was when the mailman knocked on our door on Christmas Eve with an enormous box! The kids were beyond excited to find out that huge box contained surprises from Ryan's parents in Illinois!

 Christian went first and loved his pitching machine Grampy picked out for him. He can't wait to be able to practice baseball all by himself! Notice McKenna's face in the bottom left picture. I love how excited she gets for her brother. When she saw it was something baseball, she was so excited for him.

 Then it was McKenna's turn. As soon as she opened her package she said, "What? Crackers? Grammy sent me crackers. Didn't she know I wanted a good surprise?" Ha!!! It was so funny. We could not stop laughing. She was not happy about those crackers, especially since Christian had just opened such a cool present.

 So we told her to try looking inside the cracker box and she was thrilled to find an adorable outfit that she had to immediately put on and wear for the rest of the night!!! So cute. I love it.

Everyone helped Will open his present and McKenna was the first to try it out. I've never seen such an adorable rocking horse. It's the Toy Story horse and it talks. It's really close to the ground, which is so nice for him at this age. He still can't quite do it on his own, but he's close. Such a big boy.

We miss our Illinois family so much. 

We missed them at Thanksgiving and we always think of them on Christmas Eve because that's when the whole family gets together and we know we're missing out on a good time. This year Ryan did get a few texts & pictures during the family gathering, which was nice.

Thanks Grammy & Grampy for making Christmas Eve so fun for the kids.

And thanks again for the yummy fruit you sent our family from Harry & David! It's almost all gone :)  Christian ate most of the oranges. McKenna loves the apples and I think those might be some of the best pears I've ever had! We love you guys!!

December 23rd - Christian's Christmas

 On December 23rd we celebrated "Christian's Christmas." Christian's school has a Santa's Secret shop where the kids can buy presents for their families. Christian worked for over a month to earn $16 to take to Santa's Secret Shop. He could hardly wait to go shopping for our family. Grandmom volunteered at school the day Christian went and she said he put a lot of thought into the presents he chose.  Since it was such a big deal, we decided to let him give his gifts a little early. I didn't want the things he chose to get lost in the shuffle of Christmas morning. As it turns out, this night ended up being one of my favorite moments of Christmas.

Christian gave Will a giant bouncy ball! He LOVED it!!!

He gave me a covered baking pan. The perfect gift for me. Of course he insisted that I use it that night.

He gave Ryan some men's bath gel.

And then there was McKenna's present. He chose a Disney Princess school set for McKenna. It had princess pencils, paper, pencil sharpener and princess folders. She was so excited to open her present and I was so nervous that she would react appropriately. Earlier in the week Christian worked hard to make McKenna a "necklace." It was made out of paper and she flat out told him that she didn't like it and she wouldn't wear it. He was heartbroken and cried. So guess who got to wear the paper necklace for a day??? Me. 

I was really hoping she would love his gift and she did. Just look at her face. But look at the bottom LEFT picture....look at Christian's face. He was watching her carefully and he was so pleased that she liked it. I love that picture. Then of course she gave him a tackle hug :)

It was the most precious family night. We ordered out pizza and ate in the dinning room, which is always a sign it's a special night. I can't wait for "Christian's Christmas" next year!

Snuggle Time

Not the best pictures...but the moment was sweet. I adore being snuggled up in my bed with all three kids. I love the bottom right picture of Will peeking over at Ryan taking a picture while the other two are listening to me read them a Christmas story.

Cookies with Grandmom

 

I'm so thankful my mom handles this messy tradition with my kids! I can remember doing this as a child every single year, so I'm thankful my mom continues the tradition with my kids.

Christmas Crafting Party!

Sometimes I surprise myself and come up with decent crafts. Look at that ornament. I'm impressed. It used to be a plain glass ball. The picture really doesn't do it justice. It's so pretty and sparkly and all the sparkles are on the inside so it's not messy and won't ever loose it's sparkle. The best part.... it's soooo easy to make! Alright, I found all the details HERE ,just act super surprised and amazed if I ever give you one of the ornaments as a present. Later I monogrammed them with the kids initials with a paint pen. Super cute.

We had a few friends over to make a few crafts. Christmas trees!

And snowmen made out of an egg carton.

 

The glue and the creativity were flowing.....

 

Then things got a little crazy! That girl of mine sure does have a personality!

Happy Birthday Jesus Party!!!

 We love to celebrate Jesus! And we love having friends who come over and eat frozen pizza and apple sauce! ha! This time I spent my prep time on crafts and games and didn't worry about the food too much. That's my kind of party!

 We've been celebrating Jesus' birthday with these friends since Christian was two. I think that first year we had a total of  five kids between the three families. This year we have nine!! We always make some sort of edible craft. This year we made Christmas trees out of ice cream cones. Fun & messy!!

 

I think Ellie & Kate are babysitters in the making! Will loved them!!

 This is the one time a year the dads all get to hang out.

McKenna and Gwennie always have a wild time. I have no idea why they have their hands in the air :) They're just goofy!!

I think this is one of the best traditions ever. An easy way to focus on the TRUE meaning of the season!

A Cousin Christmas

Welcome to the world's longest blog post:

Last weekend all our Brinkley cousins came to town!

McKenna was pretty much beside herself with JOY that she was finally going to get to see Abby. 

Notice how they're matching! That was McKenna's idea.

It was such a treat to see Adam (my brother Tim's son). He is the same age as Christian, so they have a blast together.

McKenna taught the girls some of her dance moves. I tell you what I have the sweetest nieces in the world! They are so patient and loving towards McKenna. Every single one of them loves Jesus and they are all the perfect role models for McKenna to look up to.

Everyone had dinner at my house on Friday night. Then 9 of the 11 cousins spent the night.

The next morning everyone tolerated my mini photo shoots:)

Emma on the left, Charis in the middle, Sophie on the right and Abby in the front.

And here's the entire Marshall/Wise family! 

Isn't this the best picture?? They are a beautiful family even if Nate is grossly out numbered!!!!

Elizabeth, Adam and Hannah!

Then we loaded up in the car and headed over to my parents house. It took us four vehicles to get there!

We played our crazy mitten game and the winner of that game got to open the first Christmas present. Christian won!

Love her and miss her all the time.

Adam gave Christian a bottle rocket! Oh the extreme excitement when he opened that gift!

Nate started to open his new night vision goggles, while Christian continued to admire his prized rocket.

Nate is so cute, he actually thanked the Lord for his presents :)

Then everyone else went to town opening their presents.

Will even opened his very first present ever. It was a monkey snow hat. So cute.

Mimi loves her boy!!!

Then it was time to head out into the frigid temps to shoot off the rocket.

Time to eat. My mom worked very hard to fit all 19 of us around the table.

Yum.

New toys are always so exciting!

And so are pretend earrings.

The Brinkley kids were thrilled that I was once again attempting to take their picture.

Will was a fan favorite.

I'm so glad Uncle Tim was finally able to meet Will. I think Will loved him.

The girls played some games.

And then it was pretty much time for everyone to head home. It was a great weekend, just way too short. We are just so thankful we had this special time together!