I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This year the kids discovered a clue every day that would lead them to their prize. I think they loved the scavenger hunt more than the item (which were mostly books or audiobooks with a cocoa or cider or candy treat thrown in sporadically).
** Look at the girl who loves to wear tank tops all year round. She gets away with it in the winter by wearing a sweatshirt or sweater over top, but then taking it off every chance she gets.
Ruby,Corinne, Eli and Jayden watching a little Jack Frost.
Auntie Camie and I took the older more civilized children to the teddy bear tea in Redmond and to meet Santa Claus. They were so happy to pick out their own teddy bear or stuffed moose (in Elijah's case) to take home and love and cherish.
Later that evening we had our annual Polar Express Party and ginerbread house decorating with the Martins and the Andersons.
This is Corinne's Christmas List for santa (I guess that's as close of a letter as we got this year). I you can't read it, it says: Freddy bear, Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, and a cat.
Eli also put a cat on his Christmas List, and by the laws of "Santa Claus," the kids thought there would be 2 cats come Christmas Day because they each asked for one.
This is the best of the photos I shot of the kids before the Kids' Christmas program. 3 is SO much harder than 1. . .but well worth the effort. The girls are wearing matching dresses (I think, for the very first time! It's so cute. Why haven't I done this before?)
Eli was a shepherd again this year. He loved the fact that he got to dress up in a costume and that he didn't have any speaking parts. I like the photos done with a touch of the "pencil sketch" element from picasa.
Corinne with her BFF, Brooklyn.
One of Ruby's favorite things this year was the candy canes. She got a taste early in December and never looked back.
Here are a few pictures from Corinne's preschool Christmas party. They sang some songs for the parents, did a book gift exchange, ate festive snacks and even got to sit on Santa's lap. Everything a really great preschool party needs!
Ruby was not too thrilled about meeting the "big guy".
Christmas Eve
We had the Martins and the Andersons over to our house for Christmas Eve. Thankfully everyone was well enough this year. Corinne had a stomach flu the night before but was feeling mostly better (well, at least enough to open presents.)
This is the clam before the storm. The present opening began immediately after this picture and the living room was as if a wrapping paper tornando had hit it and hit it hard. We haven't had this many kids opening presents at the same time before.
Ruby was hillarious! First, she wouldn't thrown a single scrap of wrrapping paper on the floor. She had to make sure she handed it to some one responsible who would dispose of it correctly. Second, she instantly loved her froggy puppet and I believe she thought it was kinda real. She handed to froggy the rest of her wrapping paper scraps and laughed every time it talked to her.
Decorating Ruby was another fun activity for the boys this year.
Corinne winding down in our room watching Beauty and the Beast.
Elijah winding down in his room reading Charlie Brown comic books.
Christmas Morning
We spent Christmas morning opening stockings and gifts. Ruby had thrown up all over her crib (must have been what Corinne had). So first we started off with a load of laundry and a bath. The older kids were great as they waited a little longer to see what Santa brought them. We enjoyed home made cinnamon rolls and orange juice for breakfast. Yum!
Ruby opening her baby doll. Corinne admiring her Cinderella.
We went to the church in the afternoon and met the Hockers (of the Jeremy Hocker Clan) and the Acrees for an all out nerf war (who knows, this may be the start of a tradition). I thought we had enough nerf for our family, but we were definitely out "nerfed"! They set up barriers and we loaded our pockets with ammo. It was a free-for-all which served the kids in this age group fine. Here's a picture of Uncle Jeremy reloading Corinne's semi-automatic fot the umpteenth time.
Second Christmas Eve/New Year's Eve
Some of the Hockers were out of town for Christmas, so we got together over New Years and called it Christmas Eve/New Year's Eve. The important thing was that we were together. We had a de-lic-ous dinner of prime rib and baked potatoes. After we put the kids to bed we stayed up all the way 'til midnight watching "oldies" music videos, hot tubbing and talking, and viewing Times Square and the ball dropping on TV. We all slept over and had breakfast caserole and our 2nd "Christmas morning" in the morning.
Gettin' some drinks with Grandpa. I just like to show how little they still are.
Here are our "snow shoes"! Ha ha ha!!
It was memorable because we made lots of memories!
We headed out with the Hockers to the Redmond ice skating rink on one of the coldest nights of the year. We skated because the kids had been looking forward to it, but we didn't stay long. We ended the night with pizza and hot chocolate (just what the doctor ordered). Until Jayden started throwing up and the party had to end. . . and the stomach bug lives on. Better luck next year with the flu, head colds and stomach bugs. It seems to hit around Christmas break every year.
~Laura Ingalls Wilder
