Christmas Eve 2014

Both Eben and Kivi had been learning piano this year, and our whole family was here for Shmee's engagement and Christmas so we figured why not have a Christmas piano recital? Eben and Kivi did a wonderful job practicing their Christmas songs and figuring out who would play what at the recital. We moved the keyboard upstairs and had a sing-a-long recital to the music they played. They even made programs. Eben designed the cover and Kivi learned how to use my (still) favorite program - Publisher.

 They played individual songs and then a duet for Joy to the World. They did an excellent job!

We had a couple of minutes for some cuddle (and whatever they are doing to Kirk and Bug) time before we left for the Christmas Eve candlelight service.

Our family, for the first time I think ever, wearing whatever they wanted to on Christmas Eve. Usually I'm pretty controlling about the whole matching, looking super good on this night, but too many other thing were going on and I let it go. And look at that, they're still all wearing Christmassy colors. They know how to make Mama happy.

After the service, we came back home and opened the white boxes with the silver bows - matching Christmas jammies! The ones for Tuff turned out so cute!

The First 23 Days of Christmas Part II

Continued from the previous post...

12-19-14     The fabulous Shari hosted her annual Gingerbread house party, which sometimes I think she does just for me, because this time our family was the only family to bring gingerbread houses ready to decorate. Well, actually we made gingerbread Bethlehem again. I was really proud of the kids too, because since they were the only ones to have things to decorate at the beginning the other kids watched them and right away they all invited their friends to help them decorate their buildings with them. Mimi came with us since she came up with Poppie and Nonnie and they went to work on rentals and helped the kids make sugar cookies.

12-20-14     The super busy day! We started the day by sewing the traditional Christmas jammie pants. (Well, actually we ended the 19th by sewing the pants, but we were still sewing past midnight, so technically, we started the 20th by sewing too.) Nonnie and Mimi helped, good thing, because making 9 pairs of pants takes a while. This year Peter came up with a brilliant idea to buy holiday flannel sheets! We bought two queen sets at around $20.00 each and voila pants for everyone! The girls have been reading the Frosty book a lot and dressed Poppie up as Frosty. 

At lunch time, we headed to the Norquists for their traditional viewing of White Christmas, but they put on twist on it this year and had a White Sushi Christmas party! Jon taught us how to roll our own sushi and it was good! The kids loved it too! But we didn't have time to watch the White Christmas part, because we had to head to Seattle for Shmee's surprise engagement!! Peter had helped Steve set up a scavenger hunt the day before and it ended at a gazebo filled with candles where he would propose. Peter had the job of kicking any bums out of the gazebo, putting the last clue, which included the ring, there and keeping the candles lit. The last one ended up being the hardest as it was very windy. He got a good workout. I waited with Tuff at a nearby coffee shop for Peter. Once she said, "Yes" Peter waited for them to leave and then cleaned up and the whole family met them at a restaurant for a surprise engagement dinner. She was very excited!

12-22-14       The 3rd Annual Family Christmas Pageant at LC3!  Three years ago we told Miss Niki that we would love to host a simple family pageant where no rehearsals are needed, the kids could come as any nativity character they wished and they would take turns reading from Luke 2 and singing songs. She made it happen that year and each year the stage gets a little fuller. Dada and ChristinEss did the music. This year Eben was forced to play Joseph. (For some reason all the girls want to be Mary and no boys choose Joseph.) Kivi, Jasper and Opal were shepherds. (Kivi was a bit of a pouting shepherd because she really wanted to be Mary, but she wasn't chosen out of the hat.) Berg was a wiseman. Pella was an angel and Tuff was Baby Jesus. (Which was why Kivi really wanted to be Mary.) This was actually the second play Tuff had been in during his short little one month old life already. He also played the one and only baby in the One of a Kind Christmas play the week before!

12-23-14    Sweet pictures. All my little boys. Mimi and Tuffy. Tuff in the baby's first Christmas stocking. Dada wake boarding - yes on Dec. 23. He really loves his dry suit!

The First 23 Days Of Christmas Part I

I know it's really called December, but let's face it, ALL of December is just Christmas month, I think we should rename it. And since it all went by like a big whir, I'm just recalling what happened through these photos. See, it's a good thing I try to snap picture while life is happening or else I would completely forget. So here's a quick look at our December:

12-5-14    Set up the tree day! 

It was Pella's turn to put the star on the top and she was so excited, until she got on Dada's shoulders and realized how high she was, then she hung onto his head with all her might and got really scared. It was very sad and super cute at the same time. Since we chose our tree in the snow, every tree looked perfect, and we ended up choosing the most lopsided tree. Peter had to invent quite the holder to get it to stand up straight. And then after it was decorated - it still fell over. But he figured it out and eventually our tree stood up.

12-8-14     We started our Advent calendars a little late this year. December came fast and I just wasn't prepared. But I got it together and the kids switched off doing the different Advent activities each day. We did the same ones as last year: socks with candy, lighting the candle, turning on the tree, putting up the Nativity character,  eating a candy cane off the wreath and waiting.

12-10-14     Tuff's Circumcision  It was a hard day for both Tuffy and Dada, who couldn't watch his little man get cut. Which was probably a good idea. Mama video taped the whole thing, because the kids really wanted to see it, and it was very bloody.

12-11-14     Cookie making day. Kivi tried her hand at lemon bars while the rest of the kids made frosted sugar cookies.

12-12 - 14-14     Jeremy's famous Christmas play, One of a Kind Christmas. Peter played a cynical old man who was redeemed in the end. Hmmm. Sound familiar? But, this time the musical was set in the Bavarian Alps in a little town called Chimachiney. Peter was Archibald Ramparthanon, the Mayor of the town, which has only one of everything, and I was his constable, Liam Neeson. The kids' favorite scene was the breadstick fight. 

12-15-14      Zoolights Night.  The power of the lit tree was too much for the cell phone camera, so this is all we got for a photo, but we always love seeing the fun lights in animated animal shapes and had hot cocoa and snacks in the cold with the Schocks.