Christmas Cont...

Grandma and Grandpa V. sent Christmas presents a few weeks ago and it was wonderful! What a great thing to have Christmas again. So much fun watching the kids enjoy their gifts.

The excitement!



What was all the excitement about?



Thrilled!



Even little one got into the present opening. She had slept through present opening on Christmas day so this was her first exposure to it.



That is GIANT sidewalk chalk!



Happy girl!

More Christmas

Jon took the kids out to spend their Christmas money from Nana and Grandpa.



Here's the loot! Sugar scored a car and cell phone! Not bad for a 20 month old. Sinatra brought home a puffle for Club Penguin and a Toy Story pop up tent. Popcorn put some of his money in the pot with the other two big kids and got two Wii games. He's saving the $23 left over for something else. Shakespeare got the video games and blew the rest on a Nerf dart gun. Gem did the same thing Popcorn did.

Thanks G-Pa and Nana! Happy smiles all around. So much fun for them.

Christmas 2010

This year we had Christmas at our house. We didn't travel anywhere else. We just stayed home. It felt lazy and wonderful. We certainly love family and felt torn about not being with them, but have come to the conclusion that this year, home is the place to be.



Here is our steady tree--12 years and going. I love fake trees! No watering, no falling needles, no stringing lights, no dragging the prickly thing out the door and hauling to a dump. Ahhh! Fake trees. If I want the fresh tree scent, I'll burn a candle.




Jon worked for 45 min. on Christmas Eve, putting together our GeoTrax around the tree. It was wonderful in the morning when Shakespeare and Popcorn came down first and hand something to play with while they waited on the rest.




And the rest did come (except Sarah. She didn't wake until 12:20--I kid you not. It was wonderful). Here's a grateful hug after opening a present.




This little guy was a perfect Christmas child. He got so excited about each gift and as he opened it that his feet moved constantly. He was adorable!




Here he is with his Diego Wii game. He's been asking for it for months.




Here are the big boys opening their suction dart crossbows. Big hit.




And the big present went to Sinatra! He was speechless--and embarrassed at the attention--and adorable--and in awe--and just adorable.




Here is Gem receiving the only Christmas gift that she didn't already know about. She went shopping with me on Black Friday and knew most of what was under the tree for her. This was a good surprise though. Daddy hits a home run with the Webkinz stash. He found them at Cracker Barrel for 50% off early in December.




Yesterday afternoon we went to our friends' house where they laid a feast before us. It was great food and wonderful friends and even made-to-order snow. A white Christmas indeed! We got about 6 inches!




I love the way these trees bend under the snow and look like they belong in a Dr. Seuss storybook.

Last night when we came home from their house, Jon stopped at the end of the driveway and shoveled it before we drove into the garage. A couple of the kids sneaked out of the car while Jon fetched the shovel from the shed and an hour long snowball fight began. They even pulled out the sled (originally used as a shield) and took a ride down the hill.

We finally tucked our brood in bed at about 10:30. What a great Christmas day!

Here are some Disney pictures in no particular order.

My mom and Sinatra. This is Sinatra's very favorite thing at Disney. It even trumps the monorail--that's sayin' a lot if you know anything about Sinatra.



Our accommodations.



This totem pole in "Canada" has a familiar face, Eh?



And Jon and I squeezed in a trip to China by way of Florida.



And of course, the castle.



Here is Sugar and Jon. Notice how bundled up she is. That was our existence for 2 1/2 of the 4 days in the park.



Here she is at our Polynesian dinner.



And here is Jon sporting his duds for the same dinner. He and my dad were singled out for a special honor--holding the limbo bar. First, of course, they had to lead a parade of kids around the restaurant while wearing this beautiful skirt and shaking a maraca.


Us in front of the "golf ball" (Spaceship Earth).



At the back of the train in Magic Kingdom.



That's it for now. I know that I will eventually post more. Just had to get some done tonight.

Okay, I lied. Here are two more--just for Jon's mom. We spent the week of Christmas at their home with Jon's parents and his brother's family.

Of Wanderings and Wal-Mart

Merry Christmas!!!! Merry Christmas!!! Merry Christmas!!!

After I talked with you last, we converted this mobile bad boy into a sleeping machine and put the kids to bed. The three boys go in the compartment over our heads; Gem goes on the fold down sofa and Sugar goes in her pack-n-play on top of the converted dinette. That leaves the short queen for Jon and me--right? No. I ended up with Sinatra on the pull-out sofa and Jon ended up with Gem in the bed. Gem, honey, that's the last night of luxury for you.

Jon drove with all of us asleep. He pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot at about 11:30. The rattling and wind-whistling stopped. You could hear a pin drop. Peaceful sleep--well, except for Sinatra's feet in my face.

Now we're up and moving again. We'll reach Jon's parents' in about 45 min. Then we can get showers and eat biscuits and gravy and just lay on the couch, because that's all you can do after you eat Jon's dad's biscuits and gravy--Christmas tradition. I'm sure we'll do presents and all that other stuff too. I'm just partial to the biscuits and gravy part.

Much love and blessings and peace to your homes today. And may you never sleep in a Wal-Mart parking lot with a three year old's feet in your face.

...O'r the Highways We Go

We're spending our Christmas Eve in our home as it hurtles down the road at 70mph. That's right--we're in the motorhome. We spent the last three days packing it up and now we're on I-77 S, heading toward Florida.



A friend let us borrow his air card (thanks, Shon) so we'll be able to keep you updated throughout the trip.

To all you aggressive drivers out there, please, oh, please, don't cut off motorhomes when approaching stoplights; they don't stop on a dime.

The kids are happily playing their DS game systems.



The boys are buckled in at the dinette, but Gem has taken up residence on our bed in the back. She is reading books as she bounces down the road. I gave her the complete works of Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory author).

Clean Sweep

Today I am cleaning. I'm not teaching a stitch of school; we're done with that for the year. Often, I can't keep up with my house. It moves too much. It wiggles and skips and rolls down hills. When it does this all the things inside my house, especially toys, fly all over the place. I even find things like Legos in underwear drawers.

So, today I grounded my house--just nailed it down to its foundation, and I'm cleaning from top to bottom. I'm making nice neat piles of Legos, cars, game pieces, Go Fish cards, stray socks, and board books. They are all finding their homes today.

Tomorrow I will untether my house and maybe it will feel like it's all dressed up in Sunday's best and behave itself while I get some other things done.

I don't think that any child let loose for Christmas break could be any happier than I am that break has arrived. Maybe I'll wiggle, skip and roll down hills--nah, 'cause I would have to get the grass stains out.

Decorating

We started off with the star on top.



And after a while I caught Popcorn doing my absolute favorite thing about Christmas trees--looking at the lights from under the tree. If you've never done that you haven't really experienced Christmas lights--if you are nearsighted take off your glasses--all the more fun!



Little Sugar watched her siblings enjoying the decorating.



She wanted in on the fun too. "Hey, what about this soft one on the bottom, Mom?"



She chewed on the buttons and mauled the edges, until ...



"What are they doing ... oh, oops! Mom! Maaaaaaahhhhhhh-m! Could you just reach... that..."



"Can al-most...alll-most..."



"Ah, yes! Never mind Mom."