To Other Grandma's House We Go!

We celebrated our 3rd Christmas with Chris's mom the other day. Her house is very nicely decorated and the kids love looking at everything. They were even more excited because she had stockings for them and themed wrapping paper!

Cutest pic ever:

Abs received lots of princess stuff and was super excited! She has a full fledged princess collection now!
Josh got a Tigger and a bunny DVD.
Jacky was thrilled with his Buzz Lightyear and shirt.
I think they were most excited for the candy and M&M's in their stocking! They wanted to eat them right away!

As you can see from the pic above, Josh is tearing in to a candy cane. Now, where are we going to put all these present?!

Christmas Day 2011

We headed over to my parent's house before the party started to open some gifts. Abby was especially happy to find her pink puppy!

Jacky got his Buzz Lightyear!
The kids got blankets, Abs a dollhouse, the boys a race car set, etc.

Then we tried taking pics. Almost impossible to get them all to look and smile!

Then all the guests arrived. The kids hopped from relative to relative. They especially enjoyed running around with G.G. They had my 90+ year old grandmother rolling around on the ground with them and chasing them!

I don't know who had more fun!
Then we opened even more gifts from the cousins!

And at the end of the night, we attempted some more pics with Chris's mom.
Abs was not cooperating.
Another great Christmas. So thankful to spend it with loved ones!

Santa Claus Definitely Came to Town!

and he dropped off tons of goodies! This is what the tree looked like at night with presents.

We had to use our side table as a makeshift fireplace stocking holder. That's under construction right now!

I was the first one up Christmas morning. I almost wanted to wake the kids up, but finally, Abs woke up and we went in for the others.

They were so excited about their stockings that they didn't really notice all the presents! Then the fun began!

The aftermath! Plus, our playroom is closed due to construction so our main room will hold all this for a while.
Everyone was super happy with their gifts. The boys went right to their blocks and started building. Abs was into her princess stuff and stickers. And there were more presents to come!

To Great Grandmother's House We Go!

Every year on Christmas Eve, we go to Chris's Grandma's house. Her house is nicely decorated and she has an enormous Christmas tree. Everyone brought an appetizer to share and we just sat around the tree on the heated carpet. I could have fallen asleep! So perfect!

Here's a couple of pics before we left.

This year was just so much more enjoyable because the kids were more outgoing and excited about presents.

They kept themselves entertained by eating all the food and running around.

Then it was time for the presents! Aunt Cathy wrapped presents in their favorite themed characters. They were just excited for that!
Of course, they were spoiled! Highlights were the Toy Story DVD and Shrek remote control car for Jack, princess accessories for Abs, and candy, candy, candy for Josh! Dad and the kids then went to another room where they watched A Christmas Story while the rest of the adults played a game. We had a great time!

We didn't get home till around 10pm, but the kids went right to sleep. Then it was time for Mommy and Daddy to get to work ;)

Our First Gingerbread House

We purchased our first gingerbread house today. Or, rather, Buddy, our elf, brought it for us. Chris was especially excited because he had never decorated one.

The kids anxiously looked on as Daddy put the house together.

The hardest part wasn't the waiting for the frosting to harden. It was trying to refrain from eating the candy in front of them!
They were pretty good about getting most of the candy on the house. Each sneaked only a couple of candies.

The finished product. Truly a work of art!
Can you tell who the automatic focus was on?
Chris told the kids to point to which candy they put on. So proud!
Jack asked if we could eat the house because of the candy. I told him he had to wait till Christmas was over. Maybe next year we will get 3 houses to decorate.

Old St Nick

We finally got around to visiting Santa Claus. This year, the kids are just into everything more so than last year. They had preplanned what they were going to say.

I snapped a couple of pics before we left.

Could these be any cuter?

Keep in mind that's Abby and Josh!

Here's a group shot. Getting more and more difficult to make them all smile.

Caroline and Baby Evie joined us at our usual Santa spot. Last year Abby sat on Santa's lap. This year, they were scared to even go up to him!

They wouldn't do individual shots, so we all posed. Again, impossible to get all 3 to smile.

Everyone got a chance to tell Santa what they wanted. Josh: Winnie the Pooh stuff. Abby: Snow White stuff. Jack: Buzz and Woody stuff.

They each got a certificate with their name on it and a candy cane and coloring book. Santa also handed out high fives.

Baby Evie did a fantastic job for a one year old. She didn't even cry!

Once home, Caroline snapped a couple of photos. Show some excitement, kids!

Chris always complains that we never have any pics taken together.

I think I am more excited for Christmas than the kids. Can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they receive everything they asked for. I know as the years go by, the requests will be a bit more difficult to fulfill ;)