Christmas and more...

What a fun Christmas we had this year! We've enjoyed each day of the girls' vacation and the children have just engrossed themselves in playing with their new things! We had some Christmas laughs this year--Colin was VERY into opening gifts, but was quite a menace--we had to strap him in his chair to allow the gift opening to go smoother! We also got a laugh when, 3 days after Christmas, Ellie said "Mom...what is that bag under your bed?!" Oopps....THAT is where her last gift was stashed! It was fun to see the girls so excited to exchange gifts with each other, to be so thankful for each item opened--it was just heart warming.

The girls' school did a project this year---the children actually became published authors! We had let the girls believe we were not ordering the books, when in reality, we had arranged with their teachers to get the books to me "secretly" for Christmas. It was fun to see their reactions as they discovered their books under their stockings!

Above, you will see a collage of Ellie on Christmas day--she was very into the lip gloss she got, her new clothes, and her Packers lanyard for her YMCA card--now there is no excuse for losing that card in the swimming bag right?!

We got the family a wii this year for Christmas. Andy got it all set up the night before and we had 3 items wrapped for the girls to "discover" the gift. To see them open these items, click HERE. The wii continues to be a big hit--it's been fun for all of us! And Colin? He sits on the ground watching and cheers when the machine cheers!

Jayna was thrilled with EVERYTHING. She loved her American Girl tee shirt (middle photo), her play school toys, books and games. She just loves life!

Ava REALLY wanted a snow globe this year...and look at the bottom right photo--her very own snow globe...and it is a family of 6 outside a church! It is a prized "toy" by all...we've even caught Colin carrying it around (yikes!). She also REALLY loved her Super Why "Princess Presto" cape, tierra and wand (middle photo).

Colin....he is the proud owner of the "biggest little Hawkeye fan" shirt, more books and another magnetic fridge toy. As you can see by the lower right photo, he was REALLY enjoying a chocolate chip cookie fresh from the oven on Christmas day!

After opening gifts, we spied Ava snuggling her new horse, wearing her Princess Presto pieces and watching the Nutcracker on TV!

One of the things Ellie did this vacation was make almost all of our dinner on evening--we called it Meatloaf a la Ellie! She was very excited to mush the meat...and then decided it was VERY cold! It was delicious though! :)

On New Year's Eve, we all had ice cream sundaes with a variety of toppings. Colin didn't like the ice cream, so he enjoyed smarties. In case anyone is wondering....huge bowls of ice cream and smarties are not the best sleep aids for children....

As you will see on the left side photos below, the girls tried to have a sleep over in the pink room. We got them all situated, gave them "talk time" and then put them to bed....2 hours later when we went in to wake them up to see the ball drop, we couldn't find Ellie! She had moved from the floor next to Jayna onto Jayna's bed! After watching the ball, she went back into her bed and Jayna into her own bed! So much for the sleep over!

On New Year's Day, we enjoyed playing as a family in the YMCA's gymnastic's center and then had dinner with friends. The girls really got into dressing up (middle picture below) and we even had an impromptu 40th birthday celebration for Mike!! Happy Birthday this week, Mike!

Happy New Year to everyone!
Here are some fun short videos from our week:
Top: Ava dancing to the Nutcracker
Bottom: Colin dancing while being trapped in his seat