Christmas!

This post should really be called, "I think this is what happened at Christmas." I had a little cough early in the week of Christmas and on Christmas Eve woke up with a fever and felt convinced I had the flu. So I headed straight to urgent care. They did not try to confirm flu, but gave a bazillion prescriptions (I could write a whole other post on that insanity, but anyway...). After getting home I felt a bit better and decided if it was the flu it was a mild case so I put my game face on and got ready for my parents, my in-laws, and my sister-in-law and brother-in-law to arrive within hours. Since I wasn't 100%, I was so glad everyone was there to help Doug (the Christmas Eve chef, along with Nick) out. Doug missed it to stay home cooking but I went to church to see Gianna in the Christmas pageant. It was adorable. 

Oh, I almost forgot, literally all of these pictures were taken by my mom and I was in the haze of illness and  based on these pictures it is clear to me that I was too sick or too drugged to remember a lot of these details, so thank you Mom for capturing Christmas for me!

After church, everyone arrived  at the house and it was time for festivities to begin. Doug's boss and family were even there to join us, so it was quite a crowd.

Gianna playing elf to hand out Christmas gifts.

I never thought I'd have a dining room big enough to accomodate all these people. (14 adults and 9 children!)  It was glorious! Doug was in heaven, I think, it reminded him of his childhood at his grandmother's huge Christmas Eve table. So happy that we can create those memories for our kids too!

The amount of cookies made by all the people in this group was, well, gross but also delicious! The kids' eyes were bigger than their stomachs I think!

The kids exchanged gifts. Thank goodness! I think doing cousin/sibling/friend gifts on Christmas Eve takes the anticipation craziness down a little bit...maybe even helps them sleep better! (Although, sleep on Christmas Eve, especially for me, was at a premium!)

Gianna was too excited about her special gift she made at school to wait until Christmas morning to give it to me and Doug. It was a calendar with handprint artwork for each month and with our family's special dates included. It was beautiful and she was so proud to share it with us and the rest of the family. Brought some tears to our eyes for sure!

Finally, Christmas morning! (After just 3 hours sleep for me, Gianna up for a bit with a fever, and Joe crying for an hour we managed to get excited about all the gift giving (and receiving of course!). 

Santa must have known that we would all be sick during the Christmas holiday and would need something to do because he brought the kids a WiiU and we all had a fun time playing together! Doug and Gianna felt terrible on Christmas day and by the end of the next week just about everyone had gotten the awful virus! Despite illness and fatigue, it was a wonderful Christmas and we were so happy to celebrate in our new home for the first time with all our family around us. We are truly blessed beyond measure!

December Fun

December included lots of fun activities...even for grownups! Doug and I had a lovely weekend away (thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!!) to attend Doug's cousin's wedding. We were so happy to be with all the family and celebrate such a fun couple. We had the best time!

Then there were concerts at the kids' schools. Gianna is in this picture, I promise. Every class in her school performed some holiday songs with voices or instruments. 

Mark's concert was really a performance for the kids by a musical duo. Mark hated it. Joe loved it. Joe loves music so much. He only says a couple of words, but he tries to "sing" everything and his dance moves have no equal. :) By the end of the performance, some of Joe's enthusiasm rubbed off on Mark and his friends.

The picture below makes me laugh every time I see it or even think about it. The whole preschool is on their feet rockin' out to the fun music. But not Mark and his crew. They just sat there like sullen teenagers!

Luckily, they eventually saw at least a little fun in it and got on their feet too...with Joe's help of course. 

Gianna had crazy hair day at school. Seeing the other girls, I know recognize my lack of creativity. So I'll be more prepared next year!

These next two photos are to document Joey's crazy hair. It is something else. Especially after a bath!

We did A LOT of baking to get ready for Christmas this year. Luckily I had two helpers. 

The Christmas Season Begins

After Thanksgiving it was back home to start getting ready for Christmas. This even included trips on the roof for the kids. They thought it was SO COOL! And Doug loves that our ranch is so easy and not dangerous to be on...makes Christmas lights a lot easier! These pictures make it look like Joe doesn't exist. I think we did 99% of our decorating while he was napping. I can only assume he would have been no help!

I love my new Etsy banner...may even inspire me to try making these myself. This space could definitely use banners on a regular basis! I also love that for the first time since we've been married (almost 10 years) we've had a home big enough to put out all our Christmas decorations. I love this time of year!

The festivities continued at a church children's Christmas party. It was a lovely time. Crafts, games, and a visit from Santa.

Followed by the church tree lighting. Apparently the company who does the Rockefellar Center tree did this one too...pretty cool!

Thanksgiving: Home and Away

Thanksgiving started at home when Mark's school had a celebration. The kids were all dressed up and his teachers served us a homemade-by-the-kids Thanksgiving lunch of turkey meatballs, macaroni and cheese, and other snacks. It was so cute and fun!

Then, due to impending bad weather, we opted to leave for Virginia on Tuesday night instead of waiting till Thanksgiving morning. Joe helped us pack, as you can see.

Leaving early was a great decision if for no other reason than it gave the kids time to play in the Virginia snow with Daddy and Grandpa

Thanksgiving was a great day for snuggling and looking handsome. We were so happy the Johnsons and my in-laws could join us!

Mark's 5th Birthday!

Mark turned 5 on November 20! He is a smart, funny, sweet boy. He loves to play with swords and action figures. He's constantly doing karate-type moves. He's so fun at 5!

This was the cake I made for him. It turned out pretty well, I think. And there he is opening his turtle figures and their van. I don't think he's stopped playing with them since then. He is quite obsessed with Ninja Turtles. (I'm too lazy to figure out how to turn the cake picture the right way.)  

On his birthday, he didn't have school so I took him and his cousin Jack and friend Caleb to a bounce place. They had a ball! Then we came back for lunch, cake, and presents. No big party, I couldn't bring myself to do it, but I think the day was special enough for Mark.

Mark had school the day after his birthday. He loved getting his crown and sharing a treat with his school friends!