Christmas Eve 2013

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve this year!  In the morning I asked the kids to go in and wake up Audrey and this is what I found... thankfully she likes them.  It was such a beautiful day! We had had an extended ice storm for about 2 days before, so the sun was a welcome sight, and it made everything just gorgeous.  We got everyone geared up and went snowshoeing.  Audrey was not super excited about being in the carrier at first, but she really did end up having a good time. James and Noah did so well on snowshoes this year and really enjoyed exploring our property in the snow. Ben tolerated being in the carrier and was pretty glad when it was over;)  We got to walk all around the pond to see what is at the back and on the other side now that it is frozen.  Snow shoeing was followed by some really fast sledding down our hill and lots of laughs.

During nap time Gabe stayed home to start the Christmas Eve soups while Noah, James and I met some friends at the movie theater to see Frozen.  It was a great movie and a really nice way to break the day.  After supper we let the kids open one present. In the present was a movie (The Incredibles) and movie snacks (a pretty rare treat:)).  We tried to have a movie night, as we thought it would be a fun way to pass the time waiting for santa... what we didn't anticipate (but in retrospect should have) was Noah's anxiety... He was so worried that santa would pass by our house because they weren't sleeping.  They were up for maybe 5 minutes past bedtime, and after asking to check the santa tracker about 10 times, we finally stopped the movie halfway through and went to bed... maybe next year:)

PreChristmas Visit North 2013

This year Gabe has to work right after Christmas, so we made our annual visit north the weekend before.  On Saturday we drove to Grammy and Grampy's house for the night. The kids got to open some presents there and were so thrilled with lots of books, dvds and two new hockey sets! In the afternoon we got to go and watch daddy play in an alumni basketball game (Schenck vs. Stearns) which was very exciting for the kids to see. We made gnocchi for supper and Noah and James got to get out for some snowmobile time on the pond.

Sunday we stayed at Nannie and Grampa's house and got to visit with lots of family.  The kids opened more presents and really seem to be enjoying the "Christmas everyday" theme of the weekend.  The hit of the day was definitely the toy chainsaw!  We missed the Witham Family and Uncle Jme and David due to the gross snow/freezing rain.  We did get to visit with Uncle Jon & his family and ALL the Pelkey's which is always an exciting time;)

Thanks for the great time everyone and for braving the elements to see us!

Christmas Preparations Part 2

One of the best things about finishing residency is the ability to have time for get-to-gethers with friends.  We held a cookie making/ice skating/cookie decorating party last weekend which turned out to be so much fun for parents and kids!  Gabe worked hard to get the pond shoveled off and despite the single digit and below temps, everyone really enjoyed the skating. The bottom picture of all the kids on the couch was at the end of the party when everyone started going a bit crazy from all of the sugar... we let them watch Curious George's Christmas show and all of the parents enjoyed 40 minutes of "resting time";)  Thanks for coming out to play with us everyone!

The bottom two pictures are of the Christmas gifts the kids received from a lady in Gabe's office... as you can tell, everyone was pretty thrilled to get a new hat.... and everyone (including Audrey) thought it was hilarious when James put the bow on her head. 

The dinosaur in the pie has been a series of surprises, in what we think is, Ben experimenting with some "Uncle J-me like" art exhibits.  We have been finding these toy dinosaurs in the funniest places and poses... I am sure there will be more pictures to come... if I can remember to take them;)  The kids have all been playing santa with this Mr. Potato head face.  They take turns being santa and having everyone (including Audrey, Gabe, myself and really anyone who walks through the door) sit on their laps.  I think that this is going to be a really fun Christmas this year!

Chester Greenwood Day and Other Christmas Preparations

This has been a fun-filled week of Christmas preparations!  Our first celebration was in Farmington for Chester Greenwood Day.  Our kids don't have earmuffs, but Noah borrowed a pair (before deciding that he didn't like ear muffs) and James was very happy to wear his protective ear wear to the parade which doubled as ear muffs.  It was cold, but we got to see a parade, take a horse drawn wagon ride, check out the cloggers and gingerbread houses, and see all of the Christmas trees ready for auction.  This will definitely be added to our calendar for next year.

The next picture was one Noah insisted on taking after he instructed Gabe to build the tower on him when he was laying "really still"... he was so proud of himself;)  Audrey seems to like Grandpa's chex mix just as much as everyone else in the family... she some how got the cover off the container and pulled out the bag (not to worry, she didn't actually eat any)... her older brothers were pretty upset when they thought that she was going to "eat it all".  James and Ben have been able to have some fun play while Noah is at school.  This day we made floam... it was a huge mess... glad Gabe wasn't home... lesson learned for the next time we make it;) Per usual, they had to get their cars out to drive in this new medium.  I am super thankful that match box cars go through the dishwasher so well!

The Christmas train is still together and everyone shares it pretty well. This picture Gabe snapped after the boys had been playing with the train for maybe 2 days... Yes, that is a police man tied down to the train tracks with elastics... done all on their own.  After we both had a good laugh about it we were really perplexed at where they got this idea.  If it were us we would certainly contribute it to the cartoons we watched growing up where it was a common occurrence to see this happen, but as far as we knew the kids haven't been exposed to any of those shows (not that we are opposed to them, it just hasn't happened).  So, after hours of speculating as to how cartooners came up with such ideas and it being "a normal" part of boy play (like turning anything into a gun or sword) I asked James about it. As it turns out, he was putting the police man on the track to keep the train safe and held down by elastics to keep the policeman safe from the train... well played kids;)

The bottom three pictures are from the hospital Christmas party.  Santa was there and we were able to convince 3 out of 4 of them to sit on his lap.  He was a bit surprised to hear James's request for a green umbrella and nothing else. Ben wanted nothing to do with Santa, but he really wanted a candy cane like everyone else.  He was having an obvious internal struggle, so we kept telling him no candy cane unless he stood next to Santa. But when Santa's helper walked up to him and handed him a candy cane anyway he took it and ran;) The other notable story from this night was when James vomited.  We have a general rule at meal time that the kids have to take a "no thank you" bite of whatever is being offered, if they don't like it after trying it then they don't have to eat it.  If we are not at home or it is something they are unlikely to like we often let it slide, but in this case everyone wanted cake and they were serving mac and cheese, so yes, I made James take a bite.... he really didn't want to, but really wanted cake... there was a lot of gagging which prompted me to grab a napkin and get it up to his mouth just in time for that gag to turn into something more... we will have to be a bit more careful about where we are the next time we make James try something...    

Our Christmas Tree Adventures 2013

We have been talking about cutting down our own Christmas tree for years, but it has never worked out... until this year.  It was really fun for the kids and took much less time than I thought.  It was just someone's house and instead of grass in their front yard they have rows and rows of Christmas trees of various sizes and shapes... ok.  They give you a saw and will even pick up the tree with a 4 wheeler right at the spot where you cut it, wrap it and tie it to your car for you... it was far from a National Lampoon's Christmas experience, but perfect for having 4 small kids;)  I omitted the picture where Ben only had one boot on... in his wanderings one boot fell off and it took a minute to find it, but during that time Gabe and I were secretly glad because it was slowing him down preventing him from running in and out of the rows like a crazy man trying to hide as we searched for a tree and trying not to lose him. Once we did find the tree, the boys were very entertained and watchful "helpers" as Gabe cut down the tree (this picture is one of my favorites and speaks volumes to our life at this stage;)).

We put the tree up in our front room largely because we wanted to be able to close the door if anyone started to act too crazy or went into a fit of rage around the tree.  The downside is that it isn't really a centerpiece in our daily lives, but for the next few years the front room is a perfect spot.  Next the ornaments... I opted for none and only lights, but I was over ruled, so the compromise was only nonbreakable ornaments... we had to amend this rule to no ornaments within Ben's reach because there is an important distinction between nonbreakable and "Ben proof"... I am pretty sure there are no Ben proof ornaments... maybe one day he won't be a bull in a china shop. 

The last tree saga this year was the train.  Nannie and Grandpa thought that the kids should have a train around the tree.  Since we don't put presents under the tree before Christmas Eve (again because of the Ben factor- in Ben's defense just a few years ago we were saying the same things about James who has gown out of this, so it is all in good fun;)) we agreed. The first train was a huge disappointment as it only played music and didn't go anywhere (thank you Christmas Tree Shop)... apparently Trey's didn't even play music, so it could have been worse.  In their grandparental guilt, Nannie and Grandpa drove down for a literal 30 minute visit (yes, that's right a 3 hour drive each way with a 30 minute stop) to deliver and set up a working train set.  The kids were obviously beyond excited to have the train and *so far* the fighting has been to a minimum... we'll see how long that lasts;)

Christmas Pictures 2013!

With a great deal of effort (and mostly bribery... yes, they are eating chocolate chip cookies in the last one) we were pleasantly surprised with the great shots we got this year in our backyard! It is a miracle and if we don't get another group shot until Audrey is 10 I think that we will be doing ok:)