Christmas 2013

December 24/25:  We had a fun, laid-back Christmas this year...  Christmas Eve was filled with a pj morning, wrapping presents, a relaxing afternoon of Christmas movies, delivering Christmas goodies to our neighbors, and family movie night complete with snowman pizzas and matching pj's:

Grandpa & Grandma Gorsch and Aunt NeeNee arrived towards the end of our movie.  Of course we had to set out cookies and milk for Santa and each kiddo got to open a new Christmas book (our Christmas Eve tradition). 

CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!

 

Waiting for Kinnick to wake up...

 

Reading the story of Jesus' birth and singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus...

 

 

Marc let me open one of my presents before we went downstairs... a NEW Camera!!!  Which he had already charged the battery for and had the memory card in place.  I LOVED trying out my new camera on Christmas morning and have had so much fun since!

 

Santa Presents:

Carver got a convertible car seat (which we switched him to in January because he's such a BIG boy!)

 



Kinnick got a big Lego set and a Lego storage system.  It works perfectly to house his newest obsession--LEGOS!

 

Macey got a veterinarian dress-up set and a vet set with lots of tools, 2 puppies, and a pet taxi.

 



Sadie got a pink set of scrubs along with a pink stethoscope, a "real" shot needle, band aids, and gauze pads. 

 



Marc and I felt so happy after the kids opened their presents--we felt like each kid got things they were really excited about.  They had so much fun playing for the rest of the day and the next few days.  All of their presents continue to be "favorite" things to play with!

 

 

Opening presents was quite the event this year.  Marc and I continued our tradition of getting each child 3 presents.  They also had presents from Grandpa & Grandma & Aunt Nee Nee to open... by the time you make rounds for 4 kids and 5 adults, opening presents takes awhile!  We had to take a break to eat breakfast and give Carver a nap!

 

 I loved watching Macey open this present--it is Sadie's build a bear, Emma.  Sadie wrapped it up to give to Macey because Macey has always loved this bear.  Macey's reaction was so priceless and I was so proud of Sadie's generosity and thoughtfulness! 

 

 We enjoyed having a huge Christmas breakfast--we had biscuits and gravy, cheesy eggs, bacon & sausage, red & green monkey bread and mimosas and poinsettias made with sparkling juice.  After cleaning up breakfast and changing out of pj's (most of us!) we had round 2 to finish up presents and open our stockings...

 



 

We also gave the kids their new ornaments for the year:

Carver got a "Baby's First Christmas" ornament.

Macey got "Drama Queen"--no explanation necessary!

Kinnick got a Ninja Turtle.

Sadie got a dunkin' donuts "munchkin" ornaments (she loves having special dates with her Dad when he takes her to school!) and also a cheerleader.  She is not in cheerleading, but she loves to pretend and she is a really great encourager!

 

We spent the rest of our day playing with our new toys, watching movies, and hanging out together.  We played a family game of Ticket to Ride (it was fun teaching Grandpa, Grandma, and NeeNee how to play!)  We also made a big Christmas dinner.  Chuck, Janet, and Steph left the following morning. 

 

We still had a family present for the kids to open and I had bought stuff to have a "hot chocolate bar".  We enjoyed these fun treats on Saturday night.  The kids LOVED our new game--Jenga! 

2013 Christmas Pictures

 

 

Zoo Lights

December 21:  One of the reasons we were super excited about our zoo pass this year was zoo lights...  couldn't wait to go!  Let me just start by saying--THIS WAS NOT THE PERFECT NIGHT... however, we made memories and we enjoyed the moment in time--isn't that what it's really about?

 

"Why was it not perfect?" you ask...  Well, for starters it was raining.  We decided to brave the rain because we had planned this into our week and there really wasn't anther time for us to go.  So off we went--wagon, snugly blankets,  hot chocolate & snacks, camera, and umbrellas packed.  We thought that it wouldn't be too crowded because of the rain, but there were a lot of brave people out!  (I wouldn't have wanted to see how crowded it was without the rain!) 

 



The lights were truly amazing!  Totally worth going... so many lights!  It really makes you feel like a kid to experience the magic of Christmas under thousands of twinkling lights. 

The hot chocolate was yummy!



This little boy was a TOTAL trooper!

We got to enjoy a magic show. The kids really liked this... even now they still do "magic tricks" and the magic words are always "Holiday Magic!"

We enjoyed singing some carols with Frosty.

 

 The kids LOVED the giant electric train display (and it felt awesome to warm up!)

 

Before we left, we spent some time in the play zoo so we could warm up and so Carver could eat and have a diaper change.  The kids played vet and enjoyed doing a craft.

And when it was time to  leave... our rainy trip took a turn for the worse.  Yes--we were THOSE people running to our car with a kicking, SCREAMING 3 year old!  She kicked her boot off.  The kind gentleman who picked it up and chased Marc to give it back (because of course Marc was high tailing it to the parking lot as fast as possible) simply grinned and said, "Good Luck!" 

Museum Fun with Friends

December 20:  I always feel like December rushes by and I don't do much that is un-Christmas related.  My friend Meg invited me to get a groupon for a local children's museum and go the Friday before Christmas.  My first thought was "I can't do that" but after thinking more I decided it would be a good break for all of us!  The groupon I bought was for 4 and Carver didn't count so we invited K's friend Lucas to come with us.  I met up with 2 moms from my small group and we enjoyed a fun relaxing morning...