Christmas Day

We did not have a white Christmas here.  Chicago and we can still see the grass in December?!  Odd.  But it was a great Christmas nonetheless.

Nora came down to a huge amount of presents
(largely thanks to Gram).

"Mom! This one has my picture on it!"

Let the gift opening begin!

I wasn't expecting too much excitement
from Myles about gifts until next year
but he was way into it.  He'd open one
and say, "ooohh" almost every time.

Nora kept saying, "let's see what it is!" while she was opening.

"Oohh!"

Trying on one of her new hats.

The four of us, in our Christmas pjs, on Christmas morning.

Nora got tired quickly.  I think all the presents were a little
overwhelming for her.  I asked if she wanted to take a break -
her response was, "Yeah, I'm just got happy enough right now."
After just two hours of being awake, she wanted to take a
rest.  She laid down in her bed for 45 minutes - didn't
nap, just rested and chatted - before she got up again.
She greeted me by telling me, "I'm SO much happier now."
And that she was.  

Even Rusty got special treats from Santa! 

There were two gifts of the day for Missy.  The first was
a salon kit she got from Gram.  Complete with hair straightener,
blow dryer, barrettes, and most importantly, a scissors.
She was thrilled to have her own scissors.  Just about every
present there after she offered to help cut it open because
"I have my own scissors now".

Beautifying 

Myles got his own baby since he's
very loving towards Nora's baby.
He picked him up and patted his back.

Then tried to share his beloved paci.

This was the other "gift of the season".
Nora got a new stroller for baby since
the other one was getting too small for
her.  Which also meant Myles inherited
the old one.  Bonus!

We had to take a break from opening
presents so they could each take their
babies for walks around the house.

Mega Blocks!  What can we build?

After presents, we got dressed and packed our things to head back to Wisconsin to see Dan's family for Christmas dinner.  This is where we were able to give Grandma the gift I was most excited to give.

But first, the kids gave her the Santa
hand print ornaments they made for
her out of salt dough.  She loved them!

We had given her a digital picture frame pre-loaded with
more than 600 pictures of her family from many, many years
ago through the present.  It was a labor of love that wouldn't
have been possible without everyone's contributions.
A special thanks to all the family who dug through their
pictures to provide some for her frame.

Everyone was huddled around it throughout the night
looking at all the memories packed on that frame.  She loved
it so much she got tears in her eyes.  

I was nervous from the change in our normal traditions it wouldn't feel like Christmas this year.  But gladly, I was wrong.  It very much felt like Christmas - relaxing, at home, surrounded by loved ones celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.  Exactly what Christmas should be.  After all... this is our new usual.

Christmas Eve

We decided this was the year to start our own family traditions. Normally, we would spend Christmas Eve celebrating with Dan's immediate family and spending Christmas Eve night and morning at my Mom's.  But it was important to me to have my kids wake up in their own house on Christmas morning so instead we invited my mom down to our  house to celebrate with us.

Christmas Eve started out with a visit to see Santa.  When we got home, we knew we wouldn't have time for a needed bath at night due to church and the arrival of my mom so we took a mid-day bath.  The kids were just about ready to go down for nap (Nora wanted pjs on since we just got out of the tub) when Papa called to ask if we were home so he could bring his gifts for them over.  

She received a Play Doh machine that makes "treats" like
gumballs, candy, lollipops, and ice cream cones.  She wanted
it open right away.

Myles got a track that came with a few cars and even a
helicopter.  I wish I could have captured his face when
he opened it and saw what it was.  His jaw dropped and
got a huge smile.  I'm glad Papa saw it.  

While Papa was here he was smothered in many hugs and kisses from Myles (or Milo Man as Papa has always referred to him as).  The part that made both of them laugh hard was when Myles brought over a tissue and had Papa pretend to blow his nose.  Laughs from everyone.

After church we came home to Gram
waiting for us! We took a family picture
before everyone was out of their nice
Christmas outfits.  Giving Myles a
present to hold was the only way to
keep him still for the picture.

After a delicious dinner, it was time to get more comfortable
and open one present and our Christmas pajamas.

The present came from Gram.  It was special gingerbread
plates to eat Christmas cookies on the following morning
along with matching gingerbread hot chocolate mugs
(two little kid sized ones and two grown up ones)

We tested out the plates with a before-bed snack - goldfish.

They also got one more present before
bedtime - light sabers - I mean, glow sticks,
for when we walk Rusty at night. 

This way everyone will see us
and we'll have no accidents.

Good night, sleep tight, Little Ones.  Santa is on his way!

Advent Calendar: Day 24

Day 24: See Santa

Santa was going to be at a restaurant just a few blocks from our house on Christmas Eve.  We've seen it advertised in past years but thought we'd check it out this year.  I don't think we'll ever wait in line at the mall again.  We walked in and walked right up to Santa.  No waiting.  It was lovely.  

Then we got to eat a wonderful brunch.  Sounds like another new tradition if you ask me. 

Nora was completely comfortable with Santa.  She
told him she wanted a ball for Christmas.

Myles on the other hand... not a fan.

Happy to see Santa.

A note for next year -- you can drop off a present for your child in advance for Santa to give your child when they come see him.  How cool is that?!

Advent Calendar: Day 23

Day 23: Deliver Cookies to the Fire Department

Today, we took this plate of home-made
cookies to the fire department for the firemen
to enjoy as a way to say thank you for their
service.  

Nora was pretty excited about this one.  I had the plate together the night before and she kept asking if we were going to take it to the police.  We dropped them off after church and the entire way there she kept saying, "I don't see any police mans yet."  Dan dropped me and Nora off while he stayed in the car with an almost sleeping Myles.

We rang their door bell and waited.
Sure enough... two firemen answered the door.
I told them we wanted to say Merry Christmas
and thank them for their service with a plate
of cookies and they happily excepted them.
Then Nora jumped up and down while saying,
"Merry Kissmas!" (that's how she pronounces
it!)

The firemen were awesome! They asked her what her name was and how old she was.  Very friendly.  Then I asked if they would mind if I would take a picture of them with her but they did me one better.  The invited us in to see the fire trucks.  She was SO excited.  We followed them to the trucks when one asked if she wanted to drive.  She nervously said no but did sit on the front after asking, "It's not gonna move?" That's when I realized she didn't want to "drive" because she was afraid the truck was going to move.  But they let her sit on the front and ring that bell that's next to her.  They opened the big door so I could get a better picture but I tried to go quick.  If they really knew me and how badly I wanted to bring my camera, I would have gotten about 37 more shots with them sitting with her... but I thought this was more than enough!  I was  going to be happy with taking a picture of her after we dropped the cookies off by the door where the trucks come out! This was more than I expected.  

I wish you could have seen her face as she
was sitting up there.  SO happy, looking all
around.  She saw me taking a picture
and started waving (which is why her hand is
in front of her mouth... she was waving). 

I think this was one of our favorite activities - for both of us.  It took all of five minutes but as we were walking back to the car she said to me, "That was really cool, Mom!"  Can't get much better than that.  And a BIG thank you to the firemen who made our days!  Merry Christmas!

Advent Calendar: Day 22

Day 22: Make a Popsicle Stick Snowman

I prepped this project while Myles was napping and Nora was out shopping with Dan.  I had to glue the popsicle sticks together and "paint" the top part black.  I didn't have black paint so I used a sharpie. Then, after dinner, it was time to start.  One of the cutest parts was when I said, "Alright, let's head downstairs and start our activity."  Myles (who has shaken the sickness -- kept his lunch and dinner down!!) does a little dance and says, "teedee! teedee!" which I interpreted as "activity! activity!" Love it!

Start by painting the bottom two-thirds
white.

In typical Milo fashion, he was into it one minute...

... and onto something else the next.

And then something else entirely.

After the sticks are painted white, I had
an idea to let them sprinkle glitter onto
the wet paint to give it a nice shimmery
look.  I think my punch must have been
spiked at dinner to think this was a good idea.

She was so delicate in her sprinkling
of the glitter.  Then she dumped a
quarter of the bottle on it.  At least
I was using this fancy-dancy glitter
catcher tray I happened to have.

Yeah... this is when Mr. All Over decides to come back
to be a part of the activity.  Spiked punch, I'm telling you.
He actually did really well.  He sprinkled a bit and then
would pick up the tray and give it a shake from side to side
because he saw me do that with Nora's when she was done.
He even tried to put the cap back on the glitter.  It tipped
over and spilled half the bottle but you can't blame a kid for trying.

Then you glue on the brim of the top hat,
add the googly eyes, a carrot (felt) nose,
and a pipe cleaner smile. And of course a
little star on his hat.

The final products!  You can't see all the shimmer in the
picture but, believe me, it's there.  I finished Myles' snowman,
because of course after the glitter, he checked out again.
And Miss Nora's (right) she did herself!

Advent Calendar: Day 21

Day 21: Handprint Christmas Trees

Once this project started, it wasn't something
I could continue taking pictures of.  So, here
we are about to start dipping our hands in
green paint to make a Christmas tree.

Mr. Myles came down with the sickness
that's floating fast and furious around the
midwest (can't keep anything down - even
water - for 12-24 hours) so he was out of it
but I still wanted to help him make a tree too.

This was just on paper after the canvases
were done.  She wanted to keep painting.
No surprises there.

Not the finished product but it gives you
a pretty good idea.  I've since added
a trunk but I still want to have the kids add
colored finger prints (similar to the reindeer
from yesterday) to make a strand of lights
and add a star to the top.  Just haven't had
time for that yet.  I'm hoping to show you
the finished product once it's done.

Soon after I cleaned up, it was snuggle time.
This is how we spent most of the afternoon
and evening.