Christmas Dinner

For the third year in a row, we've smoked turkeys and hosted a huge family gathering on Christmas Day. It is stressful to host a big family party when it looked like a bomb went off in our living room, but it is quite nice to not have to travel and let everyone come to us.

We try for open house style, where people can come and go as they wish, but apparently we host a great party, because nearly everyone was there for the entire thing.

This kid's forced smile is my fave. It's so... ummm? It's just so him!

I have a few tricks to almost always get a real smile from her. She always smiles when telling me about certain things. ;)

This was only about half the party!

Love this one of James and Nana.

Lots of blurry happiness.

E's brother and his wife, my brother and his girl friend.

SUCH a fun party.

And as always, E's smoked turkey stole the show. It was AMAZING!

Building a gingerbread house

Yesterday we decided it was high time to fill the kids with sugar and frosting, and make a gingerbread house. Now you can buy pre-assembled gingerbread houses at Costco. Life saver!

Look at these adorable faces.

Placing the candies perfectly takes a great deal of concentration.

Finished! Look at this darling work of art.

The kids are dying to eat it. ;)

Rainbow St. Patrick's Day Party

On St. Patrick's Day I hosted our third annual Rainbow/St. Patty's Day party. It is an event all little ones look forward to all year long. It is really the highlight of the entire year.

I'm joking of course, but the kids that we invite year after year really do get a kick out of the annual scavenger hunt for treats and annual rainbow craft made with delicious and nutritious Fruit Loops. ;)

These kids are my kids' best best friends. And while my kid's get to choose the guest list for their own birthday parties, I get to choose the guest list for the Rainbow party, making sure everyone gets an invite and all my favorite Mama friends are there.

I love looking back on these parties, because, as I said, same guest list, and the kids have grown SO MUCH.

Sixteen kids in attendance. I've seen each one grow up before my eyes.

This group of moms are the ones I spend the most time with during the work week when E is gone ten hours a day. They are my rock. My best friends. And my kids' playmates. And nobody can be sad when you've got sun, a backyard full of dirt and water, and lots of sugar.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

The kids are so good at the scavenger hunt and have all ten clues figured out within minutes.

 Rainbow crafts,

 Rainbow games,

And everyone dressed in green.

 Seriously, I've known most of these ladies since their five year olds were babies.

Mostly boys, but we do like girls too. Gotta increase our girl ratio.

The best part of the party, without a doubt, was filling a garbage can with sand and dirt and adding more and more water until everyone was covered in mud. A quick hose-down of eight kids at the end of the afternoon was the perfect way to bid everyone farewell; because all other moms really want wet, dirty, cold kids as long as they are happy, and oh were they happy. 

Our party last year, and the year before that.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Our Christmas tree has been up for two weeks. Yep, we are one of those families. Once all the golden leaves have fallen outside and it gets cold and gray, we want our living room to feel cozy and warm, and nothing gives it amazing coziness like our Christmas tree.

However, I did save this blog post until after Thanksgiving, because I do adore the end of November and don't want to rush Christmas along too much.

The day we got the Christmas tree out we also got the kids' new Christmas pjs. Because there is something so special wearing new pjs to decorate the tree and every night from here until Christmas arrives! We want to get a lot of use out of them, and they've been wearing them non-stop since.

Both E and I sat back and let the kids have at it. They each picked their favorite "instruments" (as James calls ornaments) and found a perfect brach to place them.

Juliet found one brach she was particularly found of.

I love how little kids decorate. This branch held six or eight ornaments all at once.

They both loved climbing on the side table to get a little higher on the tree.

Christmas music played, the fire was light, snow gently fell outside, and we really started Christmas season on the right foot.

Once James found the Santa hat in the Christmas box earlier in the day, there was no taking it off. So, since we had fresh snow, and happy kids, I decided to try for some header photos.

Happy holidays! May your Christmas season begin with pure joy and some fresh snowflakes.

Just for fun, here is decorating the Christmas tree last year and the year before.

Christmas Day!

Christmas Day came and went in a whirlwind of candy, smiles, food and presents presents presents. I always wish Christmas Day could last a little bit longer, it is oh so special.

As any and all Christmas days should start, it begun with an excited dash to the living room to check if Santa had come. Oh he had come! A huge pile of golden presents awaited the kids. Next we rushed over to our stockings and James found one of the only things he had asked for. "A snuggly squirrel".

Before many photos could be snapped the stockings were dumped upside down and happy squeals filled the sleepy living room. Each kid got gummy worms, bath time foamy soap, lollipops, and the favorite of all, they each got a sheet of bubble wrap.

After E and I made coffee we moved over to the presents Santa left. James inspected each one, shaking and weighing, trying to guess what each held.

One of his bigger gifts was a stomp rocket, where you shoot rockets into the sky using air propulsion.

The doctor tool kit was addressed to both kids, but after Juliet received a fake shot she has forsaken it. She won't touch it. James however loves it.

Full exam before eight am.

The thing we were most excited to give the kids was a homemade pipe kit for the bath. We used PVC pipes, attached suction cups and the idea is you can make custom paths for water to flow in the bath tub. Both kids were thrilled (and it has since proven to be really fun!).

Checking out the new pipes on the front window.

As always, each kid got a book. James's "Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late" has been a huge hit.

At ten we loaded up the kiddos for a jammie brunch and more presents at E's family's house.

We were greeted with a living room brimming with gifts! Juliet found her cradle first thing and started working on getting all the babies to take a nap.

This little love is so sweet and darling. I got to get all my snuggles in before she starts denying anyone but her parents.

Can you get over these three in their Christmas jammies?

Soon we opened stockings (filled to the brim with more sweets than ever). Both kids gravitated to the lollipops and wanted them open immediately.

Lots and lots of presents.

The night before James asked to sit next to Auntie Melissa for dinner, and the next morning he requested to sit next to Emilia. Never before has he not wanted to sit next to E and I, so this was huge and super adorable. At one point he said "I'm sitting in a girl sandwich! Both the girls I love."

Once home we put the kids down for a nap and got right to work. I polished silver and set the table. E cooked. We were hosting my Dad and his fiancé, my mom and her husband, my siblings and E's siblings for dinner. E wanted it to be perfect, so he smoked two turkeys for the occasion. They came out AMAZINGLY!

Soon everyone arrived, more presents were exchanged, and everyone sat down with hot wassail with rum. Both of my shy kids were being amazing (which is a miracle, since even with family these two act super shy).

Lots of partying to be done.

Dinner was served on the silver platters I inherited from my grandmother. Everything was DIVINE. Every single person could not believe how yummy the turkey was, and even in the middle of dinner James said "everyone look at me! Look at me! I am LOVING the turkey!" Everyone laughed at our sweet boy.

Chef extraordinaire.

Lots of happy silliness ended out the perfect day. Merry merry Christmas!