On the First Day of Christmas

We celebrate all twelve days of Christmas in our home. The Advent season is such a hectic time for us and Christmas day is no different. After Christmas day things slow down a bit and we have time to breathe again. While we finally got our tree decorated the gifts don't get put under the tree because the temptation is too much for our little ones. I crept downstairs early Christmas morning and place a bunch of gifts around the tree. There's just something about waking up on Christmas morning and seeing a tree smothered with gifts. There's just a little excitement all around. Though the children were quite exctied they still had to wait before they could open anything. We had a church service to attend, cake to eat, coffee to drink, and church members to visit with first.

After we all arrived home after church the children changed their clothes hurriedly.

They separated piles of gifts for themselves.

Then chaos broke out as we let them open their gifts from Yei and Grandpa and Mimi and Papa.

They have some pretty generous grandparents.

Anna was pretty excited about this box. She didn't even open the box to see what was inside. She just liked the box. Can you tell?

Once all the gifts are open I get a bit twitching just looking at the madness of such a mess. This is another reason celebrating the twelve days of Christmas is a good thing. There's less of a mess to clean each day.

The children love the gifts they received from their grandparents so much that we have hardly heard a peep out of them since. 

The Tree

Amidst the season of Advent we did find time to get our tree up before Christmas day. I'm happy to say that we've had it up for just over a week now.

For weeks the children had been asking when we could decorate the tree.

They could hardly contain themselves. 

They even started putting ornaments on the tree before it was completely put together.

As with many families with small children (or pets) the ornaments seem to be moved quite often.

The majority of our ornments reside in the top 2/3s of the tree. :) It's a fun sight to behold. Hope you have a blessed Christmas eve!

Lists

How do you shop for Christmas? Do ask your children for lists or do you just know what you want to get them? A few months ago I asked my children to make Christmas lists, so I could start my Christmas shopping. I'm not one to nag, so I only asked once. I didn't get their lists until I was just about done with my shopping. Looking at these lists I feel like I must fulfill them. It's so hard not to, right? This is Rebecca's (age 10) list. I asked her if she wanted anything else and she told me that she really couldn't think of anything else that she "needed." When I asked her why she wanted socks she said the elastic had stretched out and they didn't fit very well anymore. Now I feel like the worst mom ever because I can't properly clothe my children. Had I known this we could have remedied that problem months ago. Looking at her list how can I not get everything on it?

Rachel wrote David's (age 4) list for him. I'm not even sure he knew what he wanted. I saw them looking through the Target ad. The last thing on the list is "a farm." I love it. Hey, Joel and Dawn can we send David out to live with you for awhile?

Thomas (age 6) has a pretty simple list that I love as well. Rachel wrote this out for him. I'm not sure why he didn't want to write it himself. I think Rachel writes a little faster and neater. Legos are this boy's life right now. He plays with them all day and night. Yes, he literally sleeps with his Legos in bed with him. I love that he asked for a picture of himself. No worries! Camera Jan to the rescue.

Now Rachel (age 7) had a list as well, but she lost it. Her list was pretty long. She pretty much went through the American Girl catalog and wrote down just about everything. That's it. All American Girl things.

Our little girls are actually the hardest ones to shop for because they don't need anything and we don't want anymore crap in our house! They're pretty content with all the toys they already have. I actually think they they are mostly just looking forward to opening their gifts.

In the past we have celebrated the 12 days of Christmas by letting the children open one gift a day for 12 days. I believe things may work out this way again this year. I have just a few odds and ends left to purchase, so let the wrapping begin. I used love wrapping presents. Then I had 6 children and we started celebrating the 12 days of Christmas. How do you celebrate Christmas?

Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day!  When we go to church on Sunday mornings we take two vehicles.  Jared normally leaves at an insanely early hour, before anyone around our house is even awake.  The rest of us stroll in just before church begins, relieved that we are not late.  My point here is that I didn’t stick around for Sunday school this morning.  I had two crabby babies.

When Jared and the older kids got home they brought me a rose and flowers along with lunch.

Being a mom, I have come to expect the unexpected. A lot of times things don’t always go the way you want them to go or the way you plan for things to go.

Just because things don’t go as planned doesn’t mean that it’s a bad thing.  Sometimes things turn out better than you had hoped.

Sometimes the outcome is much sweeter.

I mean who can top this cuteness? And this chubbiness?  Having a ton kids is something I never would have expected, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else. I love being a mom to all of these beautiful children.  And now, if you don’t remember this video from my post last year or you never saw it all you must watch it.  It’s hilarious.  If you’re in a bad mood it will definitely put a smile on your face. 

Happy Mother’s day to all the mom’s out there.  I love you Mom!

Boys…

Jared and I were in the kitchen having a conversation when all of the sudden he says, “Why don’t you put that on your blog,” as he’s pointing out the window.  He says that often around our house.  I usually don’t have my camera handy, though.  It was so random.  The kids were outside in the front yard and David just happened to be in the backyard.  He probably knew I would tell him to take his shoes off if he came in the house, so why not just go right there?  The grass needed to be watered right? So this is for all of my friends who don’t have boys yet, but are about to have one.  This is what you get to look forward to in the future.  Really. I’m not sure I’ve met a little boy,or big one for that matter, that hasn’t done this.  (David never even knew I got this photo of him.  I shot this through the back door in the kitchen.  :)  Sneaky, huh??)

Easter Outtakes

I think with just about every holiday I have included my futile attempts at a group photo with the kids. Here are a few of them.  There is always someone not looking at the camera.  I did enjoy messing around with the colors.   For the most part they were all pretty cooperative.  When we got home I tried again.  Maybe I should have bribed them with candy.  Just a thought. I don’t suggest taking photos at noon when the lighting is so harsh.It was also lunch and nap times.  They’re still holding up okay. I have to say that the shadows are horrible.  Elizabeth is starting to fade.It’s still fun to look through all the photos.  You can see some interesting things begin to unfold. 

Happy Easter!

i heart faces - Bundled Up

It was the first snow of the season and I couldn’t contain the kids in the house any longer.  Check out some more entries at i Hear faces.

Happy Valentine’s Day

And that’s what you get in a five minute photo shoot. 

I also got a dozen of these beauties from Jared.  I’ll sure them with all of you.  :) Happy Valentine’s Day!

Hilarious Outtakes

Remember that photo I entered for the i heart faces contest?  When I took that photo we were just hanging out and Rachel and Thomas wanted to have their picture taken with Anna.  All of the kids just love being around her.  They crowd her.  They get in her face.  She’s usually a good sport.  She lets them know when she’s had enough.  She’ll just start crying when it’s too much for her. Can you tell that she puts up with a lot?  Tickle, tickle… 

Well, we have gotten back into the swing of things.  School is back in session, so until next time…

Merry Second Day of Christmas

    

Merry Christmas!  Did you receive your Christmas card from us?  No?  That’s because we haven’t sent them out.  If you’d like a photo shoot me an email and I’ll try and get one out to you.  Maybe I’ll even get a Christmas letter written out…or maybe I’ll wait until Epiphany, or Easter.  We’ll see how it goes.  Hope you’re enjoying your second day of Christmas as much as we are.