Christmas

Merry Christmas 2021. It came and went so fast, but it was a great time. Getting ready for Christmas is always fun and a little stressful. Russell and I had fun getting together on our little quick trips into town shopping for the kids without them there. It was our little quick dates together. My favorite part is taking all the kids to the store and splitting up and shopping for each other. We have to use our coats to hide all the presents from each other. We also have a great time doing the 12 Days of Christmas to a family we decided on. The kids love running up, dropping off the presents, ringing the door bell, and running away. It has been a great family tradition for years. 

This Christmas came early on Christmas Eve because Russell had to work on Christmas Day. We got a hold of Santa to tell him that we needed him to come on the 23rd instead.  He said that would not be a problem. We opened up the traditional Christmas Pajamas on the 23rd and Brooklyn's and Charlotte’s were the best. 

This was Brooklyn's first Christmas and first time opening up presents so she wasn't quite sure what to do with the wrapping paper.  She would rip one piece off and then try to eat it.  Unfortunately Charlotte had been sick for the past few days so she was worried that she would be sick on Christmas.  Thankfully though, she started feeling much better by the time Santa came.

 For Christmas Eve dinner I planned on making broccoli cheese soup.  That morning I thought "What would make the soup even better would be if we had bread bowls."  So I searched Pinterest to see how hard they would be to make and the recipe I found seemed really easy especially because I was already making rolls and cinnamon rolls.  The bread bowls turned out perfectly and they were perfect for the soup.  I will definitely be making these again.  Russell was jealous he didn’t get any because he was at work. The kids loved it.  

After writing their letters, everyone headed to bed.  The big kids were all downstairs in Emily's room and Charlotte and Brooklyn were in their own room.  Everyone was too excited to sleep.

 The next morning Russell came home from work and he got to see all the presents before anyone else. All the older kids were downstairs fighting to get upstairs and he had to keep telling them stay down there and wait for the little kids. It was brutal but funny to watch. It was Brooklyn’s first Christmas so she got to come out first and see what she got. Then it was Charlotte and then it was a battle to keep the others downstairs. Up they ran to see what they got. It is so fun to see their faces. The kids loved their presents from Santa and their gifts to each other.

Emily got a gift from Santa that surprised us. He gave her her own phone! Russell told her he was going to have words with Santa because she was not supposed to have a phone until she was at least 16. She laughed at him and said go ahead and talk to him. 

She also got some riding clothes for mountain biking and a new water bottle and cage for her bike. Her other favorite present was the apricot popcorn tree shirt. Look at this cute happy young lady holding her phone up. Love you Emily.

Colby has been our Lego lover ever since he was around two years old. His Lego collection has become really big over the years. This year Santa and his sister added to it. He got a really cool Corvette Lego set that has an old 1967 Corvette and a new 2021 one.  

Each of the kids got a cool wooden snowboards for sledding and Colby was way excited to try it out. He also got a really cool Ferris wheel Lego set. 

Colby liked all of his other gifts as well.  He received a mini drone from Logan, a muscle car calendar from Emily, and a basketball net from Charlotte. It is time for the boys to start packing their own clothes for trips so they each received their own duffel bags so they can. The boys have also wanted baseball helmets for a while so Russell got them each one. Colby also was excited to see that Santa gave the family a punching bag to hang in the garage. He wants to start learning how to punch and box. 

Logan was the most excited to get up the stairs. Emily had to keep grabbing him by his pants to keep him from going upstairs. He was excited to see that he also got a snowboard and his go kart hover board attachment. He was jumping up and down full of excitement. 

There has always been an issue with sharing basketballs in this house because Logan did not have one. Now he finally has his own and he can play anytime he wants. Once he got his ball, he put his name on it and tried to remember my phone number but he kept messing up and scribbling it out. By the time he was done he had quite a lot of black scribble on his ball. He has always wanted to look at the stars and see what they look like so his sister got him a cool telescope.  Charlotte also knew how much Logan loves his dragon animal, Cinder, so she got him another one so Cinder would have a friend to play with.

Charlotte was upstairs asleep when Russell got home. She heard him come home and woke right up ready to run into the front room.  She could not wait! When it was her turn to run into the room she saw what she really wanted. It was a Barbie RV. She jumped up and down with excitement. 

Colby had a great time making his present for her. Charlotte has always wanted her own pop it game, so Colby found a cool design and made one for her. She was way excited. She also got her own basketball to play with that was just her size.  She also got some more Barbie clothes and a Barbie bike. Emily and Dad got her some cute girl hair ties, sticky earrings, a necklace and bracelet. She felt like she was being pampered.

Brooklyn’s first Christmas was fun for her and us. It is the age where she did not understand but loved pulling on the paper. She got an inflatable ball pit with balls in it and her first Cabbage Patch doll from Santa. 

We also got her a few baby toys that were new. Colby made her a new rattle out of two spoons and an Easter egg.  I think that was her favorite new toy.  All day she rolled around ripping paper, grabbing new toys, and just watching all of us.  I think she had a good time with us.

Christmas was also the first time she tried to crawl!  It is a funny army crawl on her arms and toes, so not quite her hands and knees yet, but she is able to get around to where she wants to go.  There were so many things on the ground all day that I think it gave her more incentive to move around to everything.

As for Russell and I, we got some cool present from Santa and the kids too. 

Colby knew that I need a bigger unbroken umbrella. Logan got me a flour sifter and apple slicer. I also got a matching shirt like Emily so we can be twins. I have always wanted to go see the Blue Man Group in Las Vegas, so Russell got me tickets and a weekend stay in Vegas together.  I'm so excited! 

As for Russell, Emily knew his old bike pump was on its last leg so she got him a really cool bike pump. He also got some new running shoes and some new pants. What a great day!

The thing we love the most is taking time with each of the kids and playing with them. We set up Emily’s new phone, got to play Barbies with Charlotte, put Logan’s go cart together, helped Colby with his Legos, and played with Brooklyn in her ball pit with all her new toys.  The whole day was so much fun to be together as a family. We had a great traditional breakfast of ham and eggs and awesome wreath cinnamon rolls. We played all day with new toys and games. MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!!