We went to the 4pm Christmas Eve mass which is the most crowded, but the only one that would fit into Sean's schedule. We learned a long time ago to arrive a half hour early to get a seat. Lots of music before, it's not so bad.
Then we had the traditional T'was the Night Before Christmas reading before Sean went to work at 7pm
both angles...
We didn't have a big Christmas eve dinner, just an island buffet of random snacks-- and peanut butter buckeyes thanks to Anna.
Hmm, a couple rows of lights are out... will deal with that next year
Last year with Christmas in the hearth room, next year this will have the big dining table.
Christmas morning, too early to have eyes open before coming down the stairs
Sean worked until 5am and then he baked the monkey bread that I had prepared. I forgot to tell him to dump it out right away and thus, it was stuck in the pan and we pried it out into a pile of deliciousness, that I can only handle one morning a year.
Same goes for orange julius... which I taught the girls to make. This is the year for outsourcing and delegating
Love the age where you can buy big cheap toys and the kids are thrilled. My Little Pony, wheeee!
Anna pretty much got only one gift, worth more than a big pile of toys-- an iPad mini, which was really a gift to the whole family because it meant we now have enough electronics to keep everyone busy on long car trips
Anyway, to drag out the suspense I wrapped it in many boxes.
The crowd grew...
Finally, the grand prize, silence in the car for 18 hours each way to/from Virginia!
Patrick is obsessed with the rubix cube right now and I found some from a company in China (via amazon) that included a 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, and 5x5 and divided them up between the kids. He can solve the 2x2 but we can only solve the 3x3 with an app to help us. There is no hope for solving the other two.
Comparing cubes...
Lots of clothes and food treats for Megan
And they all love their fuzzy blankets, really helped on the car ride when they built a nest in the back to sleep half the way.
Really, those puzzle cubes were a big cheap hit, who knew?
Star Wars book, hope he reads it because I am sick of hearing him read about sharks.
Wrapped up... I do keep the heat on rather low, I'm from Michigan.
Boys were thrilled with their big gift and Patrick put it together mostly by himself because Sean was sleeping/working that week.
More ponies, so exciting
Patrick pretending that he doesn't care about ponies...
And a girl lego...
Emily was trying to comfort Megan and told her that maybe her next gift wouldn't be clothes, maybe it would be a toy!
Fun little art gift from Grandma that kept her busy for a long time, bonus
Since Sean was sleeping all day and we had no plans after opening presents we went to help at the community Christmas dinner
Little ones not as helpful but they tolerated us being there and away from their new toys
Megan did hours of dishes, such a good sport. She was happy to not have to talk to anyone, introverts unite.
But then there is Anna who is awesome at talking to new people. She would go take orders from the families that came in and then deliver their food to them.
This was our island of grazing, so popular that I will expand it next year on the big island!
Everyone I know got these this year, fun to color together and neglect the house and laundry and cooking...
A big hit from Aunt Katie
Anything Frozen is always loved, thanks Erin and Lane!
And here is Sean, enjoying his Christmas dinner while working. A very busy time for his company right now which we are tolerating because it is paying for the remodel. He was ready for our trip to Virginia though, coming up next!
