Our Christmas celebrations begin on Christmas Eve Eve - we always order take out from En Lai, a local Chinese place.
The food is good, but for some reason this year it just wasn't
as good as we remembered in years past. So next year we're gonna do Christmas Eve Eve the American way - with Panda Express.
Poor Cole was a little frustrated with chopsticks, but insisted on trying them!
On Christmas Eve morning we made Christmas cookies. I'm not sure why, other than I felt a sense of obligation. I had made 14 loaves of bread the week before for neighbors but hadn't done any sweet baking yet.
Plus, it gave me an excuse to use my awesome camel cookie cutter.
By the end I was kinda tired of cutting out cookies and just made letters for the kids.
Poor, poor Tess. She just didn't feel well. At all. She spent most of the day laying on the couch watching cartoons and taking naps. I spent the day washing my hands, making the kids use gallons of hand sanitizer, and Lysoling the house. (Spencer was getting a little better by this point, after having mega doses of Allegra for his hives and the virus kinda running its course.)
Cole was very impressed with his C cookie.
I was pretty impressed with my Candy Cake Camel Cookie. It was deliciously alliterative.
I even did my hair all fancy-like for the day.
We broke out the china for Christmas Eve dinner. (Cole was sad that he couldn't use the crystal goblets. Sorry, Cole - you have to be 8 years old. House rules.)
For dinner this year I decided to try making something that had pleased all children in the past: homemade lasagna. I also did a green salad, which I knew they wouldn't like, but on top of that I also made a jello "salad", which I thought they would love. (You know, the kind with the pretzel crust, cream cheese middle, and jello on top.) ((It's not so much a salad as a dessert you are allowed to serve as a side at dinner.)
This was the general consensus of the meal. Those punks.
Tess can be excused for not eating since she was sick. (We reverted back to sippy cups just for the day, just so she could get some fluids into her.)
Creepy Lance enjoyed the meal, though, so there's that!
I can't remember why, but I took a selfie with Cole. I was probably trying to get him to eat something.
After dinner clean up we had the kids look for their Christmas pajamas. Last year they all complained that the hiding places were "way too easy". This year I got yelled at because the hiding places were "way too hard". I can't win. Next year I'm just gonna throw them in their faces.
I can't believe this child is eleven years old. I thought the lightening bolts were cool because he's all into Percy Jackson. (The first book is
Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief.) But he just rolled my eyes and complained that they were too big. Granted, the jammies were too big, but I ordered a size large in kids, which is the size he wears everything else in, so who's to blame here?!? Target! Target is to blame. But I get the grief.
Fortunately, Cole loved his jammies. They are super cute. (I got them at Costco on my Mom's Weekend trip. Thanks again, Kanien!)
We helped feed Tess's Hello Kitty jammies. I really resist getting cartoon characters on jammies; it's just not my cup of tea. But I couldn't find any other pjs at a reasonable price that I liked better, so there you go. This is the best picture I got of her the entire evening.
Josh complained that they weren't baseball jammies, until he tried them on a realized how soft the pants were. (Thank you, Carter's microfleece! And Costco, again!)
Then it was time for the annual self-timed photo in front of the fireplace. All things considered, we got a decent shot this year! (See previous post.)
We also got this shot.
Don't get too excited there, Spencer.
I wanted one with all the kids, but Tess would have none of it. So just the boys it was!
And then it was time for BINGO!!! This was the first year all of the kids were old enough to actually play.
Cole got really into it and it was super cute when he won. Next year I'm considering a light show and music to get the crowd pumped. (Kidding.) ((Kinda. Because how awesome would that be?!)) (((Very.)))
I'm seriously considering upgrading to a real bingo set, complete with spinning basket and balls. But then again, maybe not. Sometimes the bingo caller umm... "helps" certain children who need a win. Having a real bingo set would make this considerably more difficult.
The kids took turns being the caller at the end once most of the prizes were won.
Tess even won a pair of pink Elsa socks. Ooh la la!
Since we had a ton of random Christmas goodies from neighbors around the house I didn't make a separate dessert. The kids had fun choosing different things to eat and I had fun telling them that the best ones were really gross so they wouldn't eat them. (Hello chocolate covered coconut balls of bliss!)
With 30 minutes until bedtime what's a family to do? Arm wrestle, of course! Here's Josh totally dominating Lance.
Doesn't Josh look so bored with the whole thing? He's
that strong.
Cole has some more growing to do before he can beat Josh. (But it won't be long. Mark my words - that boy is gonna be the biggest brother!)
And Spencer? Well, let's say that computer gaming all day doesn't exactly strengthen your arms. But neither does a week of the flu. Yeah, we'll blame his loss on that.
It took a while, but we got all kids into bed and, miracle of miracles, all of them STAYED in bed! Santa came and the tree looked so pretty. Except for that dang tilting star.
Christmas morning began around 6:30am. (About what I expected.) Tess cried and screamed and cried some more until we got her some Gatorade. (Also about what I expected.)
The kids all took turns opening gifts and were pretty good about it all. Josh had been having a rough week, and was especially ornery and naughty the night before. (I
know. Christmas Eve night,
of all times, should be when a child is on his best behavior, right?) I braced myself the night before for naughty, obnoxious Josh the next day. He is especially well-known for never being satisfied with anything.
Ever. Even if he specifically asked for it. But the kid surprised us all by actually being pleasant that morning. Miracles, people.
Here's Josh trying to guess what his present is.
Spencer and his Baymax for Disney Infinity.
Cole opening his new "big kid" scooter! Very exciting!
Tess refused to open presents for the first 20 minutes of the morning. She eventually broke down and opened her toys, not getting especially excited for any of them because she just didn't feel good.
Until she opened her Hello Kitty doll (in her hand) and then got to pop some of the bubble wrap from a package.
The Christmas morning carnage.
For breakfast we had homemade raspberry rolls and chocolate orange rolls, which plenty of eggnog on the side. Delish.
We spent most of the day playing with toys, lounging around, watching tv, reading, talking with family, and eating junk. Tess spent all day sleeping and watching tv. An hour before bedtime she got up and played on her Hello Kitty bouncer and I knew she was finally on the mend!
The marble run - a constant source of FIGHTING between Tess and Cole.
Just a random funny picture of Tess with the Minions and Cole on the bouncer.
At the end of the day I realized I hadn't put shoes on all day - something that hadn't happened in
months. I also hadn't really cooked a single meal - also a very rare occurrence. A very Merry Christmas, indeed.
