Christmas Vacation Part IV

The rest of our Christmas break went by in a blur.  We went to the movies.  Tom took Ellie and Jack 

to go see "Rogue One" and I took all the kids to go see "Sing" with friends. 

We played at the park with cousins.

We had a snowball fight with fake snowballs at Aunt Rosie's.

We celebrated Tom's mom's birthday.

We celebrated New Year's Eve.

We went to church.

And, finally, we rested.   

Christmas Vacation - Part III (Christmas Day)

Sam came into our room at 4am on Christmas morning.  We tried in vain to get him to go back to bed, so finally we let him climb in bed with us for an hour or so.  

The kids all loved their Santa gifts.  Ellie got a Hatchimal, Jack got a Kindle Fire, and Sam got a Pirate costume and pirate books (he had been asking for a pirate costume for weeks).  We let the kids play for a bit before getting them ready for church.

After church, we went to my parents' house for lunch and to open gifts from them.  We couldn't stay long, though, because we had plans to go to my mother-in-law's house at 3.

Christmas Day afternoon at Nana's was a total present overload.  The kids loved it, though!

We had a wonderful Christmas Day with family, but, dang, we were exhausted when we got home!

Christmas Vacation - Part II (Christmas Eve)

Christmas Eve is always my favorite night of the entire year.  Y'all know how I love traditions and Christmas Eve is chock-full of them.  

We gathered at Mark and Rosie's house for soups and appetizers.

Then it was time for the grandkids to act out the Nativity while my Dad narrated.  This is always adorable.  I remember years of Christmases where I played one part or another. Not I just get to sit back and watch the next generation take over. I love it.

We deviated from tradition slightly due to Ellie.  She had written a Christmas-themed play about two girls who posted on You Tube about how Santa wasn't real and it went viral and almost ruined Christmas.  Ellie had all the parts mapped out and she held auditions for the cousins.  Everyone was surprisingly into it.  So, they did they play and it was actually really cute and well-done.  I was impressed.

Michael trying out, but he didn't make the cut. Ellie is a tough director

Then it was time for my dad to tell the grandkids the Pack for Santa's Back Story and followed it up with Jesus's birthday cake.

Finally, it was time for Christmas jammies and pictures.  I loved my kiddos pajamas this year.  Just looking at these pictures makes me want to go snuggle them.

  

Christmas Vacation - Part I

We had a busy and fun couple of weeks off from school and work. All of my siblings came to town for my dad's retirement party, so we were able to spend  a lot of time together as a family.
Here is a picture-heavy recap of our staycation!
 
We spent a lot of time playing at the park with cousins or going for walks.  The weather was ridiculous.  One day we would be wearing shorts and t-shirts and the very next day we would need pants and jackets.

I told Sam it was cold outside so he put on a hat, earwarmer, and gloves.  But he still wasn't wearing pants.

Tom and I took the kids to an A&M basketball game.  The game didn't start until 7 and Sam hadn't napped so I was really concerned with how he would be at the game, but he was AWESOME!  We had such a great time as a family that night.  Sam keeps begging to go back to A&M (which is our goal for all of our kids).

It wasn't all fun and games.  I spent one day cleaning out the playroom.  I always threaten to throw all of my kids' toys away because they leave that room such a disaster. I filled two whole black garbage bags with old toys and junk, but their playroom is still loaded with toys. Ugh.

We celebrated Christmas with my father-in-law on the 23rd.  Every year we have more and more grandkids squeezed on that couch.  It is fun to see that side of the family finally growing.

The next morning, we did a Christmas Eve brunch at Sabrina's house.  She was so brave to host all 37 of us!  This was the first time the whole family was together since my Grandpa's birthday party in October.  I love how we can just pick up where we left off and how everyone genuinely enjoys each others' company.

Not the best weekend ever

This weekend was our church Christmas party.  The Primary presidency was put in charge this year, so basically me and 3 other ladies.  I am so not creative so I was really worried about this party.  We went Friday night to set up tables and chairs and to decorate.  Then, Saturday was the party and everything went great.  We had more than enough food and a great Santa...that's all you really need. As soon as Sam was done visiting with Santa, he started asking me to go to a different church so he could see another Santa.

Sunday morning, we all woke up feeling under the weather.  Well, everyone except Sam.  He felt well enough to unwrap a few presents that were under the tree, pour orange juice all over the table and floor, and dump out several baskets of toys (from the 2nd floor balcony).  All the kids felt well enough in the afternoon to build gingerbread houses.  Well, Sam ate most of his, but he decorated one wall.

This morning Jack was crying about his stomach hurting.  I was all set to call in sick to work when Ellie asked if that meant Jack was ungrounded from electronics.  I assured her that he was still grounded and that he would spend his day resting in his room.  Suddenly Jack decided he felt well enough to go to school.

I also got a really upsetting text this morning from Ellie's best friend's mom.  Ellie was in charge of feeding their sugar gliders this weekend while they were out of town. They must have knocked off their water bottle and when the family got home late last night, they found severely dehydrated gliders.  They rushed them to the ER vet, but one died and the other is expected not to make it.  I can't even tell you how sick I feel about the whole thing.  I am dreading telling Ellie when she gets home today because I know she will feel terrible.  Also, I know our friends loved their gliders so much and they are really hurting right now. I feel like their pain is our fault and there is nothing we can do to make it better.  We will never pet-sit for anyone again.