Such a magical time of year. As I type this, I’m snuggled up with my oldest while he watches Harry Potter for the first time. He is almost done with book four so this is a fun treat. Late nights watching movies and playing board games is what Christmas break is all about.
This holiday season we decorated gingerbread houses and baked cookies.
It was our first attempt at Royal Icing. We have lots to learn, but it went well and the kids loved it. I’m doing whole30 so I didn’t taste them, but rumor has it they were tasty.
On Christmas Eve we drove through a giant Christmas light display in our Christmas jammies. The kids loved it. It was a first for us, but definitely one we will be adding to the list for the future.
Hudson fell asleep in the car on the way home from the lights so daddy carried him straight to bed. Quinn and Eleanor helped get everything ready for Santa, including carrots for the reindeer.
We always make all the kids wait to see and open the presents until we are all up and mommy has her camera out, of course.
Quinn and Eleanor were already up so we had to wake Hudson up. It was so funny and completely adorable watching him wake up and realize it was Christmas morning. He was so excited. He had been so excited, but at two, I’m not entirely sure he knew what to expect.
Quinn’s gift haul can be summed up like this: Books, Rock’em Sock’em Robots, Bike and Star Wars
Hudson has been wanting headphones like his big brother. He wears Quinn’s often. These ones are super kid friendly and have sound control so they never get too loud for little one’s ears.
Eleanor has wanted a gift card ever since Quinn got one for his birthday and she realized what they can do. We have some shopping to do this Christmas break!
The one and only thing Hudson wanted from Santa was a choo choo. Santa delivered!
Lately, Eleanor is all about arts and crafts. She could spend all day at the table cutting, gluing, coloring and creating. The fashion plates are such a fun throwback toy.
We had to point out the sign on the chalkboard after all the gift opening was done, because Quinn didn’t notice it. He found quite the surprise behind it.
Miss Fiona enjoyed her first Christmas. She received two presents and plenty of help from her siblings opening and playing with them.
Christmas morning is for playing with toys, but we always have such a packed holiday schedule that my kids hardly get any time to play. Good thing they have all of break to play with their new things.
After opening presents, we stopped by my parent’s house to exchange gifts amongst my siblings. We then headed to my sister’s house, because she was hosting the big, giant Christmas for my mom’s (one of twelve kids) entire side of the family.
As usual it was crazy and awesome.
On Saturday we celebrated with my husband’s side of the family. Their great aunt put together the most adorable scavenger hunt. The kids all received ranger vests.
They followed fun little clues to find a pack of snacks, magnifying glass, flashlight and a bag of rocks, which included a geode they got to have cracked open. They really enjoyed it.
For Christmas the husband and I decided to get the kids a museum pass. On Sunday we took advantage of it and took the kids to Discovery World for the first time.
They loved it. We all loved it. The holidays get so crazy and the kids spend so much time running around with their cousins that it feels like I haven’t seen my kids for two days. It was some much needed focused family time and I really enjoyed it.
Otherwise we have just been hanging around, messing with Christmas toys and snuggling. We got our first snow of the ENTIRE month today. That is crazy for Wisconsin. It was mixed with a whole lot of rain and sleet. Husband even got sent home from work early. Meanwhile, the kids and I have been hanging out in our PJS all day.
It was a very Merry Christmas here and I hope the same for all of you!
I always love sharing our family Christmas with you. Check back to see Christmas 2014, Christmas 2013, Christmas 2012, Christmas 2011
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