Merry Christmas!

We've been on a fast course to 2009 the past week, like most of you. I can never believe how fast the holidays arrive and how fast they're gone... I haven't even thought about blogging- we've just been enjoying the time off of school and time spent with family and friends. Here's some highlights from the past week:

We've been loving all the snow! We got dumped on Saturday, Monday and then Christmas Day so we have plenty to make some great snowmen. Olivia wanted to make a whole family.... "The Mom, the Dad, 2 kids, a Grandma and Grandpa" but she settled for a cute couple. 

We made some cute marshmallow snowmen on the 23rd. We got the idea from a cute book Olivia received for Christmas (I peeked before I wrapped it) called "Kids in the Holiday Kitchen". It mainly has recipes, but there are a few crafts in the back too. She absolutely loves it. 

The little snowmen were so easy and fun to make. (It would be a good edible craft for a school party. No mess, very simple.) If you could sum up Ashley's personality in a photo, this would do it:

On Christmas Eve, all the family and cousins come over to celebrate, have dinner, open presents, etc. So we had our turkey dinner for lunch that day, then opened presents later that afternoon. The kids exchange with their cousins and we open all the gifts from my Mom and Dad. Here's my sister, Lori, and my niece Tess. We gave Lori a really cute pair of brown Madden shoes for Christmas, which she already wore to church last Sunday. I wish they'd had my size!

I made these books for my sisters to put family Christmas photos in (from the past years and future years). Mom's book says "Nana's PJ book" on it b/c every year she makes our kids new PJ pants and we take a photo of all the cousins together. I thought it would be cute to make a little album so we could see the different pants and the kids growing over the years. Now I've got to hunt down all the photos and put them in the album!

My brother Andrew gets so excited to open presents. While we were eating dinner (he doesn't eat with all of us- he doesn't like crowds or noisy kids) he was near the tree, anxiously awaiting the time to open the gifts. We usually open them later in the evening, but because he was so excited, we opened them just after dinner. He was SO happy to get this new Toy Story Woody doll. It's one of his favorite things. He has some old ones, including Jessie and Buzz, but they get really worn out and ragged since he takes them everywhere. My mom's friend Nicole gave him this one.

Here's Olivia, ready to open her cousin gift. It was all happening so fast I don't even know who gave what to whom. I have to admit it's a little too chaotic for me but I know the kids love it and it's all so exciting. I have to just sit back and try to enjoy watching it all happen.

After all the gifts we played games, a family tradition. Usually we play Scum, Taboo, Boggle, Speed Scrabble, etc. I kicked butt at Boggle this time so I was having a good night. 

Jill brought a new game called The Office, which is all trivia from the show. I realized 2 things: One, I don't pay attention to the little details, and Two, I was very tired from staying up and wrapping a million presents the night before. I lost it about 7pm. It was about that time that Jared's family started calling b/c it's Christmas morning in Australia. So we talked with cousins, his parents, etc. They also wished Austin a Happy Birthday. The poor kid wasn't feeling well that day and was actually asleep on the couch!

Everyone started heading out while we were still talking to Jared's sister. I couldn't believe that Christmas Eve was over and it was almost Christmas. I LOVED being able to tell my kids that "YES, when you wake up in the morning, it WILL be Christmas!" because so many nights I had to say, "No, not yet" when they asked me. They were counting down all month. 

The girls were so cute in the morning when they got up. We were pretty lucky - it was about 7:15, not too early. Ashley kept saying days before Chrismas, "I don't like Santa, I don't want him to come." which cracked us up. We tried to explain that he's the one who brings the presents, so you should be his friend... to no avail. I think it finally clicked on Christmas morning. She decided he's not so bad but, "I don't want to see him." 

Austin got his DS Lite, which he was ecstatic about. I don't think he moved from this position for the next 48 hours. I'm pretty sure he even took it to the bathroom with him. Typical male. 

Olivia got a few fun little things like a little HM camera (yes, I gave in and bought her something HM, against my will) and an MP3 player (generic one- we don't trust her) But when I opened my new iPod, we decided to pass my old iPod mini down to her and take the generic one back. We had to convince her that this was 'trading up' b/c she really wanted the pink one we'd bought for her. 

Ashley is such an adorable, energetic little girl. She loved everything we got for her and played and played with her new toys all day. Actually, all the kids loved their gifts and we hardly heard a peep from them Christmas Day. It's a good thing b/c we were snowed in and had to entertain ourselves! 

Hope you all had a great Christmas. Happy New Year!