Merry Christmas!

The kids woke up at 5:45am on Christmas morning. We heard them moving around and giggling but told them they had to wait until 6am to come get us. Sure enough, not a minute after 6am, they bounded into our room! They got a ton of fun new gifts and it all was over way too fast! I think we were all done by 7am. Here they are opening up they're presents:



Jacob was in desperate need of new jammies! He also got Diary of a Wimpy Kid, legos, a Hexbug (don't ask), Mighty Beanz, a Harry Potter game, Star Wars Madlibs, a watch, and the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy.




The Squinkies were a big hit with Jenna. She was so happy to finally have a few of her own. Sketchers were on her list, too! She also got sparkly clothes, a potholder kit (remember making those when you were a kid?), jammies, a kitty necklace, a puzzle, and a Furr Real Kitty.



Nicholas got trucks, trucks, and more trucks. That's what he wanted! He also got monster truck jammies, a Whac-A-Mole game, refills for his Lite Brite, and Moon Sand.

Marissa got a ton of Dora stuff...a sweatshirt, makeup, a shirt, a watch, and a coloring book. And she loved her new jewelry box! Now she has one just like her big sister. She also got a book, jewelry, a play cash register, sparkly clothes, and a Furr Real Doggy.




Tom decided to give each of the kids a very special gift from just him. He got each of them a new train car for the train layout. They all have an interest in Tom's hobby so they were happy to receive some fun new stuff to run on the layout. Jenna got her engine this year...a Norfolk Southern locomotive. Tom picked out this one for her because it has a horse on it. So sweet. Nicholas got flatcars with trucks on them. Marissa got a bunch of Chessie System cars (they have cats on them), and Jacob got some flatcars, too.



Jenna and Marissa model their new snowman sweatshirts handmade by Grandma Pagonis. The buttons on them are from her great grandma Gertrude Shaner's button box (so the girls great-great-great grandma).

Even Max opened presents!

Later that day we went over to my Aunt Joyce and Uncle Rich's house for dinner.

After a few glasses of wine, the reindeer headbands came out! I'm not sure who brought them, I think it was my sister. We all wore them and felt the need to take pictures with them on. The first picture is of all the girl cousins...Anna, me, Corinne, Shannon, Michelle, Melissa, and Jill.

Jenna snuck away to write in her new diary. It has a cool pen all blinged out in diamonds...she loves it. It makes me laugh that she locks it and then leaves the key attached to it.

My mom and her three sisters, Joyce, Jan (my Godmother), and Nancy. We had a wonderful Christmas with our family and hope that you did too!

Christmas Eve

We hope that you had a Merry Christmas! We kicked off the holiday at my parents house on Christmas Eve. I think we were there approximately five minutes before we started opening presents! Here are a few of my kids' favorites. :)

If you've had any conversation at all with Marissa over the past few months you know that she was hoping for a Dora guitar for Christmas. Aunty Melissa and Uncle Rick made that wish come true for her.

Here's Nicholas with his new scooter. Spring is just too far away so he's been riding it around our basement. Jacob is really into Star Wars right now and was happy to get some new legos!

Jenna got a dolphin pillow pet!

I had to get this for my Dad. It's just him.

My mom surprised Yia Yia with a very special quilt. Yia Yia did all of the cross stitched squares and then gave them to my mom telling her "to do something with them". My mom secretly arranged them into this beautiful quilt and gave it to Yia Yia this Christmas. What a treasure!

Rick and Melissa (24 weeks pregnant). Next Christmas Baby Alejandro will here with us!

After every present was opened, we sat down to a wonderful dinner. For dessert my mom surprised us with this! You should have seen my kids eyes when she brought it to the table. Have you ever seen such a HUGE gingerbread house?!? Isn't it pretty? Yeah, it didn't stay that way too long. The kids (and Uncle Michael) loved it!!

Before the kids climbed into bed Tom read them Twas the Night Before Christmas and we sprinkled reindeer food in the backyard for Santa's reindeer. Of course, we put out cookies and milk too!

Snow Much Fun!

We kicked off Winter Break with our good friends, the Dulzers. Initially we were planning on going ice skating (at an indoor rink) but we changed up the plans, bundled up, and headed to the snow hill for some sledding fun! The kids were super excited. Here they all are together before their first run down. Jacob, Tim, Robin, Jenna, Marissa, and Nicholas.

Nicholas got a new sled for his birthday. He calls it his "sleigh". He would climb all the way to the tippy top of the hill and then fly down. Most of the time he ended up spinning around and coming down backwards. His primary goal was to hit the big snow bumps along the way so as long at that happened he was happy. No fear.

Jenna and Tim spent most of their time together in the same sled. They were bound and determined to make it over the snow jump together. It took many, many tries but eventually they made it over! Here they are right after a trip down together. Aren't they cute??

While she let me take her on a short sled ride, Marissa had absolutely no interest in attempting a trip down the hill. Instead, she made snow angels.

Jacob thinks he went down the hill about 50 times. We were there for over an hour, so I wouldn't be surprised. My kids love to wear Santa hats (in lieu of the standard knit) during the Christmas season. :)

Afterwards, we all came back to our house for hot chocolate and candy canes.

Jacob and Robin will always be good friends. They've known each other since they were 3 months old and still enjoy spending time together.

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread House

Jacob, Jenna, Nicholas, and Marissa decorated a gingerbread house this weekend. They had alot of fun. The house came with quite a bit of candy, but not nearly enough for my kids. They insisted that the house needed chocolate chips and green marshmallow trees, too! Jacob was the project manager and ensured that the assembly went smoothly.

I'm sure that they consumed more candy than actually made it onto the house. Marissa was really into it this year. She concentrated and carefully placed each piece of candy in the perfect spot.

Here they are with their finished masterpiece.

Let the sugar high begin!!

Santa's Lap

Today we ventured out in the blustery winter weather to take the kids to see Santa. The clubhouse in our subdivision hosted a nice holiday gathering complete with Christmas cookies, hot chocolate, and lots of holiday cheer. I was very surprised by Marissa's reaction to Santa. She lit up when he walked in the room and immediately ran over to sit on his lap. I thought there would be tears...nope. As you can see she clearly loved him!

She wouldn't stop giggling and staring at him! It was funny. They must have talked for 5 minutes. She didn't want to get off his lap. Santa's helper had to bribe her down with a candy cane.

After receiving permission from Marissa, Nicholas hopped up too.

Even my "big kids" had a chat with Mr. C.