5 days of Christmas

Our Christmas was full of family, food, presents, and fun! We had 5 days of Christmas, literally. Every time Austin opened something he'd say "This is what I've always wanted!" Andrew was a little confused throughout the whole thing, but he'll get the hang of Christmas next year.



We started our Christmas celebration on the 23rd with Nea and Dede. The kids got many cool things and they had a great time playing with Ella.




Our 2nd Christmas was with Grandma and Grandpa on the 24th and with Santa on the 25th. Austin got a remote control dinosaur. Andrew has discovered dinosaurs and LOVES Austin's gift!



Christmas Eve was fun! Austin's at a great age because he was so excited about Santa coming. After much convincing, he finally fell asleep and Santa came. Christmas morning, Austin ran into our room and said "Mommy, Daddy. Santa came! And he left toys! Come, come, come!" We came down the steps and he saw everything he asked for under the main tree. Everything, but his bike and helmet. Santa left that next to the kids tree in the playroom. Austin went into the playroom and turned on the tree and said "WOW! It's not the one I wanted, but yea!" Santa was good to both kids. From Santa, Austin got some Bendaroos, Pixos, Legos, a new bike and helmet. Andrew got a shopping cart, a giraffe learning bike, an Elmo and Elmo steering wheel.

We got Austin some tornado/weather stuff (a book, a movie, and an "I love tornados" t-shirt). Austin opened the shirt and saw it was just a box and said "Mommy, next year just get me toys." I told him that he would like what was inside the box and, of course, he did.

On the 26th, we did Christmas with Nonna and Papa. Papa made Andrew a much needed bigger toybox. Austin got a storm chaser jr. t-shirt and an autographed picture of Reed Timmer. (For those of you who don't know, Reed is an extreme meteorologist on Storm Chasers). Austin loved it! He's put the picture in his room.


Our 5th and final Christmas was with Gene's brother. Austin got a new Sorry Sliders game which is pretty fun. We've already played it a few times and Austin loves it!

Our little shepherd

Our church has a children's Christmas Eve Mass where there is a children's choir and the kids perform the Christmas story. This year, Austin was a shepherd. His only job was to come into the church and point at the star and then when the Angel Gabriel came to kneel. Very simple.

I was a little afraid because the church was packed with people and Austin gets a little shy in front of a large crowd. But, he performed his part wonderfully!

Hermey's return

Hermey, our elf, returned this year around the first of December. So far, he hasn't caused too much trouble. Mostly he's been snacking during the middle of the night. He's gotten into the mini-marshmallows, had some hot chocolate, ate some popcorn and Hershey kisses, and ate a candy cane. On one of his last nights with us, he made some mischief. He dumped out our cinnamon pine cones, pulled the stockings off the manel, pulled the pillows off the couch, and put on Andrew's tennis shoes! He was pretty busy in the night!

But, you're a Mommy

Austin's teacher sent home a calendar of the month of December with 24 M&Ms. On each day of the month, there was a task (i.e. name the 5 senses, count the steps in your house, etc.). Austin would get a M&M for each day if he answered the question for the day or solved the problem or whatever.

I have to admit we'd fallen behind on the calendar, so tonight we were catching up. One of the questions was to name the months of the year. Now, Austin's known the months of the year for a long time. So, imagine my surprise when Austin got to May and then said that he didn't know the rest. I kept pushing him to remember, reminding him of the song that he used to sing to remember the months and giving him hints. He got frustrated with himself and with me. He says "You're a Mommy. You're supposed to help kids. I'm a kid; you're supposed to help me." I couldn't help but get tickled. He's such a smart kid.

I then explained to him that, yes, Mommy's do help kids, but I won't do the work for him. I equated it to cleaning up the playroom. I would help him clean up but I'm not going to clean up all by myself. He nodded like he understood. We'll try again tomorrow!

Gingerbread house

Our second attempt at a gingerbread house worked out a little better. We had more icing and more decoration. Again, I told Austin that the house probably wouldn't look like the picture. He didn't care. He had a great time decorating it!

School Christmas party

Andrew had his class Christmas party. At first, he was pretty upset that I came in and didn't immediately leave with him. When I say upset, I mean throwing the biggest fit of his whole 19 month old life complete with red face, stomping feet, spinning around in a circle, and screaming at the top of his lungs. Once snack was served, all was well.

The kids decorated cookies. Correction, I decorated cookies. Andrew ate the icing and spilled the sprinkles all over.

Every year the kids have a book exchange instead of exchaning presents. It's nice because we come home with a brand new book to read! Andrew had a good time opening the book.

Mommy's little helper

Austin and Andrew love the vacuum. Austin loves it so much that he wanted to help vacuum his room. Who am I to deny such a request? I took this picture mostly to prove to him one day that he did enjoy cleaning up his room.

Santa Visit

I took Austin and Andrew to see Santa at the Bass Pro Shop. They had all sorts of things to do there like remote control cars, laser firing range, and cool snacks. As predicted, Andrew had a come apart at the sight of Santa. But he didn't do too bad when we were sitting on Santa's lap. I say we because I had to sit too so Andrew would take a decent picture. Here's take 2.
Austin made sure to tell Santa everything he wanted for Christmas including the blue and yellow bike and red helmet we saw last week.