Toys the next day

Less than 24 hours after receiving his Lego Lord of the Rings Battle at Helm's Deep- Marky had finished it.  He woke up by himself at 6:00 a.m. and went to the basement and finished it all by himself. 



And Charliebear LOVES his little box of letters- he takes them everywhere and plays-

Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas!


What BB saw when she woke up (we were all still sleep)-



Even though the present investigators were on the case, we made them stop and eat breakfast before tearing into the presents. :) Then Daddy got a nice fire started (using the logs of Christmas trees past!) and we got to the gifts!



Marky got a tower to organize his legos in- he loves it and it's already full!



His "big" gift- Lord of the Rings Legos- the Battle at Helms deep-



Sissy got a couple sets of Playmobil horses! She kept stealing them from Marky's knight castle b/c his horses move their heads up and down and her's didn't. Now she has horses that move their heads up and down and she can feed them. :)



Marky also got a lot (I think around 8 or so) G.I. Joe action figures- so exciting!

The Christmas chaos-

Everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Charlie got several toys and preschool manipulatives that he loves. Tucker got two swords and shields, a cape, a hilarious red riding toy that he said "is the best Christmas present ever", Flynn the firetruck, Troublesome trucks, a remote control car, many new books, safari animals, and a huge remote controlled Cranky the Crane, among other things. Sissy got her horses, two princess skirts, strawberry shortcake girls, a sweet white kitten that purrs and walks, new Caroline American Girl books, a "Caroline" American girl minidoll, baby bottles for her babies, more magna tiles, many art supplies, etc. Marky got a remote controlled helicopter that he adores and played with all morning long. He got a lot of other things too, and he was so grateful. After our morning the children spent time playing while we just sat by the fire and enjoyed the show. I found Julia "helping" Tucker learn how to play his new Thomas the Tank Engine Leapster game.



Santa Charlie just walked around- one of his favorite gifts was Marky's new basketball. :) Here he is saying "when's lunch anyway?"



He ate his lunch early and he and BB had some rare one on one time and enjoyed each other-



Tucker and I watching The Christmas Story as the food was cooking-



Lunch is ready!

After lunch BB and Poppy headed home and we put the baby boys down for naps. Then I took a long nap in front of the fire while Marky and Julia played with their toys on the floor by the fire. Marc watched several PRECIOUS Christmas shows with them that we DVR every year and are our favorites: Martin the Cobbler, The Chimes, Michael the Visitor, and The Legend of the Christmas Flower.   

When naptime was over we dressed up and headed out to Christmas Mass.  Tuck Tuck looked so handsome- his first time in a tie!

Tuck riding on his new riding toy and holding his dream light- a happy, happy boy. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

So hard to believe it's already Christmas Eve!   We had a wonderful day- we enjoyed our last night with our advent wreath and Jesse tree- (pic from several nights ago)




Finished up our "Christmas Story" puzzle- it's a "major award"-



BB and Poppy arrived this afternoon and got to see us finishing up our St. Nicholas cookies!  They were a hit!  I used this recipe, but burned the white chocolate badly in the microwave and ended up using white frosting for the beard and hat trim.

Tucker was happy to help!







BB was saying, "He's almost as tall as me now!  He's only 8!"






Then we sat on the porch and waited for Santa, and before long, he came round the bend sirens blaring.  Marky waited in the tree-



Frick and Frack-









Getting higher and higher-



Yay!!!  He's here!







And because we live on a cul de sac, we get to see him twice!



Then we came in and had our traditional Christmas Eve steak dinner-



Got to use our new nutcracker napkins-







Then we went into the family room and sang a lot of Christmas carols.



And each child got to open ONE present.  Marc and Julia got dream lights-





I hadn't wrapped Tucker's presents yet, so I just grabbed some Mr. Bubbles and gave it to him.  HE  WAS BESIDE HIMSELF!!!  He ran around screaming "Mr. Bubbles!  YAY!  Mr. Bubbles!  They will have lots of little white bubbles and I will get in them!!!!  Yay!  Thank you!!!  Hooooraaaaay!"  Sweetest.baby.boy.  (P.S. at bedtime we realized our idea to have Marc and Tucker "share" the dreamlight in their room was ridiculous and Marc ran to Walgreens and Target to find Tucker a penguin dreamlight for himself!)



Charliebear got a "gears" caterpillar that he LOVED and played with all night!



Then it was time to get Tucker's bubbles and get all four sweeties cleaned up for bedtime-



Charliebear- all cozy wozy after his nice bath- I kept calling him my "little gumdrop"-





The back of his jammies say "Santa's lil helper"







After snuggling a bit they all read a story with Daddy and then headed on to bed.












And I post this against my will because my voice is on it- (I need to remember how close I am to the mic)- but here are the children singing the 12 days of Christmas-

MERRY CHRISTMAS!