I decided I am going to break this up into separate blog entries for each celebration we had… otherwise this even gets overwhelming for me, the author of these extremely long novels I post out here. Let’s start off with the Xmas celebrations we had at home with our little family of five.
We decided to open presents (between us) on Thursday, Dec 23rd as we were going to be travelling to Annandale (and the twin cities, .. AND Monticello) for the remainder of the Xmas weekend. We originally were just going to open everything Friday morning (after Santa came) … but that seemed way too rushed and I wanted the kids to be able to play with their toys for a bit before we had to pack up and leave. So Thursday afternoon just before dinner – which Chris made … an extremely delicious prime rib that MacKay probably ate more of than we did – we sat down around the tree and opened all our presents we had gotten for each other. I know I will forget to list something if I try to list all the presents the kiddos got this year…. So instead, I will just point out some of the highlights from each celebration we had. The “hit” presents on Thursday night were definitely the dolls we got for Evie, and the Thomas TrackMaster Zip Zoom Logging Adventure track we got for the boys… though they also spent a lot of time playing with their Tonka Take-Along toys they got from their cousins Lexi and Sarah (and of course, my aunt Claudia, Uncle Greg and Cousin Becky). Evie got both a talking Little Mommy Play All Day doll (blond with cute piggy tails) and a (one of eventually 4) Snap ‘n Style doll named Giselle. She particularly liked kissing on her doll (which still needs a name) and brushing Giselle’s hair – which later that night needed to be restyled as it too came in piggy tails that were a frizzed out mess by the time Evie was done with her. The boys loved their new TrackMaster set and played with it for the longest time… enjoying setting the brakes, unloading the logs, splitting the logs, and going over the “Shaky bridge” as they call it. They caught on quickly as to what they needed to do for each of the different options (resetting the bridge and the numerous steps to take at the logging station to split the logs etc). We let them stay up a little later than normal just to enjoy their toys as long as they could… then we put them to bed reminding them who was coming that night. They were pretty stoked that there were going to be presents under the tree when they woke up from Santa and gladly went to bed.
That next morning we woke the kids up and the first thing out of the boys’ mouths was that they wanted to go in the living room and check the Xmas tree for presents. Gosh they make Xmas so much fun for me again…. So we ran to the living room still in our PJs and they all got to open their present from Santa. You should have seen the look on both the boys’ faces when they saw that Santa had, indeed, brought them EXACTLY what they wanted for Xmas. MacKay was screaming out “It’s Diesel TEN… It’s Diesel TEN!” Meanwhile Oscar was begging us to open up the packaging to get Harold out ASAP. Evie opened up her gift to find yet another Little Me doll – this one the Sweet As Me brunette doll (yet another nameless doll) with a cute little bob hair-do. When she saw what was in the box she, too, ran over to Daddy to get him to open it for her STAT. From that moment on… it took A LOT to pry Harold and Diesel 10 out of the boys hands. Chris thought it was a terrible idea for us to let them take them along to the other celebrations as he knew they would get left behind or lost, but I honestly don’t think we had a choice cuz nothing was going to pry those beloved and treasured toys out of their little hands (except maybe another toy that would take their attention for a short stint – pay attention, that part is coming up in another post). We also decided to take along Evie’s little brunette doll so she would have something that she brought along too.
We then got ourselves fed, and showered (Evie, especially, needed another bath from the night before as a lot of her greasy prime rib ended up in her hair) and packed up for the remainder of our chaotic weekend and headed down to Annandale for Xmas Eve with the Hoglund/Ledwein side of the family. Evie took a (VERY) short little nap on the ride down… while the boys watched “Cars” and clung tightly onto their precious Harold and Diesel 10.
We decided to open presents (between us) on Thursday, Dec 23rd as we were going to be travelling to Annandale (and the twin cities, .. AND Monticello) for the remainder of the Xmas weekend. We originally were just going to open everything Friday morning (after Santa came) … but that seemed way too rushed and I wanted the kids to be able to play with their toys for a bit before we had to pack up and leave. So Thursday afternoon just before dinner – which Chris made … an extremely delicious prime rib that MacKay probably ate more of than we did – we sat down around the tree and opened all our presents we had gotten for each other. I know I will forget to list something if I try to list all the presents the kiddos got this year…. So instead, I will just point out some of the highlights from each celebration we had. The “hit” presents on Thursday night were definitely the dolls we got for Evie, and the Thomas TrackMaster Zip Zoom Logging Adventure track we got for the boys… though they also spent a lot of time playing with their Tonka Take-Along toys they got from their cousins Lexi and Sarah (and of course, my aunt Claudia, Uncle Greg and Cousin Becky). Evie got both a talking Little Mommy Play All Day doll (blond with cute piggy tails) and a (one of eventually 4) Snap ‘n Style doll named Giselle. She particularly liked kissing on her doll (which still needs a name) and brushing Giselle’s hair – which later that night needed to be restyled as it too came in piggy tails that were a frizzed out mess by the time Evie was done with her. The boys loved their new TrackMaster set and played with it for the longest time… enjoying setting the brakes, unloading the logs, splitting the logs, and going over the “Shaky bridge” as they call it. They caught on quickly as to what they needed to do for each of the different options (resetting the bridge and the numerous steps to take at the logging station to split the logs etc). We let them stay up a little later than normal just to enjoy their toys as long as they could… then we put them to bed reminding them who was coming that night. They were pretty stoked that there were going to be presents under the tree when they woke up from Santa and gladly went to bed.
That next morning we woke the kids up and the first thing out of the boys’ mouths was that they wanted to go in the living room and check the Xmas tree for presents. Gosh they make Xmas so much fun for me again…. So we ran to the living room still in our PJs and they all got to open their present from Santa. You should have seen the look on both the boys’ faces when they saw that Santa had, indeed, brought them EXACTLY what they wanted for Xmas. MacKay was screaming out “It’s Diesel TEN… It’s Diesel TEN!” Meanwhile Oscar was begging us to open up the packaging to get Harold out ASAP. Evie opened up her gift to find yet another Little Me doll – this one the Sweet As Me brunette doll (yet another nameless doll) with a cute little bob hair-do. When she saw what was in the box she, too, ran over to Daddy to get him to open it for her STAT. From that moment on… it took A LOT to pry Harold and Diesel 10 out of the boys hands. Chris thought it was a terrible idea for us to let them take them along to the other celebrations as he knew they would get left behind or lost, but I honestly don’t think we had a choice cuz nothing was going to pry those beloved and treasured toys out of their little hands (except maybe another toy that would take their attention for a short stint – pay attention, that part is coming up in another post). We also decided to take along Evie’s little brunette doll so she would have something that she brought along too.
We then got ourselves fed, and showered (Evie, especially, needed another bath from the night before as a lot of her greasy prime rib ended up in her hair) and packed up for the remainder of our chaotic weekend and headed down to Annandale for Xmas Eve with the Hoglund/Ledwein side of the family. Evie took a (VERY) short little nap on the ride down… while the boys watched “Cars” and clung tightly onto their precious Harold and Diesel 10.
Here are some pictures of the fun we had during our home celebration 2010:
THURSDAY 10/23
Our Christmas Tree surrounded by presents... and our stockings, hung by the ... um... er.... gas fireplace/entertainment center with care.
Evie tearing into her presents, and her new Giselle Snap 'n Style doll
MacKay with the boys' new Cootie game, MacKay and Oscar with one of their Tonka Take-Along sets ..AND their new TrackMaster Zip Zoom Logging Adventure track set.
Evie kissing on her new Little Mommy Play All Day doll
CHRISTMAS EVE MORNING
The kiddos ripping into the presents Santa left for them under the tree
Oscar and his Harold the Helicopter, MacKay and his Diesel 10 ... and Evie with her Little Mommy Sweet As Me doll.
MacKay, Oscar and Evie with their stockings
The boys and the firetrucks they got in their stockings, MacKay trying the old "turn it upside down and dump" method, and Evie in awe over the cute "fairy" snap on outfit she got for Giselle in her stocking.
Stay tuned.... coming soon: Xmas Eve in Annandale
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