Blizzard!

On Christmas Day, we kept hearing reports on this huge blizzard that was going to roll through overnight. Jenny and Joe stayed over late since they didn't have to go in to work the next day. At 6am when I woke up to go to the bathroom, I peeked out the window and there was nothing! However, in the next hour, we started a steady snowfall. We ended up getting about 8 inches; but also had 40 MPH winds. It was fun to be home bound and relax, and the kids had an awesome time playing in the white stuff with Daddy! It was extra fun because last year we never had enough snow to build anything with.

Eva's favorite part: eating the snow.

 They had a great time with their shovels.

 Snow fort!

 We're gonna get you, Daddy!

 Mini snow horse.

 Watch out!

 Snow is awesome!

Christmas Day

This is the first Christmas in my entire life that we have just stayed home. We were right at my travel cut-off though with this pregnancy, so we stayed put. We are so very blessed that our families traveled to us this year to celebrate. Christmas Day was wonderful, and very relaxing. Ollie was up bright and early (like 6:30ish?). He didn't know that it was Christmas, so we were able to keep him in bed with us until 8 when he decided that he was starving and needed breakfast. We explained that it was Christmas and Santa had come. He kept insisting that it was Christmas Eve, but when he finally got it, he was in jumping on Evie in a heartbeat so they could go check things out. They were both so excited. Santa did a great job this year! After a few hours of playing with all of their new stuff, Jenny and Joe came over with a prime rib, and we spent the day cooking, relaxing, eating, drinking, eating, drinking, etc.

Running down the stairs to see what Santa had left.

New grocery store from Santa.

So excited!! New personalized Minnie Mouse blanket.

 Checking out the stockings.

 Opening a few presents from Mom and Dad.

 My new baby owl! I love her! (Big kiss and hug for the owl). I told you she had been obsessed with this thing in Florida. I'm so glad we ended up getting it for her!

 Santa also left a bounce house in the basement. Awesome!

 It works well as a bed too. They both snuggled in with their new blankets, and notice that Evie is lying on baby owl.

Christmas Eve with the Haugs

On Christmas Eve, Jeff and Marie drove down to celebrate with us. We had an awesome seafood dinner, even though I smoked up the house with the scallops, and the kids had a great time opening round 2 of presents! Jon and I then got a short nap in before I headed to midnight mass to sing, and he had to assist Santa in building a few things...

A random picture of Evie's Christmas toes. She loved them and showed them to everyone!

Waiting patiently to open gifts.

 Yay, here we go!!

Pop the Pig!! He has wanted this game forever!

 Our little princess. Still in her pink princess dress...

 Ollie made reindeer food this year at school, so he ran outside to sprinkle it on the lawn and sidewalk while Evie got out milk and cookies for Santa.

 Ready for the big guy!

Chippy and Dora's surprise!

I read about this awesome idea on Pinterest for "The Christmas Express", where you print golden tickets for a ride, make popcorn and hot chocolate, and cruise around in the car listening to Christmas music and looking at lights. So on the 23rd while Jon was giving the kiddos a bath, our Elves on a Shelf snuck upstairs with this note and new pj's and slippers for the kids.

 Evie and Ollie were so super excited, first about their new slippers (this is the first time they have ever had house shoes), and then about their tickets.

 Jon and I got tickets and new pj's too!

 It was such a fun evening, snacking on our treats and looking at all of the decorations as we drove through Meridian-Kessler. I even made the Polar Express hot chocolate recipe which was so indulgent and delicious!

 This will definitely become a yearly tradition for us!

Christmas with the Krouses

Saturday Erin, Ben and the boys drove down so we could celebrate Christmas a few days early. Neither Kylie nor I could travel this Christmas, so we were sad that we missed them, but it was so nice to see the rest of the family! Ollie and Evie opened all of their treasures from Gramma and Papa before the Rans family got here, and then we had a great lunch and played for awhile before everyone headed home.

Evie and Papa. That's where she gets her goofy grin from!

 Round 1 of presents!

 Awesome, a pirate ship and new books!

 Gramma helping out.

 Woohoo, a doll house! So the week before Christmas, Evie kept saying that she wanted a doll house for Christmas. She hadn't ever mentioned it until then. Mom must have read her mind, because she bought her a really cool one!

 Dress up clothes from Auntie Erin and Uncle Ben. She wore this for a week straight.

 Ollie and Reggie playing games on Gramma's Nook.

Auntie Erin's balloon creations. This kept everyone entertained!

Breakfast with Santa

My parents came in Thursday before Christmas to spend a few days with the kids. Friday morning was Lilly's annual Breakfast with Santa. So we loaded everybody up and headed down to "Daddy's work". It was fun to show Mom and Dad where Jon works, and the kids had a great time, as always.

Evie wearing the dress that her cousin Cassidy wore to our wedding 9 years ago. It fit her perfectly!

This is the first year that we let the kids decorate Christmas cookies. Delish!

Checking out the sprinkles.

 

 We then headed up to Daddy's cube so the kids could do some work.

 They were both in love with his headset!

 

And we finally got a picture of just the kids with Santa, and everyone is smiling! They are the "cheese" fake smiles, but that's OK! Merry Christmas!

Evie's new bed

Our kids are not big on naps any more, but sometimes on Mondays and Fridays I am able to get them down (after the busy weekend and busy week). This Monday it was not happening, but I was super tired and needed a little rest, so I was just letting them run around and play in their room. Oliver is tall enough to turn the light on, and there really isn't anything in there that they can get hurt on. Or so I thought. I was lying in bed across the hall when I heard a crash and cry. Evie was lying on the floor bawling next to her toddler bed. You know when she cries for more than 5 seconds it is pretty bad, as she is super tough. I made her stand up by herself, and then looked her over to make sure she didn't have any horrible injuries. The worst thing I saw was a big red streak on her right arm from her wrist to her elbow, but did all of my circulation checks and everything worked fine. It did turn into a huge ugly bruise...

So a few hours later, the story finally came out. They were playing Red Fish, Blue Fish (thank you Universal), and pretending that the sides of her bed were the ride. You know, the ride goes way up high, so we had to sit on something tall. Still not quite sure if Eva was climbing up herself, or was getting a little boost from Oliver. And he claims that they both came up with the idea together at the same time. Right... And this all led to Eva getting a new bed. Yes, she is now sleeping on her mattress which is laying on the floor. Hey, it is the safest thing we can do for now! She is pretty proud of her "new bed" and was so excited to show it to Gramma and Papa. Heaven help me...

Cocoa and Caroling

Since Ollie is in preschool this year, he had his first ever Christmas programs! His Orange Fish program was on Tuesday and was called Cocoa and Caroling. All of the parents sat in the Fellowship Hall and waited until the kiddos came in, wearing the cutest antlers and bells. They sang multiple carols, and then gave us Christmas presents, and we all got to drink delicious cocoa! Gramma Rie came with me to Cocoa and Caroling since Daddy couldn't take two afternoons off of work... I have to say, I was rather teary when O came in and started singing. He is so adorable, and is getting to be such a big boy.

O is right in front of the piano.

Close up!

Me and my best boy.

 Cheers!

 Ollie with his Orange Fish teachers: Mrs. Murray, Mrs. Anderson, and Mrs. Shank

On Wednesday Ollie had a little Christmas party in his All Stars class. Daddy, Evie and I all went to this one. We got more gifts, and the class had made cookies in the am, so after they sang us some more Christmas songs; we got to have a little snack.

Ollie decided he didn't want a red nose like the other kids, or to shake his bell. He did a great job of singing and doing motions though!