'Twas the Night Before Christmas....

We started our Christmas Eve morning off by sleeping in, followed by getting in the kitchen to make a hearty breakfast consisting of eggs benedict, hash browns and orange juice. After getting ourselves cleaned up, the rest of our day was go go go with non-stop fun!! Here are the highlights from our Christmas Eve!

For our Christmas Day dinner, we decided on surf 'n turf. So later in the afternoon we headed down to Central Market and purchased 3 live dungeness crabs. Pete let the boys help pick out the crabs. We came home, cooked and cleaned them. Both boys watched as Pete put the crabs in the boiling pot of water, but Clifford was the only one interested in helping to de-shell the crabs.




Our Christmas Eve dinner tradition has been to eat out. We originally planned on going out to Red Robin, but at the last minute, we settled for some Papa Murphey's Pizza. We grubbed on some greasy goodness while watching some xmas family movies.


This is our family Christmas gift: Xbox 360 with Kinect. We bought it a week prior to Christmas. Of course, it didn't make it under the tree. It was immediately hooked up and furniture moved out of the way. We love it!! And you can see just how excited Pete is to have it by the look on his face in the pic below :)


Getting in to make Santa's cookies!







Typically on Christmas Eve we only let the boys open one gift, which is always a new pair of pajamas. This time around we let them open more than one. Their neighbor friends came over after breakfast and gave each boy a gift. Then that night we let them open the gift from Aunt Janet and Uncle Tom (bag full of miscellaneous craft items). They also opened up their new pj's. In the last pic, Clifford isn't smiling. He's upset because we won't let him open up a 'toy' gift :)

And the Stockings Were Hung By the Chimney With Care...

These are our new family Christmas stockings!! Back in October when we visited Pete's family for a weekend, he told his mom that if anyone needed a family gift idea for us, that we would really love to have homemade knitted stockings. And this is exactly what she did as a gift for us. We LOVE them!!! The boys' baby stockings have now been retired, and we can get rid of the ones Pete and I were using since we got married (bought from the dollar tree).

Here Comes Santa Claus, Here Comes Santa Claus....

.....right down "Alderwood Mall" lane. :)

We braved the mall last night and stood in line for one hour so the boys could see Santa Claus. We attempted to do this Saturday morning, arriving at the mall an hour before the Santa station opened, but Pete said 'forget this!' when he saw the huge line of parents that had already started to form. Pete tried hard to convince the boys to not see Santa this year (because he didn't want to mess with the craziness of it all) and told the boys that Santa would still come for Christmas even if they didn't get to see him. I, however, ignored this and told the boys that we would still see Santa before Christmas (there are just some things in life where a couple will disagree, and one of them gets the final say. in this case, that was me lol). Pete had a late afternoon meeting at work and didn't come home until after 5pm. I made sure boys were washed up and dressed handsomely, and as soon as Pete came home, off to the mall we went. Standing and waiting in line for an hour was well worth it once we witnessed our boys having their special moment with Santa (Pete even agreed with this). They each shared with Santa what they wanted for Christmas, took a great photo, and at the end, Santa gave them each a coloring book. They had the biggest smiles on their face!! Oh, and have I mentioned how much I LOVE our mall Santa???! The same gentleman does it every year. He doesn't wear the cheesy Santa outfit, nor does he have a fake beard. To Pete and I, he just looks exactly how we imagined Santa to look (and he has a great personality. we watched as a set of twin baby boys sat on his lap. one of the babies pulled at his beard. one of the helping 'elves' wanted to fix this, but Santa said to leave it for the pic. love it when Santa can 'take one for the team' lol). Next year, I'm just hoping I'll be more organized and take the boys to Santa BEFORE Thanksgiving, when the lines aren't extremely long :)

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

On the last day of school before winter break, Kristjan's class had a mini-holiday celebration by making a Rudolph Sandwich snack that went along with a book they created a few days prior. Clifford did this last year as well, and I think it's the cutest thing! I wish I could have snapped some pics of Kristjan's class making these, but I was already committed to helping out in Clifford's class (both activities were at the same time).


How To Make A Rudolph Sandwich:
Start with a bread triangle.
Add peanut butter to the bread triangle.
Add two raisins for eyes.
Add a Fruit Loop for a nose.
Add two pretzels for antlers.
Surprise! It is a Rudolph Sandwich!

Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer

And the "reindeer" being two anxious little boys who were super excited to see their grandparents!! Grandma Jane, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa drove over from Yakima to visit us today. They spent the afternoon with us. It was a great visit!! They got to spend time with the boys. We also enjoyed a yummy lunch, and took a little visit to See's Candy. Before they left to go home, we had ourselves an early Christmas and opened gifts. The boys got spoiled (of course!) with lots of fun new toys. Pete and I loved all our gifts. My favorite part was seeing Jane and my Mom's reactions to their gifts. I love how something so simple can truly make someone happy! All in all, we all had a great time! It was great having my family visit, since they don't get to do it often.

Clifford and Kristjan were very excited with this gift. They got to open it first thing when my family arrived. It was from Uncle Matthew. He had found a container full of his old toys from when he was a kid, like pokeman and transformers (all in excellent condition). So he decided to give it to the boys. There were even 2 new light sabers in there!
Boys opening the rest of their gifts!




Kristjan was so excited when he opened this! He told Grandma Jane this is what he wanted for Christmas when he visited her this past summer. Since then, he been constantly reminding us that "Grandma Jane is giving me the pink barbie car!" She didn't have much of a choice lol
Pete finds an extra surprise in his puzzle gift from my family
Jane's reaction when she realizes what her gift is!! I've been waiting a long time to see this reaction. Side story: I have this corn dip recipe that almost everyone loves! Pete got it from a family friend years ago. I'm always asked for this recipe, but I won't give it up. I've given it to my sister Amber, but that's only because she lives on the other side of the United States. Jane has been wanting this recipe badly, but I refused to give it to her. So when I was trying to think of a great Christmas gift for her, I knew just what she would want. To surprise her, I put the recipe inside a photo album filled with pictures of the boys. She would then flip through looking at the pictures, when all of a sudden she'd come across the recipe. She LOVED it! (Sorry Franie, if you read this. I promise to leave the recipe to you in my will!!! lol)

Up On The House Top......

...a gingerbread house top, that is. Pete and I volunteered in Clifford's classroom today to help out with their gingerbread house build activity. Instead of making a traditional gingerbread house out of candy, they used recycled materials for their creation. Those kids are extremely creative! I couldn't believe some of the houses I saw! Pete was a big hit in the class. Being the engineer that he is, he had some awesome building ideas for the kids. Even Mrs. Webster complimented him and said she'd have to remember some of his ideas for future years. We had a lot of fun helping out!

Pete listening to the teacher give instructions as Clifford goofs around for the camera :)
The many creations the students made


Clifford's house

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

What better time of the year to bake and decorate gingerbread cookies than now!! Earlier in the day I whipped up a batch of homemade gingerbread men cookies. Then after we cleaned up from dinner, we got busy frosting and decorating. Clifford and Kristjan had tons of fun! And they somehow convinced me to let them eat two cookies for their dessert :)

The start of our cookie decorating. Notice how nice and clean the table is? Wasn't too long until frosting and sprinkles were everywhere! :)


I introduced the boys to edible 'spray' color for the frosting. They liked it so much I ended up having to take it away from them :)
Having Fun!



Some of the finished cookies!

On the First Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave To Me....

Clifford and his girlfriend Bella have been together since kindergarden. Pete and I just think she's the cutest thing!!!! Every day after school, she waits for him and a few other friends (the other Bella and Gavin, who we found out she 'dumped' for Clifford lol. you should hear the cute stories all the moms tells us!) to come out of their class. Then as a group (and her holding on to Clifford), they all come out together. When we go our separate ways, hugs are passed out, with Bella giving Clifford multiple ones. She will occasionally make little gifts for Clifford. So this weekend, we decided we would make her a little something for a Christmas gift. We headed to the Dollar Store, and using his own money, he bought a wooden picture frame. Later that night at home he painted, glittered and jeweled the picture frame up. He put his school picture inside the frame. Once everything is completely dry, I'll have him wrap the gift before giving it to her at school. So sweet!!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!!

It's already December 1st!!! Where has this past year gone?? I'm not ready for a new year to start, and to repeat everything all over again. Much to my relief, though, I am almost ready for the Christmas holiday. The house is decorated, Christmas cards made, and lists complete. I'm doing much better than I did last year around this time (was dealing with Pete's surgery). I still have a lot of shopping to do as far as gifts are concerned, but I at least know what I'm getting everyone. A majority of the gifts to family have already been shipped and delivered. I have my 'goodie plate' baking list finalized, and will be passing that out to neighbors once everything is baked. Christmas cards will be mailed out this weekend. To add to the craziness, the boys are invited to two birthdays the next two weekends in a row. Good thing I like to shop! Pete informed me of when the company xmas potluck is (next week!), so I have a few tasty recipes I can make to contribute to that. And I'm sure both boys' classes at school will be having some sort of holiday celebration before their winter break, which I will more than likely get to help plan since I'm room parent for each boys' class. I'm sure there's a few more items I could add to this long list, but right now, I can't remember what they are. When I look at the calendar, I see there is only 3 WEEKS until Christmas!!! As crazy as the holidays can get, I love this time of year. Spending time with family, doing the numerous family traditions we have with our boys, and the memories we're making. To calm myself, I think I just need to turn on some Christmas music, light a Christmas-scented candle, and eat a few gingerbread cookies :)