Yay for Christmas Morning!

All set and ready for the morning!

I set up my tripod so I could get at least some pictures while still participating and paying attention while the boy's opened presents. Santa brought the boys new camp chairs, LeapBands, puzzles, a book on how to draw little animals, and an obscene amount of Lego's. 

Nick's suitcase of Lego's (starting the count at 1,000)

The most anticipated Arctic Base set (Lego count: 1,700)

Lego ice skating ring, camper RV and boat/truck (Lego count: 2,360 plus the 218 from the Advent calendar)

While the boys were on a Lego high, Eva and Elaina were opening their presents from Santa, too. Eva got a new twirly dress! It is perfect for the new Cinderella movie coming out in March! I had a twirly dress that was required attire when watching Dirty Dancing. I understand the twirly dress code required for certain movies.

Even girls with twirly dresses need warm tooties. 

Merry Christmas!

2014 Christmas card

Only one head swap required for this year's family photo!

A Wolny Cousin Christmas Eve

It was a Wolny Christmas Eve at our house! We had a miniature traditional Polish Christmas Eve with perogies and fish and church after dinner. Ciocia Lily and Joe were in town as well and joined us for dinner and church. And it wouldn't be Christmas without the traditional impossible picture of all four kids...My kids really are good at taking some winning photos.

I would like to say that all four were perfect at church! We got the last group of seats, in the very last row, in the narthax (which was perfect) and although I came well armed with activities and distractions, they weren't really necessary. After saying Happy Birthday to Jesus, everyone came home and went straight to bed/sleep! That's what I call a successful Christmas Eve!

How Mommies Survive Christmas

First some Zumba and then some Amarula! Mmmmm, mmmm! 

It was a rough week...

Gingerbread Messes - I Mean Houses

So, George got brave, and decided to bring 3 gingerbread houses for the kids the week before Christmas. He was smart enough to assemble them so that the kids could get straight to decorating with no waiting required in the morning. (I believe George's helper may have had some issue with the first house assembly, but was a pro by #3!) 

He even labeled them with names written in chocolate chips. However, when I got to the table in the morning, after Ben and Nick had been there for a few minutes, the names were gone. Hmmm...

Let the sugar consumption begin! I just sat back and let them do their thing. I showed Nick a few things and then stepped away. It was best for everyone. 

Caught in the act!! Candy thief! 

The final product:

Ben (he did pretty good - he was his own architect for his design)

Eva (actually Andrea with the candy that Eva didn't eat before she could frost it to the house)

Nick (he took the longest working on his and enjoyed it)

George's present did its job and bought me an hour of activity for all three kids! 

A Nice, Peaceful Visit to the Library

Next up on the field trip list - Library! Elaina was sleeping, so I took the older three to the P'burg library for a little play time. The library is still under some construction, but the kids' area was more or less put together. The kids were very well behaved and everyone's listening ears were working! They picked out books and a ton of movies (which they only watched 2, repeatedly).