Ahhh... Christmas.

We celebrated Christmas several different times this year. With presents each time. And food. And a lingering sense of guilt over the amount of cheeseball we ate.

Our first round was at the company Christmas party. We stood in line for an hour to see Santa. The kids were obviously not thrilled with any of it.



We went to visit Will's parents the weekend before Christmas, and the kids were in much better moods. Chase got to play Dinosaur Train with Grandma, and Graham tried out his new shovel. He also tried it outside, covering himself and everyone else in mud. Oh well, 'tis the season.





We went to Will's grandparents' house, and Gabriella played in a doll bed that was built by her great-great-great grandfather (at least, I think it was 3 greats).



Two days before Christmas, we decided to rip up our dining room carpet and replace it with laminate flooring. Who does that? It was only a tiny bit stressful.

By the time Christmas morning rolled around, the children had already opened gifts several times, so maybe the thrill had worn off. Whatever it was, they were so difficult that day.




Gabriella went straight for her Dora fruit snacks and was content to ignore the rest of her presents. She also came down with a 104 fever that afternoon. A precursor of things to come.



The next day, we headed to my parents' house. If we had known what we were getting ourselves into, we would have stayed home. Or just poked pencils into our ears. Graham also came down with the 104 fever on the way over. This resulted in a bunch of fussy, whiny, clingy children for the next 4 days. Cousin Madeline was there, and didn't quite know what to think of all the insane noise. Grandma Funk came over for a day, and the two sickos were in particularly awful moods (sorry, Grandma!). We took no pictures that week, hoping to erase the bad parts from our scalded memories. (I'm only partially kidding). We really did enjoy seeing my family, so it was worth it. Just wish the kids had felt better. If you're truly curious, you can read Christina's post here.

We enjoyed seeing everyone over the past few months. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season as well!

Off to a slow start

Yes, Mom, I know it's been a month since I've posted anything. Here's something to tide you over until I get the gumption to blog about Christmas.

Christmas Program

Last night was Graham's first Christmas program. His fan club sat on the front row. He walked in with the group promptly at 6:30pm. We smiled and waved at him as he walked in. He stood front and center. Then he had a melt down and began sobbing. Very loudly.



Daddy went over and let him come down off the stage for a few minutes. Graham calmed down after the first song and eventually went back up, but he was not happy about it.



By the end of the program, he was laughing.



Maybe if it had been 10 minutes longer, he would have sung the songs or done the motions. Instead, we got the double nose pick.

Sleep tight

Lately, the kids are in a bird phase. They make nests out of laundry baskets and ask me to feed them pretend worms. If they are pretend worms, and birds don't have teeth anyway, we shouldn't have to fight through bedtime toothbrushing, right?

Here they are, crammed into our closet.



And here was one tired mama bird who woke up to three squirmy chicks on her belly. They were awfully sweet, though.

Asian wannabe

My sister sent a pair of training chopsticks for Graham a few years ago, and he just discovered them in the back of the utensils drawer. He insisted on trying them out, and since we were having chicken and noodles (a meal he refuses to eat) we consented.

Three plates of noodles and broccoli later, I decided that Santa will now be bringing every version of ethnic cutlery on the planet. It would be worth it to get him to eat without complaining.

On the farm, yet again.

Every time we visit Will's parents, the kids have to go to the barn. I think they would have been the happiest boys on Earth if they had been born in a stable like baby Jesus.

Mostly, they just want to sit on tractors. Emily and Aunt Susan are very kind to oblige, and they even got to ride one down the road. You know the song this time of year. Oh, what fun it is to ride... a John Deere tractor.







We also tried to see the baby goats, but the kids were terrified. Ours, not the baby goats.

Grandmas

There's nothing like making edible crafts with your grandma. The kids got a few chances before Thanksgiving.

Here they are with Grandma and Aunt Carolyn, making pilgrim hats. Mostly they just ate all the pieces.



And here are the gingerbread houses with Grammie and Grandpa. Mostly they just ate the candy.