Putting lights up is serious business around here. In fact, a number of our neighbors all pitch in to rent a boon every year.
The day the boon came happened to be the same day that my parents arrived for Thanksgiving and the day of our family photos. So we left our kind neighbors with a bin full of lights and sprinted out the door while they hung up our lights for us. Our neighborhood really is that friendly.
We got home that evening to discover that we hadn't purchased enough lights to cover the entire roofline. So Yo ended up soliciting the help of a neighbor yet again and put his mountain climbing equipment to use for the first time since we lived in Utah eons ago.
Yo later described the light hanging as a near-death-experience and may have PTSD. But even he had to admit that the end result was well worth it.
More than one person commented, "I bet you could see your house from space, it's so bright!" We weren't entirely sure they meant this in a good way, but we asked ourselves, "What would the Griswold's think?" so we decided to take it as a compliment.
We enjoyed some fun Christmas festivities leading up to the big day. Our ward Christmas party was a lot of fun, but we didn't get a single picture. And after getting a flukey, full-night's sleep I woke up so energized that I decided it would be a great idea to throw a big Christmas shindig at our house.
Well, that was the last good sleep that I got, and by the time the party day rolled around I was kicking myself for thinking I was up to the task while dealing with a fussier than average newborn. But I managed to pull things together. We had a great turnout, tons of food to eat, some fun party games to play and a white elephant gift exchange. I heard it was a success, but wouldn't know because I spent a lot of the party shut away in my bedroom trying to calm down an over-tired, overstimulated baby with an upset stomach. Thus the lack of party pictures. I might be crazy, but I'm already looking forward to this becoming an annual tradition. (The party, not the fussy newborn.)
Kai had a cute holiday performance with his preschool. I thought it was the perfect occasion for him to break-in his new blazer that I bought on clearance sale after Thanksgiving. I've always wanted him to wear one.
When I laid out his clothes for him to put on, he famously questioned me, "You want me to dress like the president?"
It took us 15 minutes to get the kids ready to get out the door. 20 minutes to drive there. 5 minutes to find seats--it was a packed house. 30 minutes of waiting for the show to start. And the show lasted literally 5 minutes...maybe less. But it was cute. And Kai's outfit made it all worth it.
This guy was looking pretty cute, too.
The preschool provided some refreshments for after the program. It was all that Kai could talk about on his way there. As soon as the songs ended there was a mob rush toward the refreshment tables that were stocked with Costco cookies and pixie cups full of juice. We dragged Kai away kicking and screaming and hightailed it out of there with promises of better treats awaiting him...at Red Robin. We indulged the boys with ginormous cookies and cream shakes and an endless basket of fries, while Yo and I inhaled our burgers in shifts while taking turns pacing the restaurant with a screaming baby. Good times were had by all.
Yo must have taken this picture on the sly. And since it's literally the only picture of me during the entire Christmas season, I am posting it.
Last year with our move in November I did not get our family pictures taken in time to put out a holiday card. So this year I was determined to be more on top of things. So, like I shared in a previous post, I had my friend Josie take our pictures. They turned out great. But it took me another month to actually order cards. By the time they were ready for pick-up it was a mad dash to get them addressed and mailed out in time for Christmas. I really should learn from past years and just order Happy New Year's cards instead. Maybe next year....
One of the things that we love about our neighborhood is how, well, neighborly it is. Not only do our neighbors go all out with their Christmas decor, (I wish I had gotten a better pic than this of the decor...our whole neighborhood looks amazing,)
a lot of our neighbors also exchange Christmas gifts. Coming from California where we maybe talked to our neighbors biannually, we were totally caught off guard by this tradition last year. On Christmas Eve I threw some gifts together to reciprocate to the neighbors who had brought something to us. This year I was more prepared, but coming up with a cute idea and assembling 30(+) gifts is no small task while juggling a new born (who was having issues that I will save for another post). We ended up passing out homemade potpourri because it is allergy friendly and calorie free. I hope the neighbors liked it. I know it made our house smell heavenly (in fact, I think I'll whip up another batch right now...maybe the fresh smell will help me look past the general state of disarray my home is in at the moment).
Since Isla was born my church attendance has been spotty. I intentionally stayed home with her for the first month or so because it was the middle of flu season, and she was so little, and I liked the idea of her having some immunizations before I exposed her to the masses. After that, I went when I could, but often arrived late and had to leave early. But just before Christmas I made it through the entire 3 hour block for the first time and we've had a pretty good streak ever since. I admit, I'm motivated to attend in part because it means that Isla gets to wear all of her cute dress up clothes that she is finally fitting into. The Sunday before Christmas we dressed the kids especially cute and I even got them to pose for a few pics after church ended. It's amazing what my kids will do for a hershey kiss.
I have such a hard time picking which picture to post because Ari is such a ham in front of the camera. Each frame seems to capture I different part of his personality and I become attached to every one. And then there's my little politician, Kai. He's got the smile and the head tilt down pat.
And then there is this little cutie. She has turned into the smiliest of babies. She loves having "conversations" and her whole face lights up when she has your undivided attention. But she is also fascinated by the phone and my camera so it is really hard to capture her smiles on film. Smile or no smile, I thought she looked darling in her little Christmas dress.
If I had more pictures, this one of me and Isla would not make the cut (because I look like a spaz), but since I was complaining about not having enough pictures of me with the kids, it seems silly not to include the one picture I got. But a photography class should be required of all men before they get married that specifically teaches how to take flattering pics of their wives. Wouldn't the world be a better place if it was?
Did I mention that Ari loves LOVES loves his little sister.
I didn't go overboard with the Christmas activities around here. We resurrected our Elf on the Shelf and while we didn't get crazy ambitious with his hiding places, etc., we did better than last year and only forgot to move him a couple of times. We also decorated gingerbread houses and did a few Christmas crafts together. It all sounds cooler than it was, but whatevs. I was kind of in survival mode this year. I'm going to save all my over-achieving mommy moments for when they are old enough to remember.
On Christmas Eve we had some grand ambitions that we mostly scrapped. In the end, the kids went sledding with Yo, picked out gifts for each other at The Dollar Store and ate dinner at Chick-Fil-A while I took care of the babe, picked up some last minute stocking stuffers and made my candy cane coffee cakes (it's not Christmas without them).
We made cookies for Santa
By the time they were done their cookies were literally buried beneath a mound of red and green sugar. I'm sure Santa loved them.
After the cookies we watched a couple of church movies about the birth of Christ.
Then we ushered the kids off to bed so Santa's elves could get to work. I made a point to wrap all the presents and assemble as many toys as possible earlier in the week so it wouldn't be too late of a night for me and Yo (especially since I anticipated having to get up several times in the night with Isla). But my brain wasn't functioning at full capacity and somehow the few tasks that we had left to the last minute dragged on forever. Yo and I didn't get to bed until after 3 AM.
The boys had been threatened about getting out of bed before we came to get them. But shortly before 7 they couldn't contain themselves and began calling "Mom! Mom! Mom!" incessantly from their room in synchronization. Yo wanted to make them wait until we were ready to get up, but I still remember waiting in anticipation for my parents to finally wake up on Christmas morning. So I took pity on them and dragged my tired booty out of bed.
I've continued the Olsen tradition of lining the kids up from youngest to oldest and then letting them run out to the living room together.
Like me as a kid, Kai bee-lined straight for his stocking.
Ari wasted no time on his stocking (which was mostly filled with oral hygiene products, anyway) and dove straight into his Santa pile (and Kai's, too).
The plasma cars you can see in the pics were from my sister. She always picks out the coolest toys for the kids. The boys spent a little time playing and eating the candy from their stockings before we moved onto the presents under the tree.
All of the toys this year were a big hit. We made a point to go for quality over quantity so we mostly stuck to the kids' Christmas lists with a couple of surprises. Ari really liked the marble works set and his new magna doodle. Kai was most excited about his matchbox marine explorer boat.
So much so that he was begging to take a bath in the middle of opening presents.
After we opened all the gifts under the tree we took a little breakfast break. No one in our family appreciates candy cane coffee cake quite the way that I do, but this year I think it grew a little on Yo and Ari seemed to like it. Especially washed down with a little hot chocolate.
After breakfast we let the kids in on a little secret.... the fun was not over. Apparently, with the help of our favorite elf, Jet, Santa had left a clue under the tree that led the boys on a scavenger hunt to find their remaining presents. This was one of my favorite Christmas traditions as a kid--one that my dad started.
During the course of the scavenger hunt the boys discovered an awesome play tent that my sister got them, and a slot car race track in the basement before being led to the grand finale...
Little Isla mostly spent her morning hanging out with Pappa and lounging in her chair:
A needlepoint project that my mom made for me when I was a little girl. It hung on the wall of my childhood bedroom for years. My mom surprised me by sending it wrapped for Isla. And once I find the perfect frame for it, it's going up on her wall, too.
Did I mention recently how fun it is to have a little girl?
The rest of Christmas day the kids played contentedly with their new toys and we hung out as a family. Dinner time ended up sneaking up on us and when we realized that we didn't have time to make my homemade rolls, we decided to postpone our traditional ham dinner until the following day and instead ate some delicious Christmas tacos that Yo prepared.
It wasn't a fancy affair from beginning to end. But I have to say that our first Christmas as a family of five was just about perfect.
