Christmas!

And finally, Christmas Day.  We were up early to attend Christmas Day mass.  My brother joined us, and afterwards took this picture for us.(thanks Shawn!)

Then we headed home for our very own, quiet, Christmas time.  The kids finally opened their gifts from us, which pleasantly, they hadn't been begging to do so until after we returned home from church.

Tim received cookie monster pjs from the kids.  I had taken the kids with me, intending to pick out some lounge pants.  Norrie saw and literally hugged those cookie monster pj's right off the rack.  Conrad's response was not favorable - he felt if we bought this for dad, then it would encourage Tim to eat more cookies and he already eats too many cookies (again, that logic!).  It was easy enough to persuade Conrad that I would monitor the cookie intake, even with monster cookie pj's.  

And the best part about gifts at Christmas?  When the kids love them so much they don't even realize they only opened two presents each!  I think momma did pretty well this year!  (no credit goes to the fat guy in a red suit ;-)

Conrad's main gift this year was Snap Circuit Jr.  I had no previous experience with this one and took my chances.  So far, very impressed.  Age range is 8-108 but the pieces seem quite durable and Conrad has taken off with the booklet and projects (101 projects total in the kit and he's already on #9).  He, so far, has been able to put together each project independently.  And although he can, and does, read the description for each one as well, he asks me to read it to him and explain it to him.  Not surprising though, because how many kids have heard words like diode, resistor, DC power, etc?

Norrie's gift this year was Calico Critters.  She loves all things girl so I was pretty confident with this one.  And so far not disappointed.  This is a gift that can continue growing over the years - there's a whole line of calico critters and houses and accessories!

almost Christmas!

We had several Christmas celebrations this year.  First with Grandma Marge, then a week later with my family, and then on Christmas Eve we spent time with Tim's family.  They were pretty well spaced apart and overall not much stress.

All the wishes for Christmas came true (except the green bike and Lionel trains).

1. snow
2. seeing cousins and extended family
3. no baby before or on Christmas (okay, that one was just mine!)

Christmas Program

 Conrad performed in his first Christmas program this year (not including his preschool program a few years ago). We arrived early to save good seats and I got this shot of my well dressed dude.

Early in the program his class sang "Away in the Manger"

And then the rest of the program was mostly the older classes.  Overall a good experience for him though, and he seemed to enjoy it despite looking quite nervous in many of the pictures I took while he was up front.

birthday party and family reunion

Tim's sister and her family were able to fly home earlier in December for a visit.  While they were here we had a birthday party for her two kids. Brenda's daughters from Duluth drove down with their kids as well so not only was it a birthday party, it was a family reunion of sorts.  It was one of the few times Ray and Brenda have had all their grandchildren in one place.  It was crazy.  And fun!

Happy St Nick's Day

Early in December we celebrate St Nick's day.  The kids discovered gold coins in their shoes that morning AND the stockings just hung the night before were filled with little gifts!

every once in awhile...

Every once in awhile we still get a surprise in the form of a really quiet car ride.  I'm noticing now though that we didn't have Norrie buckled in very well - twisted belt.  tsk, tsk.

The night before we had been out kind of late, that morning had attended a late church time, and were heading to Grandma Marge's house for the first of several family Christmas celebrations.  So this was a welcome development - we let them sleep for over an hour before arriving at Grandma's and the afternoon/evening was so much better for it!

Another first

Norrie had her first haircut this year, and now she's had her first dental appointment too!  She's quite cooperative for these things :)  They sent her home with a goodie bag, including all things you would expect (toothbrush, toothpaste, stickers) and also a "sneeze catcher" and "soft fingers".  It's amusing to hear the lingo they use in a pediatric dentistry office. The kids are still talking about brushing really well to get all those "sugar bugs" off their teeth and gums every day.