Christmas Time is Here

 Here is Girl Child #1 five years ago...

And now here is the baby now.  The dress is a little big, but it worked.

                                                                 Merry Christmas!

We had a wild and crazy week of Christmas.  First off, there was a coloring competition at our local grocery store.  Honestly, it is a store I hardly ever go to.  I just went because it was convenient at the time and I only needed a few things.  So when we went to check out the cashier told me they were having a coloring contest and my kids should enter because not very many kids had.  The Girl Child LOVES to color lately so I figured I'd at least give her a coloring page, but I wasn't really planning on bringing them back.  Last Easter we had gotten coloring pages from the same store and I never brought them back, but for whatever reason I actually brought back their coloring pages this year and surprisingly brought one for each child even though MC2's was just scribbled on.
     So on Sunday they called to tell us MC2 won the coloring contest for his age which was 1-3.  I was pretty surprised and GC1 was furious!  "But he scribbled!" she cried.  "That's not fair!"  She has recently stopped scribbling most of the time so this was too much injustice.  So I thought about not getting the prize because it was FREEZING outside and we figured it would be a cookie or something.  Brent said it better be just a cookie because otherwise we would be rewarding mediocrity, but I decided to go and get the prize.  MC2 was super excited he won even though I don't think he really understood what was going on.

   So we went to the store in the blistering cold and I thought, "This better be more than a cookie."  We walked in and announced to the customer service lady that we had come for MC2's prize.  She was super excited and told me to wait while she got it.  I figured she was going to the bakery to get his cookie, but then a worker said, "I'll go grab the ham" and I thought, "What kind of prize is a ham for a three year old!?"  Lame right?  But no... there was more.  The lady hands MC2 a laundry basket full of stuff!  The movie planes, toys, candy, FRUIT SNACKS!  He was in heaven.  She wanted to take our picture, but MC2 couldn't take his eyes off the basket.  Finally I put my hand on his head to hold him still and we got the shot.
     We got home and the vultures descended.  GC1 and MC1 begged for things out of the basket and MC2 was feeling very charitable so he gave things away to them right and left.  He only cared about the movie Planes, a toy fan that had Woody on it, and his fruit snacks.  For a kid who has a hard time sharing I was impressed.

 Then after all the excitement had worn off, we had FHE and MC2 fell asleep on the couch.  It was only 7:30.

   The next day was Christmas Eve and the kids and Brent spent the day making their Christmas movie.  I had no idea what Brent was doing in the movie but played my part he assigned me.  Oh, and we had to do wash our hair with lice shampoo and wash all the sheets again because you're supposed to repeat all the torture to make sure all the lice is gone.  Glad that is over with.

Then we had some friends over and had our Shepherd's dinner.  The kids got to open one present.

 If there was sound to all of the future pictures in this post it would be, "Whoah!  Wow!  Cool!"  Just imagine it to yourself.

     I have noticed if MC2 really likes a toy he sleeps with it in between his legs at night.  It doesn't look comfortable but it keeps them safe from thieves.

 I made all the kids a hat and GC1 got a Hello Kitty hat.  She loved it.  I rock.

 Lego Heaven.

Then the kids went to bed.  GC1 freaked when she realized how late it was and how close Santa was to the US and demanded everyone go to sleep!  She told me I had to go to sleep too and I told her I needed to clean up a little bit and she begged me to hurry so Santa could come!
   Then she woke up at 2 AM and puked all over her blanket and the floor.  Apparently she had had too much junk food.  She's fine now.

  The next morning MC1 was the first one up and then MC2.  I followed.

 His chocolate orange he looks forward to.

 The Girl Child got a Karaoke type thing that plays three songs.  MC1 got Battleship and MC2 got a plane from the movie planes.  The baby got nothing from Santa because we're cheap and she's a baby.

They did all get a new sled from Santa.

 Then we had breakfast which we usually don't do right away but I was worried about the kids filling up on candy and getting sick.

Then the kids divided up the presents and started.  Unlike last year MC2 was hard to stop from opening presents.  He ended first because he kept cutting in line.

 The baby loved the entire thing.  She stayed in her bouncy seat the entire time super happy until she just passed out.

 She ate her toys.

 Bubble wrap!

 I got a new camera and this is about the time I got it out and started taking pictures with it.  See the increase in quality?

 The kids loved EVERYTHING they got, but one of the favorite gifts are these head lamps.  They have been wearing them on and off all day.

 Then we spent the day eating junk, cleaning up the mass chaos, and making our Christmas feast.  The kids gave Brent and I the gift of a Christmas nap by leaving us alone and watching My Little Pony.

Then we played some games.  Battleship for the boys.

 They all got bath toy so they also took baths throughout the day.

We had a great Christmas and got really spoiled.  Thanks everyone for contributing to the Christmas joy for my kids.