Holidays!

We started off the Hanukkah celebration a little early with the Reiss's and the Samburs.  The kids had a blast with latkes, brisket and dreidels, and the first of many presents.  

Caitlin was signed up to bring in snack and dreidels to her class for the first day of Hanukkah.  We spent lots of time making cookies shaped like dreidels, menorahs, stars and macabees, but in my effort to save time, we squished them a little too close together in the baking tray.  Fortunately, they still tasted good, but Cate's classmates had to take her word for it on the intent :)

We got the whole fam together for a Hanukkah celebration at Alli's for the first official night.  We lit lots of menorahs, sang Hanukkah songs, and then everyone sat down and closed their eyes and held out their hands for gifts.  Still unsure why that tradition continues, since all Hanukkah presents are from specific people (as indicated by the cards!), but it's still fun.  As always, the best part was the kids running around, laughing and admiring each others' gifts. 

We continued lighting candles and doing small presents every night - the kids got books and games, pajamas, and fun toys and wered to hear that the fun had to stop on the 8th night.  Fortunately for them - Christmas was only 1 day away. Unfortunately, we had to postpone the big, official family Hanukkah party at Kristin's due to flu, ear infections, and other maladies - I'll post those pics when we reschedule the party in late January.  We continued lighting candles and doing small presents every night - the kids got books and games, pajamas, and fun toys and were sad to hear that the fun had to stop on the 8th night.  Fortunately for them - Christmas was only 1 day away.

We decorated the house for the holidays the day after Thanksgiving.  This year, the kids were big enough to actually help put the ornaments on the tree (and most stayed on!).  As always, the best part is taking out the ornaments and talking about the memories from each one (kids' handprints, wilson, stuff from Bill's childhood).  This was the official kickoff of the holiday music mix on Spotify - to continue relentlessly until New Years.

Two weeks before Christmas, the Elf on the Shelf made his first appearance.  We had been talking about him for days (as had all the kids in I &C's classes), so when the kids woke up and saw him on the chandelier, they were squealing with excitement.   They got to see Santa in a few different places leading up to the big day, the most authentic was at a Stapleton breakfast with Grandma Gerri, and the kids both actually smiled for the picture!

Cate woke up with a barky cough the morning of Christmas Eve, as soon as we heard it, we knew she had croup.  Thankfully, the doctor's office was open for business, and we headed in with a grateful bottle of wine for confirmation of the diagnosis.  We were in and out pretty quickly with a script for steroids, and went back to the house where the preparations were already underway.  Thankfully, other than the cough, Cate felt fine.

Grandma and Grandpa had arrived a few days prior and we enjoyed some pre-holiday down time before the big day.  It was a smaller crowd this year, with Evan and Adrienne at her parents' house and Alli and Chad bailing because Sebastian wasn't feeling great, but the chefs still went all out creating a feast, and it was delicious.  The kids got dressed up in their holiday outfits (beyond adorable) and Cate requested a special manicure in Christmas colors, which, to my surprise, came out great!

Dinner was delicious, and afterward, the kids worked with Daddy and Aunt Ray-Ray to make cookies for Santa. Having learned our lesson, we spaced them appropriately, and all the shapes stayed in tact through baking!

Then they picked out the two most perfect cookies, counted out 9 carrots, and poured the milk so Santa and his reindeer wouldn't leave thirsty or hungry.  They also wrote him notes (we love you, Santa) and then set them out right in front of the fire.  When I asked them to pose for a picture, I noticed that they were chewing... not sure all the cookies and carrots remained on the plate, I think there was some quality testing going on!

After an unsuccessful trip outside to search the sky for Santa, the kids decided he might not come if they were awake, and finally agreed to go to bed.  At that point, we brought all of the (many) gifts up from the basement, and Grandpa went to work putting together the new air hockey table to surprise the kids when they woke up.    

The kids were up before 7, and went systematically from room to room waking everyone else before they headed down to see whether Santa came.  They were very happy to see all the gifts set out and tried their hardest to get everyone else situated so they could start opening.  After a few hours of gift opening, we had a delicious brunch and everyone started playing with their toys before nap time.  Here are some pics of the kids opening gifts, and the adorable card Isaac made for us as a gift.

The next few days after Christmas were a blur of pajamas, puttig together and playing with new gifts, and lots more food.   Bill's Aunts Barbie and Michelle (and her dog Zoe) came for a visit, and Evan and Adrienne came home, so we had a few more feasts and enjoyed lots of fun family time.

Overall a great couple of weeks - now we're ready for Vegan month to lose some of the weight we gained with all the celebrating!