Christmas Week

It has been a busy week. On Monday, I took Anna to a far-away orthodontist for a second opinion. I will write about that another day, since it doesn't fit my Christmas theme. But, it was a lot of driving, about 5.5 hours total in the car (totally worth it). On Tuesday, we went to Winter Haven to have another socially distanced family visit. Poor Thomas had to work. As in, actually go into the office. So, it was me and the kids. We left around 9:15 and went straight to the park. We packed a picnic lunch and had a good visit with my Dad, Kim, Kevin and Maggie. JD came a little later, much to Luke's delight. My kids definitely love their cousins! Amanda wasn't feeling well, so we didn't get to see her this visit. We left the park around 1:30 and met up with Marta and Elizabeth to get Pelicans (our favorite Hawaiian ice place). The girls went home with Marta for the night. 

The next day, I left in the morning again and dropped the boys off at Marta's to work on cookies. They built a gingerbread manger scene. It is a tradition Marta has done with her kids for years. And, this was the second year that she did it with my kids as well. They worked on the ingredients on Tuesday and put it together on Wednesday. While they did that, I went and had lunch with Kim. We went to Tropical Smoothie and ate at the park in downtown Winter Haven and had a good visit. Thomas was still working.

It was nice to spend so much time with family, but I was really sick of driving. The trip to Winter Haven is just over an hour each way, but traffic was heavy and it felt like a lot. Probably about 10 hours over the three days. However, I am thankful to be close to family. It is a large part of why we moved here and I love when it all pays off. The girls had a great time with Marta and Elizabeth. 

On Tuesday night, we did a neighborhood Christmas lights scavenger hunt. Someone in our neighborhood gave us a treat bag, including the clues for the scavenger hunt. Our house was a clue for our countdown decoration. We really enjoyed walking through the neighborhood and checking things off. It was a good ending to a busy few days! We also took turns reading the Charlie Brown Christmas book and then watched the cartoon to spot the differences. I am generally not a huge fan of Charlie Brown (too depressing), but I love the message of a Charlie Brown Christmas.

Christmas Eve was nice. We have two neighbors with girls in Luke's class, he has been playing with them quite a bit lately and they played for a while outside and came into our house for a bit as well. We had our big dinner (both ham and turkey--so many leftovers!!!) and watched Home Alone. The day went by quickly. We read The Night Before Christmas, opened our jammies, and took the kids' annual picture in front of the Christmas countdown. We had reindeer food to spread, put out cookies for Santa and called it a night. 

The kids wanted to get up between 6:30 and 7. We settled on 6:45. I got up a little early and started our traditional breakfast casserole. By 6:45, the kids were all up, ready and, of course, really excited. We went through our stockings and then began opening presents. We took a break at 8 and had our breakfast. Luke took another break after opening his cd player. He ran upstairs with that and some new cds and told us to keep going without him. I think he was overwhelmed by the number of gifts. The kids got each other, and Thomas and I, thoughtful gifts. For example, Anna is really into doing hair right now and Kara got her a hairstyling head to practice with and Jack got her a braiding book. She was very happy. They used their own money for gifts. It was nice to see them put some thought into their presents. I did miss Kara's tradition of making everyone a gift. Hopefully, she will do that again sometime in the future. Jack kept joking with Anna that he was getting her a Barbie Doll. And, he got her one of those too. And, she bought him one as well. I hope they regift them next year and it becomes a nice inside joke for the two of them. 

We all got some great gifts and spent time playing/using them. Jack got an inflatable kayak that he blew up and tested in the pool. He also worked on building a new Lego set. Luke got a Flashrider 360 that he spent a lot of time riding. Kara got a unicycle that she practiced. And, Anna went on a bike ride on her new bike and has been doing hair all afternoon. I got a Diamond painting that I started and Thomas opened up all his baseball cards. The older kids, Thomas, and I played a new game called "The Five Second Rule," it was quick and fun. We still have lots of other games to play--we got tons of new ones.  The house is a mess, but everyone is feeling happy and loved. I am not sure we could ask for more!

Favorite gifts: Thomas says it is really hard to choose, but settled on a newspaper from 1862. It's hard for me to choose as well, I got some amazing gifts! But, I will go with my new headband earphones. Anna chose the hair doll and her bike. She is also really excited that we got a basketball hoop. Jack said he thinks the kayak, but he hasn't used it for real yet, so Morgoth's Ring (a book). Kara said the Don't Talk to Me sweatshirt (from the Masked singer) and a bulletin board. Luke said the stuff in his stocking and his Flashrider 360.

Everyone but Jack got a Squishmallow (he didn't want one). They are kind of my new obsession. The girls first spotted them SeaWorld and they are so soft and squishy. I got one for family, friends, even myself. Then, I asked for a smaller one to hold and squish while working and Kara got me an adorable elephant (my favorite animal). They are just fun. I have been holding off on posting this until I get a picture with them, but I keep forgetting. So, if I think of it later, I will add it in.