Christmas Day

12-25

Merry Christmas!!! Charlie and Alanna got right to work playing with new things. Charlie turned into Russell Wilson just after breakfast and didn't really change back to himself until bedtime. He loves his new helmet and jersey!

Around 10:30 or so we let the kiddos open their stocking gifts. They got an assortment of goodies; chapstick, glow sticks, hair brush, tiny doll, football cards, gloves, playing cards, hair bows, notepads, etc. Santa ate all the cookies and left a few crumbs on the plate. (No lie. Santa We really DID chow down on some cookies on Christmas Eve.)

Our tough football player proudly sporting his new Seahawks gear! He looks adorable.

I made a Christmas ham dinner with carrots and croutons, mashed potatoes, and cranberry butter for the bread braid that Matt made the day before. We are usually prepping for a big trip to MN and aren't wanting a lot of food in the fridge, so we have kept Christmas meals to a minimum. I.e. snowman pizza. But this year, I went for it and prepared a feast. And feast we did!

After our mega meal, we skyped with Mark and Jean and the Polejewskis. When Charlie put his football gear on to show everyone, Joe popped his head onto the screen to show off HIS new Vikings helmet!! Oh, boys!

While Molly was napping, Matt busted out the eggnog. Matt's good for one pint a year - and even then it doesn't always get finished. Alanna and Charlie tried it and liked it so who knows? Maybe we'll have to up our nog consumption to a quart sometime. It's good for about three sips and then I'm done for a while.

Is that an eggnog mustache?

Now that Charlie and Alanna were fueled up, they headed outside to play for a bit. Don't let the sun and no rain fool you - it was pretty chilly on Christmas day. That didn't stop Russell Wilson Charlie from throwing the football around with Daddy. Alanna took her new camera outside to take some pictures. I managed to get Hattie to lay down by herself for about 12 minutes, at which point I took these pictures, but she had another day like Christmas Eve where she just wanted to be held and not nap for any length of time.

I love that he's either checking his watch or timing his runs/passes on his new watch.

Post-game refueling of champions. Candy off their gingerbread houses. They lasted for a while, but ultimately we had to throw away the houses and any remaining candy on their land.

After snack, we proceeded with some more Christmas gifts, this time all the gifts were from both sides of our extended family. But before presents is pictures!

A sampling of the combined 17 packages (is that right, Jill? it was like 5 per C/A/M and Hattie got two, so yeah, 17!) from the Swensons. Auntie Jill likes to wrap presents! Frozen floam, a Lego set, and a Minnie Mouse tag reader book, just to name a few. Also, in the fourth picture down from here, Charlie opened the movie Mr. Peabody and Sherman (still from Swensons). When he read the title, he pronounced Peabody, Peabooty. YESSSSS. It's now Mr. Peabooty forever.

Alanna got a sticker pad and Hattie's getting some milk. Everyone's happy!

Molly took one of her Little People lift-a-flap books and her new purse (all from Goulds and Polejewskis), found herself a quiet space, and took a little break to read her book....

...before rejoining the chaos! Children! Paper! Gifts! Wrapping paper! Whew!

 

 

Jean embroidered pillow cases for Charlie, Alanna, and Molly. I thought I uploaded a picture of Alanna's, but I seemed to have missed it. She must have spent a lot of time, and they are beautiful!

Molly's says Thank Heaven For Little Girls. We sure do.

Baby Hattie in another Baby's First Christmas outfit! Precious!

Alanna and Charlie received LeapPads from Lake Grandma and Grandpa. They were beyond thrilled!

After a supper of leftovers, Matt and I pushed some things aside and found a small space to sit down with Hattie so we could open her gifts. Hattie is laying on a new blanket from Country Grandma that she embroidered with Hattie's name and birth stats on the satin edge. It's so great!

What a day! It was another very full day with hardly three seconds of down time for Matt and me. We were completely exhausted at the end of the day! Before we went to bed, we sat on the couch for a bit to actually chat about the day, and it was then that we opened a few gifts from our parents. We had a fun day, a fun Oregon Christmas. Different, yes, but still great!