I have no idea why they started doing this, where it came from, or what prompted it, but they did it frequently throughout the Christmas season. They also did it once last week around the coffee table in the front room.
Two other notes:
1. I love that Joey's always in the middle of it all with some random toy in his hand, being knocked to and fro, and perfectly content.
2. Joe's ability to sit in a room completely undisturbed and unaware of the small children running about, making large volumes of noise, seems to be hereditary.
After dinner clean up, the true festivities began. Grandpa Tim, in an amazing turn around from previous years' yule log mishaps, actually trimmed off a small portion of this year's yule log and packed it in his suitcase. It's good Gramps was on the ball because in the great clean up of 2011, in which Joe broke with the tradition of leaving the ENTIRE tree intact until Christmas Eve, our cut up and neatly stacked yule log disappeared into the wood pile or otherwise made its way to the local dump in the back of the van. If it weren't for Grandpa Tim, there would have been no yule log.
There would also have been a lot less silliness (and heresy) at our Christmas celebration.
Once the yule log was on, the Christmas story read, and we listened to a Christmas song, the paper began flying.
The girls were quite excited at the Tinkerbell jammies and robe from Grandma & Grandpa DeShon.
Joey was quite excited to just be able to rip, tear and destroy something without getting in trouble.
Besides the cardboard boxes, Joey also liked his sippy cups.
There were lots of craft supplies for the girls, which we all love.
lunchboxes, which are carted all over the house and rarely used for lunch,
nightgowns with matching bear nightgowns,
bear snugglis made by mama,
and lots of other beloved gifts!
After the presents, we always enjoy some hot cocoa (with marshmallows) in the chilly outdoors,
and then send the kids off to bed.
The next morning the fun starts again with stockings.
All that little loot, makes little girls happy,
until Joey gets his hands on it
and starts eating the oranges.
After all the gifts the night before and the stockings that morning, that was all that was left to unwrap.
For Joe and my family growing up, Christmas Eve was the time of gathering to celebrate Christmas. This year, since Christmas was actually celebrated at our home on Christmas, we kept the Christmas Eve tradition alive. Also in keeping with tradition is my tendency to wait until the last possible moment to wrap Christmas gifts. On the morning of Christmas Eve, then, everyone was barred from the office while I wrapped gifts. Everyone, that is, but the troublemaker.
He hung around to help.
After naps and graham cracker houses in the afternoon, the girls watched the Charlie Brown Christmas Special while the final touches were put on dinner.
They were glued to the screen.
Dinner involved some traditions from home like cookie salad, jigglers, sparkling cider, and rolls,
and one item to celebrate our last Christmas in Maryland:
crab cakes (and hotdogs for the kids).
While the adults enjoyed dinner, the kids just wanted to get on with the show: there was a pile of presents just waiting to be opened under that newly decorated Christmas tree!
Staying in Maryland for Christmas and having our home on the market altered a few of our traditional Christmas plans: like celebrating Christmas on December 15th and buying a tree the day after Thanksgiving. Instead, we left it all to the end: Christmas on the 24/25 and tree purchasing on the 22nd. It turns out that sometimes fortune smiles upon the procrastinators of this world. Our late purchase allowed us both an adventure and a good deal. For $15 we were able to visit a local tree farm/orchard and pick out our very own tree and cut it down.
It was a rather unseasonably warm day (notice the absence of jackets) as we ventured out with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Tim to cut down our very own Christmas tree.
When we'd found the perfect tree, Grandpa offered to let the girls cut it down.
They decided instead, to supervise. They had to give him some pointers on where to cut,
but eventually he figured it out.
After the tree felling,
he carried the tree for us,
until he got tired and couldn't carry it anymore.
Then daddy helped him carry it the rest of the way and tie it to the top of the van.
Once home, Grandpa Tim and Joe put it in its stand and hung the lights.
We turned off all the lights to admire their handiwork.
Then we turned on the Charlie Brown Christmas music and got to work decorating.
It all looks so serene and peaceful in picture. Lest anyone have any doubts what it really was like, here are a few videos:
The next video is kind of long, but it captures a few funny things:
1. Aliyah did not care anything about ornaments. She just wanted to play with Gramps. I don't think she hung a single one on the tree this year.
2. Joey was oblivious. He sure liked that box, though. Midway through the video he broke the box, but that didn't stop him, he just carried on his merry way.
