Merry Christmas 2016

The cold continued Monday but there was warmer weather in sight. We had our Christmas dinner that night for our bible study ladies and their families, so I got busy getting stuff ready for that after dropping off the kids at school. We were having around 43 people, so I brought up the extra table, benches and chairs. Before I had to pick up the twins, I got a run in and got ready quickly. I did some cleaning but saved most of it for later as I knew the kids would just make more messes and I was right. After picking up the older kids from school, we dropped off our last two boxes of cookies for some friends and then the kids wanted to play outside in the snow. This led to getting out all the snow pants, gloves, boots, etc. that I had put away earlier that day. So, it was a cleaning spree after everyone came back in…and then some went out again. The only food I had to make was a side dish and the red velvet cake I made the day before. I used the chocolate holly that Ellie and I made on the slices and it turned out cute.

Everyone started showing up around six and we had a lot of great food. I guess my email saying we were going to have 43 people scared everyone J. The kids went right to work playing and would come in now and then and grab a bite to eat. I meant to get some pictures, but forgot. It was a nice evening though of visiting with everyone. The guys all congregated around the island and talk and all the girls ended up around the big table. The kids were everywhere as we discovered throughout the night. Someone ended up in Ellie’s room and took down some of her decorations and messed up her light sign. Some toys were launched downstairs for the top floor. By the end of the night I had report that there were two wet spots in the basement and one was yellow, Mike found Lincoln, Ty and Alex in our bedroom watching TV on our bed, Bennett was brought upstairs crying with blood on his forehead (“someone threw my Megazord at me) and had a decent cut, which was inspected by two doctors in the group, and determined it didn’t need stitches, and one little boy ended up in our room and grabbed the chain on the bike and ended up with grease on his hands and one kid left with only one shoe. It was kind of amusing and all part of it J. Everyone was gone by 8:30 and we started cleaning up. Ellie worked on her room and then took some stuff down to the basement for me. The twins and Lincoln worked on cleaning up the basement and Jackson and Andrew took down the extra table, chairs and table leaves and put the dining room table back to normal. I got to putting everything else away, sweeping and mopping the floors, cleaning up the rest of the kitchen, picking up the leftover mess in the basement (finding the shoe that had been lost), finding and cleaning the mysterious wet spots, and putting away all the party stuff.

The next morning I woke up the Andrew telling me Miles was sick. He had thought he needed to throw up but did just a tiny little bit. Andrew headed off to cut ice and I checked on Miles and set him up in our bathroom. He tried to get sick a couple more times, but it didn’t really amount to much. It was quite the morning, with Miles being sick, Bennett cried most of the morning because his toe hurt for some reason and then Ellie was saying she didn’t feel good (pretty normal morning for her though), plus we had to leave early to get Jackson to school on time. Just as we were getting ready to leave, Andrew showed up. I asked him if he could take the kids so I didn’t have to take Miles out, but he said he didn’t have time. So we loaded up and got Jackson to school on time, but as we were waiting in line to drop off Ellie, Miles said he was going to get sick. Thankfully, I had brought a plastic bag and quickly passed it back to him. Again, it was just a tiny little bit.

I decided to keep both of them home from school though. Miles did sleep most of the morning and only had some Sprite and animal crackers to eat throughout the day. He was feeling better when he woke up though. Andrew ended up taking him with him when he went to put out hay and Bennett and I went to Lincoln’s class Christmas Shop. They had different activities throughout the week, but this was the only one for parents. They worked on creating different Christmas items the last couple of weeks and we got to come buy them. They will use the money they earned to buy books at the Spring book fair. They had their desks set up around the room and hall with the items and signs saying how much they were. Lincoln really wanted Andrew to come, but he stayed with Miles. So, I surprised Lincoln by having my mom come. He was excited to see her since we haven’t seen them much lately. So we went around the room buying the items that Lincoln had made. Some of the kids didn’t have anyone come, so some of us parents that were there, bought their stuff too and gave it back to them. It was short and sweet.

We were able to go home for about 45 minutes before it was time to go get pick up everyone. It was pretty funny picking up Jackson. He got to bring his pillow home and I didn’t realize just how big it was going to be. It was huge. It made me giggle thinking about him having to carry that to the Primary to pick up Lincoln. He decided it would be a good bed for Buddy, if we can convince him to lay on it for more than 30 seconds.

Back home, some of them went outside to play in the snow again. Our front yard has made a decent bunny slope for newbie snowboarders. I worked on dinner and making a few more snacks to take to my parents. Ellie helped me by buttering some bread for one snack and then once I had the sugar cookies baked (I had to use a different brand of dough and didn’t like it at all), she helped ice them too. She really was a big help since I was able to get some other stuff done. After dinner, I brought out some presents from the office and the kids were excited to bring them up and put them under the tree. There was a lot of searching for their names and trying to figure out what was in the box.

The kids were pumped Wednesday morning that it was their last day before Christmas break. I got them dropped off and then went to the pool to swim laps. I decided to try to quickly clean out the garage a bit when I got home and then got ready and went to the twins’ school for their Christmas party. They had snacks first where they created fruit Santa kabobs and frosted sugar cookies. Back in their room, they got to take a swing at the piñata they made and then it was time for their gift exchange. They sat in circles of boys and girls and passed around their gifts while the music played and took whichever gift they had when the music stopped. There were, of course, tears when kids didn’t get to keep their own present or weren’t happy with what they got. Miles was excited about a car he got but Bennett wasn’t too happy with his present which included an Iron Man Mr. Potato Head. Definitely a lesson in learning gratitude at all times.

Back home we head lunch and the boys played and watched Paw Patrol while I finished up laundry and got clothes picked out and ironed for the kids for the upcoming days. Then we went to Ellie’s class party where the twins got to join in on some Minute to Win It games with marshmallows. I was hoping to get out of there a little early, but it didn’t happen. We got to leave a couple minutes early and then we picked up Jackson and Lincoln. Lincoln brought home cards that all the kids in his class made for me for helping in the class. They were very sweet. Later that afternoon, we went over to my parents. Caroline, Jared and Emmie and Amanda and her family were already coming into town for Christmas. We actually went out to eat at El Vaquero for dinner and the kids had fun playing together.

The next morning was my 40^th birthday. Lissy really wanted to take me to get a manicure/pedicure, but I told her I wanted to get a few things done first. I think she was a tad bit frustrated because they also had plans to take me out to lunch at AJ’s and knew that if I didn’t get to the nail place early enough, we would be late for lunch-but I had no idea about their plans. She wanted us there at 9, but I told her it would be closer to 9:30. I had wanted to get the bathrooms cleaned and get a quick bike ride in, which I was able to do. But as I was cleaning the windows on the front of the house earlier that morning, I noticed something out in the front yard. I guess the night before, my dad, Amanda, Lissy and Caroline came over and set up some signs for my birthday that said, “Holy Cow Ali’s 40 Now!” and they had poster board cows set up all around them. It was very cute. Lissy also decided to sprinkle gold glitter all over our yard, sidewalk and driveway. It was all totally unexpected.

I called Andrew first to see if it was him and he told me it was my family. Then, also before I left, Andrew gave me my gift. It was a necklace very similar to one he gave me back in high school that we believe we stolen from my bag while I was playing in a basketball game. It was very sweet.

Ellie went with me to get our nails done. Jackson watched the kids for the first bit and then they already arranged it for Andrew to take off work for while we were eating. Lissy was already there and she was insistent I get them done even though we had to wait a little bit. I guess they all went in on paying for it and it very sweet of them to do that. I had gotten a text from Leah asking if I would want to go to lunch and Lissy told me I couldn’t because we already had plans and that is when she told me about AJ’s. I was so excited-it sounded so good. Lissy and Ellie were done first, so they took Ellie over to my parents’ house and then my sisters and my mom picked me up when I was done with my nails and we were on our way. The food was delicious and the company great at lunch. It was a wonderful way to celebrate my birthday. 

Back at home after lunch, I got busy cleaning again. The wonderful gold glitter had made its way into our house. I think mainly courtesy of Buddy. Jackson helped me by using the leaf blower, the dust buster and a broom on our front porch and sidewalk to try to get it off while I swept and mopped the floors inside, vacuumed the carpet and went back with the dust buster to get all the extra little pieces of glitter. I also used a small brush and dust pan out front to get the rest of it off. Then I cleaned out my car, so it was in there too. But there was also the mess from the snow and salt in the car, so it needed it anyways.

Lincoln got to go with some friends to Magurder Hall and look at all the reptiles. I guess Leah’s brother knew someone that worked there and they let them interact with so many of the different animals. Lincoln was so excited.

That evening we went to my parents’ house for dinner and then we went to Leisure World for a little skating get-together with some old friends. My kids were so excited to go and loved it even though they didn’t really know any of the other kids there. I thought it was pretty funny that Andrew got to spend his 40^th birthday biking and hiking in the Italian Alps and I got to spend mine at Leisure World. I wasn’t really bothered with it though. The trip was for both of our birthdays and I liked having a low-key birthday and was happy to take the kids skating since they had really been wanting to go again.

When we got home, we got to have the red velvet cake my mom made for my birthday. Overall it was a great way to spend my 40^th. And when we got home, even though it was after nine, I let them do their sibling gift exchange and open their Christmas pjs. They were all pretty excited for what they got. Bennett gave Jackson a pair of the virtual reality goggles he wanted. Lincoln gave Ellie the Crayola marker air sprayer that she immediately got out to use. Miles gave Lincoln a pack for the Lego Dimensions set that he was getting from Granny and Papa. Ellie gave Miles the Chase Roll Around Cruiser and Bennett got the Marshall one from Jackson.

The next couple of days we spent mostly at my parents with me trying to do laundry, prep last-minute stuff for Christmas and clean up little messes left behind in between. Lissy had fun games and minute-to-win-it games planned for the kids which kept them entertained in between running around like crazy at my parents. My parents also got a small trampoline that they enjoyed off and on. 

On Friday, some of Amanda’s kids joined us with caroling at Manor Care. Leah set it all up since her grandma is a resident there. We packaged up some cookies and joined some other friends and walked through the hallways singing handing out cookies. It was a great experience for all of them and I’m glad we got to join in.

Friday night some of us took the kids to see Sing. Jackson and Andrew went earlier in the evening to see Rogue One. Sara and her family got into town right before we left, so Bella and Brady got to go with us.

That night, all the kids but Jackson had a sleepover at my parents. I made sure I had everything ready to go for Christmas Eve before I went back over to my parents the next day. Andy and his family and Kaitlin and her family showed up that afternoon/evening and we were all together. Santa made a last-minute visit to the kids too. We had some excited ones, some shy ones, and some terrified ones.

We went back to our house around 8:30 for the kids to decompress a bit and to get ready for Midnight Mass. Andrew is not a fan at all (mainly because of the time) but he did agree to be a little more agreeable this time around and I was thankful he was. We got our family picture and then went to my parents and did a big family picture, before heading over to Edina. We had about 35 minutes before mass even started and Lincoln and the twins went right to sleep. Lola and Finley were pretty entertaining throughout mass though and they stayed up the whole time. The music was beautiful and it was nice to actually be able to understand the priest.

We made it back home a little before two and the kids went to bed immediately. I was tucking them in, when I noticed that Bennett hadn’t made it upstairs and I found him asleep on the floor by the tree.

I got to bed around 3:30 and we told the kids to not get up until at least 7. I woke up a little bit before 7 and I didn’t hear anything so I laid around a little longer and then Andrew got up and took a shower. I got up and made sure everything was good to go and the kids started waking up. It was a great morning and the kids loved their presents and enjoyed a few surprises. So much fun. And Jackson and Ellie enjoyed getting presents for Andrew and I using their own money. Jackson got me some Bluetooth headphones like the ones I got him and some slippers. He got Andrew a gun strap. Then Ellie got both of us warm socks and I got some peppermint bark and Andrew got some jerky.

We were supposed to be at my parents around 9, but ended up being late as I was trying to clean up the mess from unwrapping and the kids were enjoyed their new gifts. So they were all ready to go when we got there and it was mass chaos again, but fun to watch. There were a lot of excited kids there. My parents gave us a sweet photo book with a note that they would like to help pay for some of our shares of vacation.

  

We had a brunch and the kids played for a bit and then we headed home. Andrew took the kids out to see his parents while I stayed home and got busy taking toys out of boxes, breaking down boxes and trying to put some stuff away. The time went quickly and kids were back and we headed over to my parents house. We surprised them by all wearing ugly Christmas sweaters. Autumn borrowed several of her mom’s and my dad wore one of the cardigans and Tom wore one of vests. Lissy was the best with a homemade sweatshirt reminiscent of the ones my mom made with pot holders, but she added lights to it, plus lights in her hair and a sound box that played Hard Candy Christmas. It was great. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and visited before it was time to do our gift exchange. The kids did theirs first and then the adults did theirs. The twins got Nacho Libre outfits that I am hoping they will wear for Halloween, although they aren’t too excited about them at the moment.