Christmas 2013

Christmas Eve.

Excited kids waking me up Christmas morning:

Waiting to go downstairs:

Opening stuffed animals before breakfast (a family tradition).  Anna and Lydia were crazy happy as you can see.  These two are so fun and so crazy together.

Anna got Lydia glasses.  Yes, glasses.  She wants glasses SO BADLY, but her eyesight is too good.  She keeps telling me she can't see even though she can, just so she can get glasses.  So Anna ordered her a pair with clear lenses.  This was probably Lydia's favorite gift of all.

Elizabeth got Caleb a blue monkey that matches her pink monkey.  There's an ice cream store here called Sylas and Maddy's.  Elizabeth's monkey is named Maddy and Caleb keeps saying he needs a Blue Sylas.  (And there's Lydia in her glasses in the background.)

Nathan got Katie a horse she's been wanting forever.  Poor Nathan is sick so he just laid on the couch, which means I didn't get many pictures of him.

Michael hugged Katie to thank her for the anime cards she got him.  These two are so close lately.  I love watching them.  Big, tough Michael just melts when it comes to Katie.

Caleb has a "sneaky cloak" that my mom made him that he wears everywhere.  Lydia has one too.  This is Caleb's sneaky cloak and Elizabeth wearing Lydia's:

Caleb wanted to get Elizabeth a sneaky cloak so she wouldn't be left out.  He called up my mom and asked, "Will you make Elizabeth a sneaky cloak for Christmas?  She likes blue, but blue wouldn't be sneaky.  Black is sneaky.  So it has to be dark blue.  Not naby (navy) blue... dark, dark, dark blue...almost black... 3 darks blue."  (I just love this boy!) He was so excited to give it to her.  She was happy about it, she just didn't know what it was in this picture.

Caleb got daddy a plush pea shooter from Plants vs. Zombies.  He picked it out himself.  Playing Plants vs. Zombies is a bonding thing for those two.

Caleb picked out a plush Woodstock for Lydia.  He picked it out 2 months before Christmas.  He saw it and said, "I HAVE to get this for Lydia".  (I just realized I picked pictures of 2 gifts from Caleb.  I tried to get a good selection of kids to each other.  I guess I picked Caleb because he was so thoughtful and so excited this year.  Actually they were all really thoughtful this year.)

Caleb got Michael Samari Sword Chopsticks:

Caleb asked for an Imaginext Triceratops.  I got him that AND an Imaginext Pterodactyl.  He was surprised.  

Michael has been trying to make an anime cosplay costume for months.  He didn't know they existed already made in the world.  I found one and got it for him.  He had NO IDEA and was SO HAPPY!  This is him opening the boots.  The actual costume didn't come in time for Christmas even though I ordered it more than 3 weeks in advance.  I guess that happens when ordering from overseas.  He's so excited for it to get here... some day.

Elizabeth got Lego Friends:

Lydia got a remote control wand and Zolos:

Caleb loved his new Skylanders!

I'm sad this picture is a bit blurry because I just love it.  Caleb was explaining something about sklyanders to Michael which made him crack up.

I love my crazy husband - he makes me laugh.  This is wrapping paper, not a blanket.

Elizabeth got light saber earrings for Anna:

Remember Katie's stocking theme is "hilarious"?  She found it hilarious and laughed and laughed.

Which made all of us laugh.

Anna asked Blake what he wanted for Christmas.  She happened to ask when he was really stressed out at work and he answered, "Time."  So Anna got him "time" - a "melting clock" from Salvador Dali's painting.  He loves clocks and loved getting "time".

Lydia loved her Zolos and remote control Harry Potter wand:

 

Nathan's favorite gift was this super soft, sherpa blanket that he's wrapped in.  All the kids got one.  He was so cold from being sick (well, he's always cold).  He wrapped up in it and wend to bed shortly after we were done unwrapping.  Poor sick kid.  

Michael went shopping and picked out and paid for his own gifts.  He bought Lydia and Elizabeth yarn.  At first I was like, "Yarn?"  But then he explained that he wanted to teach them how to finger knit (or crochet?  I don't know).  They all had so much fun learning and teaching.  He bought himself a skein of yarn and wrapped it... "To Michael, from Michael."

Anna opening her bike, which I think she liked.  It's not her favorite gift ever because  you can't really do much with it on Christmas Day.

Katie loved her iPod and hasn't put it down since.  She likes to play Temple Run and listen to Celine.  Her response, "Cool!"

 

And I think Nathan liked his new viola strings, 3D chess and wooden tie.  He couldn't get excited though since he was sick.

That's all.  Phew!  Thanks for looking.  I spared you most of the 200 pictures I took.  :)

Putting up the Christmas Tree

A whole lotta pictures of putting up the tree.   Somehow they got out of order, but I'm too lazy to put them back in order.  I'm sure you get the idea. 

 Dancing.

 I love this candid shot!

 Lydia had to join the fun.

 Playing with the sheep.  My grandma gave me these sheep a looong time ago.  The kids used to take them off the tree to play with them, so now we just leave them under the tree for playing.  We always sing Handel's Messiah, "All we like sheep have gone astray."  A funny story - I used to think the words were, "Oh we like sheep" as in, we think sheep are cool and we like them.  My family finds it hilarious that I believed this till I was like 39 years old and that's why they sing the song to me every year.

 Get over here and help big teenage boys!  (They eventually did.)