Christmas Day 2014

Christmas was a bit different for us this year without my Dad, as I'm sure you can imagine. My Bonus Mom also works for Fedex so traveling befor Christmas is out of the question for her as well as it is for us. In recent years we have traveled down to them on Christmas Day to enjoy the holiday with them as well as Donna's parents & my bonus sister & family. My bonus sister had other plans this year & Christmas at Fedex was iffy as to if Donna would even be off Christmas Day. None of us wanted my Bonus Mom to be alone & she finally decided to come up for Christmas Eve (once she got off work of course) & Day here, YAY! She had to work friday as did Donna so she headed back home Christmas evening & planned to spend the weekend with my bonus sister.

Christmas morning Kellan came into our room to get us up, he had apparently already taken a look because as soon as we got to the family room he softly said "Santa brought a Thomas tent" as he steered us toward it. Caden came out just moments later & then garren a few minutes after that. They were all in awe & just kept looking without actually touching anything yet :)

Kellan

Kellan & Caden

Garren

After finally testing out the tent & bikes, they put on their new Thomas hats & emptied their stockings, surprised at each additional little surprise. Their intrigue & amazement was so fun to see this year as they finally understand what's going on. Once they finished with all the Santa gifts Grandma gave them her gifts...

Grandma & Garren (Caden in the background)

Grandma & Caden

Kellan & Grandma

Kellan

Grandma spoiled them rotten with clothes, transforming Dinosaurs, underwear (lol!) & more!

Since Donna was at work & Grandma got in just as my sister & her family wear leaving on Christmas Eve, we decided to head over to my sister's place while our turkey cooked so Grandma could give them their gifts.

This girl is such a ham for the camera!

We couldn't stay too long since it is still 45 minutes to my sister's & our bird was cooking but it was a nice little visit & we got home in just enough time to get the rest of dinner made before Donna got home. We waited to give the boys their gifts from us until Donna could be there to see them open them, she was there to see the Santa gifts but had to get ready for work right after that. The boys were so excited to open presents again!!!

Caden

Kellan

Garren

Kellan & Caden

Kellan & Caden

Garren

Their main gift could not be reveled yet as there wasn't enough time to get HOA approval (oops) & get it built before Christmas Day, soon though... They were however spoiled once again with shoes, leap readers, monster trucks, helicopters & new planes to add to their collection.

All in all it was a good day. We miss my Dad something terrible but kept busy enough to not dwell on his absence & once again, we all had each other for comfort.

51/52 - Swingin'

Kellan, Caden & Garren

Christmas Eve 2014

It was our year for Christmas Eve with my mom & bonus dad this year (they alternate Christmas Eve & Day with my sister & I) but since we are only half the distance we were from my sister now, I decided to invite her family to dinner as well. As an added bonus, our bonus mom traveled up & also joined us Christmas Eve after work.

Every year it comes right down to the wire for Fedex managers. Some years everything goes off without a hitch, packages are shipped & delivered early & everyone is home in time for dinner on Christmas Eve, then there are years like the past 2 we have had where they get busier & busier right up until the very end. This year not only did Donna not get home until 9pm, she also had to work a few hours on Christmas Day, boooo :(

Anyways, it was a lot of fun hosting Christmas Eve! I made baked ziti for dinner with salad & garlic bread & meatballs for the non pasta (mom) & not pasta with red sauce (boys) eaters. My mom made a turtle cheesecake for dessert, YUM! My mom & bonus dad gave their gifts to the kids & we exchanged gifts with my niece & nephew. It was so fun to see all the boys finally, really get it not tearing gifts open!

Getting all the grand kids ready to open gifts together...

Caden, Kellan, Garren, Chandler & Nadia

The boys opening gifts from Aunt Autumn, Uncle Steven, Chandelr & Nadia

Garren very excited about getting some new books!

Check out those thomas sleeping bags & pillows from Nana!

When Donna got home, her & I exchanged gifts with my bonus mom in the quiet without the interruption of the boys. We visited a while & then Santa sat up some gifts for the boys to find in the morning ;)

Topping the Santa list was a Thomas tent & Thomas hats. We also went with balance bikes we got second hand from our favorite BBB triplet family/friends :)

Zoo Lights - UPDATED with video link

The days get long here starting about 2 weeks before Christmas. FedEx steals Donna from us for about 15 hours a day or more, unless the boys wake up early they sometimes don't see their MomMom for days at a time. It's hard on all of us but really hard on them! They just don't get it yet. Donna tries to make it up to us by taking the week right after Christmas off but it's not always possible.

I try to keep us all busy by filling our days with playdates, art projects & activities but the boys still miss their MomMom. Saturday morning the boys & I headed to some friends for a Christmas Brunch which was fun. The boys had a blast playing, eating, decorating cookies & playing some more.

Saturday evening, once Donna got home from work, even though she was beat from working her 9th consecutive day (& still had 4 more to go until Christmas) she agreed to meeting up with my sister & her family at the zoo to see Zoo Lights & for some family fun with the boys :)

Pretty lights...

Yarn bombed! The elephant is covered in knitted squares :)

More pretty lights

Garren dancing to YMCA, he & this little girl were getting down!

Check out the video here!

Flamingos

A dolphin :)

This was the best group shot of the kids we could get, lol

Little Nadia

She's such a ham for the camera!

Nadia & her daddy

Finally riding the train!

Caden, Uncle Steven & Nadia

Aunt Autumn, Kellan, Chandler, Garren & MomMom 

Me & my sister :)

Nadia & Caden withe the Penguin

There was also an outdoor movie, 'ice' skating, Santa visits, hot chocolate & cider, snow that was actually foamy bubbles which I thought was cool & a bonfire. It was pretty crowded though & riding the train was the most important thing on our list, it also had the longest line!

We Ended up being there WAYYYY later than we had anticipated!!! But the kids all did great & had a lot of fun, so it was well worth it!

50/52; Bus Tour

Remember when mechanical mall rides were 25 cents???

They are a buck now & even take credit cards!!!

The boys LOVE them though, so much so that you'd think you had taken them to a theme park, so I guess I shouldn't complain that they cost a dollar these days :)

Making A Christmas Tradition

For the second consecutive year my mom, my sister & her children & the boys & I have all met up at the mall for a fun filled day of train rides, Santa visits & lunch, along with any other mall adventure we come across, like mechanical rides & good Christmas deals.

Honestly after chasing 3, 2 and a half year olds around the mall, I wasn't sure I would be up for it again but time & good memories erased the memory of sweat & exhaustion due to crazy toddlers, lol... It is amazing just how much kids change in a year! Not that the boys arent crazy 3 and a half year olds but the urge to dart into a mall crowd & sprint long distances has subsided & they usually stick pretty close.

My boys were not the least bit interested in the mall playground this year, although this mall has pretty tiny sized play equipment. I think Nadia would have had a good time but since all the boys were more interested in mechanical rides, she just joined in with them there :)

Nadia & Garren cruisin around

Walking the mall with 5 under 5!

When we finally ran out of quarters we made our way towards Santa. The boys all wanted to ride the train, we hoped that promising a ride after seeing Santa would encourage good line behavior & big smiles but 3.5 year olds just want what they want when they want it!

 Chandler (almost 4.5) did great!

 Garren & Caden held up well...

but poor Kellan just wanted to ride the train!

Nadia (14 months) wasn't totally crazy about Santa but calmed down

enough for my sister to get a non-screaming Santa photo.

I personally prefer at least one good screaming Santa photo, lol

After we got all of photos & goodies, Autumn joined all the kids for a ride on the train, finally!

I rode last year, it was Autumn's turn this year :)

After their train ride it was time for some lunch. It's funny because it doesn't seem to matter how many adults we have with us, when people see us all out together they count the children. I can't tell you how many people walked by our table & counted out load, lol...

Once we finished lunch it was time to head home. Since moving into the house the boys really don't like to be out for too long which is completely opposite of when we lived in the apartment, they never wanted to go home then. It was past nap time though & the boys needed to either sleep or run around in order to keep their cool.

It was a really fun day, slightly more work for my sister this time with a new-ish walker & keeping tabs on Chandler who had surgery last week but I think we will definitely do it again next year! 

49/52; Little Elves

I picked up a sequin Santa hat for Donna last week to wear to work. The biys loved it & fought over it for an entire day, so while we were out over the weekend I picked up 3 regular fuzzy Santa hats for the boys. Caden still insists on the sequin hat though, lol...
They wore the hats non stop all weekend & even to speech therapy on Monday :)

Garren, Caden & Kellan

Dear Santa

The boys' Christmas requests change frequently. I ask everyday just to keep up that Santa is 'watching.' It means nothing to Garren, if he wants to misbehave he just says "I don't want Santa to come to our house." He is a booger that one! But anyways, while driving to speech therapy yesterday in their Santa hats I asked again what they would like Santa to bring them & it was the funniest reply I've gotten yet...

Garren what would you like Santa to bring you?

G - A Thomas tent & a Thomas hat.

Caden what do you want Santa to bring?

C - A Thomas tent & a Elsa bike.

It took me a minute to figure out "Elsa bike"

Garren chimes back in with a monster truck & a Barbie car, lol...

I said "well you don't have a Barbie sweetie, what will you do with a Barbie car?

G - it's not for Barbie, I will drive my brothers around in it, and a motor bike, one that goes faster & (sound effect here...) vvroooooooommmmmmmzzzzzzzz!!! LOL!!!

When I finished laughing I told them we would work on writing Santa a letter while we waited at speech. Garren insisted on writing even though I said Santa would be able to read my writing more easily, so interpreted their letter states (even though it just looks like scribble)...

Dear Santa,

Would you please bring my brothers & I a Thomas tent & Thomas hats. An Elsa bike, a monster truck, a Barbie car (the kind you drive on the sidewalk) & a motor bike that goes faster. 

We promise to be good listeners & get quarters until you come.

Thank you so much,

Kellan, Garren & Caden

What can I say?! They are smitten with blondes, blue trains, pink cars & fast motorcycles! :)

PS Kellan was eating & couldn't be bothered with the conversation but had plenty of input in the writing of the letter!

Weekend Festivities

We had a fun filled weekend of Christmas activities! The boys & I started the weekend out with a Christmas craft, pine cone Christmas trees. Back in the fall we collected pine cones on Jekyll Island specifically for this project. I gave the boys some glitter glue & pom poms & let them have at it. It was a super simple project but the boys really enjoyed it, especially the glitter glue! 

I think they turned out cute enough to use with our Christmas village

Our new neighborhood had a Christmas festival Saturday, with a petting zoo, Santa & yummy Christmas treats. The boys, especially Garren loved the animals in the petting zoo! I didn't think we'd ever get him back out of the pin.

Garren & his tiny pig friend

Bunnies

Kellan trying to decide which one to pet

Goose

Chatting up the little pig

Baby chicks

Seeing Santa went a little different than we anticipated, Garren had told me he was going to sit on his lap & not cry this time. And he did, he ran right over to him, climbed in his lap & told him he wanted a Thomas tent & a Thomas hat, lol... Caden & Kellan pulled their shy act & hid behind us but they did give Santa a high five before leaving :)

After the festival we went to get some Christmas lights for the house. Our 2 strands from our old house weren't going to be enough for this house plus they were white & the boys wanted "rainbow lights."

The boys enjoyed some scooter riding while Donna hung the lights

Donna getting the lights up

That was our fun for this weekend, we probably won't get another day with Donna now until Christmas. We've gotten use to being a FedEx family during the holidays & keep ourselves busy while she works crazy hours making sure her employees are ok & just hope she makes it home before midnight on Christmas Eve!