Christmas 2014

Christmas is such a lot of work for all parents, including us.  All of the thought put into gifts, time spent making the house fun and magical for the kids.  Cookies, wrapping presents, sticking to your stories (parents know which ones) without slipping up.  But when the kids get up on Christmas morning and are on their very very best behavior pleading with you to go downstairs and see what Santa brought, and when you see everything through their eyes that morning, it is all worth it.

We let the kids decorate the small fake trees in their rooms, but this one was all for Mommy and Daddy.

Santa brought Will a cement mixer and a TIE fighter, he brought Stella a stroller and young Anna doll, and he brought Maggie a stroller and a young Elsa doll.  Happiness was had by all.

 

After Santa's gifts, we enjoyed one of Patti's delicious breakfasts, and then we opened the gifts we got for our family, as well as those from Grandma, Aunt Jessi, Uncle Chris, and cousins Alicia and Colin.

After some wonderful gifts and very thankful calls to Wisconsin, Pop and Mimi arrived for round three of gifts (and hugs).

We were blessed to enjoy another Christmas day full of family - near and far - laughs, and love.

Action! and cookies

In mid-December, Patti treated the girls to a live children's version of The Nutcracker.  The girls looked forward to the chance to dress up for this for weeks and they were so proud to go off just with Mommy to see the play.

While the Carey ladies were at the play, Will and Patrick went off to see Big Hero 6.  It's a great movie but a little too scary perhaps for a self-appointed 6-year-old "scaredy-cat".

About a week before Christmas, we had the Christmas records on full rotation and it was time for cookies.  Patti cranked out loads of sugar cookies and the kids got a chance to decorate their own.

Maggie, as always, wanted hers to be pretty.

Will and Stella just wanted to get as much of everything on their cookies.

December is just a lead up to Christmas

Patti creates an advent-type calendar every December where every night we open a door and see what fun thing we'll do that night or the following day.  She puts a lot of thought into this and the kids love taking turns opening the doors and finding out what's in store.

Right out of the gate, we went to Zoo Lights at the National Zoo in Washington, DC.  We've done this the past few years and when there was a warmish, misty night we took advantage of it.

Patrick likes to take the kids to see the B&O Museum in Ellicott City, MD.  It's a small museum in a very small town, but it's a nice getaway with the kids and every December a local Lego train club transforms the back room into a unique display with moving Lego trains.

Patti's insistence that we make gingerbread houses paid off this year, big-time.  The kids usually make a HUGE mess (they have their own homes for a reason) and get frustrated, but this year they all hit their stride and really got into it.  They each had their own frosting and a diabetic's playground to choose from for decorations.