Christmas Afternoon at Grammy's House

Our Christmas schedule is different every year. this year my mom didn't have to work on Christmas day because she had surgery on her foot a few weeks before and it didn't heal well. so after we were done with our Christmas in the morning we cleaned up and headed over to my mom's house to do Christmas with their family. we ate lunch first but after our huge breakfast it was hard to eat much. We were all pretty full except Caleb. who at one point got very angry with me until i realized that he needed a bottle and I totally spaced it (best mom award right there) he was a much more happy camper after he got his bottle.

 Mama Opening all these presents is making me tired

 didn't even have to tale it out of the box

 her minnie mouse obcession was fulfilled at grammy's house.

Caleb got tons of clothes that he desperately needed and Madison got a good mix of both clothes and toys. It was a great Christmas and my mom and sisters spoiled Madison and Caleb greatly.

Christmas Morning at our House

We dont have kids that are desperate to open presents so we let madison come in and come see all the cool presents that Santa brought her and then we had breakfast. Caleb had eggs with cooked apple in it. this was his first "big" boy breakfast instead of baby food. He did great.

 The rest of us had eggs with cheese, cinnemon rolls, bacon, and hashbrowns.

 After we had breakfast and cleaned it up we moved into the living room and did our own chirstmas.

 ready to open presents in their Christmas pajamas's.

 

we opened stockings first. I wasn't sure Caleb would even participate but he did. He wasn't too into it at first but once he saw the paci in the bottom of the

 in his stocking we put books, a monster truck, and some new pacifiers

 

then on to the good gifts Madison got a doc mc stuffins kit to give check ups

 some foam building blocks

 Santa Brought Madison a new razor scooter.

 Caleb got 2 new pairs of pants, some books, some toy magnets, and several new shirts

just a few of mine and anthony's

I'm totally in love with my new kitchen aid that the kids and Anthony got me.

 his angels baseball camping chair

 a Tom Brady patriots jersey

and a Gerber utility knife

Christmas becomes more fun every year. I'm already excited to start planning for next year! I also think next year we will try and find a way to integrate the store of Christs birth so we can remind the children of the real reason for Christmas.

Polar Express

Caleb is still a little too small to change his schedule in some crazy manor so we decided to run the polar express instead of walking the Christmas lights like we usually do. so we geared the kids up in their pajama's, got Madison some chocolate milk, and we were off to ride the polar express to see the fantastic Christmas lights.

This was super fun and the kids had a ball ...Caleb even stayed awake the whole time and we were all really surprised.

Playgroup Christmas Party

I love this playgroup I joined! They really are an amazing group of ladies. They are easy to talk to, fun to be around, nobody gets left out or ignored, nobody gets treated with disrespect, and most of all the kids have a great time together! They did a little Christmas party for the kids with snacks, a craft, and then santa came and brought them all presents with their name on them! I wonder how he knew their names :)

 She did a really great job on the Christmas ornament! Mommy was really proud of her

 Our group needed a Santa really bad and no ones husband was really available so i asked (i didn't even have to beg) Anthony if he wanted to and he said he would as long as someone provided the suit. One of the ladies had a suit so Anthony agreed. Madison clearly has no idea that anthony is behind that suit! I love that Caleb couldn't have cared less about Santa this year he was more curious about the beard then he was freaked out.

 Madison getting her gift from santa

 all the kids that came that day

 still completely panicked about Santa

Caleb is my favorite in this picture...just staring at Santa!


**My favorite side story that has nothing to do with my children. One of the ladies was having a few issues with her little girl. she asked "santa" to talk to her and gave him a few details and told him what the name of the elf was that visits their home. anthony gently (i was impressed) talked to the little girl and told her that chippy was not reporting good things to him and that she needed to be good until Christmas to be on the nice list. When she walked away from anthony her eyes were huge and she was speechless. the mom told me the next morning that she is suddenly sweet as pie!**

Logan's candy cane making

This has become a must tradition in our family. I love taking Madison and now this year Caleb to logans candies in Ontario to watch how candy canes are made. last year we had to stand out in the cold and watch the presentation but this year i messed the time up so we were there really early and got super good seats and inside where it was warm too. One of my favorite things they do is to bend the warm candy cane into your own shape at the end of the demo. its sooo fun.

 cooling the candy

 Shaping the candy cane layers together

 Starting a new batch

 My favorite part...warm candy cane samples

 caleb is ready to get in on the action (he's rolling the candy canes and measuring them in the background)

 Watching the candy canes being made

 the striped layer

 stretching the candy

 eating a warm candy cane

Anthony and Caleb made their own candy cane shape (costs $1.45)