Happy new year to everyone! We did it! We made it through the busiest time of year with no major mishaps, meltdowns or illnesses! Lets start back at the beginning of December with the first of hopefully many cousin sleep overs. While Uncle Brian got some work done around the new house Linzy and the kids came to our house to hang out and SPEND THE NIGHT. Ella was SO excited, her and Ashton have been asking for a sleep over for months. We tried numerous times to get some good pictures, but getting all five of them to look in the same direction AND smile proved to be impossible. I must admit I was nervous about the sleep over and I assumed having Ella and Ashton in the same room would lead to a sleepless night, however everyone did great! There was no major fighting, not TOO much "he said, she said". The worst we had to deal with was Ava's devastation at Ashton's refusal to "marry" her. And Ella trying to trade Gavin for London. I think her words were "Ashton I think you should have Gavin as your brother and I can have London as my sister". This occurred while Ella and London sat at the table and colored and Ashton and Gavin were throwing plastic food on the floor and laughing hysterically.
I only have two kids in school but every year at this time I feel like I have five. Keeping track of what day and what time the school parties are and what I agreed to do and/or bring for them never gets easier. I don't remember when we stopped having classroom parties in school but I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel, yet! I went to Ava and Ella's school parties this year and took numerous pictures however only one pic from each turned out decent. Ella and Gavin at Ella's party...
and Ava and Ella at Ava's party…
Ella and I got to go to "Mommy and Me gingerbread house night" at school. Below is her finished product…I think it is strikingly similar to last years model.
This is not last years house…this is the same house after Gavin realized it was candy attached to the house that was sitting on the office desk! A few pieces are missing and some are half gone. The house did not survive the rest of the day.
Something else that didn't survive that particular day was Dan's old computer. He has not used this computer for years and when the girls were little we would open it up and let them "type" away. I did this same thing for Gavin a few months ago and he immediately ripped off one of the keys. He then got in trouble and was not allowed to play with it anymore. Then two or three weeks ago I walked into the office to Gavin sitting ON the desk, computer open and many keys missing. He was not alone for more than two minutes and he was safely returned to the floor. The computer is DONE!
It helps that I love that smile, otherwise he and I would have multiple battles a day.
I am still learning some of the differences between little boys and girls. :)
On the Sunday before Christmas we went over to Dan's Aunt Linda's house. The kids were excited to see and play with cousins Katelyn and Braden since they don't see each other very often. I could not get a good angle to get all the kids, so that is Katelyn on the top left and poor Braden is behind Ella's head. As you can see we really nailed it though with everyone looking at the camera and smiling! Haha!!
Moving right along…On Christmas Eve we went over to G-ma and G-pa F's house where Ava and Ella concentrated on cookie decorating...
and Gavin snacked and snacked and slept and snacked :)
After dinner it was time for presents. "Please can we open presents now Mom!"
As he did the whole week, as soon as Gavin opened a present he immediately wanted it set up and then he was content…no further gifts needed. Something else to mention about Christmas Eve, that is also the day that Brad and Erin announced their engagement AND they got to bring home their TINY new baby girl Fiona who was born on December 7th (5.5 weeks early!) They had an incredible month!! Congratulations to you both!!!
Finally it was Christmas morning. I know I try to rush the growing up process in a lot of areas like doing their own homework, eating WITH utensils OVER the table and bathing themselves. However, one thing I do not want to change is their excitement and their expressive reactions to opening presents on Christmas morning. Here is Ava sporting her girly nerf gun…what a rebel.
Ella opening a butterfly Barbie while wearing sequin boots that were still attached together!
And Gavin with the first and last present he opened himself that morning…he just couldn't put it down long enough to open another.
This expression I could do without. I'm not sure what it was about, but we caught it on camera and it doesn't look pleasant.
And once everything was opened we snapped one more pic of the big mess that was made as they ripped open one package after another. What seemed to take forever to wrap was done in a matter of minutes!
Once we finished making our house a disaster and got dressed we went over to Linzy and Brian's NEW house to celebrate with them and G-ma and G-pa C. Here are the three oldest kiddos doing some pre-present stretching.
Ava and Ashton got real pogo sticks but with Ella's recent scooter incident G-ma C opted for this small, soft and easy pogo-like toy. she loved it and so did Ava and Ashton!
As it got later all the kids changed into their PJ's with the exception of London who is in the back of the picture at the table. We attempted one last time to get all the kids together…this is the best we could do.
We had a very merry Christmas full of many blessings. We ended 2013 by getting together with friends where there was silly string, confetti, karaoke, lots of food and tons of fun. Shockingly all three kids made it to midnight in good spirits then we quickly changed into PJ's and headed home to bed.
I am sure and can only hope 2014 is just as fun and exciting as 2013
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