Merry Christmas - 2 days worth!!

Beware - there are a lot of pictures here!

 

 We celebrated on Christmas Eve day with the Niebuhrs. Here are some pictures of the kids from that day.

 with Carter, Camden and Callan.

 a family picture!

 They got lots of fun presents, including huge lego sets, crafts sets for Grace, games and some spy ware and laser tag for the boys!

 

We stayed at the Niebuhrs until about 3:30 Christmas Eve. We went home, got cleaned up quick and went to 5:30 church at First Lutheran. Brian and I had to play bells, and the kids sang and helped with a processional. We went to my parents house for a  soup and sandwich dinner. It was late when we got home, around 9:45. The kids could barely contain how excited they were for Santa. Xander even went out onto the driveway when we got home and was looking for him (I even think he was yelling at one point "Santa! Are you up there?")

 

So, here are out pictures from Christmas morning. They got lots of Angry birds things, some Wii games, board games, new shoes and Grace was most excited about the scrapbooking things she got from Santa. She wants to learn how to scrapbook and go with me when I go (we did end up going  a few days after Christmas. I'll post about that later).

 It's too bad the weather is cold. Xander would love to take out the double light saber for a spin in the backyard against all the evil that lurks there!

 Christmas morning it's been out tradition to have anyone in the family who wants to over for brunch. We did that again this year. We had most of both sides of our families over for eggs, French toast, and much more. Boy was it good!! The kids played with all the new toys and made a mess. They loved every minute of it!

 

Then it was off to the Hoefs again for a big evening dinner and presents.

Here they are with Sebastian and Tobias.

And here's the best present of all.....A Nintendo 3DS XL! They were so excited, especially since they got games like Angry Birds, Lego Star Wars and Mario Kart. They have been playing it non-stop since Christmas day. It is definitely a hit, thanks Grandma Pam and Grandpa Mike. Since Christmas, we've done a few fun things, but also had a lot of relaxing time. It's been nice just to lay around and read or watch movies while the kids play or lay around with us. These days will be few and far between when school starts back up on January 7th!! We had a nice Christmas and we hope everyone else did to. Merry Christmas!!!

Sorry it's been so long....

Wow! Sorry my blog posts have been so few and far between. I really have no reason, especially since I have a new computer that is nice and fast!

 

Well, here are some pictures from lately, pre-Christmas.....

 

 

We had our first snow day of the year two days before Christmas vacation! The snow started on Wednesday night and went into Thursday. I knew before I went to bed that there was no school and the kids were super excited when I told them in their beds the next morning that they didn't have to get up! Brian worked from home that day. We spent most of the day making Christmas cookies and wrapping presents and playing outside. I was actually kind of thankful for the day at home. I was able to get all my pre-Christmas stuff done without staying up super late every night of the weekend!

 

 





 Sunday the 23rd we had a family gathering to celebrate Tobias' baptism. Here are a few pictures of the kids at the church, post-service.

 

 

A few other pictures I hadn't posted. On Saturday the 15th, the kids had a Christmas piano recital. You will probably notice someone is missing from here. Xander ended up not going to the recital. He was pretty sick this day. In the morning, he looked awful and was just lying around. I asked him if he felt like he might throw up and his reply was "I already did." I took his temp and it was 103.9. So, it was off to the couch for him. I called his piano teacher and told her the others and Brian would be there, but Xander and I wouldn't. We also had tickets to the Nutcracker that night with my mom. Xander also didn't go to that. He stayed home with Brian while Will, Grace, my mom and I ate dinner at Lazlo's then went to the show. Will and Grace loved the show, even though they weren't in bed until almost 10:00 that night and we had to get up early for church the next morning.  That's most of what happened in our December. I'll get Christmas pictures up, and maybe some video of the piano recital if I can figure out how to download it!!

 



Multiples Christmas Party

Here are their school pictures. Just thought I would share them!

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. There always seems to be so much to do, that blogging is far down on the list. Not to mention I have been a terrible photographer lately. I have very few pictures of the kids since Halloween. But, here are a few I do have. The multiples club annual Christmas party was last weekend. For the 4th year, I was in charge of it, so the few weeks leading up to it, were very busy. But, the kids always seem to have fun at it. I did snap a few pictures with my kids in it! They got their pictures professionally taken with Santa, and I need to order some so everyone can see them. They turned out great and the kids all talked to Santa.

 

 

Here are a few other things that have been going on:

 

It seems that Grace and Will are in a naughty phase right now. They really have been very defiant, stubborn and generally poor listeners. Consequently, there have been a lot of lost privileges in this house lately (Xander, surprisingly enough, seems to have gone through this phase last year so is currently acting pretty darn good!) The Elf on the Shelf that returned over Thanksgiving weekend seems to not be helping (i.e. they don't care if Santa gets bad reports each night). The amount of yelling, back-talking and general naughtiness from those two has been astounding and Brian and I have been on a short fuse lately. Of course, they are great at school and pretty good for most everyone else, so I feel like they're just testing their limits and developing their personalities. But, man are there some frustrating times!!

 

One bright spot is that they have been playing and practicing the piano quite well this semester. I'm pleased with how well they're doing. They have a Christmas recital tomorrow afternoon, so I'll tape it and upload it next week so you can all see it. They are also doing great in school. Their 1st quarter report cards were great and I've gotten some mid-2nd quarter reports that have also been great. Still reading well and doing great in challenge math class. We've still been trudging along with Boy/Girl Scouts, Cherub Choir at church and Grace's dance class on Saturdays.  We've settled into a nice routing during the week, so that is helpful. The kids are still enjoying their two babysitters, Jessica and Amber, both college students. Jessica comes every Wednesday when I'm at school late for Chorus. Amber comes every Tuesday when I have meetings, and they both come any other days I need. I appreciate having people I can trust, and that the kids like, here when I can't be here after school.

 

We are all looking forward to Christmas. The kids have been enjoying doing Christmasey things like shopping, wrapping presents and watching Christmas movies. Home Alone and The Santa Clause seem to be the favorites this year. I like winter because of movie nights by the fireplace, and I think the kids are also enjoying that tradition!

 

That's all for now. Look for pictures of Christmas activities coming this week and next. Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!