Christmas Morning 2014

I had hoped to post about Christmas 2014 before the end of January 2015, but alas, the weekend came too quickly and my attention was diverted to the needs of children.

This was a good, calm Christmas. I was worried when I looked at the seemingly long lists of gifts I'd bought for the kids and saw all the presents under the tree that it would be an incredibly materialistic holiday with a glut of toys. However, when all the presents were unwrapped, I was relieved to find that it wasn't so very much after all. Go figure. 

This may have been due in part to the fact that many of the presents were simple and useful items, such as clothing. Everything Lutece is wearing in this picture was new for Christmas (Did I not mention in a previous post Lutece's current love of skinny jeans, long-sleeved t-shirts, and cardigan sweaters?) The hat (and sweater) was a present from Grandma DuBravac. Since it was the only present under the tree with no name tag on it, and the kids love it equally (after all, it has a penguin on it), they share it.

As I stated, there were lots of useful items (clothing, jammies, a few art supplies), and then some toys to make it fun. Phoenix received three toys that he has loved: the Snap Circuits Rover (see top picture), the Zoob Challenge (see above picture), and Kapla building blocks (see below). All of them are STEM toys (science, technology, engineering, mathematics). Phoenix definitely has a niche.
 

I had read great reviews about these blocks and wasn't sure how they would be received, but I needn't have worried. They have been a huge hit . . . with EVERYONE.

I told Stayc that I'll get him an extension pack for his next birthday :).

And even though Lutece loves the Kapla blocks too, this year was definitely the year of the Lego for her. She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES her legos. We spent the remaining week of Christmas vacation rebuilding every Lego kit we've ever gotten over the last several years. The kids have an entire city set up on Phoenix's large "train" table upstairs. (I think I may love the Legos even more than Lutece though . . . that's what I want for my next birthday :).

I finally convinced Grandma Terry to play Legos with me (yes, me) the day before she left. Despite her lukewarm love of blocks and toys, it was wonderful having her play spend time with us at Christmas. (She does love her computer games though . . . something she and Phoenix share :).

Christmas Jammies

Every year on Christmas Eve, the kids get to open one present. They know what present that is. They don't even ask to open another present any more. In fact, they are excited for their one present even though they already know what it's going to be.

 Hooray for tradition . . . and for Christmas jammies from Grandma DuBravac!

The kids love them (probably in part because they get to pick out the color and design of their choice . . . they're so opinionated!).

I hate love trying to get one good picture of them in their new jammies on Christmas Eve. And I love looking at past pictures to see their growth . . . and to see that some things never change.*

* I don't know what happened to my pictures of 2007 and 2011, but I'm pretty sure the jammies Phoenix is wearing in China in 2012 are the same ones he received the year before.

Bowled Over

Per tradition, we went bowling on Christmas Eve morning . . . the last activity in our Christmas activity advent calendar (if you don't count eating Christmas cookies afterward, which is de rigueur).

It was fun, as usual. One notable change: The kids try to roll the ball with more force now, rather than just push it.

Our scores are never as high as we would like though. Perhaps we should go more than once a year if we want to improve.

In fact, Lutece mentioned that she would like a "bowling" party for her next birthday. I'm ALL over that idea! Fun and easy for me!

 

On a completely side note, the kids are wearing their typical "uniforms" in this picture. They have definite preferences this year:

Lutece: skinny jeans (Gap, size 8 :), long-sleeved t-shirt, cardigan sweater

Phoenix: fleece sweatpants, long-sleeved t-shirt (no design or pattern!), sweatshirt or fleece pullover

Who am I to argue?  But I do look for sales.

An Advent Completed

This may be the last year we do our Activity Advent calendar. We definitely had some fun with it this year, but it was hard to complete, even after coordinating activities and compensating for busy weekdays.

As the kids get older, there is more homework, more activities, and less free time for extra holiday crafts and activities. Sad, but true.

 

Since the kids are not ready to give up the advent altogether, we decided that next year we could do a more sporadic advent. Weekends will definitely have activities to do, but weekdays will either be something simple (i.e., drink hot cocoa with all the fixings) or something that corresponds to life's activities (i.e., attend Phoenix's Winter concert; read the Christmas story in the New Testament for Family Home Evening).

Despite the difficulty and the time constraints, the kids were flexible and we enjoyed lots of holiday activities this December (if not all of them). We started out the month with a Family Home Evening dedicated to decorating the tree. This is one of our most favorite activities.

The kids do most of the work now, and I can just sit back and marvel that not one single ornament  got dropped or broken this year :).

We did Christmas origami one evening (after homework was done) while Stayc read to us from the third Unwanteds book.

 We went to the tree lighting at the Henry Clay Estate just up the road from us.

We attended our Ward's Church Christmas party. They asked Stayc to be the conductor at the Polar Express-themed event. He wore his suit, and they provided the hat and mustache. Everyone in the ward did a double-take when they saw him.

 

We attended the Bi-Stake Nativity Festival, where we saw, along with numerous nativity sets, this live nativity as well. After the choir concert, we went out for dinner at B.D.'s Mongolian Grill. The kids loved it, but I was less than impressed.

We had a family game night.

 We attended Ashland Elementary's Winter Show where we watched Phoenix sing and dance.

Lutece was so glad she got to be in the audience instead of on stage.

Of course, no Christmas season would be complete without a batch of sugar cookies. This was the easiest year yet . . . mainly because no one really wanted to help make them. It's so much easier to do things yourself :). (Note to self: Make a different recipe next year. This one was just ok.)

We'll see how things play out in the next few years. Kids get older; life changes. The Christmas season will still be fun.

The Great Selection

The day after Thanksgiving we headed down to Richmond, KY for the Great Christmas Tree Selection of 2014. We LOVE this tradition! All of us. I mean, there are some traditions that I *say* we love, that I don't really love (even though the kids do). But this is one tradition I love every part of just as much as the kids.

 Even the drive down there is fun since we get to drive through the beauty of the Kentucky countryside, and we get to cross over the Kentucky River on the ferry. The anticipation builds!

 

Lutece, our normally picture averse child, wanted to take pictures at all of the photo opportunities we came across in the fields. When Phoenix wouldn't participate, she enlisted her dear, sweet, angelic mother.

 It's a pig/reindeer. A pigdeer!!

The first couple of fields we walked through were sparse on home-worthy trees. Too thin, too short, too tall, too bushy, etc. Finally, we walked to another field on the mountain and we hit the tree jackpot!

We ultimately decided upon the tree above. It was perfect!

 Now, to chop it down.

 

And cart it away.

 

We were all pleased with the selection this year . . . until we got it into our house and realized that our eyes were bigger than our house. The top of the tree scraped the ceiling and we had to cut off at least five inches. Gotta love it.

It was an awesome start to a great (and stressful) season. Thank goodness every time I look at the lovely tree, my stress level plummets. Who knew Christmas trees were such stress relief.

Merry December!

Glimpses of Christmas Morning

Not only is Christmas long gone, but Christmas vacation is over . . . OH WAIT! No. It's supposed to be over, but it's NOT! No, no, we are now on our third (THIRD!) snow/sub-freezing-degrees day away from school. The kids went back to school last Thursday, but have been home since then for inclement weather. They have fully enjoyed the extended vacation (3 weeks!). I may be the only one who's ready for them to go back to school. So ready.*

With that said, let us reminisce of better times, when Christmas vacation was still at its peak, and visions of sugar plums had barely left off dancing in their heads.

This was the first year that we let the kids go downstairs by themselves and open stockings and Santa gifts while we I slept in (apparently, Stayc couldn't wait to get up either, since he documented the kids opening their presents.)

At a more reasonable hour (8:00 a.m.), we sat around the living room together and opened family presents.

This seemed to be the year of the Lego in the DuBravac household. The kids loved all of their gifts, but the Legos kept them occupied nearly all of Christmas day. My personal thanks to both Grandma DuBravac and the Lego Corporation.

This was also the first year in a long time (our Christmas in China doesn't count), that I didn't feel overwhelmed by gifts. We have such kind, thoughtful, generous family members, but I was grateful that everyone kept it fairly simple. It was perfect. In fact, I think the kids were more excited to see us open our gifts from them than they were to open their own gifts (ok, maybe that's going too far :).

It was a very Merry Christmas indeed.

* Lutece was reading this blog post over my shoulder and said, "I'm ready to go back to school too." Thank goodness!