Christmas!

Christmas morning we woke up and opened up our stockings, and then got ready for church. We ended up letting kids open one present each before church, as a bribe to get Isaac to take some cough medicine. He was feeling a lot better, but still coughing. We decided to take him to church anyway since there was no primary (and because he and I had been cooped up together all week and I really wanted to go to church!), so we bribed him into taking cough medicine and took him. It was so nice to go to church for Christmas! It made me wish we could do that every year, because it felt like such a wonderful way to celebrate our Savior's birth.

After church, we had lunch, and a devotional, and then opened presents. It was a really nice Christmas day! Here are some pictures, in no particular order because, as usual, I'm feeling lazy.

Running socks!

Ezra thought Aunt Mari's gift to daddy was the best!

Isaac got a Paw Patrol backpack from his aunts. He was thrilled!

Legos!

The kids are all into drawing lately, so these doodle pads from Grandma and Grandpa were perfect!

Blanket from Stacy!

Jammies from Stacy!

Thanks, Stacy!

More legos!

Snorkeling gear from my parents to use on our trip in February. *Highest Priority* apparently. ;)

Opening Stockings in Mom and Dad's room, because we technically hadn't gotten out of bed yet!

Art kit from Grandma and Grandpa Call! This has seen a lot of use already! She also got tons and tons of paper. This girls loves arts and crafts!

Pokemon was the theme for Ezra this year.

"Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing" Thanks, Aunts!

Apparently Isaac really needed a picture of his new Paw Patrol toys. You can tell what his theme was this year, can't you?

Pre-Christmas Present Opening

Because Isaac was sick, he missed a lot of school the week before Christmas, and was sad about missing gifts at school, so I let the kids each open one on the Friday before Christmas. (Our kids stayed in school all the way until Friday.)

Ezra was overjoyed to get a Pikachu. (Thanks, Daniel!)

For some reason, Ginny loves getting random scraps of fabric. (Thanks, Grandma!)

I didn't get a picture of Isaac after he opened his choice, but it was a Paw Patrol toy from me and Erik.

Then, when Isaac was still sick on Christmas Eve, and had to stay home from the family party, I agreed to let him open one more present (since Ginny and Ezra would be opening gifts at the party). He picked this one from G and G Lindstrom.

And he loved it! We spent the next hour or so, building the lego set, and then playing police helicopter and bad guy. Isaac was actually pretty good about letting us take turns between the two roles. 

Here we are on Christmas Eve, taking selfies.

Isaac helped me play "Santa Claus" by putting out the presents and prepping the stockings. To my amazement, he actually kept the stocking stuffers a secret. :)

Here we are getting hanging out and getting ready to watch a Christmas Paw Patrol movie.

And, of course, magnatiles. I thought it was hilarious that Isaac built a prison for his lego bad-guy, complete with a Chimney, and Santa going down the Chimney head first. (The real reason it was hilarious, was that when Isaac decided to build the chimney, he didn't even notice Santa going down until I pointed it out!)

We ended up having a really nice Christmas Eve, even if he wasn't feeling his best and we had to stay home. Toys, movies, and popcorn makes for a lot of fun!

Ginny's Holiday Concert

Here are a few tidbits from the Glee Club Holiday Concert this year:

Random Happenings

I received this invitation from the kids' a few weeks ago. Sounds fun! I thought it was an especially good thing pets are allowed given how many pets we have! (Zero, in case you were wondering.)

For Christmas, Erik surprised me with an early Christmas present: tickets to see The Great Comet, (loosely) starring Josh Groban. He actually doesn't sing as much as some of the other leads, but when he did sing, it was lovely. I was very excited to finally see him in person in some form!!! It was so fun to have Andrea in town so Erik and I could actually do a few date nights like this.

Iron Man?

Ezra selfie.

Gingerbread! This is what we did for our neighbors this year, and for my first time making gingerbread, I was very happy with how it turned out. As a side note, this is also the first time we've received neighbor gifts in the 8 Christmases we've lived in New York. (Not that it matters, and we don't give the gifts expecting gifts back. It's just that neighbor gifts are not a thing here, as you really don't ever get to know a lot of your neighbors, and so we were very surprised when we received three or four of them. We do them every year because they've always been a part of our holiday traditions. I guess we're spreading the tradition--at least in our building!) 

Ezra, having a tantrum. I can't remember why.

More magnatile creations, with an Isaac photo-bomb. These really are the best toys!

Ginny opened up a hair salon one day (complete with a menu of services and prices which I forgot to get a picture of). I chose double braids, for 1 cent, but with my 1 cent off coupon, I got them for free!

A week or so before Christmas, this little guy got sick. Whatever it was he caught, it was a nasty thing that lingered for a couple weeks. He's still getting over the cough. Thankfully, we haven't yet chucked our old stroller. I had to dig it out to get him out the door when I needed to pick up Ginny and Ezra from school. 

Magnatile Fun!