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Christmas Day 2013

The Littles got up filled with excitement this morning!  They went downstairs and quickly found their stockings filled with an assortment of stocking stuffers and  new pj’s.  Once Jake and I came downstairs they started handing out gifts – finding the ones they picked out for me and begging me to open them.  My heart melted.  They didn’t want to open THEIR gifts, they wanted me to open mine.  (I told them I was excited to see what they picked out for me, but did convince them to open some of their gifts first.)  When I finally opened my presents, I found that once again, they each picked out something that was extremely thoughtful.  Little #1 knows I love elephants, so he chose an elephant calendar for my office wall.  Little #2 overheard that my hand mixer had seen better days, so he selected an amazing replacement one for me.  (I opened his present a day early because (1) he couldn’t contain his excitement and (2) he wanted me to use it for mixing up the batter for the cookies we made on Christmas Eve morning.  Little #3 apparently made a bee-line for the nail polish at Target when she went shopping with her dad and selected two nail polishes.  (She’s big in to having me paint her nails and then wants to paint mine.)  Little #4’s gift was a set of four mini-spatulas, which I have been secretly hoping would show up in my kitchen.  Four wonderful, thoughtful presents from my four Littles.

The gifts the Littles received were theme based this year.  I had heard about the idea of giving kids something they need, something they want, something to read, and we added giving them something to share among the four of them.  I wrapped each theme in similar paper and the kids took turns opening their themed gift.  I thought it worked quite well and would like to use the same idea next year.

Xmas at home 2013

After quiet/naptime, we loaded up the truck and headed for Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  Everyone was home for the afternoon/evening.  We had dinner as a family and then took a few group photos before opening presents.

It started with two:

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Two became seven:

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Add six more:

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And it gets crazy!

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The kids of course, thoroughly enjoyed opening their gifts.  Little #4 was delighted to play with the paper and boxes.

Sheck fam Xmas 2013

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Christmas Eve 2013

Today was the start of our Christmas celebrations.  My parents went to Christmas Eve mass with us and then came over to the house for dinner.  They left just before we put he Shecklets to bed so the house could get prepped for Christmas morning.

Xmas Eve 2013

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Christmas Eve baking

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Nana and Papa are coming over tonight after we all go to mass. The Shecklets are baking Papa’s favorite gumdrop cookies for dessert.  (Great Grandma Fran’s recipe.)

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Bow and arrows

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I am going to see the second movie in the Hunger Games series with one of my besties tonight. Can’t wait! (Our husbands then get a night out to go see the second Hobbit movie.)

The accessories above were all created by Little #3. No prompting on my part. Looks like I have a mini Katniss Everdreen. Little #3 loves to make bows and arrows out of these balls and sticks we gave the boys for Christmas two years ago. In fact, she already has a pink bow picked out for when she is considered “old enough.”

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Apples for applesauce

It has been FREEZING here for a week.  Not your typical December freezing, but middle-of-January, don’t -leave-the-house-unless-you-have-to, and bundle-up-so-you-only-see-your-eyes, freezing.  I like to think I can handle the cold relatively well, but this has been ridiculous for December.  I can only hope it will make getting through January’s cold a bit easier.

Jake takes the boys to the bus stop every morning, so I have only left the house to pick them up in the afternoon.  I feel like a hermit.  And while I’m grateful that I haven’t had have to take the girls out unnecessarily, my cupboards are a bit bare and I’ve had to get creative with meals because I haven’t been able to get to the grocery store.

The uber-frigid temps caused the refrigerator in the garage to hibernate.  Who knew?  Apparently it can get too cold for the fridge to work.  It makes sense now that I think about it, but in our old house, our second fridge was in the basement, so it was never an issue.  Due to its temporary non-working state, I moved our frozen items into the house freezer and left the random assortment of beverages and a tasty big bag of apples from my MIL in the fridge.  Little did I know, the fridge became more of a freezer.  The apples I was hoping to send in my boys’ lunches, froze.  🙁

So what does one do with frozen apples?  You let them thaw a bit so your fingers don’t freeze while you peel them, cut them up and make applesauce.  The house smells delectable this afternoon.

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Sisters help each other

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“I’m doing a good job feeding [Little #4]! I’m a big girl feeding [Little #4]!” said a very proud Little #3 this morning.

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First bus ride

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We parked at a different school and rode the bus with Little #3 to the boys’ Christmas concert at school tonight. She loved it!

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Lego Shecklets

The kids got a good laugh out of seeing themselves as Lego figurines tonight.

My first attempt at Lego-izing us had Little #4 symbolized as a pink stroller, but I like my second attempt below, better.  In reality, she hates wearing hats, but it’s winter (absolutely freezing right now!) and she has very little hair – so a hat it is!

Christmas 2013

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Something’s missing

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Little #3 finally let me pop out his third tooth! The permanent one has been pushing the top left baby tooth out of place for quite a while. It was time for it to go!

On a side note, it was one year ago that he lost his first tooth – the night before his school Christmas concert.  Funny how a year later we went through the same situation.

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Super hero mask

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Little #3 received a mask and cape for her second birthday a year ago. I am pretty sure it is her most-worn accessory.

As a random side note, now that we’re in the season of holiday grocery items that can only be purchased once a year, I picked up some egg nog.  The kids love it.  I mix half egg nog and half milk together because otherwise it is just too thick.  Anyway, this afternoon, Little #3 started requesting Egg Milk for her beverage with meals.  It is just too cute to correct 🙂