Christmas 2011

This year the kids had a great Christmas.  

 The first one awake (if you don't count Mia getting up at 1am and going back to bed) was Cole.  He had to wait for all the other kids to wake up before he could open his presents.  Mia didn't wake up until 7:30am, which is unheard of for her.  When Mia woke up we let them open their presents from Santa, even though Ella slept until 8:30.

 Mia got a camera, roller skates, and a sewing machine.  Cole got roller blades, a ripstick, and lots of Bey Blades.  Luke got two Playmobil sets, BeyBlades and a new scooter.  And Ella got a baby doll and a new toy kitchen.

 I took this picture just before we opened the rest of the presents under the tree.

It was an incredible Christmas.  The kids love this time of year and we were lucky enough to all be together.

Mia took these pictures later in the day with her new camera.

Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas Eve 2011 was an adventure.  Instead of the traditional dinner at a friends house, we decided to hit the town and enjoy the sights and sounds of christmas in the big city.  The part of the tradition that doesn't change, is spending time with the Stuarts.  We love them.  And we were lucky enough to enjoy the Hathaway's and Oldham's company as well.

Drew was called into work, about 30 minutes before dinner, so unfortunately he missed all the fun.  But I was pleasantly surprised at how well our kids did during dinner.  A group of 22 people is crazy, but everyone managed to have a wonderful time.

Dinner at Grand Lux.  I wasn't about to haul my big camera downtown, so the pictures aren't the best (hello red eye).  But you get the idea.

 The Hathaways

 The Stuarts

 The Oldhams

 Swasey's minus Drew

 After dinner we went to the Bellagio for about 5 minutes because it was completely packed, so we won't be doing that again.  Then we headed to the Stuarts for the rest of the party.

 The kids decorated cookies to leave for Santa.

 Then we acted out the nativity and played Silent Night on the pipe chimes.  At 8pm we came home and the kids opened their christmas eve presents.  Pajamas, of course.

Our Attempt at Christmas in Venice

The Venetian downtown was awesome during the holidays.  So Drew and I joined a couple of friends for a night of ice skating and hot chocolate.  Well, unfortunately some richy rich rented the entire rink for the two hours we were down there, so we didn't get to skate.  But we had a wonderful dinner at the Grand Lux and great conversation with some amazing friends.

For some reason my iPhone takes horrible night shots.  Super cloudy!  I'm not sure why, but these are the photos I have.

Kids Christmas Party

The kids were out of school for Parent/Teacher/Student conferences on Dec 14th.  So instead of wasting the day away, we decided to have a Christmas party for the kids and their good friends.  Cole invited two of his closest friends and Mia invited 5 of hers.  Luke was at a Birthday party and Ella napped the whole time, so it worked out really well.  

The party started with a game.  The boys did a Christmas word search, and the girls played a game of "name that Christmas song", using picture clues.  

 I was so surprised at how good the girls were at this game.

 I assembled 10 gingerbread houses the night before the party.

 Each kids got a gingerbread house and a bag of frosting.  The kids brought candies to make their houses super fancy.

 I made this vegetable christmas tree for the kids to snack on, and believe it or not, they ate the whole thing.  No dip required!  Thanks Family Fun magazine for this great idea.

 Aspen brought some really great games for the kids to play.  In this game you pass the tissue paper star to your neighbor using nothing but a straw.

 Mia and her gal pals, Aspen, Lauren, Audrey, Katelyn, and Sara.

 Cole with Jake and Michael.

 In the next game the kids had to put vasaline on their nose and race to the other side of the room, touch a red paper circle with the tip of their nose, and run back.  The Rudolph Relay.

 And in the last game the kids had to scoop up candy with a spoon and stuff it into a mini stocking.  Everyone wins in this one.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cookies

The kids were excited about making Christmas cookies last week.

 Ella was just excited to eat them.