opening gifts..

christmas day eve

surprise ball

I discovered these on Etsy and thought it would be a fun addition to our Christmas experience.
judging by the laughter as they unrolled yard after yard of tissue paper I'm thinking it was a hit.
What started out as a ball the size of a softball soon reveiled suprises tiny toys and trinkets hidden in the layers of tissue paper...
the laughter and surprised shouts filled the room as each uncovered yet another toy or surprise.

family christmas.....

josh had to work the entire weekend so we snuck in a moment to celebrate Christmas with the kids on Christmas day eve.
It was nice to spend this time together, it was great to watch as each opened their present sometimes it seemed that it was lost in the chaos and craziness that is so many people. Beckie certainly enjoyed her new pj's and rosie was quite excited about her paint set. Reyna was content to snuggle in and be held not paying too much attention to her gifts. Kevin was surprised by his tickets to see Jeff Dunham in February, Josh was too since he is accompanying him. Cassandra thought the itunes gift card was the best and Anthony couldn't wait to assemble his new lego set. Yahiara was ready to plant her fairy garden as soon as she opened her gift...what a wonderful way to complete this holiday spent with my kids. What a special reminder of how blessed I am to have so many wonderful moments in my life.

christmas day

at my aunt Lucy's and uncle Roy's
filled with food, so much food. I rediscovered caramel chocolate bars, (thanks Paulette) pretty sure that wasn't a good discovery.
Spent the day with my aunt and uncle, my cousin paulette and her family and Joann. Joann was a friend of my mom's it was wonderful to talk to her and hear stories about the times they shared, she even had some pictures to share with me. what a wonderful connection to someone who is never far from my thoughts. We played indian bingo, cards and farkle..ate some more, oh bother did we eat.
and after much laughter and fun memories we headed home in the snow...

christmas morning...

checking out those gifts from santa, and discovering what was hidden in those stockings...
the one who usually awakes early slept in and a new one took her place anthony was up before the sun...cassandra kept him entertained thus letting some of us sleep in just a bit...

Getting ready

for santa...
reindeer food sprinkled in the snow...
cookies and milk for santa...
norad up on the computer to track santa's progress
candlelight service at church, where all three kids that were with us fell asleep...
a perfect way to end christmas eve....

Merry Christmas

from the Haycraft's
2010

just in case

you think capturing the perfect photo is simple I have included some of the outtakes

in the quest for a photo that simply has everyone looking forward with some semblance of a smile upon their face

no easy feat I might add...just when you get one it seems three others decided to not cooperate

is it any wonder that I capture a photo of this crew ever?

Book...

for the past several years I have picked a book to give to the littlest ones in our family.
I had wanted to start a new tradition when they joined our family and decided that this was perfect tradition to begin, they all enjoyed books and by gifting them a book of their own someday they would have a nice little library to share with their own kids.
This year the book was The Napping House a favorite of mine...it was a hit! you can to here and here and here to read about previous books.

Christmas Eve...

at my sister's
the girls were quite fascinated by the singing dog

there was eating, Just Dance on the Wii and of course the annual family picture
and yes there was plenty of grumbling to go with that family photo op...

opening gifts, Cassandra still found time to text during this busy activity :)

eating...

and eating and eating....
it would be safe to say that there was no chance of being hungry at any point during this holiday.

Reindeer food

an annual tradition completed on Christmas Eve. Even the youngest joined in although
none of her glitter actually made it into the food, instead it was sprinkled in my bedroom and in the closet.
and yes we almost forgot to sprinkle it outdoors for the reindeer that night, but one remembered just as we were heading out the door for candlelight service....all were happy including the reindeer

Christmas Programs

pictures from the Sunday School Christmas Program and from
Rosie's Preschool program.

as if

I don't have enough framed photos on the walls in my home.
But this one, this one caught my eye and eventually made it's way into my cart.
I hesitated because of the size, it is big, but I kept returning to it.
Once I got it home it leaned against the wall for weeks, I did have to order the photos to fill those spots,
well first I had to figure out which photos I wanted to use, and then I had to figure out where to put it.
Of course it was the words the captured my attention, how very, very true they are for my life.
Once put together i think it is a wonderful snapshot into my life. Who knew?

one of my favorite

sights during this christmas season...the kids sleeping by the christmas tree.

snow

they braved the cold
(negative temps without a wind chill)
played in the snow for awhile and then promptly requested hot chocolate when they returned indoors