christmas day 2012!!

ben and i went to sleep around 1:30 am, i coughed all night and then we were up with the kids around 7:30.  i both looked and sounded like booty, so i'm not in any of these pictures.

christmas morning at our home:


you know those gifts that you give your kids....

the ones where you think, "why did we bother getting them anything else?"

two words:

snow globes.  

they were found in their stockings and seriously, it's all they cared about for the next 10 minutes.  that is, until june dropped hers on the tile floor & hers started leaking out water with a strange-smelling odor.  then the tears started, not only hers, but leah's.  because of course, june went right for leah's after she had broken her own.  we have now had to hide caleb and leah's snow globes out of june's sight or there are immediate problems.

oh well, moving on.

in our home, santa doesn't get the glory.  he fills the stockings with a few small things, brings a christmas book and brings one toy for our kids.  it's worked out nicely this way...not only because ben and i feel we work hard, save, and plan for the really fun gifts and kind of want the credit, but also because when our 7 year old busts out that he's planning on asking santa for an ipad {SERIOUSLY}, we can sweetly remind him that it's not going to happen, because that's not what we have agreed with santa that we want in our home.  

side noteslashtangent:

we worked really hard with caleb this year on the true meaning of christmas.  in years past, he hasn't really cared too much.  {one year all he asked for was underpants, not even kidding.}  somehow the age of seven has taken over him like a greedy monster and drove me to the brink.  

i got so tired of hearing him complain/whine/beg/cry about getting some insanely expensive electronic that 4 days before christmas, he came home from school to find all of his wrapped presents pulled out from under the tree, sitting on our kitchen table.  i informed him that each of the members of his family had bought these for him because they loved him and were excited to buy him something that would bring him happiness.  but with his continual carrying-on about all of the things he wasn't getting, he was sending the message to us that he didn't want or need our presents, and that it was hurtful to us.  so, i told him that for the 4 days before christmas, we would put his gifts out in the garage.  and that his job was to spend the next 4 days thinking of others and doing kind services for them.  i told him that ben and i would be doing the same thing, just to help him out.  and that at the end of 4 days, if he was trying his hardest and doing his best to think of others, then he could earn his presents back.  otherwise, they were going to be given to children who would be thankful for them.

harsh?  probably.

but did it work?  absolutely.  i have never seen that kid more kind or helpful.  it was great.

side note/tangent over.

here are some of my favorite pictures of the day, please pay close attention to june's fantastically over the top christmas bedhead:

i mean seriously.  you couldn't pull a brush through that mop if you tried.

ben's expression here kills me.  i can still totally hear the sound he made while pulling this face.

\

this was where i wrapped up the remote to the ceiling fan in our bedroom and gave it to ben.

we've been missing that dang thing for about 6 months and there's no other way to turn on the fan.  

{i know, who thought that was a good idea??}

and it seriously drove ben insane.  i would hear about it pretty much every night.

so i thought it would be the best if i could find it & wrap it for ben for christmas.  i became a woman on a mission, a woman determined. 

and wha-lah!  i found it tucked clearrrrrr underneath our treadmill.

needless to say, he was ecstatic.  

and the house for the girls??

a huge hit.

and?  it's really actually IS huge.

the 5 of us ate our christmas cinnamon rolls in it.  together.  with room to spare.

the rest of the day was spent in our pajamas, not leaving the house.  i took a much-needed nap, ben made an amazing ham and mashed potatoes dinner, and then i got the best workout i've had in a while sword fighting with ben on our new {and free} Wii.  {thank you andrea!}

we had a really amazing christmas this year, and reminded me again how grateful i am for my little family.

christmas eve 2012!

we were planning on it just being our little family for christmas eve, but the day before we were invited by some friends to join them & some of their family for christmas eve dinner and re-creating the nativity with the kids.  

well.  you know those awkward situations when you feel like a complete third wheel, and no one really talks to you, and you realize you're totally out of place?

luckily, this was nothing like that!  we were welcomed with hugs, and kindness and felt so at home.  i should have known, because we were invited by the grahams who are that way with everyone.  not having any family close by can be tough, but we're grateful to have such good friends, and friends who have really welcoming families.

unfortunately for me, i came down with the plague the day before and had completely lost my voice.  fortunately for them, i had completely lost my voice.  i think my kids were in heaven all day.  ha ha!  

anyway, here are the pictures:

mary.
{who had just finished her pre-performance dinner}

joseph.

the angel.

my personal favorite...the star.

the sheep {who refused to wear a costume & insisted on playing a trumpet}

and a wise man.

the reinactment.

part of the audience.

in our christmas pj's.  except you can only see june's, 

so you'll just have to take my word for it....

the preparation.

i was feeling really rough by this time, 

but was so excited to see what christmas day would hold.

i seriously love christmas.

let the festivus begin!

well friends, christmas has arrived in the strader home!  before december was even upon us, mind you. it's a new record for me.  

honestly i can't believe we decorated as early as we did, because i feel like i have so many other things to do that decorating kind of gets put on the back burner. this is coming from the same source who, when asked by her son if she could please decorate for halloween this year, answered matter-of-factly, "yeaaah.  that's not going to happen buddy, but i love you."  

it's just not a priority for me and i think it has something to do with it being a lot of work that i'm usually stuck with on my own because ben is gone so much.  i have to tackle & conquer the garage {dun dun dunnn} which isn't messy, but it is.....stacked.  tubs of kids clothes and camping gear and winter coats that we may or may not one day actually wear again line the walls and take up of one half of our garage.  and as much as i love a good challenge, i have this deep-down fear somewhere that my lifeless body will one day be uncovered among tubs and tubs of paraphernalia, flattened in an avalanche of grey plastic and lids like one of those poor petrified cats in an episode of hoarders, all because i was off searching for the tub that held holiday decorations.  

woah.  death by tubs...i have seriously derailed here.  back on subject!  

anyway, i had a good 24 hours where ben was actually home, so we put that time to good use, popped on christmas music on pandora and got to work.  

for a couple of days it actually looked like it christmas had vomited all over it, and i momentarily worried that we had made a huge mistake, but we stuck with it and eventually that momentary worry turned into the twinkly and warm feeling i get whenever i stare at white christmas lights and colorful ornaments surrounding fake pine. 

here are a few somewhat pathetic & grainy pictures from my phone, but it's the best i've got for right now.

caleb was a huge help, i'm sure he was elated we decorated at all.  his excitement that his mother didn't give him another matter-of-fact lame answer accompanied with validation that her love for him continues on even if the decorations do not was almost palpable.  he's also learned the art of spacing out the ornaments & garland which i appreciate because i get a bit OCD about that part of it.

leah was interesting...i wouldn't exactly call her "helpful," though she did put ornaments on the tree.  but the majority of her assistance was spent with her turning each of her ornaments into imaginary friends, and bunching them into one section of the bottom right of the tree so they could all stay together, apparently to socialize and play so they wouldn't get "lonely."  anytime one of the rest of us would try to spread them out to more than one of the 3 branches she picked as their designated spot to stack/cram them, she lost it.  wailing that they needed to be close, the mommy ornaments with their babies, and so on.  well, who is going to argue with that?  as the days have gone on, i've found myself slowly moving them farther and farther apart to get her used to seeing them that way.  i'm no fool.

last year, i prepped myself for june of 2012.  i remember leah at this age, and didn't want to spend my time paranoid that she was going to either break the non-toddler-proof ornaments, or choke on tiny little pieces before i could save her life.  when we were in texas last year, we went to target a few days after christmas and i stocked up on their clearance of ornaments.  and i have to say, i found a bunch of my now all-time favorites, and they're toddler-friendly to boot.  

that target, i tell you what.  it just gets me.

i told the older kids to put all of "baby june's ornaments" on the bottom half of the tree and it worked like a charm.  she loves to pull them off, rearrange them, shake the heck out of them, yell and scream at them, lick them, walk around the house with them....and it doesn't bother me one bit.  

so, here we are.  'tis the season and all of that. i'm still trying to figure out where to hang our stockings since we don't have a really convenient place to hang them.  

oh!  i almost forgot!  stop the presses, this is BIG news.  

in an attempt to actually achieve one of my new year's resolutions for 2012, we had family pictures taken with the *hope* of sending out christmas cards this year.  the cards are already actually ordered! i would give myself a pat on the back, but i know my weaknesses & that until those puppies are actually IN the MAIL, i cannot cross it off my list yet.  

we didn't have the money for a professional photographer, so i asked my friend to come to a park with us, using my camera and take family shots & then i would take individual ones of the kids.  holy cow, i underestimated miss june.  i knew she'd be the one to keep entertained, but she was just. not. having it.

the individual pictures are really cute, but we got one decent family shot out of about 35.  and here is a sneak peek at all of the fun we did{n't} have:  

these pictures totally make me laugh.  caleb's trying-too-hard smile, leah's puffy fish cheeks, and then the wee lassy. i realize that this is probably our last family shot for the next couple of years...unless we can catch june with a surprise camera attack or something.  oh well, we did it.  

here's to the holiday season!

and here's last year's christmas decorating post, if you're interested.  look at fat, bald baby june!