WUMCHA Children's Christmas Party

The Children's Christmas Party for WUMCHA was held at our house this year. We had a great turn-out (15-20 kids plus their moms), and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. My camera was non-operational for this party (recall the battery charger left in Memphis), so these pictures are courtesy of Molly.

Christmas with Carl's family

Our final Christmas celebration took place at our house last Tuesday with Carl's mom, Ingrid and Ryan. It's hard to believe that it has been almost a week since this celebration! The time between William's birthday and New Years is just a blur of gatherings, parties and general merriment. We had fun all the way through and are very thankful for all of the truly fantastic people in our lives.

Meema with little William

No hesitation here - William's got this present thing down now (as always, working with his tongue out)

Carl receives his favorite, habanero olives

Terra loves her new squeaky toy from her dog cousins, Tuesday and Irie

Ingrid, Ryan, and William

Terra approves of the scent of Ingrid's new candle

New bathroom mirror!

Lily's doll, Rebecca, got the royal treatment this Christmas. She received a new puppy (Pepper), new clothes and lots of recovery items including band-aids, casts, and a wheelchair. She is one well-cared-for and loved doll!

William is intrigued by daddy's new popcorn bowl

Taken with the handsome reflection in the bowl

Lily has some creative uses for this bowl as well

Christmas with the Pelleritos

Unfortunately, our Christmas with the Meyers on Christmas Eve was cancelled due to bad weather. But, we were able to get together with my mom's side on the day after Christmas which also happens to be my mom and dad's anniversary. Congratulations on 44 years together, mom and dad!

William gets some gift-opening assistance from his older cousin, Nick

The re-enactment of the Nativity. William played the role of baby Jesus this year, but we didn't get any pictures with him.

Lily and William waiting for the puppet show to begin

William captivated by the puppet show

Lily taking in the puppet show with her new kitty

Grandpa with his kids: Vito, Sal, Chris, Eleanor, and Kathy (missing from the picture is my Uncle John who was enjoying the holidays with his kids and grandkids in Florida)

Grandpa with his kids and their spouses (Uncle Sal's wife, Marilyn, was not feeling well and so is missing from the picture)

Grandpa with the grandkids and our spouses

Grandpa with his grandkids, their spouses and his great-grandchildren. There are several people missing from this picture as well, including my sisters and their families, my cousins Jessica and Cassie and their families, and my cousin Gina. It should be apparent now why we need to rent a hall to get together at Christmas!

More Christmas Day

Carl's much-anticipated Christmas dinner. Carl consulted a colleague from England who informed him that goose tends to be gamey and is very much an acquired taste. He suggested duck instead, and since this was also easier to find, Carl went with the duck (wrapped in bacon - yum). Carl also prepared the gravy, oyster stuffing and steamed green beans. My small contribution was the mashed potatoes. The meal turned out very well, and as a bonus, both kids fell asleep, so we enjoyed our meal with good conversation instead of kids climbing on us!

William received chocolate-covered animal crackers in his stocking. Needless to say, he was a big fan.

The snow added to the ambiance of our Christmas day, and Lily even made a perfect snow angel!

Lily received some new baking supplies from Santa and put together some pretty awesome treats.

Christmas Day

Guess who came....

All kids get stockings...even the furry ones

Santa was equally unimpressed with the brownies

A series of unusual events led to the kids and us waking up at 5:00 am on Christmas morning. You read correctly - 5:00 am. I am fortunate in the that my kids never wake up at 5:00 am, but I guess if you are going to do it one day out of the year, Christmas morning would be that day. When Lily first woke up, she did not even remember that it was Christmas morning, but when she did remember, she lit up like a light bulb! We were downstairs in a flash and then the present opening began....

Oh...pretty tools...

Terra sniffs out her presents

William really got into opening the gifts. As a parent, it was so fun to watch.

A Strawberry Shortcake fan and collector. Nature or nurture? We may never know.

Big sister there to guide and assist and share to the joy. Love it!

The wonder and magic of it all

William's favorite gift, hands down: THE big blue ball.

Lily organizes her loot into piles by category, so very mommy of her.

William's gifts

Lily's gifts covered all things "Lily" - My Little Ponies, Strawberry Shortcake, princesses, American Girl, baking and books

Each person received one gift from the family this year as well. Lily decided that her remote-controlled train would make an excellent gift to William - and it did!

Lily received her highly desired "wedding dress"

Carl surprised me with new dining room chairs!!! They are perfect, and I love them!
(Carl was not left out - he got clothes that will be seen in future pictures.) :)

Getting up at 5 am comes at a price, but my hope is that she was dreaming of our wonderful Christmas morning.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve, in one word, was wonderful. It snowed on and off for a total of about 5 inches during the day, and we enjoyed the entire day at home, all together. I could not have asked for anything better.

Snow!!

Backyard winter wonderland

Lily's snowman. She insisted that the snowman have short arms (something to do with T. rex), and she named him "Fall Beauty". Turns out that he was aptly named since he did come tumbling down later that day. However she was quite happy with the "beautiful mountains" he transformed into.

Such strenuous work calls for a mid-day nap

Lily is naturally super-excited for weeks leading up to the big day. We figured that since they would have so many presents to open on Christmas day, we would spread out the presents by opening gifts from afar on Christmas Eve. This worked out great, as it fulfilled her need to open presents, and I felt like she could better appreciate what others gave her instead of mixing them in with Santa's gifts on Christmas Day. I definitely want to continue this practice in future years.

Rapunzel hair from Grandpa Deetz and Susan and a movie from Tori and family! Yay!

More books! Super yay!

William with his new truck

Lily and I made brownies that day for Santa. We "hid" spinach and carrots in the brownies since we would be partaking in this dessert as well and William is determined to be a no-vegetable kind of guy. So why not hide them in other foods, right? Well, that may work on other kids, but so far this has not worked even once with William. I have tried out about 7 recipes from the cookbook Deceptively Delicious on William, and suffice to say, he thinks that the recipes are neither deceptive nor delicious.

Mmm....brownies!

What the....?

Oh, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth