Christmas

On Christmas morning, the kids ran downstairs to see what Santa brought them:

After they played with what Santa brought them and after we ate breakfast, we opened up presents from each other:

These are the ornaments that Zach & Riley made in school as gifts for Jeff & I:

Then we headed over to the Ramsey side of the family for more gifts, food, and fun!

Tonya got Grinch jammies as one of the gag gifts! Too funny! =)

After the presents were open & the food was eaten, this is how the kids entertained themselves; the older kids played with their DS's......

and the younger kids played with Granddad. ;0)

It was another great Christmas! It is so nice to have our own little family time in the morning, just the 5 of us to celebrate, but we are also grateful to be able to get together with both sides of our families!

Christmas Eve

We started out our Christmas Eve by going over to the Logan's side of the family for our Christmas with them. Here are all of the Logan grandchildren:

After a breakfast of yummy quiche, cinnamon rolls, and fruit, we opened presents!

Then we got a picture of the grandkids with Grandma & Grandpa.....

and Great Grandma!

It was such a fun morning/afternoon!

That evening, we got dressed up for Christmas Eve mass.

Later on, after we got home, we got the cookies & milk ready to set out for Santa!

All jammied-up and ready for bed!

**Funny story about the jammies; I had matching jammies that I had ordered online. I didn't actually open them until Christmas Eve night, right before I had the kids put them on. (They all looked like what Lily has on.) Riley was the first to put them on. He said, "I look like a girl!" The jammies were pretty girly looking, even though they were supposed to be for boys and girls. =( Zach said, "I am NOT putting those on!" Riley was going to be a good sport and wear them anyway, but was very relieved when I told him he could put some of his other jammies on. =) So, we called my sister Mary who has girls the same age as my boys, and asked if they would like some new Christmas jammies. Good thing they live so close to us and could come over & get them before they went to bed! At least someone got to wear them! =)

More Christmas Parties!

Both of the boys had their school Christmas Parties on Wednesday morning. I'm Zach's Room Parent, so I was in his room. Lily was excited to come too!

The kids all made a wreath ornament craft and did a Christmas word search. Santa also dropped by with some treats for the kids!

After the kids got all of their yummy snacks, I snuck over to Riley's room to say hi to him.

He was enjoying some yummy snacks too and showed me the fun craft he got to make. All three kids had fun at the parties!

Then in the afternoon, we went to the party the kids have been waiting for all month; Jeff's work party. Now I realize that doesn't sound too fun, but it really is. Jeff's boss realizes that a lot of us have kids, and it is hard for some people to get sitters, so a few years ago, he started making the Christmas party at The Alley so everyone could bring their kids. So nice!!

They get to go bowling (I didn't actually take any pictures of them bowling though...), eat pizza, and drink pop!

The boys also get to ride the go-karts!!

(Sorry for the picture quality...I took all of these with my cellphone.)

The kids have SO much fun!! And Jeff & I get to talk to all of the adults since the kids are busy with all of the activities. =)
Now all of our parties are over. So today, we are enjoying the first day of Christmas break by making crafts, reading Christmas books, and watching Christmas movies. =)

Getting Ready For Christmas!

Yesterday, we spent most of the day baking. We made Jeff's favorite cookies from childhood; Wafer Cookies. The kids love them too! We also made peanut clusters, and peanut blossoms. Yum!!

The kids are a big help. ;0) It is fun to listen to Christmas music and bake together!!

Later on in the evening, Jeff built a big fire:

We had hot chocolate, and apples with yummy peanut butter & caramel dip and watched a movie. (Can you tell we are a peanut loving family??)

I just had to get a picture of them all sitting in front of the fire and tree before the movie though.

We do have stockings, but Jeff did not want them up with the fire going... in case you were wondering. :0)

Also this past week, the boys had their Christmas Program at school. Riley did a great job singing with his class! He must have been tired though, because the poor guy was yawning throughout the entire thing!

Zach did a great job too!

He even had a duet!

It was with his best friend Cody, so that made it even more special!

Only one more week before Christmas. The kids are getting very excited. Lily tells me how many days are left every night before bed. =) We still have lots of parties to get to this week. Hopefully we aren't all Christmased out before it gets here! ;0)

Christmas Lights & Santa!

Last weekend, we headed out to look at Christmas Lights. We started out at the Lights on St. Paul. The kids love going through all of the lights and listening to the Christmas music.

After we looked at all of the lights, we went inside to see Santa!

Lily was SO excited!!! She could not wait to see him, and then talked his ear off! (I know, shocking....) ;0)

She actually stopped talking for a minute so I could take a picture. :0)

Riley was loving on Santa too. He got flustered and couldn't remember what he wanted for Christmas though. Good thing we sent Santa a letter!

Even Zach was still excited to see Santa. He patiently let his brother and sister go first though.

After we left Santa, we went through the lights one more time. Then we headed off to this crazy Christmas house:

It is so bright, you can see it from a few blocks away. I bet his neighbors love him.... ;0)

It was a fun family night out!