Christmas Festivities!

For the first time this year, all the kids in the Rogers family participated in a Nativity. Grandma and Grandpa were sneaky about it; they'd rehearsed it all at the grand-kid sleepover a week earlier, so the parents had no idea. Christmas Eve we were treated to a very sweet and earnest retelling of the birth of the Savior, baby included :).

Mary & Joseph and Baby Millie Jesus

Three sheep (although our kid wouldn't wear her hat)

The angel proclaiming "good tidings of great joy"

 

 

The three kings bringing their gifts

After that, the kids did a surprisingly decent rendition of Jingle Bells on the chimes.

And I finally got Rory to put her sheep hat on.

Christmas morning our kids slept til eight, which was pretty sweet given my habits as a child. I used to wake my parents up the exact time they had given me the night before. Our kids aren't early risers though, not even on Christmas. Once Rory opened one present, it was pretty hard to convince her to keep going. All she wanted to do was play with that gift, especially if it was Dora-related.

Dany was very excited to get both paints and a scooter, both of which she'd asked Santa for.

And I have to give Maisie some real credit. Rather than complaining when her pile of presents looked pretty small, she was excited for whatever she was given, and then majorly excited when we brought her new bike out!

Teag got a lot of airplane books, one of his most favorite presents. I love how excited Rory is for his present in this picture.

My pile of presents was also rather small this year, due to my special project. Unfortunately it hit some snags, and wasn't ready by Christmas morning. But Santa had one very hardworking extra elf this year, and you've got to see how amazing this looks, even unfinished.

Teag worked his little heart out in freezing temperatures in our garage to try and make this happen by Christmas, but those same freezing temperatures caused problems with the paint, making it run and drip really bad. But I'll have you know he designed this from scratch! He drew up the plans, cut, sawed, and put together everything, based on a very rough sketch I gave him of what I wanted. I'm so excited to have it done and in our house, thus eliminating forever the dreaded "shoe pile".

Our family had a very Merry Christmas this year, and Teag and I especially feel immensely blessed. Our lives have changed in many ways, and more than that our perspectives have altered to help us understand just how much we have to be grateful for. We wish you all great happiness in the coming year, and pray that you may all be well, wherever you are.

Christmas Train

I'm a little late on this post, but wanted to make sure I got it in before Christmas. Last year we had so much fun putting together our gingerbread house, that this year we decided to do a gingerbread train.

Before we started, I glued all the pieces together so the kids wouldn't get antsy waiting to decorate. All three girls were chomping at the bit to get their hands in the candy dishes.

I tried to give them some direction, but pretty much, they were intent on putting whatever candy they wanted wherever they wanted.

And Rory sneaked a taste whenever she could manage it.

But in the end, they were proud of all their hard work.

All aboard for a Merry Christmas!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, it's the Roger's tradition to go tree hunting. We've been doing this for years, since before Maisie was born, and it's one of my most favorite things we do for Christmas, even though it most likely costs us more in the long run than buying one from a lot. But you can't put a price on memories!

This year, the weather was gorgeous, and there was plenty of snow for the kids to play in.

They all decided to hang back and play while the menfolk (and me), went off in search of the perfect tree. It took a little more searching this year, and through some fairly deep drifts for someone as short as me, but we finally found what we were looking for.

Here's a pic of Teag about to cut it down after I thanked it for honoring our family by sacrificing itself to decorate our house for a month. Cheesy I know, but it makes me a little bit sad to cut down a perfectly healthy tree, and I felt it deserved some praise.

When we made the trek back, we found the other adults had discovered an effective way of corralling the little ones.

They didn't seem to mind. And the girls all seemed to approve of our tree selection.

Apparently we exhausted our kids, and the ride home was just too much for Rory.

A few nights later, we had it lit and ready to decorate. Teag went out of town for a few days, and the girls had to wait to hang ornaments. I thought I was going to go crazy listening to them ask how much longer until they could decorate; but at least I know it's something they really enjoy.

And here it is, the finished product. With a couple of monkeys in front of it.

Tis the season!