Christmas Day

Christmas was a very pleasant experience this year. We told the kids they could wake up at 6:00, which I'm pretty sure is at least an hour later than I woke my parents up when I was Maisie's age.This is the sight they beheld, when first entering the living room.

Kind of magical, isn't it? For me, Christmas doesn't feel the same if you don't open your presents when it's still dark outside. The kids were all very excited for whatever it was they had to open, which makes me feel like we've done something right as parents. No whining, or complaining that their pile wasn't as big as another siblings or whatever. And many excited "Thanks you(s)!", and "I love it!" were heard.

I'd tried really hard to surprise Teag this year, and I thought I'd managed it fairly well, but it turns out he'd overheard part of a conversation with my partner-in-crime, Tom. I'd arranged for Tom to by Teag the gun he'd been so anxiously wanting to buy for months now, and we made the switch on Christmas Eve. Either way, he got what he wanted, which was good.

Teag's expression in this picture is a little disturbing though :). Teag got me several things on my list, as well as a few surprises, including a very pretty ring with Celtic knots in it; I'm a fan of knots in jewelry.

Immediately after all presents were opened, the kids started playing/putting together/experimenting with their new stuff.

Putting together her new Lord of the Rings Lego ship

We let Finn sleep so he wouldn't be grumpy for the whole day, and everyone had fun watching him open his presents when he finally woke.

And just because it is seriously cool, here is a picture of the completed pirate ship. Not only is it huge, it's very elaborate and detailed. Maisie had it put together by the day after.

For those aficionados of LOTR's, this is one of the Corsair pirate ships that appear in the Return of the King, complete with a tiny, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. Yup, I'm a nerd.

The rest of Christmas day was spent with the Rogers, opening more presents and feasting. The older kids played football, and the younger kids napped or watched movies. It was a pleasant, relaxed, and mostly hassle free day. The best kind of holiday.

And now I'll sign off for the year, goodbye 2013! May the new year ahead be kind.

Christmas Eve

I've been a bad blogger lately, but that's what tends to happen when you spend a week plus feeling like death warmed over. Good times. And now, to avoid a picture heavy post, I'm going to split up Christmas and Christmas Eve into two different posts.

First off, we spent the morning of Christmas Eve with the Bayly's, eating soup, and treats and just chilling. We've done this for years now, and I love spending that time together. It's never rushed or hectic, Treg and Carolyn have plenty of cozy places for people to sit, and lots to entertain the kids. It feel very relaxed, and both Teag and I and our kids really look forward to this part of the day. We never do get any pictures, however, because I never think to take pictures of us all sitting around and talking. I should though.

After that, we went home, had some naps and dinner, and opened up our Christmas jammies.

It's hard to see it, but the picture on the front is a yawning moose with the caption "Almoose Asleep". After we were all changed, we had a surprise visit from Santa! He brought everyone, including Teag and I, a few extra toys and treats, and reminded the girls to brush their teeth before they went to bed that night. Then we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Rogers house for our Christmas Eve shindig. Unfortunately, the special event this year was an adorable song with the kids all playing parts of the manger scene, but it was nearly five minutes long and won't load here. So here's a few pictures of the evening.

After we filled up on cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate, we were off home again to get everyone ready for bed. The kids were able to get one last thing from their advent tree, which turned out to be a battery to light their Christmas tree!

Surprising how much light that small strand could produce. They were all very excited about this, and I think it made going to bed exciting rather than a fight, which is always a good thing for parents. Read on to find out more about Christmas Day!

A Very Hairy Christmas!

Further Proof As to Why My Parents Are Awesome

We've had a rough couple of weeks at our house. Very busy, lots of illness; not particularly conducive to feeling overly Christmas-y. So in an attempt to remedy that, I decided this past Friday to have "The Bayly Family Christmas Extravaganza"! We were going to watch White Christmas, and read the Polar Express, drink hot chocolate, and help the kids wrap their Christmas presents. And of course, decorate the gingerbread house Teag had purchased back in November.

The kids were out early that day from school, so it seemed like the perfect time. However, Teag felt so crappy that he basically wanted to do nothing but lay around and sleep, Finn started deteriorating himself; his breathing becoming so labored that I worried I'd have to take him to an Instacare, and a friend Maisie hadn't played with in a long time called and invited her over. But I was determined to soldier on! I pulled out the gingerbread house and was going to do my best to facilitate the decorating by myself with the three youngest. Then what to my wondering eyes should appear? About seven billion tiny ants burrowing in and out of our pre-made ginger bread house. And throughout the supposedly sealed candy packets. At first I tried to get rid of them, knowing we weren't going to eat the house anyway. Then, when more just kept appearing, I gave up. Simply put, it just wasn't worth it. My Christmas Extravaganza having failed miserably, I put everything away and made dinner.

Later that night I ended up at my parents house on the way to the store. I told them all about my failed attempts at Christmas cheer, and they laughed out loud at my ant farm house. I felt better having just been able to unload a bit, and then I was on my way.

The next day Finn and Teag were both feeling better, thankfully, and the kids were eager to try again to make something of our extravaganza. We were sitting down engrossed in the Polar Express when the doorbell rang, and there stood my dad, with a new gingerbread kit. Only this one was not a house, like our other one had been. This was a gingerbread MANOR. Major Upgrade. Needless to say, the kids wanted to dive right in.

My job was to be in charge of all frosting application, while the kids decided how to decorate. We had kept what candy wasn't infested from the last house, so we had plenty to decorate with.

As eager as Finn was to help, we felt it better to keep him on the far end of the table, where he kept himself entertained with the box.

Rory lost interest after a little while, and Finn's bedtime excluded him from the latter half, but we ended up with a pretty decent house by the time all was said and done.

So even though my parents initially laughed at my pain, they swooped in and saved the day later :). Honestly, it was pretty cool, and we had a great time together. Despite our somewhat mishap-riddled Christmas season, we 're doing our best to make the most of things. It would be nice if we could finally kick all this illness to the curb, but we're dealing with it while it's here.

As for you and yours, may all of your Christmases be Merry and insect free!

Gloria

Favorite Christmas gem of the season so far: instead of "In excelsis deo", Rory sings "In if we can say-oh". 

Hey, whatever works. Those words are hard :).

The Grand-kid Sleepover

Okay, I have to document this, because it's pretty epic. Starting back when we only had Maisie (I think), my parents started doing an annual Christmastime Grand-kid sleepover. It started out with dinner, and a stroll around temple square, but once we started adding more kids, that became pretty prohibitive. It has since morphed into a much-looked-forward-to-tradition of heroic proportions. Heroic because my parents take on ten kids bursting with excitement and then hop them up on sugar and let them stay up way past their bedtimes :). I'm pretty sure my parents are trying to drive themselves into an early grave. Especially given the fact that in two years that number will go from ten grand-kids to 14 (you have to be at least three to attend).

It isn't just a sleepover either, no, no no. My mom likes to make things interesting, and she's no dummy either. She uses them to help deliver all her neighbor gifts. And since they tend to get carried away and want to run off ahead, she and my dad devised this little plan:

It's a bit hard to see, but they all have reindeer ears, and they're holding on to a rope decorated in jingle bells. They just needed Santa bringing up the rear. Once they get home, she feeds them ice cream with all kinds of toppings, and lets them decorate gingerbread men.

And then they play a game called corners, which essentially sounds like a whole lot of dancing and running.

But they're pretty good to sit quietly and listen for the next part; the craft.

Now, here's where I think my mom might be slightly insane. She had my dad cut out and paint ten wooden trees, then drill holes in them for lights. Then she let the kids individually wrap 11 tiny boxes that she herself had painstakingly made. 11 boxes multiplied by ten kids, you do the math!

Inside each of those boxes is a little slip of paper that says something like, "Enjoy a candy cane today", or "Write a thank you note to Santa". And those boxes each hide lights, so by the time they get to Christmas Eve, they'll have their own little Christmas tree to light up their room. I can't even begin to fathom the crazy amount of work that went into this. And every year, she manages to top herself; it's impressive to say the least.

Once all that is completed, they move on to the "cool down" portion of the evening, which is still pretty awesome in my opinion. Grandpa projects a movie onto the ceiling for them to watch, and if some kids happen to fall asleep, all the better. Apparently all of my kids were hoping to ring in the new day, however.

After what had to feel like impossibly few hours of sleep, my parents got up and made everyone Christmas tree french toast, and hot chocolate. Our job as parents is to pick them up no later than 9:00 am sharp, because my parents are about ready to hit the sauce at that point :). We also make sure they're completing their daily advent item, which is pretty fun actually.

Especially as some of them involve chores.

My parents are the coolest.

We Train Them Early at Our House

Almost every night, as Dany does her job of unloading the dishwasher, there is Finn, ready to help her. She started pushing the stool over so he could reach the top rack :). I love this, seeing it make me ridiculously happy. Maybe because I know in a few years I'll be fighting him to do his chores.

Salvaging the Tree Experience

After how poorly things turned out with the actual tree getting, Teag and I were eager to make the most of the tree decorating. Fate seemed to be against us, as every day after Teag's return was so full, we barely had time to accomplish the needs, let alone the fun stuff. But finally we managed to find a day when Teag could get all the lights up and working, and there was enough time left over to decorate before the kids bedtimes. Rory was especially eager, and would have done the entire tree by herself if I'd let her.

Maisie and Dany were just as excited, especially to see the ornaments that they'd made in the past, or the ones they have the fondest memories of.

Finn had no idea what was going on, and seemed baffled that there were "flowers" in our house. He did like having ready access to a new crop of toys ornaments to eat play with.

Until Dad stepped in and showed him how to hang them, anyway.

And then I followed behind and picked up and rehung everything they'd managed to knock off in the process.

The kids love this tradition, and I have such fond memories myself from when I was young. Our ornaments are bought during vacations, at the birth of each baby, a special family event, etc, so every one has an associated memory. It's fun to relive them, and be able to see the kids faces light up when they see something they'd forgotten.

And, if you're looking for a bright side, I think my dad picked out a better tree for us than we've ever picked for ourselves :). Merry Christmas!