Christmas Eve 2010

Keeping up with our annual Christmas Eve tradition (of the last few years on xmas eve)... Memom & Aunt Sharon joined us for dinner (we enjoyed the traditional xmas eve lasagna), took pics in our xmas eve best & again at bedtime in our xmas jammies, we went to mass, came home to see Santa on the fire truck coming around the neighborhood, left a treat for Santa, and off to dreamland the little ones went... while the Mom & Dad did their "xmas eve duties".








I couldn't find the "Milk for Santa" cup this year, so the kids chose this Pilsner cup for his milk. After we got it all set-up, I had to laugh... the plate said "Dear Santa, I have been good" and the cup the kids chose (from a Coyote Ugly bar) says "Misbehavior Encouraged". A little contradictory, ay? lol...

Last, but certainly not least -- meet JOEY. Joey (a.k.a. "The Elf on the Shelf") came to us this year for the 1st time. Joey was sent to us anonymously and his job was to keep an eye on the children daily & report back to Santa! :) Daily, the kids would come downstairs and look for Joey -- he moved to a different location daily. They had a fun time looking for him, but "behaving" & being on their best behavior while he was around, well-- that's another story! So anyway-- Joey took his last "spin" on the tree for this year ... this was his final hang-out for this Christmas season. Back to the North Pole he goes tonight with Santa. Until then-- bye Joey! See you next year!

'Twas the night before Christmas... (12/24/09)

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through our house, the children were stirring, enough to scare a mouse. The stockings were hung on the stairway with care, in hopes that St. Nick would soon be there! :)

Anyway... here they are... all bathed, in their Christmas jammies, and ready for bed... anxiously awaiting Santa's arrival! :) Before bed, they each picked out a cookie to leave for Santa, as they do every year *and* had an extra little treat in store for them... Aunt Toni read them 'Twas the Night Before Christmas! Aunt Toni & the family weren't able to be with us for Christmas this year, so she got the kids a recordable book. She recorded her voice reading the story to them, which they listened to before bed that night. What an awesome gift, huh?? It was so neat! I loved watching their faces... you could tell they knew the voice, but it took a few minutes to figure out who it was and once they realized-- they would talk into the speaker and say, "Aunt Toni? Hi Aunt Toni!" This was really great for them and even though we all couldn't be together for the holidays, she played a memorable part of this Chiristmas for the kids. Thanks Toni! :)












Merry Christmas to all and to all... a good night! :)

Christmas Eve '09

Christmas started off great! :) On Christmas Eve, I made dinner and some of the family joined us. "Uncle Stephen" (Mike's brother) came in from AZ for the holidays, so he and his girlfriend, Michelle, joined us, as well. After dinner, we went to Christmas Eve mass, which was really nice & the kids were so well behaved in church!
In the mix of it all, the kids got to begin opening some of their gifts... they got new dolls from Aunt Kelly & Sam (Princesses and Buzz Lightyear), new dogs and outfits from Uncle Stephen & Michelle, and a swingset from Memom... to be delivered in the Spring! :) Let the excitement begin!
Later in the night, Angelia handed out the gifts she purchased at the Santa Secret Shop at school. I remember doing this when I was in elementary school and loved it! :) Anyway-- she bought things for her sisters, brother, & Mommy & Daddy. She got stretchy frisbees for the girls, a squishy toy for Ant, a #1 Dad mug for Michael, and a pretty necklace with a MOM charm on it for me! OMG-- my heart melted seeing her so proud of her purchases and the thought I know she put into picking them out. This is definitely the JOY of the Christmas season... the happiness and joy of the children!

Holiday celebration at Memom's work (12/24/09)

Once again this year, we went to my mom's work to take part in the family holiday festivities there on xmas eve day. Once again, it was nice and the kids got to see Santa. And... we were given 4 gingerbread house KITS to take home & make... can you stand the excitment and anticipation of making gingerbreads houses with 4 little ones?! I can't... lol!
It's always funny to watch "Memom" parade all of the grandkids through the office... the proud Memom leads the way as the little ones follow behind... and of course, the "moms" carrying all of the coats and bags bringing up the rear! :)

'Twas the night before Christmas 2008

As Christmas Eve fell upon us, our house and everyone in it was ready for Santa! Before dinner, we heard the sirens of the local fire company, which meant Santa was making his way around the neighborhood with the local fire dept. Angelia & Daddy kept a watchful eye on our block and after dinner, Santa and his crew finally arrived! :) We all rushed out front to see Santa and the firetruck. They kids were excited and even got to hop up in Santa's sleigh to get a quick pic.

Later that night, the kids got to open their box of Christmas gifts that arrived a few days earlier from Aunt Toni. They were so excited to open the box and even more excited once they saw what was inside... a chest of dress up clothes and-- bubble wrap!! The bubble wrap came out 1st and all I had to do was show them how to pop it and they were all trying to pop the bubbles and had a ball stepping on it and making all of the popping noises! Why waste all of the money on toys, etc. -- just give the kids some bubble wrap! lol... Anyway-- once they opened the chest and saw all of the dress-up stuff, they were even more thrilled -- especially Micaela & Anthony! Micaela got into a dress, tiara, etc. right away and Anthony got all geared-up in his fireman attire. :) It was cute! Thank you Aunt Toni, Uncle Tom, & kids! We love you!

Finally, before bed-- the kids gathered around the table to choose 1 cookie each for Santa and one for themselves for their bedtime snack. So-- we left Santa with 4 cookies, 1 carrot for the reindeer, some lemonade, and a bottled water for the road. :) Wow-- Santa gets hooked up, doesn't he?!?

Now... off to bed we go in hopes that Santa comes! With my kids & their antics at this age, we leave the Big Guy with this question... "Santa, define GOOD!?" Such is life in a household with 2.5 yr. old triplets and a 4 yr. old. :) Gotta love it!

Christmas Eve 2007

Finally... "Santa is coming TONIGHT!!!" exclaimed Angelia. She has been so excited for Santa's arrival... asking every day, "Mommy, is today Christmas?" So-- today, at least, I got to give her the good news that Santa AND Aunt Toni & the kids were coming!
We spent Christmas Eve at home with family. Mike's sister, ToniAnn, and our niece & newphews came in from AZ on Christmas Eve and all of Mike's family met here for dinner, etc. to kick off the holiday. We had a great time & everything went smooth-- thank goodness! We even had another surprise visitor... SANTA! he arrived (for the 1st time around) a little earlier than expected. We heard continuous fire sirens and figured out that Santa was out & about in the neighborhood... he was coming around on the firetruck! When he finally made it over to our street, we all gathered outside and got to see him. That was nice.
Before bed, Angelia had to leave a snack for Santa, so she left 3 sugar cookies and chocolate milk... enjoy Santa! As you can see, the babies were also very excited at bed time... even though they had no clue what they would be waking up to in the morning! :)