Christmas

It was the first year that it's been just us at our house in probably forever. It was quieter but still a lot of fun. We spent Christmas Eve making food and playing outside. Just before we left for church, we took a walk to drop off some of our baked goods at a friends house. The girls rode on the electric skateboard, which sounded like a great idea at the time. However, on the ride home, the board got going too fast for Maddux to control it, and they toppled. Ruby was such a trooper - no tears, just a pouty lip. Her face, however, tells a different story.

At church, Ruby fell asleep on Lehr's shoulder, which was probably his favorite part about the whole day. We stopped for sushi on the way home (our new Christmas Eve dinner), and then we went home to change for holiday light-seeing. The kids put on their matching PJ's and we made some hot cocoa and set out with my pre-made map/list. There were a few really cool houses, but the winner was the one that included a neighborhood full of ball-type light creations that were strung high in the trees. It was taken to the next level when one of the houses started lighting up sky lanterns just as we drove by. We pulled over and watched them light about a dozen before letting them loose in the sky. So pretty and fun to watch. The night finished with the kids opening their gifts to each other - their tradition.

Christmas Day started with our scavenger hunt to find Baby Jesus to put in the manger. (Of course, that included some arguing also, as it always does.) We opened some gifts, ate some breakfast and enjoyed just being. Just after noon, we gave the kids their 'big' gifts. We usually don't do a big Christmas, but each kid wanted something larger than usual this year, and we went for it. Maddux opened an iPod Touch (which she's begged for since forever), and Eli received a new guitar. They were psyched, to say the least.

After the gifts, we started our (new) annual Christm-olympics. It was a lot of fun, Ruby had a blast, and the big kids actually got along!

It was warm and sunny outside, so we got to do at least half of the events in the backyard. Maddux and Eli legitimately tied for first place, and in an unexpected twist, Eli said he did NOT want to do an extra game to determine the winner - he thought it was best that they tied.

We followed that up with homemade spaghetti and meatballs and an ice cream birthday cake for Jesus.