Christmastime Fun

Last weekend when Vic was on his trip to Seattle, I took the kids over to my Dads house to help decorate his Christmas tree. Gina and Andrew had a lot of fun putting decorations on the tree. Andrew wasn't too sure about putting the decorations on the tree so he just pointed out where they should go (Dylan of course slept the whole time). I'm glad we went to my Dad's house because with Vic going to Seattle and then coming home with a bad cold, we never did go out to get a Christmas tree for our house.

During the week I found time to make gingerbread cookies. Noemi came over with Julian and Katrina to help decorate the cookies. The three big kids had fun decorating the cookies, using the food coloring pens that I bought last year. I also got tubes of colored frosting which they also enjoyed trying out.

The two babies were also very good. Katrina is a very cute and smiley baby but she is also very wiggly as Noemi often describes her. It will definitely be fun when Dylan gets a few weeks older and is more smiley and interactive.

During the week, Dylan finally got his first hairwash. He was definitely due. He wasn't completely happy about it, but afterwards his hair came out very curly.

Christmas started early with my Mom and Alice coming over on Saturday for a visit. Alice was only up here for the weekend and so they could only come over on Saturday. The kids got an early start on opening presents from Nana, Auntie Alice and Big John. John had a lot of fun buying presents for the kids such as a blowup Bozo the Clown, Wikisticks for Gina and a toy VW bus for Andrew. They were big hits with both Gina and Andrew.

Christmas Day didn't start very early. The kids slept until 8:30am which was great and then they were eager to go see their stockings and presents. With no Christmas tree, I had piled the presents in front of the fireplace.

The kids were very excited about opening presents though as always, it was a little too much. Gina was very excited to get her shovel, robe and dora slippers. Andrew loves his John Deere lawn mower. That was definitely a big hit.

Later in the morning we also opened presents from Uncle Rich and Aunt Toni. Gina loves her toy sewing machine and Andrew enjoys playing with his MegaBlock castle. Both kids also got cute outfits. The biggest hit though was the toy phone and car keys that were meant for Dylan.

In the evening we all went over to my Dad's for Christmas dinner. This year, Kathie and Bruce drove down from Washington and Erica was here from LA. Mollie and Andrew also came over so it was a full house. The kids were a little wild, running up and down the hall way (which now echoes since the carpets are gone). Andrew was doing his best to get into trouble, such as banging his fork on his plate during dinner and banging an old key on whatever he could find. He was also very cute at times, entertaining everyone with singing Holly Jolly Christmas and Jingle Bells.

Just before we left, we were able to get a group photo though without Dylan who was fast asleep. Big Andrew is wearing Cliff's old bomber jacket. This is the last year having Christmas at my dad's house since he is planning on selling in the spring. It was great seeing everyone (especially Mollie who is due to have a baby boy in May - Yeah).