christmas vacation

Once the fevers, germs, and ickies left our house, we were open for business again hosting several playdates with neighborhood friends. Really, it's just a revolving door with kids upstairs and downstairs involved in all kinds of chaos. The girls usually end up playing dress up and drinking punch from tea cups. 

The boys blew off some wild energy bouncing on our new trampoline. This seriously was the best gift for Miller, especially because he is FLAT worn out after bouncing for hours at a time with friends. I love how the boys match in their red coats flipping away on each bounce. 

 

We didn't move the mansion up to the bonus room during the break. Eliza Kate and her friend "E" liked to make quick stops on their way to the basement for Barbie time. The mansion is best played with friends who can assume different princess characters. Miller's even been spotted driving cars into the garage and fixing up Barbie's house. He's a handy man in training.

These two friends invented a Nerf gun battle with discs bouncing off the net. Between dodge ball, speed skating in circles and popping popcorn with playground balls the possibilities on this new attraction are endless:)
Here's to Christmas break and our lazy days enjoying all of the blessings from Christmas. Feeling thankful for our days together!

More Christmas-- round 2

Our family spread out Christmas into two sessions this year. Santa visited us in the morning at our house with Omi and Papa, and then we loaded up the van with wrapped gifts for round 2 of our exchange over at Grandmama and Poppy's house.  

Who needs Santa when you have grandparents who gift you so richly? Between Omi and Papa's trampoline & this hoopla of an unwrapping session, we had a blessed Christmas.

He just hasn't grown out of his Matchbox car collection. He'll sit for long periods of time racing these around on the floor. He's a make and model master, too.

Poppy acted like he had no clue what this gift was from the kids. He likes to play up the whole mystery game even though there really was no way to creatively disguise a new golf umbrella beneath the Christmas wrapping.  It was either a cane of an umbrella:)

The kids like to take a front row seat to all of the action while their bursting with excitement to announce what the present is before the reveal. Keeping secrets is really hard sometimes.

It's never a chaotic scene with paper thrown in the air though. Each person gets all the attention while they are unwrapping their gift.  Since Landon and I are in the business of merging family traditions--that's a Miller family tradition.
Landon is opening a Banana Leaf silicone lid here.  You can use the covering instead of aluminum foil for use in the kitchen. The trend seems to be that Landon and Clay always receive matching kitchen gadgets. Isn't that so cute? ;)

Here is one of Eliza Kate's favorites from Uncle Clay. A Princess Play dough set got her excited. She has put her creative juices into action  molding new dresses for Belle, Aurora and Cinderella. We need lots of little hands -on crafts to sway her away from screen time. 

We bundled up in coats & Eliza Kate dazzled us all in her princess and the pop star tutu twirly outfit from Grandmama & Poppy. We headed to the backyard to watch Miller's flagship launch of his stomp rocket pad.  There just might have been an astronaut countdown. Uncle Clay gives gifts  toys that he likes to play with. The main goal was to avoid a rocket mishap in the lake. 

Those boys got the rocket flying past the roof. It drew quite a crowd on the deck overhead. When the uncle/nephew duo weren't playing Spy Gear with Nerf guns, you could find them rough housing in some part of the house. Although, we still took it easy on Miller after being sick for so long.

A Christmas dinner complete with a standing rib roast was a wonderful way to celebrate togetherness after such a busy morning. Grandmama always dresses up her table scape so beautifully.  She adds special touches to the kid's place settings. Our vintage, Christmas Coke glasses trimmed with holly from our childhood made an appearance. They weren't filled with Coke this year. But, Miller dreams of the day that soda will be in his glass for special occasions:)

Merry Christmas to all and to ALL a good night! After dinner, the littles couldn't wait to skedaddle back home to play with all of their new gifts. 

matching pjs

I'm finally taking a moment to sort through and reflect on our hundreds of pictures from Christmas. I so loved our merry, merry matching pj's this year.  Can you tell these two were bribed with candy for an under the tree Christmas morning picture? I'm thinking it's the last year we can get away with the skinny legging look for Miller:) His legs are surely a mile long and skinny. 

Bitty baby got all matchy matchy with the littles too this year.  I deleted the shot where Miller and Eliza Kate are playfully holding baby by her arms as if she's a wishbone. Poor bitty baby! And, I'm half laughing at Miller's criss cross arms standing like he's a busting out a Christmas rap.

Next year, I foresee a complete matching pj's family? Here's to the 365 day challenge of talking Landon into that proposition:) 

Merry Christmas

After dose 3 of Tamiflu on Christmas morning, Miller was fever free and acting normal. What a huge relief and present to our family! The kids slept until 7:30 and they waited until Joy to the World was all cued up for their departure to the hung stockings on the stairs waiting to be opened. 

It wasn't long until the kiddos raced into the living room and spotted Santa's special deliveries. There were squeals of delight all captured on film. It is such a magical experience. A doll house for Eliza Kate with a Princess and the Popstar singing Barbie. She literally is two dolls in one. With the push of a button she belts out "Here I Am" .  The surprise gift was a Mega Mansion wooden doll house with an elevator. Now, all of EK's barbies have a home in our playroom. This was a labor of love for Santa to assemble. The dollhouse was too big to fir in front of the tree so it found it's home in the corner of our living room. How did it ever squeeze down the chimney? A mystery for sure!

Santa brought Miller a 20 inch bike. He quickly outgrew his first bike this year as we would sing "Big boy on a Little Bike". He specifically asked for a green Mountain bike. And, Santa delivered one with all kinds of gears. He's riding it with the seat all the way down in the lowest position so there's room to grow.

Omi and Papa opened gifts with us. We all take turns opening one gift at a time.

Santa brought Skylanders SWAP force for the Wii. This was his second Santa gift that was unwrapped. In our house, Santa doesn't wrap his gifts from the sleigh, They are set out by the fireplace if they fit. 

The new Skylanders figures can be mismatched with bodies and heads to create your own character. Miller is excited to start trading and swapping figures with our neighborhood friends. They visit each other's houses with their characters:)

Miller picked out a Tortilla Making Taco bowl set for Landon:) They now have a new project together in the kitchen.

Then we tackled all of the wrapped gifts from us. A Cinderella doll was oohed and ahhed over. 

I love Eliza Kate's body language in this photo asking Miller, "What could it be?"

He opened an LED spin flyer to use inside or outside. We'll see if it marks up the basement ceiling & then I'll give it approval for use inside:)

This was Miller's most talked about request this year. I think part of him was disappointed that it wasn't sitting out from Santa. Now, Santa can't steal all of the gifting glory around here. He unwrapped a Lego Train set with a remote control. I love the look of sheer joy on his face as he opened one of his favorite gifts. It's fun to have a project with directions on Christmas day. And, he's really quite the lego master these days at 6 years old. 

There were lots of little girly gifts that EK loved. It was the year of princess and Melissa and Doug crafts. She is our arts and crafts dressed up princess lover after all. We are in a wonderful age of all things girly.

We cleaned up Christmas and enjoyed a traditional Foken's' Christmas breakfast of yummy chocolate and vanilla filled pastries called Pandulce. The kids played with their new toys and we slowly enjoyed our new treasures. The kids didn't anticipate any more surprises left to discover.  Landon announced a final outside gift. We got all bundled up in mittens, hats, and coats to unveil the last outside surprise. 

 Omi and Papa spoiled the kids with a new trampoline! Now, our Santa had time to assemble the entire trampoline on Christmas Eve ( pinched fingers from the springs and all). The finishing touches of the spring pads and net covering were left for a warmer day:) We did let the kids jump in the very middle in the brutal cold for about 5 minutes! 

A funny side story involved the trampoline sitting out in our backyard for all of Christmas Eve. We made sure the kiddos stayed away from the windows on the back of the house in order not to ruin the surprise. We knew this gift would be a little tricky to keep a mystery.

What was wonderful Christmas morning surprise! Miller was made to get  out all of his energy out on a trampoline.

 Giggles and laughter quickly took over our back yard. We quickly knew this was the winner gift. It was a highly discussed present in our home. I wasn't sure if I was ready to break out of "safety mom" mode to patrol the trampoline on playdates. But, trampolines are made so much more safely today than the trampolines of my childhood. Anyone remember landing on the springs?

Merry Christmas to all! With two healthy children, we felt blessed to share in togetherness on this day celebrating the birth of Jesus and the gift of family. 

Christmas Eve

We spent the majority of December 24th in the kitchen.

I feel like the luckiest girl around to have landed in-laws and a husband who love to cook. They often hijack our kitchen for holiday meals.  It's a Fokens family affair. They like cooking all of their traditional dishes, and I love to eat...so it's definitely a win. Between a last minute doctor's appointment for Miller and setting the table, it didn't leave much time for this mama to prepare a fancy Christmas Eve meal. Omi managed to whip up some fudge with a certain kitchen helper on Christmas Eve  morning while I was attending to our poor Miller's illness. She's always up for a baking lesson with her Omi. This girl loves to stir the bowl and pour in the ingredients with perfection.

Here we are before dinner with a little Christmas love with my smocked angel. I'm enjoying the dress up bishop dress days with her. There's  only a small window to squeeze in these sweet, smocked dresses. We'll stretch it out as long as she'll let me. 

We hosted both sets of grandparents at our house for dinner. It was an Italian themed night with several varieties of Manicotti.  Michael Bubles' Christmas album was our background music of choice:) Miller slept straight through dinner after his first dose of Tamiflu. He woke up fever free from another dose of Motrin. That poor boy just needed to get better by Christmas.  After a long week of a fever, that became my only Christmas wish!

We commented that this home hasn't seen Christmas in years as the former owners celebrated Hanukkah. I added a kid's Christmas tree in our kitchen to spread the decorative love in every corner of our house. Feeling so very blessed to share Christmas with our extended family. 

I love how Eliza Kate found my lap at the table after our early dinner to cozy up for a Christmas snuggle. She so proudly carried a tray of her fudge and offered all of the guests a sample. She's learning how to be a little hostess with the mostess.

We coaxed Miller to take a few family pictures by the tree after his snooze.  If only I got around to tuck his shirt in his pants. That was the least of our worries at this point. One thing is for sure--we had a lot of nesting togetherness in the days leading up to Christmas. Sick kids force you to slow down.

Omi and Papa watched our crew while Landon and I snuck off for the Candlelight service at my parent's church. Grandmama and Poppy saved us seats for our Christmas Eve tradition. It was best for my mental health that I took the opportunity for the first time in a week to get out of the house.

This is how Miller felt about his babysitters for Christmas Eve. They cozied up for the Jesus Storybook Bible's version of the Christmas story. It was just before I left, that I clearly noticed a difference in Miller's behavior. My prayer for a fever free Christmas just might be answered.

Landon and I rushed home to carry on our feed the reindeer  & cookie tradition for Santa. The littles were just returning from touring Christmas lights around our neighborhood.

 Landon and I walked down to the cul de sac for a late night neighborhood party sans kiddos after spending a little time at home. There's nothing like the magical feeling of Christmas Eve! Santa and Mrs. Claus nibbled on M&M cookies at home before retiring for the evening. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Gingerbread Houses 2013

The littles knew that our beloved tradition of Gingerbread house decorating was on the horizon. They stared at the kit package for a solid week in anticipation for our annual decorating tradition. We seized the opportunity once Omi and Papa came into town. Poor Miller perked up after a Motrin induced pick me up long enough for our activity. 

I've learned that a solid constructed house needs a few hours for the frosting to set before the candies go on. The kiddos wasted no time making grand plans for their candy placement. Miller chose a different train this year with three cargo cars. Eliza Kate was wow'ed by the Elf on the Shelf designed house, and was thrilled to find a special place for a gummy version of Mario to sit on her house.

I always add a few of our favorite candies in the mix to nibble on while frosted fingers anxiously reach for a sample. Red and green M&M's and red twizzlers were added to the kit selections this year. Sometimes the candies that come with the kits are less than desirable and  very dried out.

Omi whipped up a quick batch of confectionery frosting to spread on the roof. There was a lot of surface area to cover on both creations and we flat squeezed out the remnants of our Wilton batch of frosting.

All aboard! Miller had big ideas and grand plans for his candy placement. My favorite memory is his ingenious idea for the train's coupler. Eliza Kate used the Twizzler strings to hang colored lights from the roof. 

I posted this picture even though I look like a "train wreck". At this point, Miller had a fever going on 4 long days. And, Eliza Kate's finally broke the day our company arrived. Fixing my hair and applying lipstick was the least of my worries when the littles were under the weather;( Notice Miller's glossy, frozen look. He took a nap after this exertion of energy.

Here's to our Gingerbread houses of 2013.  They were not made for human consumption after being sneezed & coughed on. Flu infected hands built these houses with love.

On a side note, I took Miller to the Minute Clinic on Christmas Eve and he did indeed get diagnosed with the flu. Honestly, I've never seen this boy so sick in his whole life.

Thank goodness on day 5 of his fever, we finally figured out what he had. Tamiflu to the rescue! This Christmas will forever be etched in our memories--First Christmas in the new house battling the flu--eek!

christmas lights

The littles both got sick on the Thursday before vacation-wah-wah-wah.  Eliza Kate missed her preschool Christmas party and Miller sadly stayed home from Toasty Toes Friday. There were some crushed spirits at our house. Our grand plans of visiting Santa's house were changed mostly because of the torrential showers, but the sickies didn't need to get out in the rain with fevers. A light looking trip couldn't have come at a better time to lift up their sad spirits. We bundled up, took a dose of Motrin and settled in for the Lights of Life tour of Christmas lights from the comforts of the van.

 This was our first venture to Life University. Landon is not really into sitting in traffic and crawling through a claustrophobic exhibit in the van, but he put on his tour- guided, game face and navigated us through the lights. See his forced half smile? Only kidding, he knew we all needed to cure the cabin fever feeling of being stuck at home. 

 Christmas minivan selfies:) Fa la la la la, la la la la!

The kids really did enjoy the festive displays oohing and ahhing from time to time. It wasn't as grand as I anticipated, but it surely beat watching one more Christmas movie on the couch.

Poor buddy was under the weather, but cheered up with a little outing.

We capped off the tour of lights with a drive through visit to Krispie Kreme for snowman donuts. Looking forward to continuing a new tradition of touring the lights next year. And, looking forward to a fever free Christmas!