Christmas Day!

It's finally here... Christmas Day!  The day the kids have been waiting for...  okay, and mom and dad too.

Alex woke up at 6:00 and came in our room excitedly telling daddy that Santa came!  We had made some rules prior to Christmas.  1. No waking up when Santa is here.  2. No opening presents until you wake up mom and dad.  And last but not least 3. No opening up stockings until mom and dad are awake.

He was so funny because he said, "Rhoslyn got a Barbie... I know because it's sticking out of the stocking.  I didn't take anything out!"

Mom and dad crawled out of bed and Alex went to wake up Rhoslyn.  Then the gift opening began!  Santa fills up the stockings and leaves 1-2 gifts under the tree.  The rest are from mom and dad.  Stockings first, then Santa gifts, and then the rest!  

The best part was Alex's reaction to the Star Wars Jenga At-At Attack Battle Game.  This is the ONE thing he really wanted.  He knew that it was $40 and we kept telling him that he had to put it on his list because it was a lot of money to just buy it.  He said, "You had $40 to buy this for me?"  He freaked when he opened it.  He was so happy and excited that it brought a tear to moms eye.

Rhoslyn was really excited about opening presents at first.  After she opened her Ernie Texting toy she didn't want to open anything else!  Alex and I had to finish her last to gifts for her.  She loves that toy.  She was with me when I bought it and through a fit when I put it in the bag.  (This will be my last year of being able to do that!)  She also loved all of her Minnie toys and was very excited to get a Barbie from Santa.  As soon as she opened one present she wanted it out of the box.  We had to keep telling her that we needed to open all of the gifts before taking anything out of the boxes.  She has been busy all day playing with her new toys!

We have had a very lazy day today and it's been great.  The kids still aren't feeling well and now Billy and I are a bit under the weather.  It was a nice relaxing day watching movies and playing with the kids.  Rhoslyn and mom even took a nice long nap!

When we tucked the kids into bed Alex said, "Mom do I get to play with all of my new toys tomorrow?"  I love how busy the kids stay after Christmas.  So many new toys to play with!  Our living room looks like a tornado ran through it.

Merry Christmas Everyone!  Hope your day was as good as ours!

Dad's new hat and the boxers Alex picked out all on his own!

New slippers!  

On the 24th Day of Christmas

Today we went over to my Grandma Jackie's house and visited with extended family.  It was great to see everyone and spend time with them.  Afterwards we headed over to my parents house and started the Christmas Festivities!

The cousins enjoyed playing with each other, we ate a quick dinner, and then Santa arrived!

Alex immediately went and sat with Grandma and Rhoslyn sat on the couch next to Gavin.  She was excited to ring Santa's bells, but didn't want to get too close to him.  When it was her turn to grab her present she took it from him and then sat down... there wasn't any hugging Santa.  Alex pretty much did the same thing.  Our kids just aren't too sure about that jolly ol' guy.

After Santa left it was time to unwrap the other gifts.  Alex freaked out about getting the Death Star Jenga game from Grams and Gramps.  It was priceless!  Both of the kids were super excited about all of their gifts.  Rhoslyn was so tired at that point.  After we opened gifts and she got a super soft Hello Kitty blanky from Grams and Gramps she snuggled right up with mom and her new Minnie doll.

The kids fell asleep on the way home.  They were too tired and pretty much still sleeping when we carried them in.  So we told Alex that mom and dad would take care of leaving goodies out for Santa and his Reindeer.

We are looking forward to watching the kids open their gifts tomorrow morning!  

Merry Christmas!

On the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd Day of Christmas

Where has the time gone?  These last few days have been busy, busy, busy!

I seriously can't even remember everything Christmas related that we have done the last few days... so we will just jump to today!

We celebrated Christmas today with Billy's family.  Grandma and Grandpa came over to watch the packer game with us and the Gnorski's came shortly after it.  Can you believe the score of that game?  

Alex made it pretty long before asking when it was time to open presents. =)  I think the best part of opening gifts was watching the look on his face for certain gifts he opened.  He was super stoked about getting not just one, but THREE light sabers!  He also freaked about the ONE angry bird set he has been wanting with the golden eggs.  He said to Grandma, "You had $17 to buy this for me?!"  It was too cute.  He also  freaked out about getting the Millennium Falcon from Auntie Shauna, Uncle Jim, Mikey, and Katie.  He could hardly wait to play with all of his new toys!

Rhoslyn got a bit bored with opening presents.  She just wanted to play with what was in them.  I think her favorite gift was probably her princess dress and matching shoes from the Gnorski's.  She wanted it on right away and paraded around in it.  It was adorable!  She loved all of her gifts and got to playing with them right away!  She liked playing with Alex's new toys too.  =)

The kids were so tired at the end of the day.  They were out within seconds of hitting their pillows!  Tomorrow is another busy day with my side of the family.  

Thank you to our family for all of the wonderful gifts and for driving here to spend the day with us! 

Look at all of those presents!!  

Helping Grandma read her book! :)

Sitting with Grandpa snatching cookies! :)

On the 20th day of Christmas

What better way to spend the day then watching movies all day?!

We had a VERY lazy day today.  It was perfect!  Billy even came home early (which was good considering he shouldn't have went to work in all of that snow anyways)!

The kids gifts are also wrapped and ready to be put under the tree.

We are starting a new tradition this year.  Pajama's wrapped and given to the kids the night of Christmas Eve.  They are getting some super cute Christmas jams for the first year!

Alex went to bed not feeling the greatest.  We are hoping he is feeling better in the morning so he can go to school and have fun at his Christmas Party.

On the 18th and 19th day of Christmas

Alex made us a Christmas gift last Friday and he let us open it yesterday.  There was no way he was waiting until Christmas!

It was a cute magnet to put on the fridge.  He was so proud of himself.  We loved it.  That is the best Christmas gift!

Today we frosted cookies for Alex to take to school and to leave out for Santa.  Rhoslyn got her own frosting and sprinkles.  She pretty much just worked on two cookies.  Frosting them, eating the frosting, frosting them again, and then putting sprinkles on... just to eat the frosting again!  I didn't think anyone would want to eat the cookies she decorated...

Alex enjoyed frosting and decorating the cookies and probably got about half the sprinkles on the floor.  

I also made cake truffles and oreo truffles for Billy to take to work for his office Christmas party tomorrow.  However, if we get a ton of snow like they are calling... we may be eating them ourselves!

Umm... we also stayed in our pajama's ALL DAY today!

Alex's gift to us!  So cute!

Working hard at frosting.

"Not quite enough sprinkles..."

"That's the perfect amount!"

"What, I like my sprinkles!"

Putting sprinkles on the cookies.  He looks just like his daddy in this picture.

Frosting cookies!

On the 14th,15th,16th & 17th Day of Christmas

We visited Santa at Shopko to get a photo taken with him.  He was sitting on a chair when we walked in.  Rhoslyn didn't want anything to do with him and stood in the door, refusing to move.  Alex was very excited to see Santa, but was very shy when we got there.

Eventually Alex started talking to Santa about angry birds and was so happy to hear that Santa also plays angry birds!  Who would have thought?! =)  We did manage to get one photo (the kids did NOT want to sit on his lap or even stand near him without us pushing them closer)!  On the way home Alex asked if that was the real Santa or just someone dressed in a Santa costume.  Billy and I were pretty stunned by this question. We asked him why he thought that and he said that Santa's eyes looked different.  Maybe he is remembering Santa at Grandma and Grandpa Osowski's house.  Hopefully, when he sees Santa on Christmas Eve it doesn't make him question even more....  

We also had family movie night and watched The Polar Express.  I was afraid Alex might not make it through the movie, but he did!  

The kids also had a lot of fun decorating their gingerbread houses.  We had a bit of a disaster with them because we were out of cream of tarter and apparently that helps keep the "glue" stuff for the candy and keeping the houses together.  Oh well, it was fun!  

We also got our new stockings in the mail!  They are hung up and waiting for Santa to fill them up.

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Watching the movie.

It's hard to see, but the kids are laying on the floor watching the movie.  Just the light of the tree and the tv.

On the 13th Day of Christmas

The kids have decided it's not going to be a good day today.

Alex is having a rough week this week.  He has started hitting his head with his hands anytime he gets mad or upset.  He is having an extremely hard time listening as well.

Rhoslyn can be heard screaming no at someone or crying.

I don't think anyone is on the nice list today.

On the 12th Day of Christmas

Tis' the season for giving to others.

On my photography facebook page I offered a discount to those who brought food for donations.  I found two families who have 4-5 children per family who are in need of food and presents for their children.  I spent the day today gathering items for these families and wrapping presents (from Santa) for these children. It's a great feeling knowing that we are helping others in need.

I also got some other wrapping accomplished and put under the Christmas Tree!

Gotta love kids!

The last few days the kids have said some very cute and interesting things and I just had to share!

Yesterday, Rhoslyn and I were heading to Appleton to finish up the Christmas shopping.  She was using a strap from her car seat as a phone.  She was having conversations with people with her "phone."  One of them was this...

"Hi Grandpa, it's Rhoslyn.  Are you hunting Grandpa?  Yes, I am hunting.  Ok, bye Grandpa."

"Hi Rhoslyn, I'm Kerri."

It was seriously the cutest thing!

Then this morning I asked Alex to come and snuggle with me in bed for awhile.  Daddy had bought us some new lamps the other day and Alex asked where the one in the living room went.  I told him we put it in the extra room.  He said, "Oh the picture room?"  I said, "Yep."  He then told me that room is going to be the new baby's room and asked if I had a new baby in my tummy.  I told him not yet.  He said that daddy and I need to spend more time together so we can make a new baby.  HAHA!  

Rhoslyn also likes to act motherly towards Alex.  This morning she put her arm around him and said, "I love you buddy."  Sometimes you can find her rubbing his head and saying, "It's ok Alex."  Other times you can hear her saying, "Alex, thats enough!"

The kids were at my parents house the other day.  My mom has this Christmas carousal that has small people (looks similar to a Christmas Village).  She lets the kids play with it.  Rhoslyn took two people and they were mom and dad.  She said, "I love you mom, I love you dad."  Then she had the two people kiss.

Seriously, one of the best things about being home with my kids is just watching and listening to them play and talk with each other!  I love it!   

On the 11th Day of Christmas

We put up the second Christmas Tree downstairs.

Alex saw a Christmas play at school that was put on by the 5th grade students.

Christmas shopping is officially done!!!

On the 10th Day of Christmas

Grandma Lori took the kids for the day!  Not really Christmas related, but this mom sure enjoyed the time alone!

They enjoyed playing in the snow with Grandma and after dinner they went for a walk to look at the Christmas lights.  One of the neighbors has quite the light display in his yard and he even has music playing.  It sounds like Rhoslyn was pretty fascinated by it. 

They also enjoyed spending time with Grandpa when he got home from work.

Today also marks 15 days until Christmas!

On the 9th Day of Christmas

On the 9th day of Christmas we got our first snow fall!

We all went outside to enjoy the snow.  Rhoslyn loved it (last year she hated it).  The kids and I made a snowman and had a snowball fight while daddy shoveled the driveway.  I even took them for a quick ride on the sleds... not quite enough snow for that though.

We came in and had hot chocolate.  We only had big marshmallows so I had to cut them up.  After dinner we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas. 

I also just about finished up the Christmas shopping.  Now wrapping?  That's a whole different story.

Alex wishes Christmas would come "just a little faster."

And... if Santa was watching Rhoslyn today she probably landed herself on the naughty list.  Alex said that Santa still gives gifts for girls and boys who "try hard" to be nice.  Haha... like he hasn't been "naughty" at all.....

Making a snow angle!

Rhoslyn making her first snow angle.

Our cute little snowman!  The first one in our new house. =)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Hard at work helping daddy shovel!

Giving Alex a sled ride.  The best part about this photo is how he is practically falling off the back! 

Rhoslyn's turn for a sled ride!  (I think mom needs to find her hats or buy some new ones!)

Hold on Rhoslyn!

On the 8th Day of Christmas

Bill finished putting up the outdoor lights!  He did a great job!

Alex and I hit up Chuck E Cheese and had lunch together while daddy and Rhoslyn visited Grandma Jackie and Grandpa Steve.

Alex is getting so excited for Christmas to come.  It is pretty much all he talks about.

Dinner

So since we had nothing planned for dinner we thought we would hit up the Diner here in Fremont.

We drove up and it was dark.  They are only open until 2:00.  We live in a town of 679 people, not a lot of choices!

We drove through the BIG downtown and found a restaurant bar.  We walked in and it looked empty.  As we were walking out a guy came up and told us they are closed until March.  Where is this posted?  And why isn't the door locked?  

Fremont is a summer town.

So then we drive down a bit further and find that Hotel Fremont is open for dinner!  Thank goodness!

Dinner was good and the kids were entertaining.  Our kids were the only kids in the entire restaurant.  We had a lot of people looking at us and smiling.  A teenager walked by and his name must have been Cole.  Alex blurted out, "Hey I know a Cole in my class!"  "Thats not him though."

Alex ordered a corn dog for dinner.  He has never had a full-size corn dog, just the minnie ones.  When the waitress brought it up he shouts, "Wow that is a big corn dog and it's on a stick!"  It was definitely a laugh out loud moment.

Rhoslyn insisted on wearing Billy's hat before dinner arrived and walking around the table.  She got lots of smiles at how cute she looked.

It was fun!

On the 5th, 6th, & 7th Day of Christmas....

The kids wrote their Christmas Lists for Santa and left them in their stockings for St. Nick to take.  Alex promptly woke up at 5:30 the next morning and rummaged through his stocking before waking anyone up!

I guess you could say he was pretty excited!  Rhoslyn followed about an hour later.  The kids were super excited to find a few things in their stockings.

We made rice krispy treat snowmen.  They sure didn't turn out as "nice" as pictured.  They were a bit harder to make then I thought they would be.  The kids mostly enjoyed eating the candy and marshmallows!

We also watched Mickey Mouse Christmas twice.  

Don't you love the ugly plaid curtains in the back!  I really need to take those down!! :)

Helping Rhoslyn decorate her snowman.

The beautiful snowman!! 

"Cheese!"

What a cute pose!  Alex's snowman he made.

St. Nick arrived and took the lists as well as leaving a few goodies.
Can't wait until we get our new stockings in the mail!

"Moshi Monsters Mom!"

All of Alex's goodies.