Christmas day

We awoke early so we could check - did Santa come?  SURE DID!  Lucas was excited to check the reindeer bowls and see that they must have been hungry.  

No time was wasted jumping into the gift opening.   

Lucas picked out a ladybug pillow pet for his gift to Hannah.  I knew she would love it and the first thing she did after touching how soft it was, was to lay her head on it. 

Hannah gave Lucas a Cyclone football jersey.  He loved it!

After a quick breakfast and call to the doctor about Hannah, we were on our way to my grandparents in Davenport.  The weather was so weird - temperatures in the mid-40s, sunny and bone dry.  We had a dusting of snow around the first of December and nothing since, which made holiday travel super easy.  We made a quick and efficient stop to get Hannah's medication in Waterloo.  You would be surprised how many people were still shopping on Christmas morning at Walgreen's... gifts, wrapping paper, food.  The parking lot was packed!

It has been a long time since so many family members were in the same location, so we got some pictures. 

Grandpa will be 90 on his birthday on January 1, 2012; we celebrated a little early.

Then we headed to my parent's farm and Lucas and Nick were ready to help Papa do chores. Lucas got out of the van and went straight for the barn.

The collection of stockings keeps growing...

Aunt Karen and Hannah. 

Will.

One of Miss Hannah's gifts.

Nick and Caleb.

Lucas and Will.

We gave Will this Buzz Lightyear laser gun thingy.  He loved it.  So much, that we might be talking about this gift for many years.

Abby and Adele cheering for the 'Clones.

Lucas and Caleb.

My sister, Ann, and my brother-in-law, Koen, live in Leuven, Belgium.  They sent some really cool gifts and one special package for all of us to share.  Yum!

Belgian beer...

and chocolates.

After we attacked...

A great treat from them; we enjoyed it!

 

Another great Christmas for our family, too!!  We spent a couple of days with my parents and enjoyed the time together.  We pulled out a VHS of family movies from 30 years ago.  [In 1998 we had 8mm films made into a VHS and apparently now we need to make it into a DVD.]  It was really fun to see us as kids, everyone else so young - my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even my paternal grandparents who are now deceased... that was special.  It spurred a lot of laughter, smiles and good memories.

Christmas Eve

We went to church on Christmas Eve and while there, I noticed Hannah's eye seemed red... then I noticed the goop forming in the corning.  Uh-oh. 

We came home and took a few photos, then set in to finish preparing supper.  We tried two new recipes I found and they were oh, so yummy!  Pioneer Woman's beef tenderloin and twice baked potatoes. Delicious!  Brent did a superb job preparing and grilling the beef tenderloin to perfection.  We added frozen sweet corn from the farm and some other sides; Connie made homemade cherry cheesecake for dessert. 

We won't celebrate Perry Christmas until Brad & Michelle come home, so Gramma had to bring everyone an early present. 

We give the kids each a present on Christmas eve [new pajamas] and a family gift [usually a movie or game].

New pajamas. 

We enjoyed our new movie, as well as ANOTHER viewing of Cars 2.  Hannah went to sleep and we started thinking about how we were going to handle the imposing pink eye.  Where were we going to find a pharmacy on Christmas day?  Thank goodness for a wonderful local doctor who answered text messages on Christmas Eve. {remember how I love my small town?}

Lucas was anything but ready for bed.  Brent started searching for a pharmacy that 1) was open on Christmas day and 2) was staffed with a pharmacist on Christmas day.  Thank goodness for Walgreen's!  The 10pm news came on and the weatherman started talking about the radar picking up Santa's location.  He told the kiddos watching it was time to brush their teeth and get to bed, Santa was on his way.  Lucas bolted upstairs to get Santa's cookies and milk ready.  We also put out carrots, apples and a bowl of water for the reindeer.  We were ready and waiting for Santa's arrival with visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads...

sweet boy | lucky girl

Lucas was sitting with me while I was online shopping for Hannah's birthday.  I found something I thought she would like and clicked on the video, which caught his attention. 
"Are you buying Hannah a present for her birthday?" 
Yes, buddy, I am.  Do you think she will like this? 
[ignoring my question] "I have to buy her something, too, because I'm her best friend."

Tonight, Lucas chased Hannah around the living room making her giggle.  She loves running away and he's watched daddy play this game enough that he started making loud sounds with his hands hitting the ground and saying "I'm gonna get you!"  This made her smile and laugh louder.  

Tons of new Christmas toys in the house and the best thing to play with is each other. 
Best.gift.ever. 
Love it!

nativity

This is Lucas' nativity. 

His Godparents, Uncle Brian and Aunt Jen, have given him pieces every year for Christmas.  He plays with them all of the time and moves them around.  They had been on a different shelf in his room, but he told me "they want to be closer to my bed."  So he arranged them how he wanted them, then told me "they are smiling for a picture" and "baby Jesus needs his diaper changed."   

Everyone is smiling and rejoicing about baby Jesus! 

Santa

One of Santa's helpers came to the daycare Christmas program.  Lucas had 101 questions for him.  Seriously. 

Where are the reindeer?  What do they eat?  How do they fly?  Where are the elves?  and more and more...

He stood there asking questions while other kids were getting candy canes left and right.  Lucas wanted to know the inside scoop on everything at the North Pole. 

Once everyone got a candy cane, the kids dispersed.  Lucas was standing there so nicely I thought, I'll just snap a Santa picture with the kids.  Won't this be cute. 

Hannah disagreed!

And her mean mommy snapped a picture of it.  I promise she only sat with him for ten seconds!

Lucas didn't have any problems taking a Santa picture, but this is the first year he's had any interest. 

P.S. ~ We knew Santa's helper, it was Miss Cathy's husband, Dick.

Christmas program

Lucas and Hannah's daycare program was the night of his birthday.

I'm not sure if Lucas' gestures were ahead or behind, but he and Willow were not on the same page. 

Hannah's turn!

Can't hold her down... she was on the move most of the performance.

Buddies.

Charlie and Lucas.

Lucas and Ava.

Ms. Tired, but still on the go.

I thought a picture of the kids together would be cute...

Lucas was happy and up for the challenge at first.

Then he was telling me she wasn't sitting still.

And he was growing more and more concerned.

Until she wasn't even close to being in the picture. 

Oh, well, maybe next time!

more partying

The last installment of Lucas' birthday celebrations was Saturday night.  It was definitely a Cars 2 birthday! 

Papa Steve, Gramma Connie, Great Pa, Great Grandma, Uncle Brian and cousins Abby, Nick and Will came to party.

Lucas loves Cars 2 and legos.  How could it get any better?  He has another set like this, different theme, but he can build and build for hours!

The boys had lots of playing to do.

All smiles, Mr. Four.

When I asked Lucas several weeks ago what kind of cake he wanted he told me Cars 2.  I narrowed it down to Lightning McQueen or Francesco and hands down, the vote was for Francesco.  I was pretty nervous about this one, but with a pep talk from Lucas "You can make it for me, right mom?  I know you can," I figured the worst case scenario was a funny looking cake. 

I free-handed Francesco.  There is always room for improvement, but I was happy with it.  All of the party-goers liked it, and MOST importantly Lucas loved it.  Second most important was that I tried a new cake recipe and it tasted yummy! 

Diving in.

Lucas always sits like this.  Everywhere. 

Building Legos with Gramma Connie.

Another favorite part for me - Brent and Steve cleaning my kitchen.  :)