Merry Christmas 2015!

Nolan was the first to awake Christmas morning at 6:30.  He could hardly contain himself when I told him we needed to wait until his brothers woke up before going down to see what Santa had left us.  Nolan kept asking when his brothers would wake up, so I finally told him at 7:00 sharp we could go downstairs as a family.

Nolan, Carter and Blake made their way downstairs to see what Santa had left for them.  As the boys opened their presents they were moving around so quickly I could barely take a photo that didn't turn out blurry.

Once all the presents were opened, it was time to play!  Nolan received a Hape marble run, Carter received Magnatiles, and Blake received a playset.  Nolan and Carter really wanted spy gear and Santa delivered, we now have two spies in our house.

I received a selfie stick or "elfie stick" as Carter calls it, in my stocking!  Sadly, this was the only family picture taken of us on Christmas Day.  Thank goodness for the selfie stick.

The boys were too excited to eat breakfast, so we put our toys away, quickly dressed, and loaded up in the car to head to G.G. and Grandpa Tub's.  We arrived right on time and greeted our family with lots of loves and kisses.

The boys all received fun gifts, but the hit of the day was the circuit board Nolan received from G.G. and Grandpa Tub.  I don't know who was more excited, Bill or Nolan.  Nolan had a lot of fun arranging the circuits to make different noises, motions, and lights go off.

Carter had some major snuggle time with cousin Darby.  While Nolan made himself comfortable on Nana's lap.

Nolan went back to the circuit board with KK and Carter.

 Grandpa Tub and G.G. with their great-grandsons.

The time spent at G.G. and Grandpa Tub's was great.  We ended the morning with a viewing of Home Alone 2, per Nolan's request.  Once the movie ended, we packed up and headed out to Christmas #3 at Meme and Papa Dave's for the evening.

Each of the cousins received games for Christmas, so once the gifts were open lots of playing took place.  Nolan brought his spy gear too, and lots of pretend play took place as well.

Carter wanted to play ping pong mostly, so he was Papa Dave's buddy for a part of the night.

Towards the end of the night, Blake was starting to become fussy.  Who could blame the poor guy?  I was exhausted too.  Nolan and Carter were having so much fun with their cousins, Bill and I decided to let them stay and play while we took Blake back to Nana and Papa's.  The boys came home shortly after us, tired and ready for bed.  The next morning, we celebrated Christmas with Papa, Nana, KK, and Jimmy.

 All gifts were opened, so it was time to play once more!

The rain finally stopped for a few minutes, so Bill and I saw this as the opportune moment to pack everything up and travel back to Edwardsville.  We received so many gifts, the back rear window was covered! 

Carter was a sleepy boy, but he wasn't giving up his "pocket knife" Aunt KK and Jimmy gifted him.

It was bittersweet leaving, but once we arrived home it felt so good to be back.  Bill and I unloaded the toys and organized, I cannot relax with a mess.  Once almost everything had found it's new spot we relaxed and played with our new toys.

Nolan received a different marble run from Papa and Nana which contained gears and was battery operated.  It took Nolan and I 45 minutes to put this thing together, but it was neat in the end.  I whipped out the selfie stick to take some pictures of the building process.

Bill, myself, Nolan, Carter and Blake are truly blessed with such amazing family!  We enjoyed seeing everyone and sharing in the happiness and love for Christmas.

Christmas Eve 2015

With big families comes many Christmas celebrations.  Christmas Eve day, my boys and I celebrated Christmas with the Purcells.  The boys had a blast playing and opening their presents.  The food was delicious and everyone was relaxed and cheerful.

Several attempts were made to have a picture taken with Boppi and his grandsons, but none of the pictures turned out.  Here is the most decent picture I took.  At least the group picture turned out good!

This year I wanted to start a new tradition with my boys, one which took place every Christmas Eve for me when I was younger.  A trip to Woburn to view the Christmas displays.  Papa and Nana met us to view the displays too.  The boys fell asleep on the way to Woburn, but woke up excited to see the lights and the Christmas displays.

 Blake's favorite display was the Mickey Mouse one.

The whole family in the sleigh.  If you look closely you can see Carter's hands at the front of the sleigh, he obviously didn't want his picture taken.  

Once we finished walking through all the displays Woburn had to offer, Papa suggested we visit American Farm Heritage Museum.  The museum contained Woburn's old displays, but were set up to be viewed while driving in the car.  After driving around and seeing all the displays everyone, but Blake and I, went in to the museum for some hot chocolate and cookies.  Of course, I asked them to take their pictures with the cutouts.  Inside the museum was a checker board, so Nolan played a quick game of checkers with Nana.

After their hot chocolate was drank and their cookies were eaten, my boys along with Papa and Nana said our good-byes, loaded in to our cars and headed home.  The boys fell asleep on the way home and were carried up to bed and changed into their pajamas.  Nolan, Carter and Blake were exhausted from a long day.