Christmas Came!

There were days they thought it would NEVER arrive!

But Christmas Day DID come.

We did things slightly different this year.

We had our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve (which we always do).

Then, instead of opening 1 gift on Christmas Eve (new pj's), we decided to open ALL gifts from siblings on Christmas Eve.

I decided to to this, because this year the kids really caught the spirit of giving.

It started with Ronan. He found items in his room and wrapped them up for his brothers and sisters.

Items that were special to him.

I was so proud of him.

The other kids followed suit.

And soon we had a TON of gifts they were giving each other.

At their request I also took them to a second hand store to buy some inexpensive things for each other with money they had earned.

With all the thought and selflessness they were putting into this, I was worried about their heartfelt gifts being overshadowed by things brought from the BIG Man.

So, I decided that we would open all the gifts given to each other on Christmas Eve.

It was great.

They were so excited grateful for what they got each other.

We then read the Christmas story from the bible,

(and tried to act it out--with 1 baby Jesus, 1 Donkey, 1Sheep, Mary, Joseph, and an Angel)

And then watched some videos of the event.

The next morning we woke to find that Santa had come.

He ate the cookies, and left gifts!

 There was lots of squealing and excitement!

Madelyn got these boots....

She loves them, and has slept in them twice!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve, Eve

2 nights before Christmas we went down to D.C. to see the National Christmas Tree and Yule Log fire. 

 The Yule Log fire is just as much of an attraction as the tree.

It is huge and HOT, which feels good on a December evening.

And the Washington Monument in the background.

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with the tree this year.

A LOT SMALLER.

Boo hoo.

 (See the White House in the background)

               

 

Rudolph and Frosty were there too!

 And the trains around the tree!

I think I love D.C. at Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Remember then reason for the season!

Christmas Train Garden

There is a fire station in town that hosts at 'Holiday Train Garden' every year.

It is one of our favorite Christmas traditions (aren't they all though??)!

We went last weekend. We were babysitting a friend's two boys that night, so we got to bring them along for the fun!

 Everyone enjoyed it! I love seeing the little ones SO excited as a train goes by!

MAGIC!

With 8 kids in tow, we paired everyone up with a 'buddy' for the night, and they all did great staying together!

 They also had you a 'hidden objects' list when you walk in. It's fun to see if you can find all the things on the list! The attention span wore out before we completed the list.....

Another fun, and magical Christmas night!

I just LOVE December!

Sweet 16!

Sixteen years ago today Brian & I were married!

(Our engagement photo)

(Who are those children??)

The day we met (on a blind date), Brian told me: "Just so you know, I'm never getting married, never having a mortgage, and NEVER having children!"

Obviously he's a man of his word. (he he)

The last 16 years have been full of happiness, sadness, adventure, craziness, peace, loudness, good times, and bad. We've laughed and cried along the way. And I'm thankful for it all. We've brought 6 new lives into this world that have blessed us (and driven us crazy at times). We've seen new places together, and longed for days gone by. It's been a wonderful adventure, and I look forward to many many more!

Happy Sweet Sixteen to us!

Their on their way....

Christmas cards that is....

 I finally got around to getting them done!

This is SO LATE for me -December 14th!!!

Here's the girls enjoying breakfast together.....

They scooted the piano bench up to the table and all sat on it together.

I love them!

I especially love Madelyn's hot cocoa face!

New shoes

So, the other day just as it's time to send the kids out the door for school, Ronan comes and tells me he can't walk in his shoes. "Why?" I ask.

"Look!"

 He says he told me they were this way some time ago.....I don't remember that .

 "Ok, we'll get you new shoes today, for now you'll have to wear your Crocs." (Thankfully it's not that cold out yet)

Then Duncan pipes up, "I need new shoes too!"

"Look!"

Oh my goodness!!!!

These shoes are only 3 months old!

BOYS!

Then Morgan & Hayden both mentioned that their shoes were feeling tight (again, shoes were JUST purchased 3 months ago).

Of course!

So, off to buys shoes we went after school!

Hayden is now in a men's size 11!

They've got to stop growing! I can barely keep up!

Snowflakes!

One of our 'Christmas Activities' this week was making snowflakes.

 Really I guess we didn't make them, just decorated them.

With glue and glitter....a fun combination. 

 Once they were all done, the question of what to do with them arose.

We decided to hang them from the ceiling in the dinning room and turn it into our little wonderland.

Morgan hung them all!

It's fun to eat every meal with snowflakes hanging above!

Temple Lights

 This past weekend we went to the Festival of Lights at the DC Temple.

It was beautiful.

And not COLD. 

I mean, we were in coats, but we've been some years where it was miserable to walk around outside because it was SO cold. This time was pleasant.

We saw the Nativity, and the Star high above.

 And then just enjoyed the wonder of all the beautiful lights!

We went inside to see some Nativity displays from around the world as well.

 And so Madelyn could see Jesus.

                

 

She loves to come see the statue of Christ.

She always excitedly exclaims: "Jesus! My Jesus!" when she sees it.

Once she sat down and listened to the audio that goes with it, then told everyone for the next 2 days that Jesus talked to her. I love it. I love her. I also love that boy she's hugging in the 2nd photo too!

It was a beautiful night.

Mahaffey's in Manhattan!

 We did it!

We went to New York City with 6 kids and survived!

(Maybe just barely though)

This was a memorable trip. As long as the good memories over-shawdow the bad, then we're good!

Here's what we did.

Friday we took the kids out of school early and drove up to New Jersey, just outside of the Lincoln Tunnel. The GPS said it would take 4 hours with the traffic, and we did it in exactly 4 hours-so I consider that alone a success!

 The kids all did well on the drive.

We arrived at the hotel, ate dinner, and then hit the pool!

Hayden being the mature teenager that he is was not in the 'mood' to swim, but wanted to order a movie in the room. So, Brian headed down to the pool with the other kids while I set up the movie for Hayden. When I got to the pool I commented to Brian why was he still had his shirt and tennis shoes on. "You've got to be ready to jump in and save someone at anytime." I said.

I quickly got down to my suit and took a few photos before I got wet.

I wasn't paying too much attention to what was really happening in this photo below at the time:

 Apparently Madelyn had 'jumped' to Morgan before I came down, and now Ashlyn was telling her to 'jump' to her. Of course I realized this seconds after, when I threw my phone down (photo below is as I was doing so) to jump in just after Madelyn 'jumped' to Ashlyn!

 Brian snapped this photo just after I saved the baby!

 CRAZY! Glad I didn't have my shoes and clothes on still!

The rest of the pool time was fun and non-life-threatening.

Saturday morning we headed into the city with Macy's being our first stop of the day!

 They were all decked out for Christmas!

And there was definitely a few people there to see it!

 We had checked online and it said that the store opened at 10:00am, so that's when we planned to get there to get in line to see Santa. Well, apparently Santa visits started at 8:00am! Oh well.

After watching Miracle on 34th Street the kids were convinced that the REAL Santa came to Macy's in New York City, and they we set on getting a glimpse of him!

 We waited in line for 1 hour to see the big man. But it honestly wasn't that bad. We were constantly moving, and there was lots to see along the way. Santa's train, a village....

 His mail box....

 His flight map....

 And then finally it was OUR turn to visit with him!

 We got to spend some good time with him, and take a ton of photos. The girls were loving it!

Ronan was less than impressed.

As soon as he saw him he turned to me and said: "That's a fake beard-he's NOT the real Santa!"

"Ronan, just go have fun."

"I wanted to see the REAL SANTA!"

"Maybe it is, we don't know."

So, as soon as he sat down he asked him, "Are you the REAL Santa?"

"The ONE and ONLY!", the big guy replied.

"Then what's my name?" Ronan asked.

"We're not going to play that game right now.", Santa replied.

 I snapped this photo just after Santa replied to Ronan's question. I LOVE it! Look at those eyes! He immediately turned to Brian with a 'I told you he wasn't the real Santa' look!

Madelyn however LOVED Santa, and told him all she wanted.

 She was so happy to sit on his lap!

Side note: Trying to leave Macy's (or get in for that matter) with a double stroller was impossible! They have the most unfriendly doors-that's all I'm going to say about that.

Then came a part of the day that wasn't so pleasant.

The Empire State Building.

      

 

The Empire State Building is right across the street from Macy's. The plan was to go straight there. Well,  after waiting in line for an hour to see Santa, and then spending who knows how long to get out of the store, and then helping this poor woman who spoke no English (and had just arrived in NY that day) try to locate her daughter, AND it being REALLY close to lunch time we thought it best NOT to go stand in line to go to the top.

Well....the kids of course all said they WANTED to do it, and this guy approached us and told us of the 'Fast-track' ticket. Where you spend a little more, but bypass the 90 min. line to the top, and only wait 25 min. After our trouble with the stroller in Macy's, we also asked if we could fit the double stroller throughout the building. "Oh yes, of course!" Brian & I were not sure, but the kids were all WANTING to, so we said ok, we can do a 25 min. wait.

Ha!

First off, we waited 20 min. outside, then the stroller WOULDN'T fit through the door! Then another 20 min. in the security line, then they put us in another line which had a sign that said your wait could be anywhere from 15-45 min. from that point! The 2 girls were melting down, and Brian & I were losing patience quickly! We decided we wanted a refund, and were not going to carry on. Of course getting that refund proved to be difficult! Brian stayed to fight for the refund, while I took the children outside to wait (and getting out of the building was another insane fiasco).

Arrrrggg.

We decided we would come back and do that part of NYC when we no longer had need of a stroller!

We found this awesome little pizza place for lunch-and fed all 8 of us for $18 in NYC! I thought that was a steal!

 After lunch everyone was in a much better mood, and we carried on with the fun.

The girls and I wanted to ride a horse and carriage through Central Park.

The boys could of cared less. So they stayed and played on the huge rocks in the park while we took our ride!

 It was fun!

 I LOVE my girls!

 And the boys were happily in their natural element!

Once our carriage ride was over it was time to head to Radio City Hall!

 Duncan enjoyed hailing us a cab! Or two cabs in our case.

 We went to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular!

 This was the highlight of the day!

EVERYONE enjoyed the show! The kids were mesmerized by the dancers. They did such a great job! Madelyn kept trying to dance like them-she LOVED it!

 The toy soldier sequence was one of our favorites.

 It was a spectacular show, and I'm so happy we got to see it!

After the show we walked over to the Rockefeller Center to see the tree!

      

 

It was so fun to see the city all decked out for Christmas! 

 The walk back to the van was at least 17 blocks, and the kids all did great! Ashlyn insisted on walking the whole way, and I was very impressed that she had the energy to do so at the end of such a long day! There was so much to see as we walked though, it made it go by so quickly.

We stopped in Times Square, and I snapped some photos with my iPhone that didn't turn out :(. 

On the drive home I was asking what their favorite parts were, and Ronan actually said the walking around! For Ronan that is HUGE! He is not one who likes to walk. They all were remembering their favorite parts as we left. I'm glad they enjoyed it!

We drove out of the city at 8:00pm, and made it home by 11:00pm!

Phew....the Mahaffey's survived Manhattan!