Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009

Our Homemade Christmas was a complete and utter success!

Christmas Eve was spent cleaning up the house a bit, grocery shopping a bit, and finishing up last minute projects (Mike). We had our traditional finger foods for dinner, and the girls absolutely adored getting to eat with toothpicks! We had a hard time convincing them that each morsel of food did not need its very own stick, so we went through half a box of the things. However, since no one poked an eye out or punctured anything important, we'll call that a success.

After dinner we pulled out some fabric scraps and the girls dressed up to tell the story in Luke Chapter 2. Of course, the star of the show was Baby Jesus, aka Dixon, who commanded everyone's attention when he refused to lay quietly in the manger (car seat). He had Mary (Brooke), Joseph (Maggie), a Wise Man (Katie) and a Shepherd (Bridget) abandoning their posts in order to offer their own kind of comfort to the crying babe. It was loud and chaotic, but in hindsight, very sweet and lovely.

We ended the night singing carols in the glow of the Christmas tree lights, and sent the kiddos off to experience visions of sugar plums. Mike and I were up until midnight, taking care of all of Santa's work, finishing up last minute projects (Mike), wrapping the remaining gifts, and getting cinnamon rolls ready to pop into the oven come morning. Of course, that came awfully quickly when Dixon decided to start his day at 4:30. The first of the little ones crept upstairs around 5, so we began the festivities!

The girls, ready to open up the boots and tights Santa left them. (Not homemade, but necessary nonetheless.)

Dixon, scrutinizing the wrapping paper before attempting to eat it.

Our little candy cane thief.

One of the advantages of not spending Christmas with extended family (though we love them dearly and have a blast when we do) is that we get to take our time opening our gifts. We let the girls hand out the gifts they made, then watch as their presents were opened. What a great way to teach them how wonderful it is to give--I think they had just as much fun watching as they did opening! So much so, that they all decided they wanted to make their gifts from now on. Guess I'll be spending the next 12 months coming up with new ideas!
Here are the ones from this year:


Apparently Mike overheard me telling my parents that I wanted to get all my recipes organized into the computer and compiled into one Master Book, because I was shocked to open a binder full of my recipes alphabetized! The girls helped him punch holes in the paper and decorate it by gluing on different images and icons. The hours he spent on this project are immeasurable and I really couldn't have asked for a nicer gift for Christmas!


After racking our brains, trying to come up with something we could make for Dad, we discovered that men are very hard to make things for! Maybe I'll consult with a few more men next year about what they'd like because this was the best we could come up with:Since Mike had been rummaging through my lotions and complaining that all mine were too "girly" for him, I found a kit at a craft store, and we proceeded to concoct our own body wash and lotion that smelled a bit more "manly." This was a really fun project! The girls got to choose their scent and color, then add some extras, like Vitamin E, aloe, and shea butter. Their favorite part was no doubt naming their very own product, and putting the labels on the bottles. They were even a hit with Mike!


As you'll remember from a previous post, Maggie's gifts were skirts I helped her make, and they turned out beautifully! Little did Maggie know that her mother would spend Christmas Eve Eve making her one as well!


Not only did Brooke make those cute bracelets I posted earlier, but she also made some of these adorable earrings. They turned out very nicely and I may even take a turn at borrowing them. Of course, she squealed with delight when she realized I made her these little blue ones with a matching bracelet to go with the skirt Mag made her.


Katie's hair accessories also went over really well with everyone. We especially liked this headband she made for Brooke. And yes, I made some for Katie as well!

The girls all thought it was a great idea to make ties for Dixon this year. Because it's only two tiny little straight passes on the sewing machine, I let them do it and they thought that was the best! Our little man is even more handsome now!

Grandma Barbara even got in on the homemade action and made these sweet little necklaces for the girls out of scrabble tiles w/ the first letter of their name. They have been wearing these nonstop!
And the highlight of the homemade parade was no doubt the My Little Pony Stable, Mike made for the girls out of scrap lumber. I Mod Podged some leftover material from the girls' skirts onto the insides and now they have a new-found desire to play with their ponies! He's planning to make little gates for the outsides. We'll see when that will actually happen. Until then, it's a favorite of us all!

And of course, all the while presents were being torn into, our cinnamon rolls were filling the air with their alluring scent while they baked in the oven, begging us to devour them. No Christmas would be complete without this traditional breakfast.

Jealous, huh?

That concludes Christmas for another year.
Can't wait to see what kinds of things our imaginations come up with for 2010!
Merry Christmas to all!