Christmas Eve, Christmas & More

My heart is a little sad just thinking about the fact that Christmas is already over, but I'm at the same time I'm so full of joy as I reflect on these great last few days.  The last post I did filled you in on our final days before Christmas and all the busyness and preparations.  Well, this post is all about the celebrations.  My favorite part, it just always goes too quick, but this year it did very much feel like long, lingering days and I'm so thankful for that.

Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve, Doug headed to church early, so Mom, Dad, Aunt Abbie and I hung out with the kids until the 11am Christmas Eve service.  Ab had brought a little treat bag for each of them and had laid it out for them to open at breakfast.  Yay for Aunt Abbie!  (And thankfully it had no candy!)

After much loud, boisterous playing, we made it on time to church.  Just as we unloaded from the minivans in the church parking lot I realized I forgot to put the ham in the oven for our post-service lunch with friends.  Oops!!  Mom and Dad graciously offered to drive home real quick to save the day.  I was so thankful (for them and that we live only minutes away from the church!).  Phew, disaster averted.  The Christmas Eve service was lovely (I may be biased, but I did really love it).  The boys were up with us for worship and they got to play instruments throughout the singing.  The big boys were quiet and interested and Penn was hilarious sitting in a chair, shaking his bells and clapping and "ahhh-ing" after every song.  Adorable!  My heart was just bursting with joy looking at my boys and getting glimpses of their personalities and the men they will grow up to be.  Penn was a little hands on during the sermon and Tav went downstairs to play with his "buddies," but Koen was unbelievable.  He sat quietly with Gramma and Grampa the whole time watching his Daddy preach the gospel message.  Talk about a powerful picture to experience as a mother and wife.  Again, so thankful for this role I have to play and moments like these to see the Lord at work and gain some perspective.  After the service we all headed home for our lunch.  Uncle Nate, Aunt Megan and their boys Andy and Alex joined us for lunch.  It was a simple, but lovely time.  These friends are like family and so it just felt great to have the house full of loved ones.  Here's a few gathering around the table as we started lunch.

The boys had really enjoyed playing with each other before and after lunch, but right before Alex and Andy had to head home for their naps (and our little guys had to do the same), we had a quick present exchange.  Look at these boys!!  I just love that we all have little men!

After our friends left the little guys did indeed nap (and well!), Doug went to work and Dad and Abbie did their annual last-minute shopping trip for Mom (this has been going on for about a decade, it's ridiculous, but a fun tradition).  Mom and I had a relaxing afternoon when the cleanup was done and while Koen watched a DVD and rested.  Doug got home around 6:30pm after the 5pm service and Ab and Dad got home around 7:30pm.  So then we had a fun night of wrapping, watching Christmas movies and just enjoying being together.  So much excitement and anticipation!  I honestly think in our household there is still just as much excitement about Christmas Day in the adults as there is in the children (perhaps even more).

Christmas Day
My mom and dad would always get up before us on Christmas and turn the lights on, get the Christmas music going, prep breakfast, etc. and I now love being the first person to get up and do those things on Christmas morn.  It just seems magical with the quiet in the house, the lights twinkling, the thought of what the day will bring.  

I'm so thankful that yet again our boys did a great job sleeping as usual on Christmas morning.  Phew!  That's a good way to start Christmas Day, well rested!  Koen was up early, but didn't make a peep in his bed and so thankfully Tav got his usual morning sleep.  Then they did a great job doing their usual routine of staying in their room until 8am.  This year we started a new tradition...stockings.  Now, I meant to have them open the stocking gifts before breakfast, but I totally forgot.  Here's a quick shot of breakfast.  We had amazing gourmet French toast thanks to some amazing breads we received and Doug's clever breakfast creations.  All eyes were on Penn in this photo.  He can be quite entertaining!

We hadn't told the boys about the stockings, so it was a surprise.  They had seen them hanging empty all December and never asked about them having gifts in them.  I took them out to the hall (after breakfast, sorry boys!, next year I'll remember) to search for "a surprise."  Clearly they had no idea where to look...

With some very obvious hinting they finally found the treasure!

They brought the stockings in the kitchen and opened their simple, but fun little gifts at the table as the adults (and Penn) finished their meal.  Then after they got right to work playing with these little doo-dads.  You can see they liked the Pens hats and loved the cling-ons I grabbed from Target's One Spot.  It was the perfect way to keep them busy while we cleaned up for breakfast and got ready for the present-opening.

And in the final down moments before presents, Doug took the big boys aside and read through the Christmas story with YouVersion's new children's Bible App.  Thank you, baby, for making sure we got that in.  So far we've done the real, true Christmas story every Christmas for the boys and I feel it's important for us to keep that central and make sure we never lose sight of what the day is really about.  

On the fly we got a few pretty good pics under the Christmas tree, here are my kids.

And then here are all 4 kids, ha!  Just kidding, Ab, you are an amazing independent woman, but you know, still a little like a kid to mom and dad, all to end very soon as your wedding date so quickly approaches!

So, at 9:30am we finally started opening presents.  This is the Gagnon way of Christmas and Doug has come a long way to not minding this approach (taking it slow), but I gotta give the little guys credit that they never complained that it takes us so long to get into the gifts!  And here's the other thing about the Gagnon way.  Pretty much after each gift, we just dive into enjoying it.  There's try-ons, there's playtime, there's assembly.  It ends up taking awhile.  The boys all got one gift and then it was time to play cars on the floor.  Grampa graciously provided the tunnel.

Nana & PopPop sent a super fun surprise for the boys.  Our family loves pancakes and Nana & PopPop introduced us to a delicious whole wheat pancake/waffle mix, Kodiak Cakes, months ago.  They also knew that we've reintroduced our old waffle-maker that was on its last leg to make those for the boys too.  It was great to get a super spiffy waffle maker and corresponding huge box of mix for lots and lots of delicious breakfasts to come in this family!  Thanks, Nana & PopPop...big hit!

Doug had some Amazon credits and purchased some personal gifts to the boys.  He got Tav a Duplo car build-it set.  Look at all my boys...my dad, husband and three boys.  Christmas gift to me right there having everyone together.

Doug gave Penn a cool school bus that he can push around on the first floor.  Oh how he loves a good car chase with his older bros!

For Koen he got "Snap Circuits."  I was nervous this would be over Koen's head.  Turns out it was his favorite Christmas gift (even over Legos!).  My Dad was just the guy to have around to help him get the most out of it too and Koen loved working with him.  Koen loved this gift so much that he took an hour break from presents just to get a lot of work done on it.  Oh, I love this little mind!

While the boys were playing with a few of their gifts the adults took the chance to exchange a few gifts.  I had fun giving Ab a gift from her registry.  Although just your good ole mixer, it was meaningful to me because this was the appliance my brother bought for me and Doug the Christmas before our wedding (can you tell I love traditions?!).

Once the boys were ready for another gift, we decided to hand out the special ones from Gramma and Grampa.  Tavin opened a plush Clifford stuffed animal.  He was so overjoyed that he almost started to cry (he LOVES Clifford!).  Look how happy Gramma is at his reaction!

Look at his smile!  It's like it's his long lost friend.  So sweet!

For Penn I had given Mom the idea that Penn needed a snuggle buddy of his own as he just loves all his brothers stuffed animals and loveys.  Here we are opening...

The instant it was unwrapped, the thumb was in. He saw it was a puppy and it was his.

As soon as I let him out of my arms he just went down to the ground on puppy, sucking his thumb.  Oh...my...goodness...could he be any sweeter!?!?!

The rest of the morning whenever he saw the puppy he was subdued, chill and snuggly.  Here he is with Doug having a chill moment.  Oh I love this kid (and thanks for the perfect stuffed animal, Gramma and Grampa!).

Here's a shot with my biggest boy.  He was amazing this Christmas.  Patient, grateful, interested in others, sweet.  That was a Christmas blessing in and of itself!  I just felt like I was seeing a glimpse of what's to come in this boy who loves to think, loves to have a project, loves to give (just like his Dad) and loves being with his family.  Very special.

Uncle Phil and Aunt Leah as usual sent some last minute very fun gifts.  Here's Tav opening his cool dump truck.

Of course he had to immediately give Clifford a ride.

Koen got a new Lego set which he was super excited about (and built the next day...this kid should be a test-case for Lego).

Penn was excited about his present too (clearly), he got a Little People bathtub toy (the poor thing is playing with randomness in the bath we've had since Koen was his age!).  At this point too, Penn was just so excited about unwrapping things it was probably more than half the fun (and very entertaining for us!).

Phil and Leah had a great surprise for Mom and Dad...A Keurig!!  Good job, Phil.  You definitely surprised them!

A little while later (yep, more coffee breaks, a few gifts, some bathroom breaks, etc.), the boys opened some other gifts from Gramma and Grampa.  Tav was very excited to find Curious George under the wrapping paper.  

Koen got another Lego set that he was very interested in.  He was thrilled (although I know this isn't the best picture of either of the big boys to capture that true statement).

Penn got a new copy of "Goodnight Gorilla."  Koen got this when I had my baby shower and that copy was worn out and falling apart, but it's one of Penn's favorites.  He recognized it immediately!

Later in the morning Koen got another special gift from Gramma and Grampa...a watch.  Look at this big boy's face upon receiving this very grown-up present!  He loves it and has worn it every waking moment since!

Douglas had some special surprises up his sleeves too.  One of those included a surprise for my sister, Abbie and I.  He printed up this cute write-up and framed it and wrapped it to explain the surprise.  In summary, he sent us to NYC to see the show, Newsies (which our friend is the lead in).  Amazing!  Stay tuned for the post on that trip!

We finished up opening presents around 1pm and then had a snacky, yet hearty lunch.  Soon afterwards the little boys headed to naptime and Koen had a restful afternoon playing with his new things.  The adults bustled around at times relaxing, at other times busy with new presents, or just spending time together.  I kept quite busy reorganizing things and cleaning up from the morning (with mom's help) and then Doug and I worked on the special Christmas meal later in the afternoon.  At first I was apprehensive (ok, annoyed), that we were doing a big Christmas meal as I didn't want it to overwhelm the special day and make it too much work, but it turned out to be a great way to keep the specialness of the day going.  The house smelled so good all afternoon as the turkey cooked, Doug and I had fun working together on the side dishes and Abbie joined in on the gravy making with me towards the end.  I even got inspired and in the few minutes left before the little ones got up from nap I set the table and made Christmas place settings.

We had a lovely playtime and then dinnertime.  Last year I felt like Christmas was over after lunch, this year the merriment seemed to last all day.  Even after the boys went to bed that night we adults played Scattegories and watched "Elf" (both of those activities were laugh-out-loud funny!).  What a lovely family day together.  So thankful and already looking forward to Christmas 2014. =)

The Day After Christmas
The day after Christmas was full of exploring new toys, playing new games and more time just enjoying being together as an extended family.  We got a little bit of snow, which also turned into a fun activity.  Tavin and Doug headed out after breakfast to shovel.  I caught this almost artistic photo through the cling decoration on the window of the dynamic duo. 

Koen was too deep into his Snap Circuits to quit for shoveling, but eventually he took a break for some fresh air.

Later that morning Koen, Tav and Penn had some snuggle time while the big boys watched a quick DVD.  Penn loves to get up on the couch with them (and then he becomes a very wiggly distraction and eventually is asked to leave).

That's about it that I have logged on my camera.  Don't worry, there will be more blog posts to come soon!  Just know that our Christmas was fantastic and I'm bursting with gratefulness and so happy to have my parents, sister, husband and kids all under one roof.

Christmas Eve Eve 2013

December 23rd was a very full day of activity.  Some fun, some to-do's and lots of anticipation.  Koen was off from school and I was setting about final preparations before my mom, dad and sister were to arrive in the evening.  Koen ended up being more helpful than I had planned on with keeping his brothers occupied and we got through some major tasks in the AM hours before Tav's speech therapy appointment.  I took all the boys to Children's, not my favorite destination before the holidays as it makes my skin crawl with the thought of the germs we were all in close proximity too, but oh well, what's a mom to do?  I just made up a new motto...when you see hand gel, use hand gel.  There's a hand gel dispenser every 10 feet at the hospital, so my boys just ran from one to the other and put it on every few minutes.  People that see us must think we are crazy, but I don't care.  I might as well try my best to keep us all healthy!  The big boys played on the iPads in the waiting room (germ petri dish) and Penn and I took selfies.

When I take Tav by myself to these appointments I usually sit in the room with him and the speech pathologist, but when I have the brothers with me, we sit in the observation room and listen on headphones.  Koen did that with me part of the time, but he also enjoyed playing Duplo blocks with Penn.

Here's a little glimpse of my Tav working with Miss Christal on the other side of the two-way mirror.  He was a little silly, but he still applied himself.  They are working on "s" sounds right now.  He does them really well when prompted at the ends of words, but he has to really work hard to get them out at the beginning of "s" words.  It is exciting to see when he breaks through and finds success or even the glimpse of it.  Christal is great at using helpful cues to get him to work at it and reach those successful moments.  Tavin and I are both learning a lot!

After speech therapy, we all went home for lunch.  Then Koen got to go out for a special afternoon with Miss Kylie, one of our favorite babysitters and dear friends.  I put the little guys down for their naps, meanwhile Koen and Kylie when to Phipps Conservatory to check out their holiday exhibits.  

A few shots with Miss Kylie and the gorgeous poinsettia on display.

Koen got to have some snacks I packed for him in "India."  Looks kind of like he's really there!

Then he went shopping at the market they have there.

He and Kylie also stopped and enjoyed the awesome train exhibit Phipps does every year at the holidays.  It's amazing.  So much of it is made from plant materials, it's really impressive.

After their time at Phipps, Miss Kylie took Koen out for some cocoa.  Look at the note they found there.  Koen was very intrigued about it and even made specific mention of it to me.

It was great that Koen got to be out of the house for the afternoon.  He needed the outing and I needed the time to think straight and finish off that to-do list before the very special guests arrived around dinnertime.  By the time Koen got home at 4:30pm, I was just about down.  Thanks so much for that special time for Koen, Kylie.  It was fun for him and so helpful to me!  

As I mentioned, Gramma and Grampa were due to arrive around 6pm and that they did!  The boys were jumping out of their skin in excitement (to the point where I thought they would break the front door down and perhaps scare their grandparents all the way back to NH with their screams of joy).  It was great to see the reunion of the grandsons (well, Penn hung back because he's timid around everyone for awhile).  They gave big hugs and immediately started talking off their grandparents' ears of course.  We sat down to a lively dinner.  It warmed my heart and immediately made it feel like Christmas to have them in our home.  And Aunt Abbie still had yet to arrive.  We put "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" on for the big boys to settle them down a bit and quiet the house as we waited.  They had no problem snuggling up to Grampa during that time.

She came right after 7pm, so I already had Penn in bed (not that he would've been that warm to her initially anyways), but the big boys were overjoyed to see their aunt who flew all the way to Austin to be with us all for Christmas.  Koen gave Abbie the sweetest, longest, real hug ever.  It was sweet for all of us to witness.  Soon after that we got the big boys to bed and then we adults hung out unpacking mom, dad and Ab and putting their presents under the tree.  We also had a brief, but special little toast for my sister as this is the first time we've been together since she got engaged back in September.  We all got a little emotional and it was a special moment to celebrate this quickly approaching major event in her life!  So, as you can see, a very full Christmas Eve Eve, but a wonderful one (especially at the end, I could've gone without a few of the hours of cleaning, but at least they were satisfying!).  Now on to Christmas Eve and Christmas!!