Indoor Soccer Tournament

 

Owen and his friends signed up for a soccer tournament the Saturday after Christmas and we got to go watch! It was so so great to see him play with his friends again. I don't even remember their record but I know they had so much fun playing together, I hope they do it again!!

Christmas Afternoon/Evening

 

Time for our third Christmas celebration! We arrived in Mentor around 1 and did all the usual things. Opened presents, ate pasta, played games, ate lots of dessert! We had so much fun and were tired by the time we left. When we got home we tried out the audio lollipops from our stockings. You put ear plugs in and then when you put the lollipop in your mouth you can hear music. It's the strangest sensation but so fun too!

Group pic!

We made hot chocolate

Paige can reach the ceiling now! With a little help:)

presents

presents

presents

Rolls!

Audio lollipops

More lollipops!

Christmas Morning!

The kids discussed and negotiated the start time for Christmas morning and agreed on 8:30 so we were excited and ready to go pretty early! There were a lot of presents under the tree, and mostly clothes for the kids, which they were happy about! The big hit for the cats was some catnip pickles they went crazy for and we had lots of fun watching them. We took our time opening presents and eating cinnamon rolls until it was time to get ready for the next celebration!

Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve!! Or soup day, as I sometimes like to call it. We had the same 3 soups as the last few years, Cheesy Vegetable Chowder, Beef Stew and Sausage Tortellini. We had a bit of a snag with the chowder though. Even though I've been making it for years without problems, it did not come out right when I made it a day ahead. We ended up remaking it that day (with Pat doing most of it as I was in and out and running around doing other stuff) and it came out great! Pat's family brought cheesecake and homemade bread which was so delicious! They we opened presents and said goodbye and Owen and I went to church! It's been awhile since we've gone and it was nice to go again. Christmas mass is always so festive and the church is decorated so nicely! 

Birthday and Baking!

We had to reschedule this once but we were determined to fit in my mom's birthday/baking celebration day in before Christmas and we did it! This year we made Grinch Cookie Cups
and they were....fine. Not awful but wouldn't make them again. The filling was too soft compared to the texture of the cookie or something. We had fun making them though! We ate some sandwiches for lunch and then we took a break to watch for Santa, who was driving around all the neighborhoods waving! After that, we had the birthday portion of the evening and ate cake and gave my mom presents!

Screens and sports

Almost done!

Finished

Outside waiting for Santa!!

Time for presents

Almost time for the reveal

Happy birthday!!

Group picture!

Nutcracker!

After a year off, Paige's dance studio brought back their Nutcracker ballet! It can be stressful preparing at such a busy time of year with all of those practices but then when performance day rolls around it all pays off and I think they're all happy to be dancing on stage in beautiful costumes. There's something special about performing in roles that have been around for years and years! Paige's role this year was Ice Crystal, a sort of duo role with another dancer in the snow scene, and she danced it beautifully! I love seeing her dance but rarely get to see her dance on pointe so that was extra fun too!