Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! 

"This is our God, worthy of praise. The love of the Father, revealed on Christmas day." - Matt Osgood

Christmas Eve

We started the tradition of celebrating Christmas as a family on Christmas Eve when Alexa was born.  We have been able to follow through on that tradition for the past 9 years except one when were snowed in at my brothers on Christmas.  The kids look forward to our Christmas Eve service, daddy's yummy pasta and opening gifts.  This year was the first year that it fell on a Saturday and we were able to take the whole day to celebrate.  We started the day by rolling out of bed and getting somewhat presentable.  Mom showered but the rest had bed head put in ponies and combed and comfy clothes on.  We headed out to one of our favorite breakfast places, The Pancake House, for some yummy breakfast.  We had a great morning of enjoying yummy food, good conversation and just enjoyed our time with each other.  With 4 little ones at the table it was fairly calm and uneventful which was a blessing in itself for this mom.  As we were getting ready to leave our waitress told us our bill had been paid.  We quickly looked around to see if there was anyone we knew around us.  The kids were in awe and there was a buzz at our table as we talked about how nice it felt to be blessed by God in this way.  The kids have so enjoyed doing our "Light Up The Community" and have really loved what it feels like to give to others and share Christ's love with others.  It was neat for them to be on the receiving end too and know what it feels like to be blessed in a special way.  Later our waitress told us it was the couple that was sitting next to us that had left already! 

We got home, showered and got ready to open gifts.  We tried to get a picture of the four but the excitement flowing out of them didn't help the already difficult situation. 

The kids were so excited about the gifts they had made in school.  They requested those be opened first. Shane had to memorized Luke 2:7-14 for school so was very proud to give us the picture he made to go with the verses he had memorized. 

Emma had made some special ornaments to add to the tree! 

Shane was pretty excited about his very own Bible!

Max had the best expressions and was full of excitement the entire day! He was so much fun to watch! 

All the kids got "God Love? Adopt" shirts! Our journey to Max has changed their hearts each in a different way and it will fun to see how God continues to work in their little hearts.

One of my friends told me about these wooden planks that the kids could have hours of fun with.  Yes every piece is exactly the same!  This was a hit in the McDonald household! 

The boys thought life was pretty good when they each opened their Cars tracks.  

The girls were very excited about their American Girl Doll puppies that were at the top of their wish list! 

Our afternoon was spent just hanging out as a family,

building and playing with race tracks ....

doing arts and crafts .....

lots of smiles and laughter ....

building with Keva planks ...

special sister time and even mom and dad caught a little nap while Max napped.  

It really was an amazing day.  We then looked at the clock and knew it was time to get ready for Christmas Eve service. It was about that time that I wasn't feeling quite right ... I decided to forgo having the kids change clothes and get all dressed up for church but instead they went as is and figured we would get some pictures in their Christmas clothes in the morning. 

Now in the perfect world our busy, noisy 2 year old would sit still and be mesmerized by the Christmas lights and the service.  We would have this special memory of Max's very first Christmas Eve service as he held the candle and you could see the flicker of the flame in his little brown almond eyes.  Well instead it went something like this ... passing him back and forth, digging out an never ending amount of snacks, trying to page through books quietly and other toys, digging out more snacks and then finally right when it was time to light the candles he was officially DONE .... so him and his daddy walked out.  So Max's 1st Christmas Eve Service looked nothing like I dreamed up in the perfect world.  In our world with Max though it was the perfect Christmas Eve Service .... it was a total picture of our little boy.  He is a bundle of energy, who rarely sits still, he can't contain his excitement for life and it flows easily and loudly from him and snacks are a love of his but can only keep him occupied for so long!  A Christmas Eve service we will remember first and for most because we had our little boy home with his family! 

Eric always makes a yummy seafood pasta for our Christmas Eve dinner.  Once again he didn't disappoint us. 

Now this is where things started to go down hill. The seafood that usually makes my mouth water began to make my stomach turn.  The family picture by the Christmas tree and by the table that has been tradition for the last 9 years got thrown out the window as I started to feel worse.  Everyone but me enjoyed daddy's pasta. It was then time to get pj's on and settle in to bed to see what Christmas morning would bring. 

We had a wonderful day as a family.  We had such a special day celebrating Jesus' birth and our first Christmas with Max at home! We are blessed! 

A Three Ring Circus

I love helping in the kids classrooms, going on field trips and helping with parties.  It has been a bit of a challenge this year as now three are in school and Max is still at home.  I was excited when it looked like I would be able to possibly hit all the kids classroom Christmas parties.  The kids were so excited for their last day of school and their Christmas parties.  Alexa woke up with an itchy eye that looked liked it was potential pink eye.  Alexa was sad that she might miss her last day before break.  That is where it felt like the 3 ring circus began.  We waited a couple hours and her eye seemed to get better so we left Max with a sitter and headed to school.   I had just gotten to Emma's room and she came in from recess and wasn't feeling well.  She sat for a little bit and then said she was feeling better.

Emma's party started with them making ornaments. 

The kids then enjoyed a fun treat! 

One mom planned a fun game.  She wrapped up books for all the kids and read a story that had a lot of "rights" and "lefts" in the story.  The kids would pass it in that direction whenever she read those words.

Emma got the book Molly.  The kids are all supposed to read their books over break and then are supposed to bring them to the library and donate them to the school library.  They were all excited about something new to read over break and then getting to bring them back and sharing them with others.

I snuck over to Alexa's party a couple times during Emma's and then got in on a little Apple's To Apples with her class at the end of her party.

We had lunch then it was time for Shane's party.  I quick hit Alexa's room on the way to the party to put some more drops in her eyes. When I walked into Shane's room there was a little girl just sobbing.  It was her last day at school.  She was moving over Christmas and she wasn't feeling well so had to go home and miss the party.  She sat on Shane's teacher's lap and just cried as the class prayed for her and said good-bye.  All of us moms in the back were shedding a few tears too over what was unfolding.  Right as we were gaining composure and getting ready to get the party started Emma's teacher popped her head in and said Emma was laying down in the office and wasn't feeling well.  So I slipped out and went to check on Emma. She said she just didn't feel quite right but didn't need to go home.  So I made my way back to Shane's room and told her teacher to let me know if she felt worse.  

Shane's class had a Happy Birthday Jesus party and he loved every bit of it. At his first station he made a cute little ornament to hang on his tree of the nativity.

At station two he played Pin The Tail On The Donkey.  Most of the kids had never played it and thought it was really fun!

At station three he got to play Merry Christmas Bingo.

And last but not least was decorating and eating Christmas cookies.  

 I wouldn't have it any other way ... with 4 little ones life is bound to feel like a 3 Ring Circus some days.   

Every Little Girls Dream

On Monday we headed to the Twin Cities as our Christmas gift to the kids.  We decided it would be fun to get away, stay in a hotel and make some memories as a family instead of getting them a couple gifts.   We did have one special gift in mind they were each going to get.  Alexa and Emma's stop was The American Girl Doll Store.  

I have to say this has to be every little girls dream store.  It was so much fun to watch the girl's eyes and faces as they took it all in.  Two stories of doll and girly bliss! 

The girls were in awe as they walked around and looked at all the dolls, clothes and accessories. Alexa went to the Look Alike Dolls and knew within a minute who her Lex was going to be.  She had brown hair, brown eyes and had bangs.  She looked into her eyes and then took off the lid of the box and said, "Yes, she looks just like me!"

We then traveled downstairs to the Historical Dolls.  Emma saw Kit right away and said, "Mom, she even has freckles like me and her hair is exactly like mine!"  We walked a little further and found the blond Bitty Baby Twins and Emma had a decision to make. Did she want the blond twins or Kit who looked just like her.  She laid them next to each other and we discussed the pros and cons.  She went with Kit! We headed back up the escalator with Kit in hand! 

Emma also loved trying all the little girls accessories and clothes that matched the doll's outfits! 

Next we hit the doll salon! Emma really wanted to get Kits ears pierced but we'll save that for another trip someday! 

We had a reservation for dessert at the bistro with the dolls.  The girls got little chairs for their dolls to sit next to them.  Their dolls were given a menu as well.  The waitress brought out a tea cup with lemonade for each of the dolls. Alexa went with the BIG brownie sundae! 

Emma went with the Root Beer Float.  And her doll got a little bowl of whip cream with sprinkles! 

Shane and Eric joined us for dessert and they gave Shane a doll to borrow as well.  Shane thought it was so cool.  He told us he was putting an American Girl Doll boy doll on his Christmas list.  Shane enjoyed a Chocolate Shake with a cherry on top and also enjoyed sharing the treats that were brought out for his doll.

The girls had a fun afternoon and decided that this was their best present ever!

An Hour of Fun At Lego Land

Shane has been into his legos so we thought he would have fun picking out something fun at Lego Land for his gift.  Him and Eric were on the web checking it out before we went.  He wanted to look for a train.  

We had to stop back at Lego Land to snap some pictures to capture Shane's special treat for the weekend since I had the camera with me at the American Girl Doll store.

Shane thought all the Lego creations were pretty cool! 

Shane is the entry way at Lego Land striking a pose! 

Wow! Look at all of these Legos! One of my friends mentioned that this is organization at its finest! Hmmm how are we going to organize all of these legos?

Shane had fun showing his sisters all the legos.  There was also an area outside that you could build and play! 

Shane picked out this train.  Eric just happened to find this train laying around the store only to find out it is one of the hottest items in the store and they can't keep it on the shelf! Way to go daddy!  You made Shane's day!

A Little Fun At The Mall Of America

We had a fun little surprise at the Mall of America and got some free wrist bands for unlimited rides at the amusement park.  We weren't going to do rides on this trip so this was a fun treat for the kids.  

They started out on the slow moving, calm carousel.  

They then moved into the ride that would bring you up and drop you down.  Notice Shane's expression when he started and then when the ride started going.  They all had looks like this but assured us when they were done that they loved it! I think that is a look of fear rather than love!

They were then off to the little roller coaster! 

We all went on this big roller coaster! It was a first for our family.  Everyone was old enough, tall enough and brave enough to venture on the big person roller coaster!

 

Eric and the kids had ventured on another first.  Well a first for the kids but not for Eric!  They went on the big Dora Ferris Wheel! 

No tears .... just a lot of smiles! 

The kids giggled their way through the Swiper ride! 

The last ride the girls and Shane and I went on!  This ride went up and up and up.  Then around and around and around!  The girls loved it and went on it back to back! 

Shane on the other hand said "Mom, I fink I am going to frow up" in the middle of the ride! I quickly thought hmmm what can I do to prepare myself.  I was ready to take my sweater off as we started slowing down and dropping down.  We made it to the end of the ride but Shane was done with rides for the night!  

Dad and Mom finished with a stop at Starbucks before heading back to the hotel.  I love this picture of Eric and his two girls!