Pre-Christmas

Sorry I've been missing-in-action these last couple weeks! My house has been flooded with family (and some plumbing problems, actually, but that's a story for another post) and there just hasn't been time to blog. But I've been having a wonderful Christmas vacation. Remember how Craig and I were hoping to get most of my family here to our home? Well, it worked about as well as I could have hoped for! We ended up with with three of my four sisters, including two husbands and two sons, plus my parents. So on Christmas morning, we had 14 people all opening presents together! The only thing that would have made it better would have been if my oldest sister and her family could have come, too. (But they had the happy Christmas news that they will be moving back to New York City, so hopefully we'll be seeing more of them in the near future!)

I have about 2.8 billion pictures of the week and a half of family, most of which were taken by everyone else, since I forgot to charge my camera battery (one of the advantages of hosting is that I just put everyone's pictures on my computer). And I will be posting many of them here on the blog, with whatever accompanying stories I can think of. Let the uploading begin!

Preparation

The nativity set I got off FreeCycle, carefully placed on the mantel that Craig built.
Some day I'll get the willow tree set, but until then, I really enjoy what I have!

It took me a while to write everyone's names on their stockings with glitter pens!

You better believe these were hung with care! And a ruler. Each was 7.1 inches away from the next one.

Craig decided he wanted to make gingerbread houses this year. He spent all day baking the gingerbread (from scratch!) while I ran around doing other stuff-- visiting teaching and jogging. Then he and the kids spent the next day and a half decorating.

Bentley makes me laugh here...

This isn't even the finished product. But it gives you a good look at Craig's artistry at work: he tiled the entire roof with Swedish fish and then added icicles. The next day he added a fence, complete with archway and igloo.

Arrivals

The first people to come were Natalie and her boys (Samuel and Caleb) and my parents. Tracy came the next day with an early present for my big kids: super hero capes! Samuel already had one, so now the three of them could run around being superheroes together. And they loved it!

Bentley and Samuel show their best Batman faces

Ready for anything!

Pure joy.

Even superheroes need breaks for apple slices every now and then...

The lawnmowers are always a favorite toy, but I especially love this picture of Natalie and Caleb!

Cute picture of Tracy and Caleb, despite the fact that they're standing in front of our garbage can...

Walking Bentley to school

A lazy morning with everyone

Caleb demonstrates his ability to stand on his head. Sort of. :)

Activities

Tracy had the brilliant idea that we should visit the Air & Space Museum. It was perfect: the drive wasn't too bad and the museum was empty enough for the kids to run around without annoying people. Bentley and Samuel loved seeing the space shuttle. And we all enjoyed paying our respects to the Enola Gay.

My Dad takes his hat off to the historical plane.

If you click on this picture to make it big, you can barely see Bentley at the top of the ramp, running away. This is his favorite place to run.

Dad at the Observation Tower

Returning home, and sleepy

The next day, Tracy braved making sugar cookies with the kids. I never would have tried this. But she did great!


Once those were finished, she took them all to the park. By herself. Such bravery! It turned out to be a very educational experience, too!

This is another of my favorites

Meanwhile, we were back at home working on wrapping presents...

Bentley took some time to read The Grinch to Samuel and Kendra

Craig worked on brining a turkey

Uncle Ian was, as ever, very popular!

Another trip to the park, Grandpa Rex pushed kids on the swings (all that time at the gym paid off!)

I'm not sure why she's hiding behind a lamp, but finally here's a picture of Rachael!
Rocking with Grandpa Rex

Counting down with the advent calendar

The Bentley Tradition: Christmas Eve dinner we eat pizza on paper plates. I love it!

And almost before we knew it, it was Christmas Eve night!


There is so much more to tell you about. And more pictures, too. And we haven't even gotten to Christmas Day yet. But I'm exhausted. I'll have to stop here and come back and post more later.