Christmas Day 2010

Yes, there's a lot of pictures, as usual, for the opening of gifts on Christmas. Perhaps there are fewer than usual though due to the fact that I sat on the couch in one place and shot all of the pictures from there. I wasn't feeling very well.

If you're not all that interested in what the kids got for Christmas, you might want to skip this post. :)

Stuffed stockings. It's finally time for what the kids thought it would never be time for.

Girls opening stockings.

Dress-up gloves and hair clip.

Slippers! The girls got matching slippers and loved them.

Boys with their stockings.

Time for breakfast. Homemade applesauce, Almond Pastry Braid and Sausage Souffle.

We actually tried a new recipe this year for the main dish. It is a sausage/bread/cheese breakfast strata and it was fantastic.

Each of the kids helped distribute some of the gifts.

Cecily loved it so much that we let her do the most.

Not sure what setting I accidentally took this picture on, but it turned out kind of neat.

Sam with his gifts. The kids all got 2 gifts and some books from us. The other gifts are from grandparents and aunts and uncles.

Cecily and Millie both got a doll outfit from Aunt Leslie and Uncle John.

Also from Aunt Leslie and Uncle John was the game Guess Who? for Ben and Cal and Clue for Sam and Will.

Everyone with gifts from Papa and Grammy.

The boys all got slippers and the girls got matching dresses and tights.

Cecily, of course, wanted to put her dress on right away. Isn't it cute?

One of Cecily's gifts from us was a Raggedy Ann Jack-in-the-Box.

Grandpa Jerry got Sam and Will each a multi-purpose tool. They were very excited about that.

Will's books.

Ben got a horse book.

How can we get them to put down the books in order to finish opening the rest of the gifts?

Books always get a smile from Peter. I got him the hat as well. These two books are "Bonhoeffer" by E. Metaxas and "With the Old Breed" by E.B. Sledge (WWII, Pacific Theater). He got several other books that are theological as well.

One of Amelia's gifts was a bakery set.

One of Cal's was a scooter. Ben got a matching one.

Will got Return of the King, from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, on CD.

Happy, happy Sam got a pair of binoculars equipped with a digital camera for photographing birds. This was such a great find. He had been telling us that he wanted some kind of equipment to take pictures of birds up close. Oh my. I wasn't even going to try to come up with that when I came across this completely by accident. He was THRILLED.

Amelia's main gift was this little refrigerator to go with her kitchen.

:)

And Cecily got a cradle for her baby.

What could it be?

And this?

Nerf dart guns and....

...airsoft guns.

What is it about projectile weapons? Just kidding. How could they not love running around trying to tag each other with darts and BB's? The nerf guns are indoor/outdoor. The airsoft guns are actually only for use outside with protective eye gear.

That's all. Haha. I think I can officially give birth to this baby anytime now that I've posted the Christmas onslaught, I mean pictures. The gifts were a blessing. I hope you enjoyed sharing in our fun.

Less Than 2 weeks

Peter took this picture of me tonight. It's like you can almost see the baby curled up in there. It's exciting to think that he/she is nearly ready to make his/her appearance in the world and we can finally meet him/her!I have a lot to be thankful for. As I approach this birth, if you think of me, I thought of some specific things that I would love to have prayer for. Mainly, that I would trust Jesus in my hour of need. This week I'd like very much to spend extra time in the Word and prayer to be prepared spiritually. Pray that I would make time for that and that I wouldn't give in to hindrances. And then pray that I would indeed have faith as I walk through the delivery of this child, not forgetting the purpose of the pain. You could also pray that Peter and I can be steady for the rest of the children and minister to them in spite of the inevitable distraction of the birth and new baby. These are the things that feel bigger than me. I know that on my own I won't be able to accomplish them.

Christmas Eve

I finally looked through the Christmas pictures last night. That should indicate that my mind has been busy elsewhere. With less than 2 weeks until the arrival of the baby, I'm "hurrying" to be prepared. I think you can expect that blogposts might be a bit sparce for a time. I'll do my best and I will keep updates going so you can be informed when baby comes, etc. But there are other things pressing on my mind just now...

Our Christmas feast. It was a good compromise meal. I needed to do something that was pretty fuss-free, but we still wanted a special meal. We ended up having a very simple, but very moist and tender roast chicken that was cooked in my dutch oven with the lid on. I tried out some easy scoop-and-bake dinner rolls that are done in a muffin tin to avoid rolling and cutting. They were a hit. I was skeptical, but they turned out very good. I also tried a new recipe for ultra-creamy mashed potatoes and the kids said they were the star of the show. The asparagus, well, I accidentally way overcooked it and it wasn't exactly edible. :)

After supper we gathered in the basement...

...to open the annual Christmas Eve pajamas.

Everyone is excited!

And now everyone is fully ready for bed. :)

These two both had polar bears.

And these two both had penguins.

My, they are getting big. I wonder at what point I won't be picking out cute pajamas for them anymore?

A quick bit of eggnog to end the evening.

As I looked through the Christmas pictures last night, the boys and Peter looking over my shoulders, we all laughed several times at the seriously silly faces of some of Cecily's pictures. I thought I'd include this one at the end. She's a hoot. :)