Merry Christmas!

 As customary we attended Christmas eve service.  The girls were ecstatic to finally wear their Christmas dresses.  Its hard to wait months when these dresses are hanging up in our closets to look at every day.

 I love finding little messages from the kids in unexpected places.  This is the one Izzy left for Santa in case he was a bit confused with the treats.

 Santa's work is done here.  Now just waiting for the kids to wake up.

 All the kids received what they wanted from Santa.  He did a good job!  Micah's favorite was the Ninjago legos.  I wonder how many hours it will take John to help him complete this.

 Victoria wanted this fairy wand.  Too bad it wasn't charged and ready to go.  She has to wait now but is distracted by all the other goodies she received.

 Izzy's request was for a fencing sword.  This took Santa a while to figure out what to give.  But he came through big time.  She even proclaimed its the correct one (foil not saber or epee) and handle color.  Phew!

 Amazing chocolates from my good friend Jess.  Very cute Christmas morning touch.

 Jackie gave the kids these animal pillow / blanket combos.  Victoria's face says it all.

 Micah & Victoria receive suitcases from Oma & Opa.  This dynamic duo will be super cute going down the airport.  None of them figure out the travel theme today and our upcoming trip to Florida.  This will be a fun surprise.

 Super heroes were every where.

 John is going to cherish this picture forever as hugs are not often given out from Victoria.  She loved his gift to her... Harley Quinn doll.

This was Micah's other favorite gift. A Hot Wheels' race track.  Micah and Izzy raced / crashed against each other with Victoria doing what she does best.... being a cheerleader.

 Fingerlings were one of the hottest toys this year.  MANY stores sold out of them as soon as they were stocked.  John made friends with one of the clerks at our Target.  They "hide" two at a time for him every few weeks.  We were able to acquire enough for the kids and two for their cousins.  Ironically two days before Christmas Target had 6 of them in stock.  John and I thought it would be funny to give each other one.  We planned it just so... we opened them first thing at the same time in front of the kids.  We received many glares from them as they too wanted a Fingerling.  Little did they know they too would be receiving one.

 Our theme for adult gifts was "Support your Local Artist".  I received this retrofitted mailbox bank and plasma cut Christmas tree.  My Secret Santa did a good job.

 John's Secret Santa added new Thanksgiving decorations which is much appreciated by me.

 We were greeted by a beautiful snow fall Christmas morning.  The cats enjoyed the view as well.

Christmas Party

 Again this year, we threw a Christmas Party complete with Santa.  It's become a tradition with the kids talking about which friends they are inviting weeks before anything is set in stone.  John, our event planner extraordinaire, did not hold back.  His creativity was seen all over the table.  My favorite was his pinecone cheese ball.

 John wanted to bring back some ol' school treats this year.  He made figgy pudding (forefront) which was more like a bunt cake than anything.

 Izzy helped out with the food preparations making Grinches.  She was quick to point out this would be Oma's favorite.

 My contribution was rice krispes treat ornaments.  Those were a big hit with the kids and all gone within 30 minutes.

John was definitely the hostess with the moistest.  In addition to figgy pudding, John wanted to make wassail.  It is an beverage of hot cider.  The boys added brandy for the "signature cocktail" of the night.  Wassail was traditionally drunk as part of wassailing (singing the song in your head yet?), a ritual intended to ensure a good cider apple harvest the following year.  It was quite tasty!

 He's here... Santa is here!

 Reading a holiday classic... Twas the Night Before Christmas.  Everyone sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  The older kids knew the echoes of the sang making it even more entertaining.  Afterwards each child was able to sit on Santa's lap and let him know what they wanted for Christmas.  The child who gets to start has to answer Santa's one question... what color was Mrs. Claus' green apron?  Micah answered first... blue, no purple.

 Santa then handed out presents to all the kids.  The girls received Hatchimals and the boy received Hot Wheels.

School Spirit Week

 The week before Christmas, the kid's school celebrates by having Spirit Week.  Each day is designated a theme.

Monday:  Dress a color based on grade

Kindergarten = blue

3rd grade = black

Tuesday:  Wacky Tacky Holiday

wear your wackiest, tackiest holiday garb

Wednesday:  students dress as teachers

teachers dress as students

Thursday:  Pierce pride

Friday:  wear your PJs to school

Hartman Christmas Celebration

  Following sugar cookie making, we headed over to John's brother's house for a Christmas celebration.  We held a Yankee swap.  This was interesting as the ages ranged from 5 to 76 years.  This made finding presents to span this gamut somewhat of a challenge.  It was fun to see what everyone came up with.

 Victoria quickly stole this adult coloring book and pencil set.

 Not one but two karaoke microphones were choices.  Micah made a bee line to this one and promptly advertised that it couldn't be stolen again.

 At one point both of the microphones were destined to come back with us.  Josh however stole one of them from me.  Needless to say we've had a lot of fun with this present.

 Jim showing off his signing voice to Jingle Bells.

A quick game of Pie Face ensued.  Izzy was wishing she would lose but never got her wish.  A same amount of whipped cream was eaten as was played with.

Sugar Cookie Time

Jackie (John's mom) hosted us again this year to make sugar cookies.  Joining us was John's brother and his nephew Josh.  In addition to the traditional frosted sugar cookies, we made stained glass sugar cookies.  Fun but needs a bit more refining of our techniques.

The masterpieces!