Merry Christmas (with Christmas carols)!

The children all wanted to sing Chrismtas carols as their present to our family and friends this year.

Gabriella and Isabella:


Gabriella:


Isabella:


Isabella:


Connor (with a song he spontaneously made up for the occasion):


Kayla & Connor (Connor didn't think he culd remember the words without Kayla's help.):


Cameron (He insisted on joining in even though he doesn't really know any songs by heart yet.):


Cameron:


And this one is sung by Gabriella specifically for Grandma and Grandpa:



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Merry Christmas (tomorrow)!

Here's hoping everyone has a magical Christmas tomorrow! I know I will, because children always make Christmas magical!

Merry Christmas 2008!

Merry Christmas!

The kids loved all of their presents, and it was a lot of fun today. We got a Wii and Wii Fit, so the kids and Robert played some games, and then Robert and I bowled against each other. I won the first game, and he won the second. We haven't used the Wii Fit yet, but I'm pretty sure we will all be trying it out tomorrow.

Angelica and Kayla both got new mini notebook laptops (powerful ones) that Robert got at a huge discount through his work. He got me a massive laptop. It's powerful and sleek and lovely, but I think it might just be a bit too big for me. It's too heavy to be very portable for me, but I'm not sure if I just need to get used to it or whether I would be better off with something smaller. I adore the gift though, and have been wanting a laptop of my own for ages. It's a terrific gift! It's the AMILO Notebook X1 3650.

Gabby, Bella and Connor got lots of new toys and things and Gabby even got a semi-indestructable digital camera. She spent most of the day photographing things. Isabella got to play with her new princess castle among other things and Connor was thrilled with all of the car and other vehicle-themed toys he got.

Robert got a new watch from me, along with some Arsenal themed gifts and a new digital camera from one of our shops. I bought him this one here: Flip MinoHD The printing on it came out beautifully! I also got him this travel mug: Travel Mug Again, the printing came out perfectly!

Robert cooked our Christmas dinner and it was fabulous and way too filling. Everyone ate more than they needed too and enjoyed every bite.

But it's not the toys and gifts that made the day so much fun. It was spending the day together. No one argued today. We played Wii games together and we played some new board games together. We all spent the day together and it was really enjoyable. I hope we have a lot more days where we can all do things as a family and spend the time in harmony with one another.

Our Christmas tree, complete with gifts under and around it:


Christmas stockings:


Pictures of the kids with their stockings:





Angelica on Christmas Day:


Kayla on Christmas Day:


Gabriella on Christmas Day:




Isabella on Christmas Day:




Connor on Christmas Day:


Pictures of Cameron on Christmas Day:




Gabby & Bella on Christmas Day:


For Christmas gifts for their daddy, Gabby painted a picture on canvas and I got Gabby, Bella, Connor and Cameron's handprints and footprints onto another canvas.


Robert with his Flip MinoHD (still in the box):

Christmas Eve

A friend of mine sent me a couple of t-shirts for Cameron (I have terrific friends)and one of them was Christmas themed, so I put it on him to wear for Christmas Eve. It was a little big, but still cute, and he has worn it several times.

Here are a couple of photos of him in the shirt:

Santa's Grotto

We took the kids to see Santa at his grotto today. We were told over the phone that it opened at 11:00am. We got there a few minutes early and after waiting a while, we were told that it didn't open until noon. Since it was a 2-mile walk, there was no point in going home and then walking back, so we waited.

Pictures of the kids waiting for Santa's Grotto to open:





While we waited, Gabby lost her second tooth.

The baby was sleeping when we got there, but by the time Santa saw us, he was awake and hungry. This meant that he was crying when Santa held him.




After visiting with Santa, we took the bus into town to meet up with Robert and do a little bit of shopping. There was a carousel ride in town, so Gabby, Bella and Connor got to have ride.



(Just click on the photos to see them fully.)

Chicken Pox Strikes Us Again!

My older three children were immunized against chicken pox when they were younger and we lived in the US. As a result, they have never caught it.

A little over a year ago, Connor and Gabby both caught chicken pox. Isabella never did catch it from them. Connor had a really severe case of it.

Well, it's hit us again! Gabby came home from school and went to change out of her school uniform. She then came to show us that she was covered in a rash on her abdomen. A few minutes later, Isabella needed help pulling her tights back up after going potty, and I discovered the same rash all over her hip and upper leg.

Robert took them to the doctor and he confirmed that it did, indeed, look like chicken pox. *sigh*

This means that Gabby will miss being in her school Christmas play which is tomorrow. Isabella (and Connor because there will be no one who can take him) will miss going to the Seedlings (our mother and toddler group) Christmas party on Friday and she will also miss her preschool's Christmas party that is right after it. And both Bella and Gabby will miss being in the church Christmas play this Sunday.

And now I have to be really careful and pray that 11 day old Cameron will not catch the chicken pox too.

I feel like crying.

Decorating the Christmas Tree 2008

Last Sunday (November 30th), the kids decorated the Christmas tree. Our tree is full of ornaments that were homemade by the kids over the years. We try and make new ones each year to add to it. The only store bought ones on the tree are ones that were given to us as gifts. I also have one for each of the kids that I made in my shop.

I took some video of the kids decorating the tree. They all love the tradition, and I like looking back at the video or photos and remembering. Robert put some of the video clips together with music so we could share it with you. Our new little baby Cameron even makes a brief appearance in the video, although he was too young (two days old) to take part in the actual tree decorating.

And yes, we realized that the "Merry Christmas" sign in the window was facing the wrong way and have since corrected it. :)

A Card For Santa

I just found a card addressed to Santa sitting on my husband's desk. Apparently, 6 year old Gabby made a Christmas card for Santa. Inside she added a note that says, "Santa, I fot nobudy wud gif you a card so I did." Awwwww!!!!!

I have such great kids!