Christmas Day

What an amazing Christmas we had this year!

The day began with the kiddos waking us at the crack of dawn to find out what Santa brought us. The kids (and parents) were all pleasantly surprised.


Steven is famous for his creative present tag addresses....


And this was Jake's first Christmas, though I couldn't coax a smile from him for a picture---his expression was mostly one of mild surprise and confusion.


Next, we drove down to Galveston to have a mini Howsley reunion. My older brother Jeff and his sweet family live in North Richland Hills (just outside of Fort Worth). This year, they drove ALL the way to Galveston on Christmas Eve just so we could all be together on Christmas Day. Add that to the fact that Adam and Jackson were visiting from Utah, and you have one schmantastic Howsley Christmas!

One of the first sights on arrival was this:

All 5 of the older grandson congregated together---having a very intense "Beyblade" related conversation.

Then followed the gift-giving mania! Paper flying, ribbons streaming, dogs and cats, living together...







Afterwards, I caught some Christmas silliness on camera.







What amazes me still is how afterwards all 8 adults were all scurrying about the kitchen making last little meal preparations, and we miraculously accomplished it all without any fist fights. And man-oh-man-oh-man---dinner was outrageously delicious. Prime rib, turkey breast, spinach and feta salad, corn, green beans, cheesey potato slices, hot rolls--just outrageous.




Such a wonderful day. And the next day we all attended church with Dad (he's usually alone at church, and wanted to show us off to his ward family). Here he is with all six grandsons.

And here we are, all together.


It makes my heart warm thinking about it. I'm so lucky to have had them all around me--even if it was just for 2 days.

On Christmas night, Steven and I sat down with our boys to eat some Christmas candy and watch "The Nativity," a video produced by the church. It's one of the simplest, most beautiful portrayals of Christ's birth that I've ever seen---and it's short so it keeps the kids' attention. It's always my favorite way to end Christmas.

Christmas Eve

We're trying (tentatively) to establish a few Grundberg-esque traditions for the holidays. Last Christmas Eve we took the family to the Dickinson Lights Festival.

I admit I don't remember the kids grumbling so much about it last year. I think the idea of Santa was a bit too ever-present in their minds. NONETHELESS, our tradition-making ideals prevailed, and so off to the festival we trudged (through a tiny rain-pour).





I was a tad underwhelmed, but then again that seems to have been a holiday theme of mine this year.

After the festival (which Steven described as having "too much cigarette smoke and too many ugly people,") we went back home to open ONE Christmas present (pajamas) and drink hot cocoa. This activity was a much bigger hit with the kiddos, and so maybe we'll end up whittling it down to just that next Christmas Eve.






One of the best things about Christmas Eve this year was Adam and little cousin Jackson coming to stay with us. The boys adore Jackson, and had a wonderfully spell-binding time watching "Bolt" on Uncle Adam's laptop upstairs while waiting for us to remember they were still awake.



We finally rustled the little ones to bed at a fanstastically ludicrous hour, and spent the rest of the evening making preparations for Santa's arrival---which eventually culminated in a late night bull session and 30 Rock marathon between Steve, Adam and myself. A perfect conclusion to an exhausting night.

Here We Come a Caroling...

Caroling! Now that's something I hadn't done in ages!

So naturally I thought it would be a great idea to grab a few singers and greet the people in my neighborhood with some festive Yuletide song....with all our very small children in tow...which turned out to be a bit like shepherding cats and then trying to convince them not to repeatedly ring doorbells.

But NONETHELESS, it was insanely fun. And none of my neighbors called the cops, so I think we're still in the goods with them all.

Afterwards, we came back to the house for some hot chocolate and some hot WASSAIL (pronounced Wah-sahl, I found out--to my dismay--last night. I've been saying it wrong for years). And I must say the hot drinks were incredibly refreshing, seeing as how it was about about 78 degrees out with 100% humidity. But I would have my Christmas!! So I cranked the AC down obscenely low to even things out. Brr!

But heedless of the wind and weather, whenever I get around these crazy people I have fun. And the cookies helped.

Stevie's Kindergarten Christmas Party

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Stevie's school? And the room mom for Stevie's classroom is an absolute work horse! She always makes sure that their holiday parties are filled with fun. Here's a few pictures of the festivities.








As a side note, going to Stevie's school parties has given me a better idea of what to do for David's preschool parties in the future. Decorate a cookie, play bingo, make a few ultra-easy crafts (preferably with stickers), batta bing, batta boom, you're done.

Hmm

So I had an interesting experience with some red hair dye today.

My friend Amber helped me. I'm feeling a bit conflicted. Sometimes I feel like a seriously sassy, kick-butt red-head. And sometimes I feel like it looks pink. And to make it worse, Steven didn't gush when he came in. He just said, "Awww, it looks cute as a button." CUTE AS A BUTTON? How about sex-goddess? Red-haired Fantasy? But CUTE AS A BUTTON? What am I, Anne of Green Gables?

Anyway, here's the part where you leave a reassuring comment.