25th Day: Merry Christmas!

    The twenty-fifth day was Christmas, of course!  The big day was suddenly upon us, unbelievably fast.  Marshall decided he wanted to sleep with his Grandpa V and the two dogs.  My sister and brother-inlaw arrived late Christmas Eve night, so the house was full and we were all excitedly awaiting Santa.

    Just as Santa has done every Christmas since the nineties, he woke the house up at 4:30 am sharp.  Lots of sleigh bells jingling and loud, hardy "ho, ho, ho"-ing. 

    Marshall got out of bed, coming out to presents piled under the tree, and stockings stuffed to the brim.

Our 2014 tree and presents 

Marshall's stocking was just a tad full

    The Christmas pickle was hidden and the prize was the movie Tangled (gotten free with Disney points).  Since Marsh is the only child right now to hunt for the pickle, he was the lucky winner.  He quite liked getting all eyes on him.

    We opened the barrage of presents and he received so much!!  We are so thankful and humbled by the generosity of family and Santa.

    Here is our morning of presents, laughter, and fun:

 

Tissue paper is the most fun part!

Tossing the tissue paper in the air

Opening little stocking stuffer presents

Grandpa found a toy at the store just like he use to have when he was a boy.  He was so excited to show Marsh how it worked and Mads loved it!

Opening presents in his new hat and gloves- that takes skill!

Showing off his new little people set

So excited for his decoratable cupcake set

Auntie & Uncle got him a big balloon just like he wanted!  And bonus: it's Olaf from Frozen.

Excited over his balloon

Grandpa V got him superhero motorcycles, Spiderman and Captain America!

Opening his play kitchen from Santa

He literally screamed when he saw it was a kitchen- he's been asking for one for years.

Posing with his new kitchen, watch out chef Jamie Oliver!

His own set of stainless steel pots and pans

Marshall and Auntie got to cooking asap

    After opening presents and playing for a bit, we all took a little nap.  I woke up and started on Christmas 'dinner' (lunch).  A honey glazed ham, turkey, Italian stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole cups, and more were on the menu.

    I finished up cooking and everyone got ready to eat, my dad (grandpa V), was impressed with how moist the turkey was.  He didn't even have to use a knife, he separated the meat from the bone with tongs.

Dad taking the meat off with tongs 

    Later in the day, we went through the arboretum lights and ooh-ed and aww-ed over the light displays and animation as we drive through.

    We ended the day with a special bath time, adding glow sticks for a special effect.  Yesterday, Mads and his grandpa watched 'Arthur Claus', on the movie they explained that the aurora borealis is what gives the sleigh it's magic.  We told Marshall that the glow sticks were like the magic from the northern lights.  He loved it SO much.

    Christmas Day was more than we could possibly ask for.  We were able to relax and enjoy being together as a family for the first time in years.  We played and checked out our new gifts, as well as cook our favorite family Christmas recipes.  It was the best Christmas in recent memory.

    From our family to yours, we hope you had the merriest of Christmases filled with loved ones and delicious food.  May 2015 make your dreams come true and hold many adventures!  We will see you back here next year, thank you so much for being apart of our holiday season.  

24th Day: Christmas Eve

    On the twenty-fourth day, we celebrated Christmas Eve.  How it is almost the big day is beyond me!  Christmas Eve is a special day of reflection and tradition for us.

    But these traditions could wait, for it was much more meaningful and special to just watch our little love sleep in.  

    Once Marshall woke up, we did some quick errands and had our nod to 'feast of seven fishes'.  This year we had Mads' favorite seafood dish: butterfly shrimp.  

    Mads also received a special transmission from Mrs. Claus herself on the North Pole communicator.  She said that Marshall is one of her all time favorite people- which got quite the smile out of him- and that Santa is already in the sky in the eastern hemisphere.

    We skipped making and decorating cookie this year as grandpa V has been baking cookies nonstop to spoil Marsh with.  So let's just skip right to our Christmas Eve mass.

    Marshall dressed up in his button up and sweater with cute little bow-tie to set it all off.

    Before we left we did a quick search on our Santa GPS app.  He was still a ways out and we were all set for mass.

    Christmas Eve mass was very special, Father talked about family, the intense love God has for us, and how it all comes together during Christmas.  It was a lovely homily.  Marshall was, overall, pretty good.  He kept cracking grandpa V up into quiet giggles with making faces and trying to wink at gramps.  Next time we will have to separate them.  

    It was truly special, also, because this is my 'home' church.  The church I have gone to from third grade to college.  It was so fun to see families that grew up with us in church tonight, and new young families.  I guess I kind of fit into both categories now.

    Grandpa V made a point to bring Marshall out to the nativity scene and talk to him about the meaning of Christmas.  It was a very nice moment between grandfather and grandson.

    We headed home and Marshall found that the elves found where he was just fine.  They delivered his special Christmas Eve box!  Every year Mads gets a Christmas Eve delivery from the elves while we are at mass.  This tradition stems from a combination of Brad and me.  In Brad's family, they were allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve.  In my family, Christmas presents were for Christmas only.  So this is the happy medium- Marshall gets something to open on Christmas Eve but it isn't taking away from the Christmas presents or the specialness of it all.  Every year the elves bring the same thing: a bedtime snack, pajamas, a cup/ mug, and a book.  It use to be Christmas themed pajamas and book.  Santa must have decided to start giving Marshall pajamas and a book he can get use out of all year long and give the Christmas pajamas early, starting last year.

    This year's snack was very "Marshall". Santa may like cookies & milk but Marshall's favorite snack is chips and chocolate milk.  It is a special snack and he virtually never gets Doritos, so he was especially excited.  I didn't even know he knew what Doritos were or that he liked them until Brad's chief bought them for him- that was also the first/ last time he had them.

    The book the elves included was especially fitting for Marsh's time with Grandpa.  He received "How To Babysit A Grandpa"!  Grandpa V and Mads got a real kick out of the book.

    The elves even included a very special treat.  The chocolate milk they included was a bottle of Shatto milk, a uniquely Missouri dairy company and only available there (as far as we know).  It was a welcome taste of Mads' hometown, he was very excited.  He also received a Mickey Christmas movie!  Santa must have gotten it free with some saved up Disney points.

    Marshall just about flew through the roof with excitement when he saw the 'jammies!  They are special police uniform pajamas- just like papa's old blue uniform.  He also was given a Santa straw cup to enjoy his milk in.

    Before we let him get into the Dorito powder goodness we wanted to get some good pictures with grandpa's two cairn terriers in their Christmas sweaters.

    We changed Marshall into his Christmas pajamas he received back on the fifth day and he quickly made himself comfortable with his Doritos and Shatto milk.

    After snacks he chose papa as the official book reader for the evening and they dug into our Christmas book collection.

    It was too cute watching the boys in their pajamas read all about Christmas.  From the nativity to Rudolph to the Cajun Christmas legend and more- we really enjoyed them all.

  The twenty-fourth day was truly a day of just taking it easy and enjoying being together.  No work for Brad, no having to video chat with grandpa V miles away.  It was us celebrating our unique family traditions as well as old traditions.  And a lot of reflection.  Reflecting on all that has happened this past year, reflecting on what tomorrow means to us, and reflecting on just how blessed we are this Christmas.  As we set out the milk and cookies for Santa, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas.  May you feel the warmth of being with those you truly adore and finding joy in what you have.  'Til tomorrow, friends, "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"

Bonus Post: Christmas Eve through Marshall's eyes

    It's obvious on the blog that I take a lot of pictures.  Marshall is just three years old and he has thousands upon thousands of pictures and videos documenting his life.

    Well today Marshall asked sweetly if he could take pictures.  I handed him my phone, told him to take pictures of things he liked, and these are the various things that were important to him this Christmas Eve.  Enjoy seeing our Christmas Eve through his eyes!

    First he called over Grandpa's two dogs to take individual portraits.

   Next up was the tree and Santa(s).  Marshall absolutely loves all things Santa.

    Mads called for Grandpa V but he was busy in the other room at the moment, so he settled on taking a picture of me and Brad.  We were still in our church attire.

    It was fun seeing what things Marshall was so quickly drawn to capture, he's obviously been eyeing these things for awhile.  

    I hope you enjoyed Marshall's first pictures!  He'll be taking over the blog in no time, I'm sure.

   

23rd Day: Penguin Fun

    On the twenty-third day, we decided to bring Marshall's favorite animal's house to grandpa's house.  We had a penguin igloo party!

    We started with putting out the igloo we quickly threw together awhile back, just made out of cardboard and some spray paint.  Then we added Mads' penguin collection and viola!  Instant penguin party.

    Marshall was over the moon with excitement when he saw the simple set up.  He hastily crawled in to explore.

    What kind of igloo party would it be without a bunch of penguins?  Marsh crawled back out and started tossing his little friends inside.

    Obviously Mads had to wear his cool penguin shirt for the occasion.

    It was time for our story time.  We decided to read some of our favorite penguin books, 'I Am Small' author unlisted and 'And Tango Makes Three' by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell.

    We read 'I Am Small' first.  It was gifted to us when Marshall was just a newborn and before we knew his love for these special little birds.  What we love about the book is the message.  The little penguin is overwhelmed by how small he is, compared to the world around him, but he soon learns that it doesn't matter how big he is.  As he tells his mama "I may be small, but I can see the biggest thing to you is me!"

 

 

    'And Tango Makes Three' was our next book.  Tango is based on the true story of Roy & Silo, two penguins that live in the Central Park zoo.  Roy and Silo loved each other and very much wanted a baby penguin to complete their family.  So much that they would routinely make nests and try to hatch stones.  See, they couldn't lay an egg of their own because Roy and Silo are both boy penguins.  A zoo keeper eventually gave them an egg and they diligently cared for their precious egg until it hatched and out came Tango!  It is important to us that Marshall see diversity in his books and that it isn't a big deal.  Roy, Silo, & Tango's family is based on the same thing all good families are based on: love.  And that is what truly matters.

    We also surprised Marshall with his penguin mug he received at Crown Center back on the seventh day.  He was thrilled to see his favorite new mug made it up to the north country.

    After a quick nap and change of clothes, for the party we were to attend later, we broke out the craft for the day.  My lovely sister bought a bunch of holiday stuff on clearance, after Christmas, last year and was nice enough to send us the goodies for this year's twenty-five days!  Among the items was this treasure: a 3D igloo craft!

   Marshall couldn't wait to get his hands on this project.  Him and papa quickly put it together and started decorating.

    It was too cute when Marshall lined up the snowmen.  He proudly named the biggest boy snowman "papa", the biggest girl snow woman was "mama", then the little boy snowman was "Marshall" of course!

    He did a pretty good job if I do say so myself!

    The twenty-third day was about waddling our way to normalcy in a new setting.  It was about making Marshall feel at home, using his beloved friends' house and reading penguin books about love being paramount.  Because that is what this twenty-five day celebration is about to us.  The love God had for us, that he sent his only begotten son to Earth to save us all.  And the love we have as a family and enjoying the time we get together.  We hope you all are able to waddle home to your family igloos and celebrate the love of the season!  Stay warm and be safe!