December is behind us... thank goodness!!! The month was not kind to this family. Looking back, I'm amazed that holidays were still so normal last year, because they were anything but this year. Getting the Christmas tree proved to be a chore more than anything else, and then our tree looked like mentally-handicapped people had decorated it (no decorations on the bottom third because Alex kept yanking off the tree), I wasn't motivated to bake cookies until last minute and we didn't even have the stockings up until the 17th! Adding insult to injury, Oliver got strep throat, so we couldn't see the Braunschweiger clan for my favorite gathering of the holiday and the babies woke up early! (4:15am) on Christmas morning with fevers. Ugh. So, that was the holiday in a nutshell for us.
We kicked things off by taking the kids and Natalie to get our Christmas tree. Right as we were getting out of the minivan, my boot broke. So I got stuck walking around for over an hour on just the inside sole of my shoe. By the time we got back in the car, my sock was completely soaked through and my foot felt like an icicle. Even though we suspected we would end up with a tree from the Garden Center, as we had last year, we took the hay ride out to the farm at Linvilla to see if there were any trees we liked. Almost immediately after we got dropped off, Oliver started whining, so we aborted the mission, since it was pretty chilly, and made our way back to the pre-cut trees. While Oliver, Natalie and Adam looked for our tree, I kept an eye on the twins, who decided it was their turn to be cranky and unbearable. Did I mention yet that this particular outing was probably the least fun of any outing we have done as a family of five?? Once we paid for our tree, Adam brought the car around for the guys to tie it to the top of our car... but they couldn't find our tree! So after 10+ minutes of waiting for them to find it, Adam had to go back out and pick another one. But, hey, we look like everyone is mostly having fun in the photos!
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| marshmellow mess! |
The next day, I took Lukas and Oliver to the SSC Christmas party. We had missed the Bromfield/Doerr Christmas Tree outing, so it was a chance to see Nicole, Devon, and my dad. Adam hung back in Philly with Alex. The two of them went to the German butcher, which ended up closing due to inclement weather before they got there, and Adam endured an almost 3 hour trip in the car for nothing. The drive back home from Flanders wasn't great, but I was glad that we had made the trip. To see the expression on Oliver & Devon's faces when Santa came up the steps was priceless.
On Christmas Eve day we headed to Ken & Lee Ann's for brunch. It was a very nice, relaxed atmosphere, which was just perfect. After opening presents and some brunch, we bundled the kids up and took them outside to burn off some steam. Pop-pop took Alex & Lukas each on the tree swing, and Oliver had fun riding it as well. The kids had a quick cat-nap in the car and we stopped by Scott & Jenn's Seven Fishes party before heading home. One of the highlights of the holiday for me, was being able to enjoy a glass of wine and A Christmas Story with Adam on Christmas Eve. All the present wrapping/assembling had been done ahead of time and the kids were tucked in their beds at the normal time.
On Christmas Day, things started early as both Alex & Lukas were up early with fevers. Natalie opened some presents with us, and then headed to Manhattan (out the door before 8am!) with her parents and sister who have been visiting. From Santa, Oliver got a transformer, Lukas got a large Lightening McQueen car and Alex got a ballpit, that all of the kids really love. We got Alex and Lukas a train table and Oliver a remote control Lightening McQueen race track.
In the afternoon, Omi, Nicole and Devon came to spend the day with us. Oliver wasn't a lot of fun to be around and I was so thankful that my mom and sister were just able to embrace the chaos and not mad that our chaotic Christmas was exactly what a sane person would consider fun. But, the Rouladen and Spätzle were delicious. Alex and Lukas both had fevers and were just not themselves. My mom wasn't too sad that she had to leave late-afternoon to go to work the next morning. I joke that Adam practically skipped out of the house himself on the 26th, happy to be the one manning the trading desk.
Nicole and Devon slept over for two nights so we had some fun around the city. We took the big kids to the Please Touch Museum one day and all four kids to the Nest Playgym the second day. Oliver and Devon play nicely when we are out of the house, but Oliver is quite territorial, and not really fun for Devon when they are at our house. Devon loves the babies and is so incredibly sweet to his younger cousins. At the carousel, Devon wouldn't sit on one of the horses that went up and down. He only wanted to sit on the bench - he pretended he was Santa and was singing. It was adorable!
That weekend, we came up to visit my dad and Margit, who we had missed thanks to the strep throat. This is the ONLY family photo of have of all five of us from the holidays. How crazy is that? The boys really enjoyed Opa's train that rides around the Christmas tree, and it was nice to see how much he enjoyed sharing that with them.
I have read multiple articles now telling mothers with small children that they need to reign in expectations for the holidays otherwise they will stress themselves out. I read each nodding my head furiously, experiencing every bit of that.... I'm the only one that noticed that the decorations weren't up as long as normal. I'm the one that really wants those cookies to eat on Christmas morning.... Let's face it, a couple of presents on Christmas morning and the kids are happy. There was SO much I wanted to do this year, that I knew not even to attempt. Light show at Franklin Square on the other side of Philly; cookie decorating party like Oliver, Pauline and Julia did last year.... more Christmas craft projects... New Years Eve party at the Chidren's Museum (they count down to noon). Nope, nope, and nope. We didn't attempt a single one. I knew, for once, that there things were just too far from the realm of something we might be able to pull off. Here's to a more memorable holiday experience next year!!!
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