OMG- it's nearly May and I am just now blogging about Christmas. Where has the time gone? Let's see, we found out we were pregnant in the fall, the holidays were a whirlwind as always and then the past few months we've been trying to wrap our heads around the fact that we will soon have 3 kids.
First we had our Church Christmas Party. The kids LOVED it. They sang songs (hence the jingle-bell in Jonah's hand) and got to see Santa. Stella had a basketball game this day so she couldn't stay for all of the festivities.
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| Jonah and Stella hanging out! |
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| Jonah and Teta hanging out! |
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| Gido and his mini-twin |
We decided to put our tree up the weekend before Thanksgiving because we would be traveling the week of Thanksgiving to Orlando (see our
2011 Thanksgiving blog entry).
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| Jonah wanted to help decorate the tree too! |
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| Our Tree! |
I wanted to make this holiday season different from most. In addition to Stella's Lego Advent calendar we tried to do as many crafts and baking projects as possible.
First craft was building our first gingerbread house. I had never built one before and found a pretty neat kit at Toy's R Us, so I figured we'd give it a shot. Let's just say that this task required A LOT of patience! You had to assemble sections of the house and let it dry before continuing to the next section. Try explaining that to an eager 8 year old that only wants to get the house together as quickly as possible so that she can decorate it with candy (the fun part of course). It took some time but Stella loved every minute of it!
Then one evening Sarah and Sophie came over to make cookies for Mikey as a surprise. Sophie made homemade snickerdoodle cookies and they were yummy!
Then it was time for Stella and I to make Granny's infamous sugar cookies. We called Nana and got the recipe and had so much fun cutting out shapes and icing them! Stella and I had a blast making these while Jonah frequented the kitchen to keep tasting the yummy cookies.
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| First batch! |
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| Icing the cookies. |
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Jonah was our cookie taster.
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Our final project was making our "Cookies for Santa" gifts. We made these for friends and family and they were a hit! Stella loved measuring and layering the ingredients.
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| Measuring the ingredients. |
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| Our jars before ribbon and tags! |
We found out the sex of Baby Langley #3 just a few days before Christmas so we decided to reveal the sex of the baby Christmas Eve with our family. The cake read "We are having a..." Mamoose cut into the cake and well what do you know, it was
PINK! We're having a
GIRL!
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| It was PINK! |
We loaded up the kids and all of their loot and headed home. We had to get home in time for the elves to deliver our Christmas pj's. Yes every year, they ring our doorbell and leave our Christmas pj's at the front door. After we put our Christmas pj's on we put our cookies and milk for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer's.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
The next morning the kids came down the stairs to find what Santa had left them...
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| Heading down the steps! |
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| Oh my look at all of those presents! |
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| Jonah wanted to help everyone open- even Stella! |
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| Santa must have loved his cookies and milk! |
Here the kids are wearing their pj's from the elves and enjoying some of the little goodies that were in their stockings!
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| JP loved his Disney Cars camera. |
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| Stella loved her video rocker. |
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| SLAM DUNK! |
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| My favorite Soccer Mom! |
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| Stella got a new laptop! |
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| and new skate shoes. |
After the presents were opened and we cleaned up, it was time for our traditional Christmas Day Family Breakfast. We had Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls and let the kids enjoy some time playing with their new toys before we loaded up the car and made our way to Nana & Papi's then to Teta & Gido's house.
Before leaving the house Jonah thought it would be a great idea to jump on a pile of Christmas shirt boxes that we had stacked by the door to take out to the recycling bin. Hence the "war wound" scar on his face that will appear in every Christmas Day pic!
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| "Hi, my name is trouble!" |
How cute are these 2 Langley boys? Jonah LOVES Uncle Scotty and calls him "cot."
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| Jonah and Uncle Scotty! |
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| Stella, Gabriel and Jonah. |
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| Stella & the twins; Gabriel & Lucy. |
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| Who invited this guy? |
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| Nana opening her Nana necklace from the kids. |
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| Nana & Papi's Christmas present! |
Who knew that opening presents could be so tiring....Time for a quick nap before we head to Teta & Gido's house!
The final stop of the day was to Teta & Gido's house! Stella was so excited to go see Teta. She said "Teta always buys us too much!" Try explaining to a 8 year old that Christmas is not about presents but remembering the reason for the season. Although, Stella was correct, Teta went overboard yet again this year and even had a stocking for Baby Langley.
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| Sophia and her American Girl! |
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| Teta & Gido's pride & joy! |
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| Stella loved her OSU shirt from Gigi! |
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| and watch... |
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| My silly girl! |
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| Jonah loved his Spongebob Mr. Potato head. |
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| I'm not sue who invited this silly girl! |
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| MINE! |
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| Mikey LOVED his Steamboat Mickey! |
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| Teaching JP to play the guitar |
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| Couldn't you just eat him up! |
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| "Mommy help me open my toys!" |
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| Wow a remote controlled car! |
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| Stella giving JP a ride on his new plasma car. |
Wow- although Christmas was jam packed with many activities, celebrations and get together's it was so much fun. We look forward to many more holiday celebrations and to think that there will be 1 more Langley joining us in 2012. We are so so BLESSED!
