Christmas with the Koorndyks!

To ring in the first Christmas at our house, this year we hosted the Christmas festivities when my brother came in from Ohio. Scott and Jill and the boys arrived Wednesday and stayed through Sunday, and we had so much fun!

The kids were literally roaring laughing when they played Boom Blox together, and after they went to sleep the adults played. Scott, Jon, and Eli were the champions of Boom Blox in the family. Almost every night we played card games too, so Jon and I were loving that (we love to play games). It was so much fun to have everyone here!

That’s one (well three) full tables!

Boom Blox – Eli’s excited to show his cousins!

We opened presents for the kids on the morning of Christmas Eve, in our jammies. That was a first for us for some reason – we’ve always done it in the evening I think. We made people wake up at 8 am for breakfast though (*cough* Scott and Jon *cough*). The kids were sooo excited to open their gifts and have all day to play with them.

The obligatory kids in front of the tree photo. The only one where the majority of the kids look normal has Andrew hidden though.

Matea actually opened one present I think, though most of the time she spent bringing Christmas ornaments to people (mostly Uncle Jeff) and eating crackers in the front entryway. She came running though when she saw Tori’s Rescue Hero command center. I never thought of putting Rescue Heroes on her list, but I should have! She loved that command center. After getting her doll house, instruments, and cash register out of their packages she got in to those, but the Rescue Heroes were the biggest hit. And, of course, sitting on the presents again.

A Christmas miracle – she’s opening a present!

Naw, I like opening the crackers better Mom. Matea came running when this baby was revealed. Was I supposed to open this or sit on it?Lexi’s helmet fits me pretty good, don’t you think?Making noise with my instruments!

Eli really wanted to open his gifts (a.k.a. not wait his turn) and he loved his presents. He got the Piranha Panic game and said, “This is exactly what I was wanting!” And he got Sorry Sliders which he loves to play at Lexi and Tori’s house. He was very excited about that.  And Grandma, in her wisdom, got him a little Lego Castle set of his own. Nathan and Andrew and Tori were getting Legos and Mom knew that Eli would want some of his own.  And he did. He loved sitting at the table with the kids and putting everything together. Good call, Grandma!

Time to panic! The Piranhas' are loose!“Whoah, Legos!”

Friday, Christmas Day, brought more family time, and the adults opened their presents (no pics, sorry). We were also treated to a “play” by the kids. Since I grew up putting on plays with my cousins, I thought it was a hoot. Lexi was the MC and Nathan and Noah were comic relief. :) Friday night also, unfortunately, started the stomach flu, with Tori getting sick around 1 am. She seemed a little better in the morning though, which was the calm before the storm.

Singing one of many versions of Jingle Bells. 

Saturday brought the Koorndyk Christmas Party with my aunts and uncles. We were in the gym at church and the kids loved dodgeball, scooters, and running running running. We got to catch up a little (not nearly enough) and afterwards play some games back at our house. Saturday night Scott and Noah and Lexi fell to the stomach flu as well though. Our family stayed well (I think we had it the week before, sorry guys!), but it wasn’t the best way to end our time together. As Lori said though, “It wouldn’t be Christmas without a Koorndyk getting sick!” Despite the ending, we had a wonderful 5 days of Christmas fun with my brothers and sisters!

Getting the balls out of the storage room was a favorite for Matea.

Dodgeball!

Nathan got his workout pulling these four around on scooters.

Who can resist this cutie pie? Not me! (thanks for the picture, Toni, I love it!

Our Christmas!

Our first Christmas in our new house was memorable in a lot of ways, but between all the parties and guests and travel, we had a hard time finding a time for our own Christmas present opening. We decided last minute to squeeze it in be00fore my brother and his family came in for Christmas. The last few years have been spent in flux with the house and moving, and now that we are settled we’d like to develop our own Christmas tradition. It didn’t really happen this year though, so we went with the flow and found time when we could. The kids didn’t care, that’s for sure!

Christmas always starts with stockings! For some reason I didn’t buy Matea a stocking when I got Eli a new one last year, so instead she got a brand new fuzzy pink stocking. :) Of course, she had no interest in what was in her stocking, only what was in Eli’s.

Getting our stockings down!

Matea got a hand-felted sheep ornament this year! (not hand-felted by me, but hand-felted nonetheless).

Finding the Skittle candy cane that he kept asking for every time we were in Target = a very happy boy.

Matea put all the things from Mommy’s stocking in the mailbox of her house for some reason.

Moving on to the gifts, Matea had ZERO interest in the gifts. She did not want to open them, touch the paper, nothing. She liked looking at Eli’s presents, but wanted nothing to do with her own until they were completely taken out of the boxes. She would scream and cry and kick the gifts (and throw them if she could). After a few tries of having her open gifts she retreated to the corner behind a big gift and we stopped trying to coax her in to it. Baby girl wanted nothing to do with it! She finally emerged to play with some of Eli’s gifts . . . and to sit on the presents if she could. Crazy girl! :)

I DO NOT LIKE THIS!

What kind of parent foists presents on their kids? :)

Traumatized by presents, Matea is off to hide in the corner.

At least she enjoyed one of her presents – a sheep book.

When she emerged from isolation, she sat on my presents.

Eli was a different story of course. We could barely get him to stop and look at his present before he opened the next one. He got to open most of Matea’s as well, so he was having a good time. He was very excited to get Boom Blox Bash Party for the Wii, and the Hot Wheels Color Shifters Color Blaster set he wanted. The books we got him he wasn’t feeling that much appreciation for at first (though he didn’t say anything, which I was happy about, he just wasn’t that excited). We’ve read The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Stuart Little to him now though and he loves chapter books, so he ended up being glad to get them. And the biggest hit of the day was the new markers which I got them and just kind of wrapped up for fun because I was going to give them to the kids anyway. They were both instantly excited about those! Go figure.

Boom Blox!

Another book . . . great.

Who knew they’d be so excited by markers?!

Mommy fought the crowds on Black Friday to get this for cheap.

Two fun moments for me was when Eli started playing with Matea’s presents, in particular her pink SUV, counting piggybank, and alphabet ball, and Matea sat there playing with Eli’s Bakugan, cars, and books. Both ignoring their own toys and interested in each others! The second memory was of them playing with the color shifting cars together. They would take turns squirting the cars, trade cars, and had a fun time playing – together! Now that’s a true gift for Christmas!

    Why play with my toys when yours look so fun!  

Peaceful playing – a rare treat!

Christmas Party! (Eli’s, that is)

Today was Eli’s Christmas party at school, and he had a lot of fun! Matea stayed with my Dad so I could get one-on-one time with Eli and help him with his crafts during the party without having to chase Matea around the room. I’m so thankful for that! Eli and I had a nice time together, and I could even help a few other children whose parents couldn’t make it.

We had five stations of craft/activities, but Eli’s favorite by far was when he got to make a bag of hot chocolate mix to take home and load it up with marshmallows, chocolate chips, and peppermints. We also made an ornament, a snowman magnet, and strung a bracelet (which Eli and I decided to make in to a candy cane ornament instead). :) After picking up Matea we headed home and made the hot chocolate (nummy nummy) and played games together while Matea napped. Eli, the Candy Land master, continued his dominance, and we had a great afternoon of crafts, food, and fun!

Listening to our instructions on the story mat.

Ornament time! Eli made his a face with trees for eyes.

Being silly. What a ham. :)

Studiously stringing beads.

The finished snowman magnet! Eli did everything but draw the mouth and tie the scarf!

First Christmas Program!

Wednesday was Eli’s first Christmas program for school! His first EVER! We were quite excited for the occasion around here and couldn’t wait to hear him sing his songs. I wasn’t sure how good the songs were going to turn out since school had been cancelled so much the previous week, but they actually turned out really well and were very cute. Eli actually sang and did the motions, and has been singing non-stop at home. After the program there was punch and cookies, and Eli got to show Lexi and Tori and Maya his classroom (which I think was the highlight for him, he kept racing around and jumping all over the place). Eli’s first school Christmas program is in the books! :)

The opening act warming up the crowd.

All lined up!

Doing cheesy smiles so all the parents can get pictures.

Eli’s favorite – Jingle Bells!

The closing song – We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

Finished and happy. :)

Being squeezed by my adoring public.

Showing the girls my classroom makes me happy.

My baby’s gone . . .

And now I have a big boy! Eli got his hair cut today and looks like such a boy. He even requested hair gel.  My toddler disappeared and left quite the looker in his place. :)

Oh yeah, I’m a good-lookin’ dude now.

“Get a shot of my spikes, Mommy!”

He’s still the same silly crazy boy though . . .