Christmas Day with the Odells

Christmas Day is spent with Matt's side of the family. Usually at his brother Scott's house. It starts out with 10 kids (cousins) parents and grandparents and grows steadily throughout the afternoon and evening as friends of Scott and Jackie's stop by. It's crowded and a little crazy but the kids totally love it. And it has gotten easier as our kids have gotten older and we don't have to constantly supervise/find them in the crowd.

Heading out around 2pm after a nice relaxing Christmas morning at our house. (I even went back to bed for a few hours - the beauty of not hosting) Seriously, who coordinated these outfits? Could they be any less matchy-matchy?

Lily's asthma has been bad. Running around in cold air really sets her off. So she had to stay in while the big kids were outside playing. Felt really bad for the little peanut standing watching out the window.

Brendan was passed from lap to lap and seemed to enjoy his first Christmas. He's at a nice age, seven months. He sits and is interested in holding/chewing toys. No stranger anxiety and he doesn't move if you plop him down.

Grandpa, Caitlin, her friend Emma and my Emma trying to get Bren to laugh. He has a very sweet little chuckle. Jackie has said for years that preteens make better babysitters than teens. These 3 were so cute with Brendan. Of course the other Emma turns 13 next month. We'll see if she's still baby-crazed once she's a full fledged teen.

After dinner the other Emma's family invited everyone over for sledding. They live one street over. We've never gone over before. We almost bailed. It was late and it had already been a long day. But the kids really wanted to go - the cousins had really talked it up. We decided we'd go for just a little bit. Which turned out to be a few hours. It was so much fun. They have a sloped lot that extends way back into the woods. Mr. R set the track earlier in the day. Mrs. R. set out jars with tealights to mark it. Bad picture, but you get the idea. And that only shows the first 1/3 of the track. It started in their front yard and went all they way through the side yard and down in back into the woods. Some of it was a gradual slope but the first part was steep enough that the kids (and many adults) flew. The non-sledders stood around the fire roasting marshmallows and drinking hot cider. The R's had Christmas lights all over their back deck and holiday music playing. Totally fun. I know I knock theater people, but, man they know how to throw a party. We were very happy to be included. And happy we didn't wimp out... It was a great way to end the day.

Christmas Eve

We spend Christmas Eve at my parents' house. My Uncle Steve and Grandma also go over. It's pretty low-key. My kids are the only kids. They get a lot of loot and attention, but there aren't any crazy kid cousins to run around with. They still have fun though. They are very familiar with Nana and Poppy's house and know where all the fun stuff is. Nana also put E & J to work this year. They set the table and sliced cheese and arranged the appetizers. They were quite good little helpers. It was a great dinner and a nice night. We eat at 1:00 so the afternoon/evening's pace is slow and relaxed. We were home by 8. The kids zoomed upstairs to bed. They were very excited for Santa. Though both kids had already checked off a few of the top items on their lists. Both were sure that Santa would be in the know and not bring duplicates. (They were right)

reaction shots with the top gifts on their lists

Merry Christmas!!!

New Christmas jams at Nana and Poppy's. Not exactly the shot I was looking for... I'll post more later. Still digging out. And dealing with leftovers. Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

nutty for sledding

Our schools are already on Christmas break - we have 2 full weeks off. (And last Friday as a bonus.) Today Emma's friend Christina came over for the day. In spite of the cold and blowy conditions we went across the street. It was only 3ish but the sun was starting to go down.

Really pretty light. But really cold. The kids didn't care. I'm the wimp. They tried out a steeper section of hill and even made a little jump.

climbing up the steep part

Christina catches some air

Nothing like these big kid snowboarders though. They reminded me of Marc with their big shovels...

And check out what this dad brought for his 4 kids to go down in. The top of a turtle car storage thingy!

This was the view as we left an our later...

Quick walk home to cookie day cookies and hot cocoa. :)

icicles

Since they're on the second story and above the porch, they probably won't fall on my kids and spear them, right? They look so pretty and festive...

one more from sledding

The hill across the street is C shaped. We usually sled in the medium steep area. The super steep part (with jumps) is usually full of teenagers. Anyway, the area we like is right behind that little gray house that I love. Deb and Em, the one that I made you go to the open house for last May. Dee, the one I kept e-mailing you the real estate listing for. It did finally sell this fall. Not to Dee. :( The old owners used to string old school big bulb Christmas lights on the big pine in back. It actually looks like they're still there. But the new owner doesn't turn them on. I knew I should have bought that house... How perfect for sledding. And Matt still is drooling over the shed with electricity and cable. Nothing else about the house made sense. Smaller house, weird, sloped lot, on the busy side (SHHS football field side) of the street. But it was just soooo me. *sigh*

Look, I still have the listing in my saved properties folder...
http://www.newenglandmoves.com/viewDetails.nem?GLID=1011204474&selectTab=1&propertySearchType=6&associateSearchType=&cid=914093

snow day!

No pics from our snow day yesterday. If there were they'd be pretty boring. School was canceled so Em, Jack and I stayed in jammies all day. The kids did go outside a few times. I mostly warmed the couch and read my book from Dee - The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes. (Finished it too. Good call, Dee - you know a Bec book when you see one.) :)

Today Emma was up bright and early. She went out to shovel since Matt said they couldn't go sledding til the driveway was cleared. She didn't last long. "Shoveling is hard," she announced. It was a good effort though. Unfortunately a call from MassMutual foiled the get out to the hill early plan anyway. But after the MM problem was fixed and the driveway, walk and back stairs were clear Matt and the kids headed out. I caught up a little later to take some pics. I was a little worried Jack would already be done. In previous years he has had small window of time where he enjoys being outside in the snow. Last year he was a little better. Well I'm happy to say this year he outlasted us all. I couldn't believe how much fun he was having. (absolutely zero whining about the cold, crying when he wiped out, kicking the snow, demanding to be carried home - yeah, he was a barrel of fun a few winters back) This year he was all laughs, smiles and woo-hoos as he climbed up and flew down time after after time. Emma had to take a few breathers - because she was tired, not whiney. But not Jack - he was all Mr. Happy and Energetic. Possibly I give him more credit than I should for simply having fun in the snow and being, well, pleasant to be around. Poor Emma never gets credit for that. But for Jack it doesn't come as naturally and takes far more effort on his part. So I'm going to give him credit for not being a pain in my butt. And, seriously, it was really great to see him so happy, having so much fun. Both of them. But mostly him. Ya know?

the hill abutting the HS athletic fields - right across the street from us

my 3 snow bunnies

happily pulling the sled back up the hill

my favorite Jack shot of the day

my easy-going girl - trying not to take her attitude for granted

a few of my favorite things...

How I Met Your Mother and the Summer Olympics!

Entertainment Weekly did a funny recreation of some of 2008's most memorable moments with the cast of HIMYM. Pretty funny. I couldn't fit the whole 2 page spread on my scanner and didn't feel like scanning separately and pasting. Anyway, rest assured that they are all wearing swim suits. There was also a funny quote about shaving underarm hair that didn't make the scan.

caroling from last weekend

Forgot to blog about Emma's troop caroling at the nursing home/rehab hospital in town. They do it every year. My parents' neighbor's sister is a resident there and we always hear through the grapevine what a hit the girls were. The residents look forward to it every year. This year Em's troop did a little Nutcracker skit before the singing. It was cute. Maybe a tad long... The crowd was friendly though.

Um, yeah, we grow 'em tall. Don't count the 3 little brownies in the front though. They're from our sister troop. And all 3 cuties are in Jack's 1st grade class. I didn't get a good one of the whole group. I thought it would be wrong to push the wheelchair out of the way that was blocking my shot...

Em and her friend C. in the snack room afterwards. You can hardly even tell they are annoyed with me for keeping them from the cookies and punch with all my picture taking :)

the hat

Poppy gave this hat to the kids. They think it's hysterical. Jack has a very elaborate lip-synch/dance routine he usually does while wearing it. He got all shy when I took out the camera though. Dee, should I wear it to the mall tomorrow night?

Prop 8 the musical

Thanks Robin. Catching up and finally watched this... Neil Patrick Harris is totally my boyfriend. Too bad he's married. And gay. Oh, right, and I am too. Married, not gay.

I feel strongly about this issue. For lots of reasons. But basically, in my opinion marriage is a civil right. And rewording the CA state constitution in a way that denies people civil rights is, well, wrong. Simple as that.

"Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more... by Jack Black

pretzel boy

So I had a mountain of pretzel snaps (the square ones) leftover from cookie day. Jack's teacher has non-sugary extra snacks on her wish list. So I sent in a big ole full bag of snaps along with a box of tissues. On the way to the bus in the morning I told Jack I had put some classroom donation stuff in his backpack. This is our conversation when he came home that afternoon.

Me: Did you give Ms. McWilliams your classroom donation stuff?
J: Yes. She said thanks.
Me: (after unpacking his lunch box) Hey, you didn't eat any of your lunch.
J: Well I didn't have any room after eating all those pretzels.
Me: Um, what?
J: The ones you packed me for snack. I ate half at snack and half at lunch. I threw some away.
M: Those were for your classroom. You ate the whole bag?
J: Yeah. Mostly. That was a lot of pretzels.

Um, yeah.

our tree

Emily requested pics a while ago. Can't remember how I got a decent one last year. I need a Deb low-light tutorial again. Neither one of these really does our pretty, little tree justice. I will try to take outside ones tonight.

Odells don't get rid of stuff...

Sometimes that is handy. (Don't tell Matt I said so...) This back carrier has carried a lot of Odell babies on tree day. Thought that was the case, but I had to investigate in my photo library to be sure it was the same one. I think it's funny that the baby being carried is always toted by someone other than his/her parent.

Jackie & Jack 2002 Cate & Lil 2005

Caitlin & Bren 2008

Annual Tree Hunt

This is why we need Deb. This is the type of family photo other people take.

Our Saturday after Thanksgiving tree tradition is way easier with mostly big kids. The cousins all had fun running around looking for the perfect tree. All those big kids had lots of opinions. Though Brendan mostly liked feeling the branches and popping things in his mouth. It took some time but in the end we found 3 good trees for the 3 families. Ours is a little shorter than usual, but it still looks good. I will post decorated pics later.

Turkey Day 08

On Thursday we went to the in-laws. 10 kids and lots of craziness. Took not a single picture. Not even baby Bren in his adorable argyle sweater. For shame... At least I remembered to snap a few of E & J in the morning. Our traditional picture tree is no more. So we posed in the side yard near the big tree. The light is weird, but I wasn't picky. They hate posing for pics now, so I had to knock it out quickly. Is it me, or do they look really old in these?

Today we had our day after Thanksgiving feast at my parents' house. We invited Caitlin along because now it's tradition. Again, barely anything for pics. Did get this one of the 3 kids watching funny cat youtube videos on my iphone.

Tomorrow it's our annual multi-family Christmas tree day. Odells are nothing if not creatures of habit.