Anyway, that is why I am just now getting around to posting things from Christmas. That is around the time Jackson became proficient at mobility. So, here are a few random Christmas pictures and captions, just in case you thought the holidays ended too soon. Since retail stores start preparing for Christmas after Halloween now, and it is February, I am just doing my part to help the holiday season last for half a year.
On the first night of Christmas Break, we had a simple family dinner on TV trays so we could watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas. For some reason, Jackson is giving us the stink-eye. You can see his 12 month pants are getting too short already in December. I didn't move up a size until just now, however, because he was trashing the knees, and I figured I may as well let him wear them out completely before putting him in new pants. (Side note: Jackson often eats as much as the girls do during dinner.) (Double Side note: The girls are notorious for loving pajamas, and choosing ones that are completely wrong for the season, as you can see here.)
Grandpa and Grandma Gottschalk and Connie really hit the nail on the head with Katie! They sent my little chef-to-be an Easy Bake Oven. She absolutely loves it and is planning to make Jackson a birthday cake! He may have a lot of cake. Good thing he has a ravenous appetite. This is a picture of her first cake, which she asked to have split into three equal parts (not an easy task, I tell you) so she could share with Maddie and I (Franz was out of town).
Katie had Pajama Day on last day of school before break. Here she is with some of her friends. Nothing like a five-year-old anticipating Christmas! That was SOME energy in that classroom. I admire the teachers for even showing up that day!
Katie in her Christmas play. They wore Santa hats (and sunglasses for a couple of songs). She selected these grab-bag sunglasses because she was sure she'd look like a movie star. Doesn't she though?!
And here she is without the sunglasses. I know, I know, parents and their forty-thousand pictures of their kids in every pose. Hey, at least I didn't post all 15 of them, or the video.
The girls found their very own giant Barbie house on Christmas morning when they came downstairs! Santa and his elves must have been up all night assembling that house! Seriously. They must have. It has a working elevator (hand operated), a piano that plays, a light that lights up, and a toilet that flushes (just the noise - so don't try anthing please!). It is the preferred playtime activity these days. Thanks to Papa and Grandma Chocolate for these cute little nightgowns they are wearing!
Jackson was still sleepy after his bottle on Christmas morning, and didn't know what to do with the plush jungle puppets he found from Santa. He got over the hesitancy quickly once he saw paper flying and watched the girls getting excited.
His favorite activity of the day was collecting the bows in a pile and then putting them all into a gift bag with candy canes on it and pulling them out again. Repeat. A billion times. Jackson is very fond of cars of all shapes and sizes, and was thrilled to receive several wheeled presents.
It was so nice to wake up in our own home this year, and run downstairs with the kids in our PJs. We had a breakfast of an egg, hashbrown, bacon casserole (double thumbs up from our bacon loving family) and a lemon coconut coffee cake (it was a delicious experiment that I WILL repeat again). Franz's parents flew in that morning and arrived just in time for a late breakfast. We took it easy and enjoyed the day.
Have you ever counted how many Christmases you have with your kids? Not very many, really. We just realized that Maddie is turning 9 on her next birthday. She is half-way out of the house already and we just feel like we brought her home from the hospital yesterday! She was not receptive to my forget-college-and-live-with-us-forever plan this morning. Katie, on the other hand, likes the sound of it, as long as she is allowed to have a boyfriend at that time. Hmmm. Franz was not a fan of her plan. I guess we have a few wrinkles to work out in the long-term family plans around here, and seeing how time flies, we'd better get right on that!
1 comment:
I love blog updates!!!! I cannot lie. Jack looks so big, I don't even know what to do; and the girls are precious as usual. Also, sorry about the lactose intolerant baby. That's a new one for the Gottschalk family. Good luck with that!
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