Christmas! (...and a little more)

After we got through Makenna's first "parent day" at her dance studio,

 

and Addison's stirring rendition of  "Where is Santa?" at preschool...

Addison with her beloved teacher, Mrs. Vegso.

we finally welcomed 4 of the 6 (almost 7!) Birds to Virginia for Christmas. We've been waiting for almost a year for them to get here! We wasted no time in starting immediately on our traditional homemade gingerbread houses. Some are primitive, some are Martha Stewart worthy. Some are made by 6 year olds and include an obscene amount of icing and candy and are the cutest little cottages every created.

 

 

Then we had the bright idea to go see an old friend perform at the DC Visitor's Center with an A Capella group the Saturday before Christmas. We met 10,000 of our closest friends there as well. The group was incredible, though, as were the lights, as always. It's 70 degrees here, BTW. The sweaters and UGGs were merely to create the illusion of "wintertime".

Christmas Eve we went downtown to the U.S. Botannical Gardens to see the train display, which has become one of our favorite DC traditions. It was BITTER COLD WIND, which stung more than usual, as just 48 hrs. before was a muggy 73 degrees. WHA? 

 
Everything is sculpted/made from natural materials, which is incredible. They have the entire National Mall laid out, miniaturized. Further on, are the trains and miniature fairy houses/structures. Everything is designed with impeccable detail, it's all pretty amazing.

Other than that, we enjoyed our last few days with Scarlett before she flew back to the North Pole.

We played lots of games late into the night, while scarfing on delicious delicacies from the West. (Have you played this? Cards Against Humanity. Christmas present from Brother 1 to Brother 2. It's not G-rated, but I've never laughed so hard that I've cried playing a card game. For real. Think Apples to Apples, adult version.)

And Christmas Eve with these three angels was magical. They were the absolute perfect age to embrace the mystery/magic/excitement that is Santa. This is what it's all about folks.

But after we laid the cookies and milk out, and after we watched our annual viewing of Home Alone (20+ years and still going strong), and after the children were fast asleep with visions of Sugar Plums dancing in their heads...we got out the tripod and got to work.

It started out innocent enough. Classy couples' shots in front of the tree.

Then, as usual, Mom and Dad took it down a notch.  And it went downhill from there...

and ended in a family pyramid. Because what else do you do at midnight on Christmas Eve? Thank you, Meagan, for being a size 0. And thank you Drew, for not.

And then Christmas morning came. And they all walked down the stairs, littlest to biggest. And the fire was glowing and Bing and Frank were serenading us via Pandora. And someone, or maybe a few of us, said, "Ho Ho Ho, Santa Claus came!" because Grandma Fay wasn't there to say it and it's not Christmas morning until we've heard that.

 Kendall's 1st Christmas was a success and Santa knew just what to get her. She was so good for what would turn into 4 glorious hours of present opening, although around 11 she needed a little nap.

Miss Makenna got her very own American Girl doll. She wanted Josefina, the little Mexican girl who lives on a rancho with her sisters and is learning to read and play the piano. It was love at first sight and they've pretty much been inseparable ever since.

Lucky me got the one thing I never thought I would get. My amazing, and ever surprising mom, gave me a KitchenAid! It's beautiful and the size of my youngest child. Holy big machine! I got to using it right away to make rolls for Christmas dinner, but it's still a bit intimidating.

 And this, my friends, is the pinnacle of my labors of love this season. It's a custom-made, table-top playhouse for the girls. It took way longer than anticipated and ended up being way more expensive than I planned, but it was worth it. If I don't post pictures, no one will believe this non-sewer actually completed a one-of-a-kind sewing project. It's already gotten enough use to make it all worth it. The girls love it and have picnics and secret talks inside, which is exactly what it was made for.

My mom called it a Quiet Book on crack, which it is essentially. It has flowers you can plant/pick on the bottom, an apple tree to pick apples off of, a flap door, a cozy fireplace, bookcases, and lamp/table inside, and a little mailbox on the side.

Drew was happy with this because he now claims we can NEVER discard this table, EVER. (Um...I should've thought this through a little better)

After presents, we started preparing Christmas dinner, playing with new toys, and relaxing around the fire. I tried out my KitchenAid (the one pictured below we took back because it couldn't handle Mom's famous roll recipe. So we went bigger, and let me tell you, it's a force to be reckoned with.)

I'm not sure how it started, but the 26th is reserved in its entirety for a girl's shopping/lunch/bonding day. It is one of my favorite days of the entire year. This year my new sister-in-law, Meagan, accompanied us and we concluded, the more the merrier! 

The next day was my birthday and Drew took one for the team so the adults could stroll the Mall/museums child-free. That, my friends, was a gift.

However, the next day we all took the girls to the Natural History Museum and soaked up what we refer to as "our Winter Zoo" (all the stuffed/taxidermied animals you could ever want). Have I said before that Kendall is the best baby ever? Carted around for hours on end, only to smile on demand for the 100th picture taken by me? I'm blessed beyond measure, truly.

A little appetizer for our friend, T-rex?

And then they went home and I was melancholy, like I always am after family leaves. But it was Kendall's birthday that day and that made me happy to reflect on such an incredible first year with her. She loved her first cupcake. The chocolate was licked clean in about 2 minutes flat.

After everyone left we still had a whole week off from school with Drew home, which was heaven. We took full advantage of sleeping in, playing in the playhouse, inducting Josefina into the Mann Family, hitting up more museums (who even knew about the American Indian Smithsonian?), and baking more cookies than we should have with my fun new toy .

 

 

Addison perfecting the art of basket weaving

 

How cute is this little one in the new outfit Aunt Jenn and Uncle Ryan sent. She was like an adorable baby Cruella Devile. I mean, come on.

 

And one final one to close out the post. I pray she won't be mad at me 15 years down the road. But look at those cheeks! And the legs! She wants to be wherever her sisters are. She took her first few steps this week, and I'm pretty sure it's only so she can catch up quicker to the two of them. 

What a blessed mama I am. What a blessed Christmas season we had with family. I couldn't be more grateful for all these many blessings.