Pre-Christmas 2012

 As always, we set up for Christmas early like most people and this was the first Christmas in our new home!  It was nice to have this fireplace to set up the stockings, and I decided that rather than hammering holes in the mantle, it would be better to buy some stocking holders.  I found these at Target and they were perfect!  Each year, we can put in new pictures of the kids in the frames to keep it updated too.  I am sure even without the pictures that you could NEVER guess which stocking is Naomi's?  

 

And we decided to put our Christmas tree to the left of the TV rather than near the window on the right of the TV because it would have been too close to the heating vent on that side.  It fit nicely where we put it I think actually and am very pleased with the result!   This is one of the first years I didn't have to worry so much about the kids breaking ornaments, though we did have a few mishaps anyway!  I still put most of the glass/breakable items near the top, but they are old enough now to finally get it thankfully! 

 Josiah was willing to pose if he could hold his Angry Bird dressed in a stocking with him.  You will note that Caleb took the meaning of stockings too literally and is wearing two of them on his feet.  A better shot of that to come below!

 Baby girl, who incidentally corrects us now to say, "I not baby, I Naomi!"  had to get in on this stocking action too.  She loves to copy her big brother Caleb and they are definitely play buddies most of the time. 

 Caleb in all of his stocking regalia!  

On Christmas Eve, we got a dumping of snow and the kids were having great fun playing in it.  Unfortunately, Josiah was on the tail end of being sick that day (Caleb had the same things a few days earlier) and he just wasn't up for playing out in the snow.  As it turned out, that evening Daniel came down with the same thing and so he was feeling pretty low on Christmas Day, but thankfully was well enough to at least open presents and not get sick again that morning (they all had the stomach flu).  Sadly, Naomi came down with it last on Christmas night, so it was "fun times" around Christmas again with the sickies!  We were sick last year too, but it was with bad colds instead.