CHRISTMAS 2011

Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Christmas is a very special day. It is the day our Savior is born. What better gift is there???? 

As always Christmas was wonderful. Well, I say that. The one thing missing this year was my parents. They decided to come after Christmas. Which to me was very sad. We didn't have our traditional Christmas eve dinner of fried catfish and potato salad. It's just not the same with out it.  

We spent Christmas Eve at my sisters house with her extended family. It was a great time. What else could you ask for? We were surrounded by amazing people we love and lots of good food. Oh my gosh, there was so much food!!!!! 

The kids had to wait till 12am to open presents. I think this was torture for them. Hana fell asleep. Of course, he did wake up for the opening. 

                                     Hana on our way to Teta's house.

                                                 Christian and Ricky

                                              ChiChi and Hana.

                                   Waiting patiently for 12am

                                   Hana didn't make it till 12am.

           Ricky was so excited to get this! It was the main and basically only thing (other then a book, the new Diary of a wimpy kid book). Santa can not take credit though. Not for this one. Ricky paid 1/2 for it. He was saving up for a laptop. He was given money, raised money and earned money towards a laptop. It was only fair that he paid for 1/2 of it as a life lesson.

When we got home the kids went right to bed. It was late so it was pretty easy. It's the only way Santa and his reindeer could come. Before we left for Aunt Vlady's they sprinkled reindeer food to guide them and Santa to our house. They left milk, cookies and candy canes out for Santa. 

The kids were definitely on Santa's nice list. I had a talk with Santa last year to really tone it down this year. He did just a tad but he didn't really listen to me. Sigh.  

Hana received a doll house, barbie, make up(which she loves and doesn't have to wear mine anymore), barbie book, squinkies, chatimal and the list goes on. 

Ricky received the kindle fire, Diary of a wimpy kid book (which he read in 3 days), skateboard, smurfs movie, just dance 3 (which I LOVE), chatimal, sea life shark figurines, Phineas and Ferb boom box and more.

From the grandparents, teta and uncle Marco they got a trampoline. They love it!!!! I had an exciting mommy moment. Hana did a complete cartwheel on the trampoline. It was perfect!! She has been practicing. I am not sure if she could do it on the ground, but the trampoline definitely has given her the confidence and the extra push. It was such an exciting moment for me, I am sure for her too!!!

My favorite thing was, when I asked the kids what their favorite gift was, they said baby Jesus. 
How amazing and special is that?!

VISIT FROM THE NORTH POLE

This year we had a special visit from the North Pole. Santa sent one of his special elves to watch the kids behavior this year. The kids named him Ollie (short for Oliver). The kids were super excited.
They had fun waking up and looking for him in the morning. Since Ollie flew back to the N Pole every night to report the kids behavior to Santa his location changed daily.
I am not really sure Hana cared what Ollie said about her. He must have said nice things though. She made the nice list. With Ricky he knew Ollie was watching, but I didn't see a real difference in his behavior. It is like Ollie watches him the whole year.
Some things Ollie did:

                                     He had a snowball fight with some of the animals.
 
 Made a snow angel.

                              Rode away with Barbie.

                                    Peed in the toilet and didn't flush!!

                                Drew faces on our family picture.

                                                 Went fishing.

                                  Drew a heart for the kids

                                    Had a sweet tooth. He ate my chocolate!!!

There are some nights that Ollie over slept or was just plain lazy. He forgot to fly to the N Pole. That Ollie. Hopefully next year he will be more on top of his elf duties.

PUTTING UP THE CHRISTMAS TREE!!

One of the most exciting times of Christmas is putting up the tree. I really don't like our fake tree, so this year we have decided to get a real one. YAY!!! I was so excited. We went to a nursery to pick one out. It was a little frustrating because you had to realize that they were not going to be perfect. That is how they grow. Either way I think we picked out the best one out there!! We all love it. It's tall and full and goes to the bottom. It makes the house smell so good.
One of the major differences is that the branches are not as sturdy as fake trees. The ornaments really take a toll on it. I could already tell that it is getting a little droopy. I love it though.

                                                         Our beautiful tree.

 Hana getting into the Christmas spirit while wearing a shirt that has "brother for sale" on it. Maybe she wants to sell him so she can buy me a Christmas gift. Wink Wink.

                            Hana decided she needed a break and the Santa's needed to refuel too.

                                                        Ricky still going strong.

I love these ornaments. They hold such a dear tradition to me. They are chocolate ornaments. I remember these being on our tree as a little girl. My sister and I would always sneak some. I have been pretty lucky to get these from the Czech Republic since little Ricky was small. We call it "kolekce". There are many different characters in the box.

 we are extremely lucky to have lights on the tree. When Ricky packed the fake tree last year he packed the lights with it. We figured it would be easier if we I went and bought some. Well it turns out that the whole city of Houston had the same idea. I could not find white lights.Wal Mart was sold out. A nice lady gave me 2 boxes from her cart. On the way home I had to stop by Walgreens to pick up another box. It might of been ages since I bought lights, but I remember them being $1-$2 not $4-$5. Geezzz. If I knew that Ricky would have been in the attic searching for the lights we already had.

    Every year the kids get to pick out an ornament to put on the Christmas tree. It symbolizes them and what they were into that year. Ricky again picked Phineas and Ferb.

    Hana picked Bell. She's my favorite princess. Hers to I think, but only because she know's  it's mine.