Christmas Day the Anderson Way

How to have an Anderson Christmas:
Start with a WaY-To-GeNeRoUs Santa:
(It's not my fault, I inherited an overactive gifting gene from my mom and grandma!) Add a super cute, but overstimulated 18month old in new Christmas PJ's: Add a funny little blond that tears into her presents (and everyone elses,) and shouts out excited phrases at random intervals:

And last but not least, devour a famous Kimball style home-made Egg McMuffin.

EnJoY!

Christmas Eve the Cummings Way

Every Christmas Eve, we have a party with the entire Cummings side of the family. It goes something like this:
First, we eat tons of delicious food. (Usually sandwiches and lots of side dishes.)
Second, we have a (fairly irreverent) version of the Nativity story. This part of the night is so nostalgic to me, because now my kids are dressing up in the costumes that I used to wear when I was part of the play!
Next, we have a talent show, it usually borders on hilarious, rather than serious.
Then, ALL the kids tear into their presents from a way to generous Grandma Joye!
This year she made them all hats and scarfs! Here is a picture with most of the kids and grandma:

Christmas Eve has always been as fun for me as Christmas, since I was tiny, thanks to these family traditions.

Early Merry Christmas to Me!

My little bitty camera died around Halloween and I was so sad! But my super sweet Santa gave me my Christmas gift early (a nice Digital SLR camera) so that I wouldn't miss any more holiday moments. This collage is the product of me playing with my camera at my sisters studio with my kids, my super cute nieces, and nephew. The photographer (me!) needs A LOT more practice, but these cute kids sure were fun to take pictures of!

The Cutest Little Helper

I was doing laundry the other day and Rowen ended up climbing into the dryer while it was empty. He thought it was so fun, like his own little fort, so he kept on climbing in and out until I had to actually put clothes in. When I closed the door and wouldn't let him in any more, he cried and cried!

My Little Dancer

Makaylee started dance this year, and it has been fun, but I am really loving it now that she has had her Christmas dance recitals. It was so much fun to get her all glammed up and watch her shake it on the stage. It is so adorable to see little kids dance, they are so uncoordinated, and so hilarious! She really did an awesome job and we are so proud of her!

Preschool Christmas Program

Makaylee's preschool put on a little Christmas performance. They had made these little reindeer hats for them, and painted their noses red! They looked so stinking cute! Makaylee likes to dance. . . but put this girl on a stage and let her sing, and you see where her true talent is! She had ALL the words memorized, and she BELTED the songs out! It was almost like she was singing a solo the whole time, because you couldn't really hear any one else!

'Tis The Season

Here are some cute but random Christmasy pictures

Rowen looking out the window, watching Makaylee and Terrill shovel the driveway

The adorable gingerbread house Makaylee made at preschool

A psychedelic Christmas tree we saw at the Festival of trees

Makaylee's best impersonation of Santa!

Rowen's GI Scope

Just a Rowen update. . . Rowen had an upper GI endoscopy at Primary children's last week. It was no fun! I had to starve him until 2:30 in the afternoon! (But, since he doesn't really like eating, he didn't even fuss about it!) They let me be in the room when they put him to sleep, and it was really hard to walk away from his little sleeping sweetness. I think it may have been more traumatic for me because he at least got to sleep through most of it! But, it only lasted about 20 minutes, everything went well, and every thing looked good! He just has some acid reflux, and it is pretty mild. So-- no allergies, no ulcers, no Chron's disease, nothing really serious! (It WAS a relief, but we still find ourselves in a frustrating spot, having to force feed the kid 5 times a day! ) His GI Dr. has now prescribed Zinc for him to take. Zinc supposedly can stimulate your appetite, and make you hungry. . . Who knew?