merry merry merry

i might have started christmas fun too early (see previous post.) like his birthday, the closer it got, the naughtier the behavior. 

after a month of thomas the elf's antics (he is lazy and naughty), baking cookies, decorating the house and threatening coal, we spent the last couple of days visiting a Santa's village..

 ..taking frosty walks through town looking at christmas decorations...

(and making our own)

 ..and making a giant mess.

 sometimes our elf was quite ambitious
usually after a glass or two of wine

 but it worked. the reindeer ate it. so did ben.

 and our boy loved every minute.

he couldn't believe there were presents on the other side too. and underneath. "oh my gosh."

 this sweet face almost makes me forget he could not fall asleep for 2 hours...long past mama's bedtime while we waited to bring down presents. after being a wild child in church. and after jack puked all over me, face to waist, a few minutes before bed. and that i woke at 5am and they all slept past 6.

this one loved everything.

 ben and jack caught on quick.

 ...ben even found santa's old cookies

 jack could not believe he got a hat. (boy does not like hats.)

 

and then, in a pile of paper, boxes and brand new toys, two boys fought over stocking toothbrushes...seriously. both wanted blue. and matty was rolling around hotwheels--he has hundreds and still his favorite thing ever--and was trying to convince me that ben and jack gifts should be shared, while his are his own.

 and then we had christmas pancakes. and some eggnog. and played and lounged a lot. and then it was over and we went back to our regularly scheduled fun with a trip to the zoo. but with little reindeer noses.

 and laughing for days because the yak farted a few feet away.

 and teaching little guys about shadows.

and even spotting some remnants of the wonderful holiday.

now everyone is back to their normal, semi-nice behavior.

and today matty asked how many days until christmas.

362.

still time to be naughty.

someone is excited.

matt's excitement has him soooooooo rowled up tonight. as i was seriously considering the coal route for tomorrow morning, he gave me something i can use to blackmail him when he is a teenager.
...
...
...
...

yes, those are boon spoons turned bath toys.

and yes. it could be funnier.

http://youtu.be/7bbXnRgSqsQ

Holidays.

I love Christmas Eve: opening all of our gifts, wine, hors d' oeuvres dinner, laughing all night. and laughing at Mom for taking the tree down on Christmas morning. and for 8 years i've loved the early Christmas flight to Albany for another round of family, fun and memories. and wine.

Then we added the real fun and now it's about this guy:

and the other two

and dragging them to fanueil hall to see the decorations and crowds and the huge tree (you know this went south quick. and north. and east. and all over. boy can run.)

and watching jack try to pull his coat off. mittens? hat? impossible.

and it is about scoring a great shot with the kids all looking in the direction of the camera

and making tiny cupcakes for our elf, thomas.
(who didn't do a very good job of keeping matty well-behaved this year.)

and packing them up to show them off to my family. (this went south too. in the form of one twin who screamed much of the second flight. i won't say who, because the other did the same on the flight back to boston.) 

and it's about not fearing this, because they were all having so much fun.

no one fought over where to sit. ben even thought he had the throne!

unlike here where it was non-stop fighting rowdy toddlers to sit

it's about hanging with a new nephew

and cousin

and marveling in what a wonderful baby he is. and what great parents he has.

and it's still about christmas eve. in our jammies. with wine.

looks fun, right?

it wasn't technically christmas eve. and there weren't many real presents...

..but it was still the best yet.

we even started a (hopefully) new tradition. packing a trip within a trip

to the beautiful homestead resort where it drips with christmas: trees and skating and lights and running in our christmas outfits.

i think jack won.

and it is definitely about having a glass of wine..

..and actually enjoying it while dad chases the twins around and around (and around) an empty banquet room.

we tuckered these guys out good. even jack and ben were exhausted.

and it is about a dinner without the kids.

..and the new christmas miracle:

two college kids getting two toddlers to sleep!

kristin and nate are our favorite babysitters!!

thank you harters and lundys for celebrating early with us. i am getting weepy already thinking about the fun you will have tonight.

new trick is dynamite

this is how i round up the twins:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83HwfNEf2w4

it is on my running playlist. that's it.
just crank up the music and they come over to bust a move. usually tears them away from something like this:

 or this:

no tricks for this kind of miracle. just have four little kids come to play at our house for a few hours...

 even matty was tired. thank goodness for pbs kids.com