The Children Are Nestled All Snug In Their Homes...

This Sunday evening, after phone calls received, we know all our kids are home safely from their visits during this Christmas season.

To say this past month has been a whir of activity would be an understatement. I'll just recap for my own record...It began in November when all the family came for Thanksgiving, then...

Sunday, November 29th everyone was headed home

Monday, November 30th all the bedding was washed throughout that day in preparation for December's visits.

Tuesday, December 1st all my laundry and Papa's laundry were done. Suitcases were packed.

Wednesday, December 2nd all final preparation were made for our vacation.

Thursday, December 3rd we drove to Cincinatti to being our vacation.

Tuesday, December 15th we returned to Cincinatti from our vacation.

Wednesday, December 16th piano tuner made his annual visit. Laundry done from the vacation.

Thursday, December 17th to the dentist for semi-annual cleaning. Papa's laundry done.

Friday, December 18th Nissa and kids arrive in the evening.

Saturday, December 19th Aubrey and Paul picked up to go to North Carolina.

Saturday, December 19th Nissa returns to Muskegon. We'll keep Katelyn for a 2 week visit.

Sunday, December 20th Christmas program at Church. Started the Jacob puzzle from Twilight. This would be our nemesis this Christmas.

Monday, December 21st decorated the Christmas tree with Katelyn.

Tuesday, December 22nd Helped Katelyn start a lap blanket for Mimi.

Wednesday, December 23rd I think this was the BIG grocery shopping day with Katelyn in preparation for Christmas. Jake arrives for Christmas visit.

Thursday, December 24th the Marx family arrives for Christmas visit. Cookies made and put out for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.

Friday, December 25th Papa arrives to spend Christmas morning with us. He would go in to feed Mimi lunch and return for dinner in the evening. Hid Jacob puzzle on board under my bed and took out Christmas puzzle to complete. Completed Christmas puzzle.

Saturday, December 26th family time inside because it is SOOOOO cold.

Sunday, December 27th Marx family leaves taking Katelyn with them for a few days visit.

Sunday, December 27th Jake leaves in the afternoon.

Monday, December 28th Sandi is really sick!! Jacob puzzle back to dining room table to complete.

Tuesday, December 29th Sandi in for mammogram and to practice music with Papa.

Wednesday, December 30th Claude and Sandi to Shelbyville for lunch with Andie, kids and Katelyn. Then we bring Katelyn back with us and I sing at nursing home with Papa while Claude and Katelyn go for 2nd grocery run. Gotta love Walmart!!

Thursday, December 31st Nissa and Todd arrive. We do our traditional Lord of the Rings Trilogy movie marathon. Getting to bed at about 3:30am January 1st.

Friday, January 1st Marx family returns for the weekend. Jacob Christmas puzzle under my bed so table can be used for dinner. There poor Jacob remains.

Saturday, January 2nd Aubrey and Paul return from North Carolina. Open presents with Paul and Aubrey, Nissa & Todd in the evening.

Sunday, January 3rd the Michigan contingent leaves first. Followed a few hours later by the Marx contingent.

Sunday, January 3rd Sandi is so flippin' dizzy she can't even sit up straight and takes an LONG nap. Better now but not quite right yet.

That is the short version of the past month +. I'm sure many of you have a very similar calendar.

Our Christmas decorations are still up inside and outside the house. There is a mountain of bedding to be washed in the laundry room. Lots of food was consumed. Several presents were opened. Good laughter was enjoyed. Hugs were given freely. It was just great to be together. I had just curled up in my bed to take a nap and see if I could get over some of the dizziness I was feeling even when I was sittign up, when we got a call from Nissa. She and her family drove straight to Chelsea, Michigan where Jake lives and they were all at Taco Bell having lunch together. How grateful I am that we all love each other and want to be together and enjoy being together.

Below are a few pictures of our fun:

My first picture of Christmas is of Bailey and is the first picture I took this Christmas. The little light we purchased several years ago. It reminded Claude of lights they had when he was a child. The little candle on the top is full of liquid that bubbles on the inside as the light makes it hot. Bailey was fascinated with it this year. Katelyn is hiding behind her. I love the expression on Miss Bailey's face. I can see years of interesting memories with this child.

The 2nd picture is of Hayden in his Santa outfit. He created this from things found in their home. He brought it to our house for Christmas and it was a delight to see him dress up like Santa Claus. There were a few comments from the adults about a 'Village People' Santa. But we truly got a kick out of Hayden thinking up this outfit on his own and to get enjoy his Christmas spirit. Christmas is really lots of fun when you have little people around, don't you agree!!

Claude always puts a Santa hat on his head on Christmas morning. When we put out Christmas decoration the Santa hat goes on our bedpost. We now have 2 of them so I put one on my side of the bed and one on Claude's side of the bed on the bed posts. Hayden and Bailey found them delightful to play in. Now doesn't Hayden and Bailey in front of the tree in those hats help you see a little trouble being plotted. As they collectively learn to use their powers for good or evil we will all have a merry little road to go down.

Bailey is our youngest grandmonster. In the pictures above she is going through her stocking while sitting on Andie's lap. She loves her Grampa so very much. In the middle picture she just came in for a cuddle. In the last picture she has put on his glasses and is wearing her tutu.

Every Christmas should have its share of good books given and received. The pictures above are some of the kids book moments. Present opening pauses for a moment to read at least a few pages and look at some pictures to see just what this book is about. The Magic School Bus was a particular hit. Claude and I got Hayden and Bailey each a book with their names and some of their friends names in it. Top left picture is Andie reading to Bailey and Hayden, Top middle is Claude reading to Bailey, Top right is Katelyn reading the Bailey and Hayden. Bottom left is Papa reading to Bailey and Bottom right is Andie reading to Hayden who has made sure Allosaurus can see the pictures and hear the story as well. The book they are reading is a dinosaur book that Nissa and family game to him.

Here are some of the gifts:

The Marx family opening gifts. Hayden & Andie in front. Michael and Bailey in back.

Hayden, Andie & Bailey are putting together the Radiator Springs town to play Cars. A short while before Christmas Hayden's wish list changed. He wanted a remote control Allosaurus. Santa had already prepared the gifts for the mini-Marx's. Gramma Sandi happened to be walking through Walmart one day and saw she thought was a Tyrannasaurus Rex that you push a button on his back and he walks and growls. Knowing Hayden's love of dinosaurs, the toy was purchased along with a purple tutu and pink leotard for Bailey. When I got home I was so excited about the dinosaur that I called Andie and told her my final gift purchases were done for the mini's and shared about the T-Rex and dance outfits. The gifts were wrapped and hidden until Christmas morning. Little Hayden was sure he was getting a remote control Allosaurus. Andie shrugged her shoulders and waited for dealing with his feelings. Imagine all our surprise when the T-Rex turned out upon taking out of the box to be an Allosaurus, not remote control but push button with walking and growling. This was a close enough second to fill the bill for Master Hayden.

This year we had a dear neighbor move to Florida. As she was cleaning out her home she came across the pedestal to a pedestal table. It was good wood and she knew Claude liked to play with wood refinishing. Mac called and asked if Claude wanted this pedestal. He arranged to go and get it from her. Then the decision came as to what to do with this nice wooden pedestal. Claude and I were married almost 40 years ago. About the time of our marriage a new church was built in Shreveport, Louisiana where we lived. The older building was sold and the contents of it was sold to members who wanted those things. Claude and I purchased a wooden desk chair from the bishop's office. Claude refinished it years ago and we've had it ever since. We had moved it to Papa's apartment when Mimi was there but brought it back to our home this year as we rearrange things in Papa's apartment. Claude sanded the chair and restained it. Now he had this great pedestal and he determined it would make a really good idea to get a butcher block top and make Jake a table and chair for Christmas. Claude set to work and spent many hours sanding, staining, waiting for things to dry, and getting his gift just right. Then he hid it in the basement and wrapped up a tiny package with some tools and screws in it to put under the tree. After all the presents were opened we took Jake to the storage portion of the basement to uncover the present his dad made for him. Jake was one happy guy. Santa brought Hayden and Bailey a trampoline. They were soooo excited after they opened it. We were all a little surprised that it was covered with a bright yellow sheet all during the opening of presents and neither Hayden or Bailey even seemed to notice. This is a really nice trampoline and plays songs while you jump and has a feature where it will count the number of times you have jumped. It didn't take Hayden long to figure out if he tucked his feet up by his bum when he jumped up that he could get a lot more height to his jump. There should be hours of fun at the Marx home with the great toy. The Marx kids love trains. There is track found in about every room of their home. This train was given to Bailey but it's tracks will match up all the other tracks in their home. It is a circular track. What fun for the train enthusiast. Bailey wore her purple tutu and sometimes the pink leotard around a long time. She has on her head band with the ridiculously huge purple flower on top to match the ridiculously huge purple flower on the waist of her tutu. Papa gave me a talking turtle several years ago. Bailey found the turtle under the end table and was pressing the play button. Bailey noticed the nativity set on the old radio. We purchased this Nativity set our second year of marriage when we were living in California. It has a key on the side you wind up and it plays Silent Night. I wound it up for Bailey as it sat on the old radio. She really liked it and wanted to play with it. There are two little lambs that have come unglued from the bottom and they were a favorite to position in the set for Katelyn and Paul. Now it is Bailey's turn to listen and play with the lambs. I love this picture of Bailey in her tutut and Mater socks with Lightening McQueen pulled up in front of the Nativity. They are both watching and listening and putting those little lambs in different places on the set. Priceless. Puzzles are a Christmas tradition in my home. Every year on Christmas day my mom would have a puzzle. After dinner was eaten and the table cleared we would put the puzzle out and set to work to complete it as quickly as possible. There are puzzle making rules. If you pick up a piece, you must put it back where from where you got it. That way if several people are working they know where to look for that piece they saw 'just a minute ago'. This year Katelyn and I started out on that Jacob puzzle. He is a character in the Twilight series. It is STILL under my bed waiting for me to pull it out and try again to put those final 10 pieces in. We thought Jacob would be an easier puzzle to do. The only concern was the closeness of the coloring throughout the puzzle. However, it turns out that many of the pieces are an exact cut and extremely close in coloring. You can put a piece in an be just sure it is right only to find later there are no pieces shaped like the one you need. After scouring the puzzle for hours you find a piece of exactly that shape that fit exactly in another place but really belongs where you are looking now. It is maddening. Hayden got this great dinosaur floor puzzle and Bailey got one that is a fairy castle. They also got little books in their stockings that are board puzzle books. Yep folks, we are a puzzle making family at Christmas time. It is my obsessive compulsive disorder item. I limit myself usually to one big really hard puzzle to be made on a table once a year on Christmas day. I will finish Jacob one of this days after all the Christmas stuff is put away and I have a dining room table where he can reside until he is complete. He will not defeat me!! Bailey did wear her pink leotard for a bit. She was really cute in those Mater socks, pink leotard and purple tutu. She is at the breakfast table playing with the K'Nex toys. Claude and I gave Hayden and Michael each a box so they would have plenty to work with. This is always a hit when the Marx family goes to the Louisville Science Center. They have a big table with turn tables full of bins of K'Nex pieces in them. Now they can make them at home. Michael made a great T-Rex on Christmas day. At some point the family got into a discussion about how they sat. Hayden participated in this discussion by showing everyone how sometimes he stands in front of a chair, then he sits down and crosses those legs and puts his hands on his lap. I was in the kitchen everyone started to laugh. I hurried in and Hayden re-enacted the process so that I could get this cute picture of our little guy in his homemade Santa suit sitting on the footstool. Gotta love it! We had a 'Back to Basics' theme for our Relief Society Presidencies Retreat this year. I was constantly on the look out for all things camouflage. In a catalog I came across this purple camouflage tent kit. It is two big pieces of fabric with elastic loops sew around all the sides of each piece of fabric. There are also 2 long pieces of rope that come with this and come clothes pins and suction cups. The idea is to use one or two pieces to make a tent or tents in your home or tied between trees or whatever. We used the fabric for table cloths at Retreat. Then I saved them for the real purpose for their being bought, tent fun for the grandmonsters. Since it was sooooo very cold this weekend, we made a tent in the breafast room and Nissa climbed under and we had snack time under the tent inside. Can't wait till summer to try them on the hill between the trees. Hayden is just a fun young man. I found him standing on Claude's shoulders while Claude sat in his favorite chair. Hayden is actually saying, "Stand up Pa, stand up!!" Claude never stood up but Hayden had great fun on Pa's shoulders in that chair. Later he was trying to explain something to Aunt Nissa while we were working on that Jacob puzzle. I have a similar picture taken in October when we were all together for Claude's 60th birthday. He is so expressive in explaining something to a very attentive Aunt. After all what better gift can and Aunt give than a sincere listening ear to a little nephew! I was fortunate enough to find these t-shirts for Michael and Hayden. Aren't they handsome in their 'Little Guy' and 'Big Guy' t-shirts. One of the highlights for a visit to Ma & Pa's home is that big oversized whirlpool bathtub. It is like a little swimming pool for the mini-Marx's. I have 2 mesh bags full of foam toys that stick to the sides of the tub, 2 water spraying bottles, 2 pair of turtle goggles, a visor and lots of kids print wash clothes. We are know to take the plastic blocks and/or plastic car buckets into this tub as well. The first bath was bubble free for Hayden. The next day Hayden had a bubble bath. Important tip - don't turn on the jets if you have bubble bath in the tub. Oh my you will have a HUGE bubble surprise!! Bailey found out Hayden had bubbles in the tub and came back half out of her clothes to the living room asking, "Help me! I want bubbles!" They played for the remainder of Hayden's bath together.

When the Soressi's moved from Maryland they gave us their 3 cans of blocks and the 2 boards they can be built on. At this point 2 containers of blocks reside at the Marx home and 1 container resides at my home with the 2 boards for bases. I brought the one container upstairs and we played blocks. There is a curved slide in the blocks I have now. I figured out a place for them on the board and build steps to get up to the top of the slide. Bailey is laughing here as she hopes soem blocks up to the top of the slide and lets them come down. Thank you Soressi family. The hours of fun had by the Hayden and Bailey with these blocks is just too many to count. Hayden loves the Magic School Bus series and has taken a group of the yellow blocks (2 with eyes) and a wheel base and makes all different versions of the magic school bus. He had a space ship version the other day.

Each year I fill my glass Christmas tree with chocolate candies and set it on the gossip bench in the entry way. This year Claude and I brought back Hershey's chocolate kisses that had macadamia nuts in them. I put them in the glass tree. I thought it interesting no one seemed to notice. Then on New Year's day Bailey found the glass tree. She was really good to only take the two Andie allowed. The little Nativity in the front is from Guatemala.

One evenign Hayden said, "It's time for a wrestle!" After meeting the get ready for bed requirement, Hayden and Bailey had a wrestle with their dad. Michael has them both pinned in this picture. I remember being that young and full of energy.

We got some snow on New Year's Day. Hayden and Bailey were both given bowls and spoons and set free on the deck to collect snow. This is Hayden. Bailey was back inside eating hers before I got the camera and an open door to take the picture.

Music to sooth the savage beast...or make him dance. Michael and Andie set up his IPod with speakers and played Disney music for Bailey and Hayden to dance by.

Aubrey and Paul returned for North Carolina on Saturday. In the evening gathered so they could open their presents. Paul is opening music he likes to learn on his guitar. I think Aubrey is looking at a book about fun ways to paint your nails.

Yep...that is what you see. Papa gave Claude and I Snugglies. Bailey is wearing Claude's and Andie is wearing mine. Paul is in the background making that never to be forgotten horns over Aubrey's head. Papa actually got him a leopard print snuggly. They really are quite warm and are a fit ending to this set of picture for Christmas 2009. That is what we should feel at Christmas, safe, warm, and loved. It was a good Christmas. Thank you family for sharing your precious time with us and each other, for diving many miles in the process, and just being you!! We love each of you very, very much!