2020 has been a year of unusual holidays, and Christmas was no exception. With warm temps and no snow for most of December, it sure didn't feel quite like the normal Minnesota Christmas. We were all a bit concerned that there would be no white Christmas this year, but as luck would have it, just days before the big celebration, we got our wish as the snow began to fall.
Rather than our typical pre-Christmas celebration at Nana Judy and Popi Dave's house, on December 23rd, they came to us, bringing all the necessary supplies from hot chocolate to presents, and quickly went to work setting up a special celebration in our garage. It was a cold and snowy day, but the kids had a blast opening all the gifts, sipping hot chocolate and playing with their fun new toys.
The wintery mix complete with bone chilling wind didn't stop Owen from throwing on his new snow shoes and taking a walk around the yard...all while wearing shorts and an unzipped fleece jacket!
The next day was Christmas Eve. The kids had been anxiously counting down the days until Christmas and now there was JUST ONE MORE DAY! They were so excited! Our typical Christmas Eve celebration looked different this year. Instead of a day with family and an evening at church, we had a quiet day at home, relaxing and playing with the new toys from Nana Judy and Popi Dave.
That evening we celebrated with a Dineen family traditional Christmas Eve dinner of Mostaccioli, courtesy of Cossetta's (and a big thank you to Nana Judy and Popi Dave for picking up the tab!)
Before bed, Rose and Kate put out a plate of snacks to help the Big Guy in Red and his trusty reindeer stay well fed and hydrated during their busy night delivering gifts.
Once the wee ones were finally all snuggled up in bed, "Mrs. Claus" got to work quietly sorting and distributing gifts from both Santa and El Nino Jesus. With five eager little ones, Christmas morning would most definitely be an early one!
The kids woke up one by one and patiently waited for the last of our crew to arise. Finally they couldn't wait any longer so I had to arouse Miss Rose from her slumber. Moments later it sounded like a herd of elephants running up the stairs to see what El Nino Jesus had left for them outside their bedroom doors.
When Kate realized that El Nino Jesus had brought her pretend makeup, she rushed back into her room to grab a fancy dress to wear before getting to work applying her lipstick and eye shadow. That girl sure loves to get gussied up!
After a yummy breakfast of cinnamon rolls, the kids were eager to take a peek at what Santa had brought. A couple of them simply could not contain their excitement.
Rose and Kate were so happy that Santa had brought them cute new outfits and slippers that they just had to put them on right away. Then Santa's little helpers went to work delivering the remaining gifts from Santa to their siblings.
The next few hours were spent snacking on goodies, exploring their new toys from Santa, playing bingo with relatives over Zoom and napping for the wee ones.
Finally after asking several times, I simply couldn't hold the kids off any longer. It was time to open the last of the gifts from Mom and Pa. Cole opened his first gift - a new helmet. Hmmm.... He was not impressed. Then he opened the next gift which had a photo of his new go-cart that was hiding in the garage.
I managed to pull a fast one over Owen too. His first gift was a computer cord. He thought it was an extra cord to have on hand for our old Chromebook since he can never manage to locate the cord. He put on a big smile and thanked us for such a thoughtful gift.
But then he opened the next present...his very first laptop (which the cord was actually for). He was shocked and thrilled. He quickly opened the box and got to work setting up his new computer.
Kate had a couple huge boxes which Rose didn't quite think was fair. I guess size of the box matters when you are six years old. Kate's first gift was a helper tower. She loves helping to bake in the kitchen and now she had a safe way to do so. Her second gift was a grocery store (which seemed fitting as the grand daughter of a grocer). It came in many, many pieces to be assembled later. That would be a perfect project for Shane!
Rose had worked hard writing her Christmas list this year. She had lots of ideas of toys that she REALLY needed. She quickly ripped open her packages to reveal a pottery wheel and a cleaning set - two items directly from her list. She wasted no time dusting the cabinets along with her helper Kate. A toy that the girls can clean with! Seems like a win-win to me.
As for Miss Aria, she got a new bumper car! It can move by either using the joysticks on the car or via remote control. She thought it was pretty exciting when Mom started driving her all over the house in her new wheels.
For dinner that evening, we had our usual Christmas spread - crab legs along with potatoes and broccoli with a cheese sauce. YUM! The kids all love crab even though it's a full time job for Shane to keep shelling it for so many little mouths.
For dessert, out came the cakes to celebrate Jesus's birthday. Cafe Latte had accidentally given us a 12" flourless chocolate cake rather than a 6". That along with a 12" Tres Leches and we would have enough cake for a month!
A few days later, Nana Bev and Popi Jerry arrived and the celebration continued. There were many gifts to be opened and lots of time spent playing.
All Kate had wanted for Christmas was a "Bee Pack-pack" and a watch and that's exactly what she got. She was thrilled and quickly put on both gifts as she strolled around the house wearing her new "pack-pack" and watch.
Cole's gift could have taken a team to assemble - it was quite the project. Thank goodness Popi and Nana were here to put it together! It was nothing but net for our newest little basketball player.
While the presents were fun, spending time with family was the best gift of the season and a fabulous end to a wonderful Christmas celebration.
Here's wishing you all a very holly jolly Christmas!
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