John kept Sam entertained while the kids and I got ready to go to Mom's house.
Sam thought the tree was pretty neat---it really was a pretty tree. It was Mom's real tree (the artificial one is in her basement); this one got Angela, Mom, and Tyler's picture in the CB paper!
Sam with Aunt Angela and Uncle Tyler----they'll have one of their own next Christmas!
My sisters and I were happy to be having a "normal" Christmas Eve---Mom did all the food this year (last year we did it for her), and she put up two trees again. It was a very Merry Christmas having Mom feeling so much better than last year.
One of Olivia's surprise gifts was an electric pencil sharpener! She ALWAYS wants to go to my classroom to sharpen her pencils, now she won't have to! After she opened this John brought out the unsharpened pencils he brought along for her to sharpen. . .she sharpened all of them!
Ben loved his Spiderman suitcase/backpack on wheels from Grandma Jane. Now he doesn't have to pack his overnight clothes in Olivia's Princess bag!
Sam's first Christmas proved to be a great one!
Ben got a racing track! He loves it!
Olivia got the Pet Shop that she asked for in her letter!
Sam, Ben, and Olivia got a train table (pictured above). Sam enjoyed watching the kids open their presents!
Olivia and Ben each got their own basketball from Daddy!
Another of Olivia's favorite presents: a game called Allowance. She had fun playing it with Daddy and Aunt Bonnie for the first time. She has played it several times since then.
Olivia and Andrea were still dressed up but worn out by the end of the day!
Sam was sacked out on Grandma Kay's lap! The last three days wore him out!
Olivia helped make the Christmas Eve snacks that we brought over to Grandma Jane's house the next day. During break, Olivia has been doing her own hair and picking out some cool outfits to wear, which she did when this picture was taken:-)
Sam was really getting into the Christmas spirit, too! He has had some rosy cheeks lately from all of his drool!
Ben was being extra nice, just in case Santa was watching! Sam likes the attention from his brother.
Olivia would only sit on his lap if Alyssa would go with her! She is still a bit cautious when it comes to Santa.
And then there is Benjamin. . . .he wouldn't even think of going near Santa. He was being very brave until he actually saw him and then there were lots of tears. 
We went to Grandma Jane's to bake some cookies a couple of days before Christmas. Ben and Olivia enjoyed helping! They especially liked getting flour everywhere!!
Aunt Amy came over to help, but she seemed to hold Sam more than bake cookies!!
Olivia's school had a family game night where we went with her to her classroom and created a board game using her Word Wall words from the semester. It was a lot of fun. Sam came with us and Ben went stayed at his friend Maci's house and played. Maci's brother Jackson is one of Olivia's good friends--they're always being silly and this night was no different:-)
I went with some friends to Kansas City to shop and just have a "girls only" weekend. Deb, Amy, Stephanie, Michelle, and I met Dedra (who lives in Kansas) in KC---we enjoyed some great shopping and had lots of fun riding around in the limo that night! John and the kids spent the weekend in Lincoln with Grandma and Grandpa Boudreau!
Olivia and Ben love to lay on the floor next to Sam. They were excited to be spending the day at Aunt Angela and Uncle Tyler's house. We usually have Thanksgiving at our house, so this was a nice change of pace. Angela and Tyler sold their house about two weeks later, so we were the last people to make a mess in it:-)
We thought Angela should get some practice feeding Sam (and give me a break from nursing), since she and Tyler are expecting their first baby in May!!
Ben was having so much fun running around (literally) that he had a little accident. Luckily, Aunt Ang had some boxers he could wear. . .he had a choice between White Sox and Cubs; he of course chose his favorite team!
After eating the wonderful meal --Angela had lots of help from Mark, Trudy, and Mom--we played Scene It (guys against girls)---the bad guys won. . . .barely!
The four oldest boys all wore their Husker jerseys! They played hard, so they were ready for dinner. Evan, Ben, and Jack couldn't convince Nicholas to look at the camera:-)
Sam enjoyed watching the Husker game. Next year he'll get to enjoy some real food!
