Wilde Family Christmas 2010

The holiday season, as usual, hit fast and furious - and went entirely too quickly! Here's our Wilde Family December and Christmas 2010 in pictures...

Believe it or not - this was intended to serve as a punishment for Eddie who wouldn't (won't) stay in time-out unless I physically hold the door shut (which I obviously can't do with three other kiddos to worry about). So, in a moment of frustration, I grabbed one of Justin's work shirts and put it on Eddie backwards - then tied the arms straight-jacket style (all the while calmly explaining to him what and why I was doing it) and shut the door to his room. When I came to get him five minutes later he asked me not take the shirt off. When Jackson caught wind of what was going on he wanted a straight-jacket, too. *sigh* Well, it was pretty entertaining... even if it totally failed as a punishment, lol.

Our little elves getting ready to load up in the car to deliver our 'Secret Santa' gift for a family in need. This was an idea that resulted from Justin's parents asking us (and all of their other children) to do something kind for someone in need instead of sending them a Christmas present this year. We loved the experience and will definitely be making it a Christmas tradition!

On Dec. 22nd we drove down to SC and did a mini-Christmas with Aunt Jayne, Uncle Seth and cousins Oliver and Violet. We had great food and lots of fun watching the kids open a few presents. :)

Eddie got an awesome Spiderman costume from Aunt Jayne and Uncle Seth! :)

Even Norah wanted to get in on the Spiderman costume action. :) Jack got a cool Iron Man arm shooter thing and Norah received an adorable papasan style chair with Disney Princesses on it.

Of course we made our annual trip to the Bass Pro Shoppe so the boys could have a chance to put in any last minute requests from the Big Guy. Isn't he a jolly Santa?! He was great with the kiddos.

This is Eddie explaining to Santa that he wanted, "Three Hulk's. One red and two green." Hmm...kay... (Luckily he ended up being happy with some Hot Wheels and a Nerf gun.)

I LOVE this picture! Norah was SO excited the whole time we were in line... She kept pointing to Santa and jabbering excitedly. But when the time came for her to sit on Santa's lap she completely turned a 180 and wanted nothing to do with him! He was good natured about it, though. :) And as soon as she was back in Daddy's arms she started smiling and pointing to, "'Anta Cause!" as though nothing had happened. Too funny!

A trip to the mall wouldn't be complete without a 'ride' on the John Deer riding lawn mower that always seems to be being 'given' away in a drawing (does anyone ever actually win these things?!).

Santa came! :) The boys got some fun hot wheels tracks and cars, legos, and Nerf guns. Norah got a new baby doll with some accessories. And all of the 'big' kids got a bean bag so they each have a special place to sit during Family Movie Night. (However, they have been used more as weapons and projectiles more than they've been used as seats. We're just glad they're being used. :)

Beckett's first Christmas! He got some cute Christmas jammies and lots of love! :)

We felt slightly guilty about not getting him any presents, but he was perfectly content to watch his brothers and sister enjoy their toys, nurse, and take lots of Christmas naps. :) He's so cute we can hardly stand it!

Norah was so happy about her new Cabbage Patch newborn doll and was eager to try out her 'baby's' new pack-n-play. So excited, in fact, that she just had to get in with her! :)

Norah was also excited to try out the new high chair. I love her crazy Christmas morning bed-head. :)

There's almost never a time when Norah doesn't want to hold her baby brother and Christmas morning was no exception! :)

Beckett is always game to let his big sister give him some love.

Norah just realized that the feeties in Beck's jammies are little reindeer. :) He's pretty entertained by that, too. :)

"Look mom, I'm HAPPY Eddie!" (We've been having lots of 'talks' about him being a 'Happy' Eddie vs. a 'Mad/Frustrated/Mean' Eddie, lol.)

The four best Christmas presents we could ever ask for!!!

We had a true (post) Christmas miracle when it started snowing late Christmas night and continued on throughout the following day. We bundled the kiddos up in what warm gear we do have (which is not much since snow falls in the 'rare if ever' category here) and let them go to town. The boys wanted me to help them build a snowman which essentially translated into 'Mommy building the snowman by herself while the boys gave directions'.

I was pretty proud of our results considering the snow was pretty wet and we didn't have coal or carrots. :)

Eddie was especially happy to have his picture taken next to a real snowman!

Beckett wanted to join in on the fun, but he had other plans while we were out in the cold and wet snow...

And, sadly, the boys very quickly decided that the best snowman is a dead snowman. Almost immediately after putting on our finishing touches and taking a couple of pictures, the boys asked if they could knock him down and eat him. My first response was, "Why would you want to do that?!" (Especially since I had just built this sucker with my bare (literally) hands!) But how often do we get snow? Almost never. So I told them to go ahead and do whatever they wanted. Ergo - Frosty bit the dust in about two seconds flat and was then cannibalized by two ferocious Wilde boys. :)