Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Christmas - Part Two

Christmas night we capped off a day of celebrating by having my parents, my brother Mark, his wife Diana and our nephew, Beau, over to celebrate.


Since we had such a big lunch earlier in the afternoon we decided to keep it simple and we had a meal of appetizers and finger foods (my favorite kind of meal!)


 I made poppy seed ham and cheese sliders...


And super festive pesto tortellini skewers.




We brought Beau into our matching jammy tradition with his own teeny pair.


And while we ate GG "fed" Beau bites of all her new food.  He was a fan.



Mark and Diana gave Mason an ant farm and so they set it up after dinner.  He LOVES it!


Griffin was EXHAUSTED from a day with no nap and she wanted to watch Sofia the First in our bed before bed and she insisted that Beau watch with her.  Dave "took one for the team" and watched with these two cuties ;)


After dinner and presents it was time to break out the sjoelbak game.  It's a Dutch game that's pretty much tabletop shuffleboard.  We grew up playing it at every major holiday growing up and I love that my kids get to enjoy it now as well.  My mom's parents moved from Holland to Canada after WWII and I have such vivid memories of playing this game with them when they would visit and having them teach us Dutch words as we played.




Love this pic!


Haha and Beau!


We had our last Christmas celebration Monday night when Dave's parents, grandmothers, and his brother and his girlfriend came over to eat and exchange gifts.



LOVE this picture of Mason and Papa Mac...


... and then with Gram.

Mason is the most enthusiastic, appreciative, GENUINE thank you giver.  He is thrilled after opening presents and usually gives multiple rounds of hugs to show his appreciation. ;)

The boys got a few new WiiU games that they're super excited about.


Griffin was over the moon with her new toaster and tea kettle.


Stephen and Cynthia gave Mason this minion art set and he immediately had to test it out.  The way to Mason's heart is art supplies and you should have seen the hugs of thanks they got! ;)


And how special is it that both of Dave's grandmas got to join us!




Griffin really wanted to try out Mason's art set, but since it was brand new and sorted beautifully, we encouraged her to use her own bucket of markers.  She wasn't too thrilled about that, so Papa Mac colored with her to sweeten the deal.


After cleaning up the wrapping paper we played BeanBoozled which my boys had been DYING to try!


My absolute favorite reaction was Dave's... he got the rotten egg jelly bean.  On my second turn I ate the stinky sock jelly bean and thought I was going to lose my dinner.  It was awful.  But then Cynthia ate skunk spray. GAG!

We said goodnight to Dave's parents and grandmas and then the wrestling ensued.



Stephen and Cynthia hung out for a while after and we played Wii. ;)

  
We always have a great time with Dave's family and Christmas was no exception.  And this is a PSA for moms of almost three year olds.  Griffin is sooooooo into cooking right now and she got some of the cutest gifts from family!  She had to have it  all set up first thing in the morning to make toast and tea.



And how sweet are these little plush fruit that she got from her Gram and Papa Mac?!?!


And the mouse backpack on the kitty! :)



She is in cooking HEAVEN right now!

We had a wonderful Christmas!  Full of family and fun and lots of time together.  The kids are at awesome ages and the "magic level" is at an all time high. 

Don't forget that tomorrow Erika, Narci and I are hosting a special edition of Friday Favorites (since we won't be doing a Friday Favorites post on New Year's Day) and you can link up with any of your favorites from the year!


PS - This post contained a few affiliate links which means if you clicked on a link and purchased an item, I may receive a small commission.  THANK YOU!!!


23 comments :

  1. Looks like your family had a wonderful Christmas! Love reading your blog! Happy New Year!

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  2. Oh Andrea! This post was so sweet! I love the pics of Beau with your kiddos. Your home looks so inviting. Next year, I'm going to come be a part of Buchanan Christmas, okay? ;)

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    1. Yes ma'am! You're welcome any time - be prepared to eat a lot of shortbread and drink a lot of tea. :)

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  3. I love a little girl with her babies and play kitchen! So glad you all had such a wonderful holiday!!! And Olivia is real big on saying thank you too! Every gift she open wind followed with "oh my god I love this thank you Santa!" Happy new year!!!

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  4. Those matching Christmas Jammie's are adorable. That cutie, Beau, fits right in!

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    1. I think I'll be ordering them matching jammies even when they're 18, 15, 13 and 11. I'm sure they'll love it then, right? :)

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  5. If I never play that bean boozled game, it will be too soon! I don't think I have to worry about it since Carter won't even eat a donut!

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    1. Next time Luke comes over to play I'm sticking some jelly beans in his pocket for you to try. You know how persistent he is :)

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  6. Grandmas are the best! The pics of GG with her Grandmas are so sweet.

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  7. Such a sweet Christmas!! Love the pics of the matching Jammies! How fun!!

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  8. I about lost mine with canned dog food. ACk! Still tasting it now...days later. Such a sweet Christmas! Happy New Year!

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    1. Ugh. Don't think I'll be trying that game!

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    2. It's the worst - but it's soooooooooo funny!!!

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  9. Where are the toaster and tea kettle from? Are they plastic, or a different material?

    Thanks!

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    1. Hey, Liz! I linked to them above - if you click on the pink text they're from Amazon. They're plastic... but almost feel metallic.

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  10. My 2.5 year old LOVES cooking too! I love the Pottery Barn cooking stuff- so super sweet and cute! Looks like a wonderful time with family! Thanks for sharing!

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  11. Baby Beau looks so cute sitting there on his uncle's lap. The matching pjs .... A wonderful idea! Happy New Year!

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