Posed Christmas Pictures

We had a lot of Christmas festivities this year! With so many picture taking opportunities, we ended up with ALOT of posed pictures. I decided to throw them all in here, mainly because I am lazy and this makes me feel like I did a blog post for the day :) So without further ado, here are the group posed pictures from Christmas 2015

Outtakes

I deleted most of them but a few of these really captured the mood of the season!

MOM NOOOO MOORRREEEE Pictures. Even Nicholas was looking over it!

This Christmas eve was spent laughing with family. A Merry time had by all with no fighting,  a true Christmas miracle in the crazy Bruns family!!!

The always failing attempt at a good Eberhardt Famiy Picture....One day...one day

Holiday Treats

This year, we had to cram in our holiday baking traditions due to the birth of Mr. Nicholas. We had planned to decorate cookies at Grandma Mim's house the day Nicholas was born, naturally, we pushed it back a few days. Brandon and the big kids headed over to Grandma's while Nicholas and I rested at home for a bit. After his dinner, Nicholas and I bundled up and headed over to Grandmas house. We missed almost all the cookie decorating but thankfully I had lots of people there to capture the memories. The usual shenanigans took place,there was frosting everywhere, lots of cookies going in little mouths and lots of laughs had by all. Annie and Brandon tried to get creative with their decorating and turned out a few nice cookies. Benjamin took a lot of time decorating his cookies and really seemed to be into the project this year. I don't even want to know how many cookies those kids ate, but that is all part of the fun right?!

A couple days after decorating cookies at Grandma's it was my turn! Every year, my good friend Michelle's mom helps me make Christmas cookies. She has THE BEST sugar cookie recipe in the world! They are soft and sweet and the homemade cream cheese frosting is just the best! It seems that I am always chasing kids and Pam ends up making them but I am there for moral support! Annie jumped in and gave a helping hand once she got home from tennis, so there were lots of cooks in the kitchen. This year was extra special because Pam got to hold sweet baby Nicholas while we decorated!

When all was said and done we ended up with about 5 or 6 dozen amazing sugar cookies plus the cookies from Grandmas plus my mom dropped off some banana bread and chocolate chip cookies! As if this wasn't enough sweets to give everyone a sugar high, we still had to decorate the gingerbread house!

We usually go over to my parents on Friday nights for dinner, a bit of a Gilmore girl tradition if you will. Last Friday, we decided was our last chance to decorate the gingerbread house! Grammy put the icinng on and the kids got to fill in all the candy. Of course, half the candy went right into their little mouths but what happens with Grammy stays with Grammy! It was a bit hectic and of course Nicholas needed to eat right in the middle of decorating, but I think it turned out pretty great if I do say so myself!

I think we have enough sweets to last us until next Christmas!

Christmas Round 1

We are so very lucky that our kids have extremely thoughtful grandparents and extended family members who send them gifts at Christmas. The kids usually a couple of early Christmas boxes before the big day. We used to make them wait to open any gifts until Christmas, but starting a few years ago we started letting them open them up early. This gives the kids a chance to remember and enjoy the gift that was thoughtfully selected for them. It also gives us a chance to get the first thank you cards written and sent out! This year we got Grandma Mary's box one day and the next day we got Aunt Nikki's box! The kids were SO excited to open them! Up first, Grandma Mary

Grandma Mary sent each of the kids Pj's or regular clothes( in their favorite characters of course) as well as a toy. There was also some playdoh and chocolate for the kids to share...Samuel MAY have stolen most of the candy before any of us realized it.....

 Nicholas was interested in Samuel's toy

 Until he realized he was only a week old and couldn't play with it...then he was bored. 

The kids all gathered round playing with their new treasures. 

Nicholas was tired from all the excitement so he took a nice snooze by the fire. 

Thank you again Grandma Mary for the wonderful Christmas package!

Gifts from Aunt Nikki:

Annie and Elias went to do some homeschool with PaPa and the little boys were a bit devastated by it. Thankfully a couple minutes later, a package arrived from Aunt Nikki! I let the boys open their gifts! Annie and Elias had to wait until the next day to open theirs but they were thankfully not too terribly whiny about it:)

 Benjamin was really excited to start the gift opening processs!

 Samuel has a love for Jake and the Neverland Pirates recently, these jammies were a big hit!

 Benjamin was pretty excited about his Olaf jammies. I have no idea why my kids love Pj's so much but they genuinely get excited over them!

 Samuel and Benjamin opening up their gifts from Aunt NIkki. It took a bit of time for me to figure out how to put them together...ok so Elias did it when he got home! BUT , after they were set up, the kids didn't stop playing with it for days! Boys sure do love anything Marvel!!

 Nicholas snoozed the entire present opening, good boy. 

 Annie was super excited about her Ariel doll and Elias got a new LEGO set which he immediately put together. They both got jammies as well! Annie has worn hers almost every night they aren't in the wash!

 Ariel and JJ( American Girl doll) have been having lots of play time together!

Thanks Aunt Nikki!

ps I ordered the third set for the Marvel toy for Christmas..it was a huge hit! 

Last up, cards( and money!) from Nana.

Annie and Elias are totally into saving these days. They have wallets and a savings account and the whole 9 yards. Annie has spent a bit of her money but for the most part, both kids are turning out to be quite the savers. They were pretty pumped when they got cards from Nana with cold hard cash in it. Elias and Annie both decided to save it as they are both saving for big purchases. Brandon and I are going to take the little boys money and do something fun with them...well Brandon will. Benjamin will probably go bowling, since that is his number one thing and Brandon will probably take Samuel to McDonalds and open gym. As for Nicholas, I think we shall take his money and buy him a cute little outfit or rattle! 

Thanks again to our amazing family who spoils our children! Hopefully your well written thank you cards have already arrived at your door!

Sledding!

One of the best things about homeschooling is the ability to change your school plans and make time for fun! On Brandon's paternity leave, he wanted to get in as much fun as possible! Up first, sledding on a week day. Before I post pictures about the awesome time sledding, this is my maternity/baby wearing insert I bought that I absolutely love! Its from a company called make my belly fit ( makemybellyfit.com), they are a Canadian company and even with the international shipping, it was still a worthy purchase in my mind! You fill out a little form and it tells you what zipper adapter to buy( if any) and you just click and order! It zips into my long Columbia coat with a zipper adapter and into my regular length Columbia coat without one. Its awesome! The first picture is on my way to the hospital when I am in labor. Its buttoned up and if I was a larger person it could be left unbuttoned while pregnant. It made wearing a normal coat in ND winter pleasant and affordable! The next pictures are Nicholas all wrapped up and the insert left open for baby wearing. its nice and warm and he loves it. When we go to a store I climb in the back seat, load him in the carrier and zip up my coat and then when I get in the store he is wrapped and the car seat is in the car still. So far, its working out amazingly! It is also great for sledding and snow play outside!

 So, onto sledding! Brandon tried to take the kids to Lincoln but it was basically one giant sheet of ice from the weekend sledding. They headed over to a small hill on Sunbeam trail and the kids had a great time.We weren't sure how Samuel would like it.....he LOVED it!!!! The kids had a blast and they all got a great workout climbing up and down the hill!

 Brandon tool all four kids down at one time, it was interesting and involved a crash landing but they had fun none the less.

It was breezy and cold but nothing a warm car and some hot chocolate couldn't take care of! After we got home the little boys all passed out and the big kids homeschooled in a nice quiet house. The kids have already been sledding one other time since then, I think they like having their daddy on day shift hours and not working for weeks at a time!