Christmas is FINALLY over!

We had our final 2 Christmas related events this weekend. I must say I am glad Chirstmas is finally over in the Lenzendorf household...seemed like it dragged on forever!
The first event was Jeremy's work Christmas Party (oops, I am sure I am suppose to call it a holiday party to be PC...oh well). Our babysitters for the night were grandma and grandpa. Grandpa distracted the kids so there were no tears when we left...in fact mom later told me they did not notice we were gone for quite awhile. Mom also used my camera to catch some great moment of the kids with grandpa playing blocks. I love the pictures as it reminds me of being little and playing with him. Here are just a few...
Grandpa explaining what needs to be done...

Alex admiring his work...

Team work is what it is about...notice the "supervisor"

Zach clarifying the instructions

Grandpa giving a helping hand...

Wow grandpa is pretty awesome...look at the tower he built!!!

Grandpa after a night with the kids...

We had a good night out and stayed out longer than we expected. Once we arrived home, we found out grandma was not having a good night. With the kids being sick they are a little out of sorts. We found grandma upstairs in the hallway on probably one of the most uncomfortable chairs we own rocking Zach and Liz. Apparently by the time we got home she had been at it for over an hour. I felt awful! Jeremy took her home while I took over trying to settle the kids back in...no such luck. Saturday night was probably the roughest night we have had in a VERY LONG time. But we made it thru and were ready for our second event Sunday morning.

We hosted Christmas for the Lenzendorfs. It had been scheduled, reschedule and rescheduled...third time has to be the charm! There were some gifts already opened prior to Sunday so it was just a quick get together to watch all the kids open some their gifts. Sunday morning Papa, Nana, Brent, Jeanne and girls made the trek across the state. They got here a couple hours before the kids nap time so after a little bit of playing we got to opening the presents.

As you can see Roxy found a perfect patch of sun and cuddled into the stack of chairs. She did not move much from that spot as she does most days...the dog LOVES sunbathing!

Just as with the Turner Christmas, Aunt Jeanne's gifts rocked! It is hard to say for certain which was the best, but they have been playing with them since. They got a vacuum which is getting a workout (hmmm...to bad it does not actually pick up stuff...that could be a time saver for me...lol). We have read the new Elmo books many times already. The boys are pretty good at playing their harmonicas. I took a bunch of pictures (like that's a surprise) so here are just a few.

Alex is saying "Elmo" in this picture...can you figure out what it is...

...it is Elmo Live! Here the boys introduce themselves to him...and I guess it does look like they may be positioning themselves for a tug-of-war contest...

Liz like Elmo's nose...honk, honk...

The kids also got a special gift...Great Grandma Dorothy had her Christmas shopping done prior to her passing away...they each got a very fuzzy, warm pair of jammies. Here is Liz opening hers...

and the boys opening theirs. Something so simple, but means SO much!

The kids were once again very concerned about the wrapping paper getting picked up and put in the right place. Here Liz and Zach help Nana put it where it needs to be...the garbage.

Unfortunately, Zach and Liz were not up from their nap yet when everyone left. Alex got to say goodbye on their behalf. After the kids ate lunch it was back to playing. Elmo was a big attraction (ah, their birthdya is going to be so much fun!). He Liz is putting him on the table...

Alex showing his blocks to Elmo...

and Zach trying to hold Elmo's mouth shut...go figure!

Here Liz is trying out the new vacuum. She had to wait until Zach was done...he is my clean freak...

yup, seems to work nicely...

did you know that you can ride the vacuum?!?!?

Apparently it is the newest way to clean.

So that was our weekend. We are still fighting colds. Alex is almost all the way better. Unfotunately we think Liz and Zach caught another cold just as they stqarted getting better from the last one, so they have had a rough few days/nights. We do not think it is anything but a cold, just seems to have hit them hard. The last week has been hard for everyone. Our naps are anything but normal. Most mornings we were upstairs prior to nap time. Here is what I saw most mornings after breakfast but before nap time...

Wanted to include this picture from right before bath time on Friday night. On bath nights after supper, the kids get their teeth brushed and stripped down to diapers. They then climb the stair and make a dash to the bathroom. Friday night I got them stripped down but needed to get stuff ready (like get jammies out and get their lovies) so they had some extra "run" time. As I was picking up their lovies Jeremy calls to me from the dining room telling me to get the camera. Here the kids had sat down nicely on the bench...full bellies, full diapers and ready for a bath...they are too cute!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and reading about our happenings. We are hoping for a much better week this week. Hope you all have a great week.

Love, Jen