Christmas was extra fun this year. After arriving at my Grandpa’s house, I hung out with some of my cousins until the others arrived. Once they were there, I announced that I needed “all the little ones, and the big-little one, need to follow me outside!” Outside, I had prepared a large tub (a huge wrapping paper plastic box my uncle was using) and Adam had helped me get the water ready. It was time for some FAKE SNOW!
The kids loved the instant snow. The feeling of it growing in their hands really made their eyes light up. And of course, with snow, you get snowball fights. Granted, this kind of snow doesn’t clump up properly to form a ball, but you can still throw it and it will get everywhere. Eyes, mouths, hair, and if you get into a wrestling match – down your underwear.
*No worries, no cameras were hurt during the excitement of the fake snow. 
After the kids had their fun with the fake snow, I went back inside to get the next round of entertainment – the marshmallow shooters! A few weeks ago I saw this nifty toy featured on mightygoods (a site I visit almost daily, it has awesome gift ideas) and immediately knew they’d be a hit amongst my friends and family. So I got the four guys (Uncle Mike, Uncle Ed, my Dad, and cousin Jason) and had them follow me to the front yard. Everyone was curious, so as I pulled out one boxed gun from my bag, Uncle Mike snatched it away really quickly much to our amusement. After they ripped apart the boxes, I made them pose for me. Here is my Marshmallow Militia:
After the boys had their fun the girls got to play with the guns. As they’d fill them with either the red foamy pellets or the mini-marshmallows, they’d enjoy a quick snack. Abbie, on the other hand, just ran up to me several times for marshmallows to eat. I had to cut her off at one point cause we still had yet to eat the real food for the day!
Dinner was yummy like usual – instead of turkey we had pot roast and pork roast and various other yummies (like stuffing, corn, potatoes.) For dessert there were several choices, Grandma’s favorite chocolate pie, pumpkin pie, oodles of cookies (some from Adam’s mom which were great and went very fast) and we even had an appearance by what I affectionately refer to as Buttface Santa:
At one point, some of the little ones starting going around and asking if they could help clear plates and “are you doooonnne?” TRANSLATION: Can we open presents NOW?
So it was time for the explosion. Now, back when it was just my cousin Kim and myself, the tradition of opening Christmas presents was a very organized and respected tradition. Kim and I would sit on the ground and Mike and Ed would pass out the gifts to us. We’d make our piles first and then one by one we’d open gifts. First, you look at the gift and read the tag. Who is it from? You say thank you and then you open it. We’d announce what it is and thank the person again. To this day, Kim and I agree it’s the best way to go. However, when there are 8 little kids and a mountain of presents to get through, organization goes right out the window. The kids tear into their gifts, most of the time not knowing who gave them what. So I usually hold onto my gifts and hand them out myself. Anyway, on with the explosion. Uncle Mike played host ala Bob Barker style with his microphone. After most of the gifts were done and the room cleaned, my parents wanted each set of kids to open their gift – a large family gift. The kids were really excited to see such a huge present wrapped with their names on it.
Btw, both are 15 in 1 Multi-Game Tables (pool, air hockey, fooseball, etc) Very snazzy toys for everyone to enjoy.
Shortly after everyone calmed down, the kids were quietly playing with their new toys, and everyone was enjoying the football game… Mike snuck off to his room.
Then all of a sudden, the Abominable Snowman appeared!
Don’t worry, she was fine about 3 seconds later.
The kids had fun dancing (and then beating up) the Abominable Snowman.
Overall it was an awesome Christmas and I had a great time. More photos of the craziness can be seen here.
Happy Holidays everyone!
