December happenings, and a final post in 2014

December is nearly over; 2014 is nearly over. 

What a month…what a year. 

My energy is pretty depleted. But my heart is so very full. It's been a good month of Christmas magic...and princess birthday cake with too much frosting. 
There was a lot of activity in the Patton household. Here is a run-down of what we've been up to!

There was gingerbread house building (and eating!) 

I left this task to Grandpa, considering he's the one with the engineering skills.

Santa visiting. 
Evie was a little apprehensive to see Santa. She said she didn't like his mustache. Santa actually wasn't too jolly. When we entered his little candy house at Bridgeport Mall, he only stared at us and blandly stated "I never had triplets before."

The elves weren't too sure either; they debated about the best way to go about arranging the three boys on Santa's lap.  
The boys just stared blankly at him in wonderment.
 I think everyone just wanted to get it over with.

James was positioned in the middle. We had to take the picture quickly because he was falling through the gap. No one knew what to do. 

We managed to get one  good picture and checked "Santa visiting" off the list. 

Waiting for the big man

No one was feeling the magic

Post-Santa picture. Glad that's over.

Evie’s Christmas preschool performance.  This was definitely a highlight of my holiday season. After weeks of practicing her little Christmas songs at preschool, the big night was here; it was her time to shine. And shine she did. 
The minute the teachers called for the "2 year old" class to come on stage, Evie jumped right up and was the first one on.  She sang all her songs with gusto as a huge happy smile lit up her entire face. 

She got lots of hugs from Grammie and Grandpa, and I'm thinking we may have a future star on our hands. 

So proud of our little shining star

All ready and waiting to get on stage

Evie's biggest fan

Well....more of Evie's biggest fans

Lots of Costco trips:   Why is Costco always the place to go when there is no where else to go? Costco the week before Christmas is never a good idea. But I felt like we visited Costco A LOT in the weeks up to Christmas. Maybe it was the Christmas light displays. Maybe it was the samples. Maybe is was the little old ladies in the hair nets. I don't know, but something about Costco made it feel like the holidays. 

 Evie and Levi loved sharing a cart and of course the samples. 

Our annual Christmas cocktail party: John and I decided to host our annual Christmas party again this year. With help from John's parents and Amanda, we were able to get all the kids in bed by 7:30 and get ourselves ready by the time the party started in our basement at 8:00. I have to say, it was a fabulous party. Our basement was a perfect venue and it was so nice to see so many of our friends on Christmas Eve Eve. 

Yeah, we still have  a little bit of cool left in us. 

The Ladies, lookin better than ever! ;) 

Our 8th Christmas party. 

Christmas Eve candlelight service at our church: The seven of us spent Christmas Eve at our church singing Christmas songs and remembering the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ. We held candles and took pictures in front of the Christmas tree. The kids dressed in their Christmas best, complete with little red bow ties (thanks to Amanda!)

Christmas morning joy (and chaos!): The magic was SO alive in Evie's heart the night before Christmas. She excitedly put cookies and carrots out for Santa and his crew and went to bed dreaming of sugar plums (emphasize the "sugar") 

Christmas morning started out like any other day with getting the boys up. However, James gave us some Christmas magic by pooping all over his crib and himself.


We all waited for the star of the show, Evie, but she actually slept in until 8:00! Once she came bounding down the stairs, Christmas morning officially began. 

We paused mid way through the morning for a most delicious Christmas breakfast of oatmeal and ice-cream, thanks to a family tradition that Amanda passed down to us! Best breakfast EVER!

The rest of the day was spent  in wrapping paper and new toys. Evie was very excited about her doctor kit and an inflatable ball pit (thanks to Amanda's mom) 

Beautiful Christmas evening dinner by the Christmas tree; Christmas  evening was simple, a lot different from how I grew up.  Christmas for me was always a lot of extended family, loud conversation and mounds and mounds of cookies. Now that we are so far away with so many kids, I'm learning to appreciate our own evolving traditions. 

Christmas is a lot more quiet. I mean, don't get me wrong, the kids create a lot of activity,  but it's just our noise. 
No cousins, or aunts or uncles or siblings. Just us. 
And that's ok, because I had a blast watching the kids enjoy the day. And I could focus on the small special moments with my family.
 I love that kids bring out the fun of Christmas all over again. And I know the older they get, the more traditions and memories we will create together. 

Later that night, John's parents came over and we bundled everyone up and went for a walk around our block, looking at all the Christmas lights. 
After all the kids went to bed, we had a nice Christmas dinner by the Christmas tree. John made beef wellington and we drank good wine. 

Christmas was very very nice at our home. 

...and then two days later, on Dec. 27th, our little Evie celebrated her 3rd birthday, complete with a princess party which included lots of fluffy dresses, sugar, pink fluff and sparkles... and more sugar. 

I’d say she has enough gifts now to last her well into this new year. 

I’m the kind of person that if I’m going to do it, I figure I might as well do it well; so I did my best with this princess party for my daughter. I turned our classy cocktail party basement into a pink princess palace in just a few days. I ordered a sticky, overly frosted Disney princess castle cake. I summoned some of her Princess friends. I set up lovely little tables with small teacups and lined them with lacey dolies. I even had vases with fresh purple flowers.  Evie was all smiles, especially when we sang her happy birthday and she got cake at 10 am. ;)

This year I experienced such joy seeing the excitement in my kids. Don't get me wrong, not every moment was perfect, but kids really do put a renewed sparkle in the holiday season. 

We experienced so MUCH change in 2014.

It was an intense year, with having three newborns and a very strong willed two year old...oh, and moving when they were 2 months old. 

 But we end this year with three happy, almost one year old boys  and a slowly maturing three year old girl.  

We feel settled in our lovely home, enjoying friends, new and old. 

We are grateful God brought Amanda into our lives to help us love our kids. 

We are so appreciative of supportive family who drop everything to help us when we need it. 

The vision I had last New Years was of a long dark tunnel. Being overly pregnant with three babies, 2014 seemed  scary, overwhelming and  never ending.

 John and I both say we can see "the light at the end." Things are getting better. Things are getting brighter. 

 We have so much to be thankful for. Our cup is overflowing... 

I have high hopes for 2015. I think it will be a good year.