Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Christmas Eve



For most of my growing up years, we did not live by any relatives. For Christmas Eve, it was always our tradition to get together with friends. This year we invited the same group of friends that we had last year. We had Cassaundra and her two kids, Ellis and Troy, GG and Ronnie, whom we have adopted as grandparents and the Lipseys (Brenda, Luvinia and Joe---Brenda's husband Tyrone was supposed to join us, but due to mechanical problems with his truck, he got stuck in Arkansas and didn't make it---poor guy!). Jayson's brother, Joel, who lives about an hour and a half away also came with his family. Joel is in the Army and they recently found out they are going to be transferred to Colorado, so this will be their last year with us.


We started the evening with a nice dinner. Now that I am "the mom" I can truly appreciate this tradition---we always have our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, which means no cooking on Christmas Day!

Ryder, Kaydence, Kassidy, Kyndall and Rustin watch Rudolph while I frantically get things ready.


The "Adult" table. Last year we had to nix the tablecloth, charger plates, candles, etc and go with paper products (for the safety of the dishes and the babies). This year, thanks in part to Rudolph, we were able to have a beautiful table :-)


The "Kid" Table


The "Kid" table with kids at it: Alec, Riley, Joe, Troy, Luvinia, Cora, Kaiya and Ellis


The quints: Kassidy, Kyndall, Ryder, Kaydence and Rustin. No charger plates or Christmas dishes for them, but they did get a Christmas Tree place card holder with their name on it. (At the end of the evening when everything was gathered up, there were exactly five broken trees---coincidence??---I think not.)


The "Adult" table with adults at it: Rachelle, Tobi, Cassaundra, GG, Ronnie, Brenda and Joel


Ronnie and Kaydence



Following dinner we did our annual reenactment of the Christmas Story from the bible and sang Christmas Carols. Everyone had a great time getting dressed up, but the nativity itself was a bit chaotic. Mary got bored of sitting in the manger after about one minute. The angels ditched their robes and the shepherds were more interested in using their canes as weapons than they were in visiting the "baby Jesus". The wise men were confused and weren't sure where to lay their gifts (cell phones as we were fresh out of gold, frankincense and myrrh) for the baby. But despite the chaos, I think everyone enjoyed it.

Alec, one of the three wise men.


Kyndall gets her halo


Angels Kaiya and Kaydence


Ryder dresses in his shepherd costume


Rustin practices Kung Fu with his shepherds crook.


Riley, trying to look wise and cool at the same time.


Angel Kassidy


Cora playing Mary


Attempting to sing "Christmas Bells are Ringing" with hand bells. First I let the older kids use the bells, but the babies were screaming so loud that nobody could hear them. Then we let the babies have a turn at the bells, and it didn't sound much better! Maybe the bells will go over better next year :-)


Group Shot of everyone on Christmas Eve


Just the girls: Brenda, Luvinia, Cassaundra, Ellis, GG, Tobi and Rachelle

Another one of our Christmas Eve traditions is that the kids all get to open one present. The present is always new pajamas. This year the boys got dinosaur jammies and the girls got ballerina jammies.

Alex, Cora, Kaydence, Rustin, Ryder, and Kassidy get ready to open their present


Rustin was so excited by the new PJ's


After the jammies are opened and put on, we take more and more and more pictures! At my house, the boys always complained about taking pictures (in fact I think the complaining has become part of the tradition) and the girls retaliated by coming up with more poses and people combinations.


The kids: Kyndall, Kaiya, Rustin, Ryder, Kaydence, Kassidy, and Riley


The kids again---getting seven kids to look good all in the same picture is nearly impossible!


My kids plus their cousins: Kyndall, Kaiya, Cora, Kassidy, Alec, Rustin, Riley, and Kaydence


The Boys: Rustin, Riley and Ryder (they are "roaring" like a dinosaur)


The Girls: Kassidy, Kaydence, Kaiya, and Kyndall


Ballerinas: Kassidy, Kaydence, Kaiya and Kyndall


Cassaundra, Ellis and Troy


Alec and Cora


Tobi and Joel


Rachelle and Jayson


Rachelle and Jayson---I don't know how, but this pose has somehow become a tradition too.


The whole family: Kaiya, Kyndall, Rachelle, Kaydence, Kassidy, Rustin, Jayson, Riley and Ryder


Another tradition: the Christmas photo-shoot always ends with a "pile" picture. With so many kids, in a few years, this one will be really painful :-)


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Friday, December 25, 2009

2009 Virtual Christmas Card

Since there is no way to reach all of you via the regular postal mail, I am instead posting a "virtual Christmas Card". I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!




‘Twas 2009 and Oh, what a year!
With lots of mischief and plenty of cheer!

We’ll start with the quints, this year they turned two.
Their mom and their dad were amazed how they grew.
They’re into the cupboards and toilets and drawers--
Just keeping track of them all is a chore.
They love to dance and sing nursery rhymes.
They are sweet and adorable….most of the time.

Each one’s unique, different as can be:
Kassidy’s the boss, the “little mommy”,
Kaydence is sweet with long blonde hair,
Rustin’s a clown and a big teddy bear,
Kyndall is spunky, stealthy and smart,
Ryder’s demanding but still steals your heart.

The “twos” aren’t as terrible as others speak of,
It’s five times the tantrums, but five times the love!

And now for the rest of the Wilkinson crew,
They’ve also been busy the whole year through.

Kaiya is six and in grade number one,
She likes gymnastics and thinks dancing is fun.
She’s super at writing and loves to read.
At all she tries, she is sure to succeed.

Riley is nine and in fourth grade at school.
He thinks swim team and volleyball are really cool.
He won first prize for a photo he took;
He can always be found with his nose in a book.

Jayson makes videos for work and YouTube.
He’s also a volleyball and snowboarding dude.
Rachelle cooks and cleans and referees fights,
She likes to take pictures and teach stats at night.

This year we braved our first trip in the car
From Austin to Mesa, it surely was far.
The kids did great and we had lots of fun,
So next year we might do another one!

Another first, you may already know--
We starred in our first documentary show
Called “Multitude of Multiples” on cable TV.
If you missed it there are reruns on TLC.

This year’s been a good one, we’ve really been blessed.
Thanks to friends and family who are truly the BEST!
To see videos, pictures and much, much more,
Go to www.wilkinsonquints.org

Merry Christmas!




Since it is Christmas Day, I also thought I would include this short video about about remembering Christ in Christmas. Enjoy!



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Sunday, December 20, 2009

Santa Claus is Coming to Town...

You better watch out



You better not cry



Better not pout, I'm telling you why



Santa Claus is coming to town



He's making a list, And checking it twice



Gonna find out who's naughty...



...and nice



Santa Claus is coming to town



He sees you when you're sleeping



He knows when you're awake



He knows if you've been bad...



...or good



So be good for goodness sake!



Oh!



You better watch out!



You better not cry



Better not pout I'm telling you why



Santa Claus is comin', Santa Claus is comin'...



Santa Claus is coming is to town!


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