Jon & Kate Plus 8 - Gosselin Family Christmas

Gosselin Family Christmas
The Gosselin family spends the Christmas season caroling, baking cookies and dressing in holiday outfits and visiting friends who have helped them.

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I love Christmas time. Is Kate going to make it through the season without melting down, herself? Oh, the suspense.

Kate thought it would be a fun idea to go around and carol during the Christmas season. And then when they decided to carol, Kate thought it would be fun to have the kids bring cookies, too.

Kate decided that they had a lot to do in one day, which they did. And she vowed to get it all done and not melt down. Woah!

First off, Jon was making a manger scene out of gingerbread. I looked really cute. All the animals were there, along with Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus. It didn't turn out super awesome, but the kids thought it was fun and seemed to like adding their decorations and animals to the mix.

In order to adequately prepare for the caroling aspect of the day, Kate started to teaching the kids Joy to the World, Away in a Manager, and We Wish You A Merry Christmas in the fall. Some of the kids seemed to get it and some didn't seem to know the words. It was cute. Mady and Cara really had fun singing their songs. So as of right now, it's iffy how well the caroling part is going to go.

When the little kids took a nap, Jon, Cara, and Mady put together a huge gingerbread house. It was one of the premade ones and came with all these pieces of candy to put on. The girls had fun making patterns and decorating their own sides of the house.

When everyone was up from nap and changed into their matching Christmas outfits, it was time to go caroling. Their first stop was Miss Beverly's. Kate tells us that they were completely surprised by the visit, but then how did the camera get in? Oh well. Miss Beverly is a helper who folds the family's laundry once a week. The kids seemed happy to see her and share some cheer.

Jon decided that he was just going to be the driver because he's a terrible singer. Kate seems upset that he didn't want to sing, so during the interview, he breaks out in song. It's cute and he's not a bad singer. But everyone seems happy he kept his trap shut.

The family heads to Carla's house next. Their rendition of We Wish You A Merry Christmas was funny. Carla's a family helper. Kate says that she can only help in a limited capacity because she has a family of her own to take care of. Are you saying that Carla puts her family before Kate's and Kate is still friends with her? Wow.

Beth's house was the next stop. They attempted to carol but the kids seemed more excited to run around and play. Kate says that Beth and her family love the kids and love to spend time with them. When at Beth's house, Hannah had an accident and had to get her clothes washed. Poor girl...at least they didn't show her walking around without pants on.

The last stop of the day was at Nana Janet's. The kids made a valiant attempt at finishing up the caroling. Nana Janet and her husband seemed happy to see the kids and loved the treats they brought. So cute.

It's finally Christmas morning! Kate decided that she was going to organize the kids because the prior years have been total chaos with everyone wanting presents at the same time. So she printed out papers with their names on them and taped them to the floor. This way each kid would have to sit on their spot and wait. This seems like a good idea, I guess.

Kate got her present on Christmas Eve and it's a brand new camera. Thank goodness! No more madness of that awful old camera. ha.

When the floodgates were opened, each kid got to run to their stocking. They tore open those gifts and seemed excited to get some little stocking gifts. After stocking time, everyone headed into the dining room for breakfast. I'm shocked the kids were okay with waiting until after breakfast to dig into their presents. That's amazing self-control. I couldn't wait until after breakfast...I *had* to get into it right away!

After eating was done, everyone headed into the living room and dug into their presents. The kids seemed to love all the stuff they got, too. Everyone got some dress up and couldn't wait to put it on. Hannah seemed so excited about monkey jammies.

The kids seemed to have a great Christmas. For a family that has 8 kids, they made out like bandits! I know my parents stretched it with 2 kids, how they did it with 8 is kind of shocking.

The lunch of the day was huge - candied yams, *organic* ham, pineapple casserole. Yum! Everyone seemed excited to eat it and just have a fun day together.

SassySarah's Review: Everyone had a fun day and the kids seemed super excited with all of their stuff. Two thumbs up.