Christmas 2008

Henry woke up on Christmas morning to find that Santa had left him a new toy rifle and a real practice bow and arrow set. He didn't put the rifle down for two days. Jonah was just as excited to find that Santa had left him a matching toy rifle and a real working vacuum. What kid wouldn't want to find a brand new vacuum under the tree Christmas morning? Really? Just mine, huh? ;)

Henry in a moment of pure bliss. Much joy when opening Uncle Brian's present and finding a Darda racetrack. Have you seen these? They are SO COOL. (I might play with it more than the boys do, but don't tell 'em!)
Bridget slept through the early morning festivities but didn't mind joining the party a little late.
She started the morning off with a pair of mittens and found them to be the perfect accompaniment to her milk.
It didn't take her long to find her inner mommy once she opened up this doll from Grandma and Jim. Like Henry, she didn't put this doll down for two days. :) It has been getting lots of love and attention from Bridget (okay, and from the boys. They like dolls too, what can I say?)

Bridget also got this super-cute new dress and shoes from Grandma and Jim. She took them for a test drive out to Grammy and Grandpop's house where we spent the afternoon/evening on Christmas day. She found them to be cuddle magnets--always a good thing!
Grammy's house was full of fun and games,

time with family,
lots of love,

and an excellent meal and snacks all day long ("just one more cookie, Auntie Beth?").

We all had a wonderful day.

We spent yesterday un-decorating the house. We usually aren't ready to take down decorations until sometime in January, but we were both feeling the urge to 'have our house back' yesterday. It felt really good to lovingly pack everything away and get the house nice and clean again. :)

It's been busy, so I'll post more later. For now...

A belated Merry Christmas to everyone who reads this blog! :)

Hope you all had a lovely, joy-filled day celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit!

My friend Ginger tagged me in this fun little meme. The idea is this: Post five things I love about Christmas

The hard part will be limiting it to only five since I LOVE Christmas! Here goes:

1. My husband loves all things Christmas. Sam is like a five year old when it comes to Christmas and I love to see him that way! He listens to Christmas music in July (!!!) so you can imagine what we've been listening to around here since November. I love seeing him so happy and he seriously gets very excited about presents. He doesn't even care so much what he gets as long as has a LOT of presents to open (preferable more than anyone else).

2. I LOVE shopping! Let me clarify that by saying that I LOVE to find a deal. Bargain hunting is a way of life and I'm never so thrilled as when I find a stellar deal on something. I actually shop for Christmas all year round and have very little (if any) shopping left to do when December comes around. The only problem this year is I still haven't wrapped our presents!

3. This one is similar to the last one, but I LOVE to give gifts. Christmas provides an excellent opportunity to give--family, friends, teachers, neighbors and so on!

4. I LOVE the focus on Jesus and the story and miracle of his birth. Nativities everywhere, angels all around, all of the celebration pointing to the precious little babe! This year has been so fun talking with the kids about it and seeing it really start to come alive for them.

5. I have a wicked sweet tooth and so my last item on this list is Christmas treats! I LOVE them. All of them. Chocolate? Sure. Peppermint somethings? Okay. Cookies? Pass me the plate. Oooh...special Christmas candies? I suppose I'd better at least try them! :) I skip many meals during the month of December so that I don't have to skip the dessert trays!

Now it's your turn! I tag Kim, MaryBeth, Andrea, Alisa and Heidi Jo. If you haven't been tagged and want to play along, please do! Either on your blog or in the comments--let's share the Christmas JOY! :)

Merry Christmas!

Also, I'm posting new recipes on my cooking blog today, so be sure to check there for fun Christmas recipes! :)

Wordless Wednesday....

....because there just aren't words for this! :)

Family Pictures

It's rare for us to get pictures with all five of us in them, but we actually took two in the same week. This first one is from Sam's work party, which was Western themed (much to the delight of the boys!).

And this one was from the TM Gala last night. Once again, the boys were thrilled about getting to dress up. They looked so handsome and girls that didn't even know them were asking to take pictures with them--it was hilarious. You can't see it in this picture, but they both wanted to wear cowboy boots with their suits and they tucked their pant legs right into the boots. It was quite a classy look, let me tell you!

Wordless Wednesday

"A man and his woodpile."

Bridget speaks

Bridget is 16 months old now and she is talking quite a bit. Her favorite words include: kitty, milk, tree, roof-roof (for "Rufus"--her special dog), diaper, boots, dog, MOM (not mama or mommy, but MOM, followed by a giggle--it's hilarious the way she says it), ball and snack.

She actually says a lot more words than these, but this list includes the words that anyone can understand--her other words might need translation. Sometimes a little sign language helps when someone doesn't get what she's saying. For example, in this picture, Bridget is demanding requesting a cup of milk by pounding on the fridge door. You know, so we get the point. :)

And yes, in case you were wondering? Her boots do go with anything. Absolutely anything. Even dresses without even a speck of pink on them.

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

Look! We have matching double chins! ;)