Friday, December 30, 2011

Christmas 2011


When I grow up, I want to be one of those bloggers who posts everyday (or at least every other day) with beautiful pictures of an immaculate house in the background and detailed tutorials of projects she's just completed and food she's just whipped up. But until I do grow up, you are just stuck with me---belated posts of albeit cute kids with a cluttered house in the background and ZERO projects completed and certainly no recipes whipped up. It's corndogs and cold cereal at this house, sister, on paper plates nonetheless. Honk if you can relate.

Now for the recap.....

Here we have 2 of my favorites at the Christmas school sing. I don't know why they call it a sing instead of a concert or something else---have you ever heard of sing being used as a noun? The look on Garrett's face really says how much he looks forward to participating in this event. 

Here's my G-Dawg at his class Christmas holiday party. I really enjoy being room-parent (have any of you every met any room dads that would require the usage of the term room-parent instead of room-mom? I'm just saying....) in his class. He has an amazing teacher and I love being in the classroom with him and 25 other first graders. Out of the mouths of first graders......come things that make me giggle!!

Another fun memory from this Christmas was the "Christmas tree camp-outs". The kids had sooo much fun taking over the living room on multiple nights, sleeping by the tree, or sleeping in each other's rooms.  Sam really got into it.
He still asks every night if he can sleep somewhere other than his bed.



We enjoyed lots of fun Christmas parties this year, with our neighbors and friends who ROCK!

We love love love our Christmas party each year with the Knoxes. There are always plenty of cheesy pictures by the tree, 

yummy food,

and first-rate entertainment. (Were any of YOU lucky enough to enjoy a piano-guitar-saxaphone concert this year?)

Finally we arrive at Christmas Day. It was fun to have everyone dressed in their Sunday best before we saw what Santa brought, and fun to wait until after church to open the rest, but not fun to have Grandma in the hospital and not with us. So glad she is home now and doing better.

And that's about it, the cat is out of the bag. We had a crazy, unorganized, wonderful, messy, joyful Christmas with 4 amazing, drive-you-crazy kids, 2 cats, 1 guinea pig, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

It's that time of year....


It's that time of year when....

--the cats sleep in the puzzle box??!?

--the cats are in Christmas heaven sleeping under the tree and batting the bulbs



It's that time of year when...

---the shopping is not done
---the house is a disaster
---the Christmas cards are not mailed
---and everyone STILL expects me to make dinner each night



It's that time of year when...

--the kids want to frost sugar cookies
--I want to EAT sugar cookies (or maybe just lick the frosting off)
---the neighbor gifts are STILL not done or delivered


It's that time of year when..

---I vow to never get this behind again
---I recommit to focusing on the things that matter most
---I recommit to staying within my budget (beginning in January of course)
---I MARVEL at how much work fun Christmastime is and am so grateful for my drive-me-crazy family who I wouldn't trade for the world!