Star Wars Helmets

These helmets are so fun. We have a little cousin that got one also and all three of them just love to play Star Wars even though my boys have never even seen any of the movies. They really think they are pretty cool.

Christmas Day

The boys were way too excited to sleep on Christmas eve. Colin was in and out of our bed all night long and Mason woke up at 5 a.m. Way too early. Olivia and I woke up around 7 a.m. Santa brought all three kids new scooters. Olivia got a baby doll, baby stroller, crib and high chair. Colin got Transformers and Lincoln Logs. Mason got a Martian Maker kit and Pixos. Of course they all received a lot of other really fun presents too. Derrick gets a new pair of white tennies every year and I am so thankful to get new clothes. Christmas breakfast is at our house every year. This year we had a yummy breakfast casserole, orange rolls, mini muffins, and fruit. After breakfast we made the rounds to the great grandparents. Then to Derrick's parents house for dinner. I love this time of year so much. All of the anticipation and magic and then it's over so quickly. It always makes me a little sad.

We love the Wii!!

Colin opening the Wii. Thank you Mimi and Papa!

This gift was at the very top of Mason's Christmas wish list. He was so excited. 

I'm not really sure who was more excited, Derrick or Mason. Derrick quickly discovered old Nintendo games could be downloaded to the Wii, so of course Tecmo Bowl was the first. This is him and Kade trying it out.

Oh, Holy Night

Christmas eve nativity. Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus, two sheppards, (one wouldn't cooperate with his costume), and three little angels.

An expectant Mary and Joseph. Derrick's father narrating.

One little Sheppard.

One pretty little angel.

All three heavenly angels.

Yummy Traditions

Every year on Christmas eve, we make sugar cookies to leave for Santa. This was the first year the boys were really old enough to actually help me rather than just making a mess. 

Rolling the dough.

Cutting out the shapes.

Frosting and decorating.

We're ready for Santa. Yum Yum!

Gingerbread House

Derrick's mom gets talked into buying one of these gingerbread kits by my kids every year, I think. Now I'm guessing we will probably always do it. The kids love it and they are always so proud of it. They don't last very long in our house though. This one had all of the candy eaten off of it that same day and the frosting all picked off the next.

"Santa Scary!"

This is so funny! We weren't really prepared for this photo. We had some clothing difficulties and hair issues, Olivia is terrifed and Colin is smiling sort of crazy. Later on this Santa moment will definately be one of the most memorable and laughable.

Mr. & Mrs. Clause

Mrs. Clause reading to the children. They all gathered around her in a big crowd waiting for Santa to arrive, and she was so adorable.

Finally jolly old Saint Nick came in through the doors and Olivia lost it. Screaming her head off. She took comfort in the arms of a total stranger until I could get to her, totally petrified.

They sang a few Christmas carols with the kids and then it was time for pictures. My boys really enjoyed this. Maybe Olivia will too, next year.

More Snow!!!

In the ten years that I have lived here, I've never seen it snow like this in December. It's so exciting. It was such a thrill watching my little ones faces light up when they looked outside this morning, and the fact that school was cancelled made it that much more fun.

Olivia wasn't too sure if she liked the snow as much as the boys though. She is quite the little princess and didn't even like the snow on her hands. She would not wear gloves and I had to fight with her to get that hat on. She's so cute!

This is Derrick hard at work, bulding our snowman in his dress shirt and slacks before heading to work. 

Tada! I thought it might be fun to have a pirate snowman, so we gave him an eye patch and a bandana. Mason didn't really like that idea, but humored me for one picture.

The kids named him Snowie. They are so creative.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Derrick says he can't remember it ever snowing here in December. We were all so excited when the snow started falling in the morning and then it just kept coming.

We didn't actually get lucky enough to have the snow stick much at our house, so we drove 20 miles North to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Mason told Derrick's mom, "You have way more snow than we do!"

It was so much fun wathcing them make snow angels and building snowmen. It definately makes it feel a lot more like Christmas. I really hope we get some more.

Oh Christmas Tree

This year we have two Christmas trees. The first one is in our living room. It's more formal, I guess only because there's no t.v. We really don't have anything too formal in our home with three kids and all.

The second tree is upstairs in our family room. It's definately more for the kids. They helped me make the paper chain and most of the orniments are theirs from over the years.

Beauty Shop

I thought these pictures were so cute of Livvy and her very best little neighbor friend playing beauty shop. My neighbor does hair and it looks like her little girl will follow in her footsteps. Olivia hates when I try to fix her hair, so I was very suprised when we walked in on her sitting so patiently letting her friend brush her hair.

Refridgerator Tag

This is really sort of embarassing. Our refridgerator looks disgusting, but I promise under all the mess it really is clean. There is a short in the wireing somewhere and so we have no light. We had a guy come out to look at it and it was going to cost like $250. I don't think so! We will just have to be without the light, as long as the food is cold, we are good! There is sort of a potpoury of things to choose from here. I desperately need to go grocery shopping though. There's left over chicken noodle soup, lemon juice, butter, eggs, and something in the blender.

I tag: Holly, Jennie, Brianna, Ali D., and Kaylee

Thanksgiving

We stuck around for Thanksgiving, like we do every year. We usually get together with as many of D's brothers and sisters that can and eat at his parents house. It's really nice to not have to travel far and the cousins have so much fun together. 

Mas, Col, Payt, and Jax

These boys are so silly. Rubberband funny faces!

Derrick's mom is so great and makes a wonderful meal for us all. This year we brought sweet potatoes and Chocolate Betsy, one of my sweet mommy's recipies.(Around here most people call it chocolate lush). Derrick made the yams all by his self and they were so good. He was very proud and made sure everyone had some on their plate. Last year it was a pumpkin Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. Every year it's something new, maybe we should make it a tradition.

This year I was so thankful for the rain, though it made me homesick for my family. It really made it feel like Fall finally, and I'm always thankful for our friends and families. I just love this time of year!

All-nighter

Thanksgiving night my friend Brooke and I went shopping at some stores in the stip mall that opened at 11:00 pm. It seemed like there were hundreds of people out and I ended up waiting in one store for two very long hours.

By the time we finished with the strip mall it was 2:30 am. Since I had already planned to get up and stand in line at 4:00 am it now seemed pointless to go to bed for an hour and get up again, so we stayed up.

I haven't pulled an all-nighter since I was first married. Needless to say we were both pretty tired and hungry. It really made standing in some of those line very difficult. The only place open at 4 am is Del Taco. Yum, yum! It was actually really good.

Our first stop was the strip mall. Then the Old Navy parking lot, and back to The Childrens Place, where there was absolutley no line at 3 am. Next was WalMart. We went straight to the movies for $2. They were all shrink wrapped and we all stood there just waiting for the worker to cut the tape and when he did, everyone dove. I got what I needed and was thankful not to be trampled, but some people had piles of movies like 20 - 30 and I doubt they even knew what they were grabbing. Our next stop was Home Depot for a pre-lit Christmas tree priced at $49 down from $199. After that Bath & Bodyworks and the Mall. Too bad we were so tired to think very clearly and didn't get any pictures of the crazy lines, but we had a lot fun and made it home by 8:30 am.

8 Years!

This is our wedding day 8 years ago. It seems crazy that it's really been that long. We look so young and I suppose that we were, just twenty and twenty-one. We met in the parking lot of the student housing where I lived at the time and two weeks later we were engadged. Then married two and a half months later. The best decision I've ever made. Happy Anniversary Love.