A few of my very favorite things. . . .

Happy New Year's Eve!

Happy Nine Years!

Happy Anniversary Joe!
I still have a crazy crush on you :)

Christmas Dinner. . .

Well. . .I finally got around to cooking the Christmas Ham (last night, Dec. 29th - did I mention we've been busy?) It was definitely worth the wait (if I do say so myself!) and it is so much more fun now that the kids are older and actually appreciate good food! (I distinctly remember having to force-feed the kids the first Christmas Ham I made. . .oh. . .maybe three years ago! Not a terribly festive evening that was!) But now they ooo and ahh and gobble it up! It is Will's all-time favorite meal and Joe loves it a lot too!

My spankin' new Christmas chargers & napkin rings, our wedding china, and wedding crystal!

I only have five sets of china. . .so Ben (thankfully!) went without. . .I suppose we'll have to pony up and get a new set next year!
(I'd like to pretend that I'm very cool about the kids using my china and crystal, but I gasp a little (a lot!) every time they slosh a glass towards their mouth! But, in my defense, I do use it anyway!)

After all that great food, Joe graciously responded to a challenge by the children and lifted them above his head!

What a Merry Christmas finale!

Boxing Day:

'Nuff said.

Christmas Day!

I had a terrible night's sleep (I'll be letting Unisom know!) I was so excited for the kid's Christmas! I hustled Joe out of bed around 6:45, the two olders were already talking and giggling downstairs, but when that Christmas music got started, Sara was still out cold! (It did take her a few minutes to get going - probably needed some cold caffeine!)

After opening gifts, we headed over to the Casebolt's for some more (and some fantastic cinnamon rolls of course!) The pile under that tree was so huge you could hardly get to the couch! It is quite a crowd!

We cleaned ourselves up and made it back over for Christmas Prime Rib - which was deelish! I only eat prime rib once every couple of years but I have no idea why - I love it!

Playing with the cousins!

The lovely table!

Playing with Grandpa's new iTouch! Love this pic!

What a very Merry Christmas - this age is so much fun!

Christmas Eve. . .

. . .and the fun continues. We headed out to mom's at 9 am sharp for more gift-opening and brunch! The kids kicked it off - doesn't Sara look regal in her new cape?

The kids put on a little Christmas performance (that Kayte had been talking about since the wrap-up of their Thanksgiving show!)

Will and Madison recited the Christmas story from Luke.

They finished it off with "Joy to the World", which all the kids love! We had a lovely breakfast, headed home for naps. . .then it was rush rush to get pretty for the Christmas Eve service at church (so unfortunately, I missed out on some great photo ops!) The service was lovely. . .I kinda wish they'd do a second one on Christmas night. . .

Then we headed over to the Casebolt's for some more really fantastic food and two rounds of the Newlywed game (which Joe and I killed at again! Sorry Jess :)

About 9:30 we headed home to take care of some Santa business. . .

You can see that he has been quite busy this month!

Stockings are always too heavy for the mantle!

Kayte insisted that Santa get some hot chocolate (even though I insisted it would cool too quickly) and 8 carrots, one for each reindeer and a gingerbread cookie for Santa and one for the missus (who happened to indulge way too much for even a nibble of anything more!)

I love their sweet little notes! When Joe and I finally headed off to bed there were two still very excited little kids awake, fighting off the visions of sugarplums for as long as possible!

What fun!

Christmas Eve Eve

Christmas 'round here starts a bit early. . .we have a bunch of local family. . .soooo, to do it right we add a day or two. Christmas Eve Eve starts out at my parents with "Christmas PJs"! Sometimes we manage to get these out earlier in the month, but we've been very busy! I do promise that even when these guys are all teenagers, I'm still going to insist they pile on this couch for the traditional picture:

Ben's always showing off:

Jack's eating chocolate, that's why the contorted expression!

The kids played Candyland Bingo. . .

. . .and wrestled (Jack's going pants-free of course!). . .

. . .I love Jemma squealing with delight in the background :). . .

The kids open gifts from my mom and dad. . .the next morning is a little bit crazy so we try to spread it out a bit!

Ben, of course, thinks they are just for stacking. . .

Super-cool camo gear!

Jack's matched exactly except in color, so it was easy to tell who's compass was who's!

And the kids watched the Nutcracker so the parents could play Bingo in relative peace. . .Good food, good kids, lots of fun!

Christmas Countdown!

Alright, I admit. . .I'm a little behind. But I've been really super-busy, and then I got a cold, which I was absolutely determined to sleep off. . .which actually worked! So anyhoo. . .let's get back to it!
Here are some odds and ends from last week. I have to say, I'm loving having the kids home for a bit! Kayte and Sara, and Will and Ben are being great little buds! I love it that they are close enough in age to still appreciate some playtime together!

Will pretty much follows Ben around helping him out with whatever he needs. He calls him "little Squirt" which I think is absolutely adorable! Ben is catching up on his vocab, which now includes my new favorite little phrase: "Oh NO! Nook!" You have to be there, but it is really super-cute, take my word for it!

Oh yeah. . .and I made play-dough! All by myself . . . .and a little salt (a lot of salt!)

And yes, it was a (barely) white Christmas this year! Love it!

And here is my own little workshop. . .it got a little scary at the end there! Despite my early kick-off, I woke up on the 22nd with 8 names left on my list!!! But everything always gets done in the end! What a great week we had!