State of the Family #27

Oh dear.  This is bad.  3 weeks since my last post and so much has happened.  Hustle and bustle you know.  Now to just try and remember what all went on during those 3 weeks.  We'll start with Christmas and maybe I'll try another SOF to catch up on the New Year.

Christmas was good to all of us. It didn't feel like we had to be everywhere and do everything all at once this year.  Since my family did Christmas at Thanksgiving this year it eliminated one more celebration to attend.  We had Christmas with my mom's side on the 23rd and then spent the rest of Christmas weekend with Daddy's family.  Then the other extended family parties were the following weekend.

Miss Thumb Sucker was hard to buy for this year. Still too young to really be 'into' anything and already having all the 'necessary' girl toys from her big sister, her list was pretty short. She received many cute clothes, a Little People castle and a cute pink shopping cart that she loves to push around. Seriously, I can't even remember some of the other stuff she got.  Isn't that terrible?  She had a lot of fun opening presents. . . if they weren't hers.  She had a great time tearing into whatever she could find under the tree or the presents set in front of me or daddy, but give her one that she was actually supposed to open and she wanted nothing to do with it. 

Miss Firecracker received a playhouse (this was actually a combo gift for her and Miss Thumb Sucker, but don't tell Miss Firecracker that!). We will have to take it apart to take outside this spring, but it is probably a favorite so far. . . that and the box it came in! The box has been colored and played in more so far than the actual house.  But, I guess they will have time to play in the house once the box has been mutilated and thrown away.  Miss Firecracker's 2nd favorite gift was her new cowgirl boots. They are adorable! I am having a hard time keeping clothes clean that match them. . . or she will just wear her black and teal boots with a brown and red outfit with pride (for those of you that don't know me that well, this drives me bonkers - I am a 'matcher' to the T).  But you have to pick your battles, right?  Her hilarious moment on Christmas Eve had us all in stitches.  She was trying to see a new gift her new baby cousin had received and had to 'make her way' in a bit closer, thus stepping on a big gift box that was in between her and the baby.  Well, the box lasted about 1/2 a second before giving way and swallowing up her feet.  Thankfully, there was nothing breakable inside and tights-laden legs were well-protected from the paper and cardboard.   So, after she got over the initial shock of falling through, everyone had a great laugh.  Her other fun gifts included Polly Pockets (which she only gets to play with when Miss Thumb Sucker is asleep) her very own backpack and adorable clothes.

Noisy Man was also spoiled receiving a huge coloring set complete with markers, crayons, water colors and even oil pastels (which he has been instructed are only for use when he gets bigger). He also received an over 900 piece Lego castle set, which I am still trying to decide if this was for him or if it was really for daddy, and Mario Cart (a racing game for the Wii). Two other Lego sets were a big hit and a few clothes slightly impressed him.  His funny story comes from when he opened up his Mario Cart game and realized that the steering wheel for the game was not in the box.  Now, keep in mind that it was after 9 pm (which is over a 1/2 hour after bed time), had been a very long day of playing with his cousins and he is just a generally emotional child.  It was all we could do to keep him from breaking into tears.  We convinced him that we would go get him the steering wheel once the stores were open. . . Lo and behold what do you think was in his stocking on Christmas morning?  I have never seen him so excited!

Even mommy and daddy were spoiled.  Our big gift to the kids (or maybe more so to ourselves) was a dual screen DVD player for our van! Yeah for entertainment during long drives!

Daddy received a new impact drill thingy (that is the official, technical term for it), a range finder, and some other tool thing called a dremel or something like that and even some decoration stuff! Like I said, I think a lot of the Lego stuff was for him as well.  They spent 1 1/2 hous putting together our nephew's castle (and there were 3 of them working on it) the next day, and after we got home, Daddy and Noisy Man spent 2 hours putting his together.  Daddy always cracks me up after getting home from Christmas things.  He is just like a kid and has to get all of his new 'toys' out and test them out and check them over, but always finds a home for them right after the testing is finished.

Not so much for me.  It takes me forever to get things put away and readjusted. . . perfect example are my shelves still sitting full of pretty decor I received, but still haven't figured out where to place it yet, so they are all crammed together where you can't see any of it.  On top of all my great decor items I received my own pair of cowgirl boots!  They are awesome as well and I am totally excited about them.  I also got a complete set of Fiestaware!  Five in chocolate and five in ivory (I really wanted the awesome green color, but couldn't convince Daddy that this was a good idea).  I am super thrilled to get them all out and put away my cracked and chipped blue swirl plates we bought with our wedding money.  I was disappointed in how long those lasted (or didn't last) but it is fun to get new ones!  So, once I get them all out I'll have to throw a few dinner parties!!  And I always love a reason to have people over! And of course my fantabulous treadmill was my early Christmas present from Daddy.

Best of all this Christmas we were able to attend our church's Christmas Eve service and everyone came.  At first I thought it would just be our family while the rest of them stayed at my in-laws, but Daddy and I are set on having church be a huge part of our Christmas.  Since this hasn't been the tradition (not that it is wrong in any way, just different) in his family before, I was overjoyed when the entire family accompanied us to the service and it was a great one!  

The following week after Christmas consisted of reorganizing, trying to keep our composure while getting toys out of boxes and cutting all those darn zip ties and twist ties, a trip to the Children's Museum, the kids asking every day if daycare kids were coming (I had the whole week off!), Noisy Man asking when preschool started again, learning how to crochet again, some great movie nights for Mommy and Daddy, a very fun girl's night for Mommy with some friends, and an enjoyable, but laid back, New Year's Eve with some great Mexican food (compliments of my dad - if you have ever had his Mexican you know how great it was) and we were in bed by 10:30.  I heard a quote about New Year's this year that I loved "Optimists wait up til midnight to make sure the New Year gets off to a good start.  Pessimists wait up til midnight to make sure the old year leaves.  And realists just go to bed on time and know that it is going to happen no matter what you do."  Ha!  I love it!