Happy Christmas!

WARNING!!!

If you cannot stand spoiled rotten children, STOP reading NOW!

Grandma decided to do a 12-days of Christmas thing in the mail for the kids this year. So every day for 12 days they got a fun toy in the mail. Even on Sunday! Don't know how Grandma managed that...
We made some chimes this year out of pipes. The kids has so much fun with them that we finally had to put them in the garage. They were more than welcome to go out there to play with them...which they did...a lot.
Our Nativity involved Ryan being the donkey.
Cody insisted on being baby Jesus this year, while Brandon insisted on being Joseph and Kathleen, of course, was Mary. It is funny to see them all with their little opinions on how the nativity should run. But I sure loved watching them be so excited to do it. Then even asked if we could act our nativity out after lunch, because they were too excited to do it and didn't want to wait until after dinner.


Our Christmas PJ's:

Ryan played Santa this year.





Notice Ryan's new shirt and sweater. I think he looks super HOT!


We got Mario Kart for the Wii for Christmas. But the best part was watching the kids play it for the first time. The couch was empty, but they were all squished into a corner.
Yesterday evening, they remembered to check the mailbox and this time found little wrapped presents from Grandma. What a perfect end to a fun day.
Ryan and I have a tradition that I had growing up where we do a puzzle on Christmas. Ryan, being the smart man that he is, got one of the Eiffel Tower that glows in the dark.
Ryan got me a map of the United States. I have all kind of maps of the world all over, but I have always wanted a big one of the U.S. The best part is that we hung it up and are using it to display the baseball games that we have been to. We have a goal to attend a baseball game at every major league park by our 34th anniversary. So far we have made it to 4.
Ryan insisted that I take a close-up of one of the tags I made.
Brandon's Lego "Clone Turbo Tank" is coming along. I love watching him work on it every chance he gets. It is taking a lot of work and time.

Pre-Christmas Busy

My handsome boys in their matching-ish ties. Brandon had to wear it to school one day. He got a lot of compliments.I made sugar cookies WITHOUT my kids. I was surprised at how much cleaner it was to do it that way.
We celebrated our 5-year anniversary of living in our house. We ate on the floor in the kitchen to celebrate (that is what we did the day we moved in when we didn't have any furniture yet).
Cody's school party:
Brandon's Polar Express pajama party:
Ryan and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary (lots of anniversaries in December at our house).
Ryan took me to this really fun and fancy restaurant for dinner with an AMAZING magic show. It was so fun.
Then we had fondue with our kids. Kathleen insisted we take a funny picture. Well, let's be honest, it is a better way to describe us. Way to catch our personalities Kathleen.
Ryan made the kids red and green pancakes for breakfast.
Kathleen danced in the Nutcracker.

She was really excited about her bun in the net. She even added a red bow and had me do her hair this way for four days in a row.
Alyssa and Clayton came to visit.
Kathleen and Brandon had their piano recital.


We went to Bounce with Ryan's work for a party. I guess the Velcro wall was the favorite of the evening. But we should let you know that we raced through their biggest blow-up obstacle course and I beat Ryan with a whopping 27 seconds.

Awards, Concerts, and Gingerbread

Kathleen was nominated for Principal's Pride. We are so proud of our cute kids. They both have received this award this year. They do work so hard and as a mother, I can really appreciate when someone else notices.Kathleen with her Principal.
Cody had his preschool Christmas concert. He was so cute.


We took the kids to the mall to see "the REAL Santa." They love seeing Santa's helpers, but they were really excited to see the real one. Don't ask me how they know the difference...they just do. Luckily they are all in agreement. Kathleen said, "Because he was jolly and gave us a present." I guess that is how you know. It is the level of jolliness.
We made gingerbread houses. And by gingerbread, I mean graham cracker. And by houses, I mean...
Can you guess what Ryan is making?
Yes, that is Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox. No we aren't obsessed!!




Our snow fort/igloo melted in fun patterns. But the kids are sad that the snow is gone.
Kathleen and I dressed to match on Sunday, funny faces and all.