Christmas 2011

Well, Lisa and I pulled it off again! Christmas Eve at my house! It was such a great time. Everyone showed up at a decent time and the food was delicious. Lisa catered the whole thing for me and prepared bake chicken, ribs, mac and cheese, spinach, yams and salad. Everything was excellent! :) I was in charge of drinks, plates and the corn bread. Of course, the things you can't screw up! Michael and Jodi came, Dan was done work before the party started, Lisa, Poppy, Mom~mom, Great Grammy, Aunt Michelle, Aunt Debbie and Uncle Ronnie, Aunt Diane and Uncle Chick, Aunt Cari, Uncle Bill, and Billy Bear, Uncle Stinky Feet (John), Grammy and Pop and Aunt Jack were all here to celebrate! It was definitely a full house!

We had so much fun eating and drinking and exchanging presents. Many of us even went on the lawn towards the end of the night to spread magic reindeer food to make sure Santa would stop at our house.

The twins LOVED having everyone in one spot. Around 830, everyone was gone and the kids were ready for bed. They received PJ's from Buddy again this year and were surprised to see that Buddy toilet papered the tree the night before! As Danny put it best, "Buddy is going to be on the naughty list!" The kids didn't fall asleep til 11. So, Mommy cleaned up everything and then waited for Santa. He arrived at 1:00 am and had everything done in a jiffy.

Mommy and Daddy's pile

So Dan and I went to bed and slept for a few hours. Madison was up bright and early. She awoke us at 5am We held her off from going downstairs for an hour. Around 6 am we couldn't hold her off any longer. So we told her to get her brothers up and we would go down. Of course, the boys got up immediately and off they went to open gifts. Daniel's were wrapped in Thomas the Train paper, Madison's were wrapped in Hello Kitty, and Brayden's were wrapped in Cars. It took 5 hours of wrapping, but only 15-20 minutes ripping into everything! But, the joy on their faces were worth every minute of it! I just love Christmas time. The family, the joy in our children, the warm feeling of the holiday. I wish it could feel like that everyday. Dan opened his things next...I spoiled him this year. I got him gift cards to Burlington Coat Factory to shop for new clothes (since he lost 40 lbs). I got him a underwear, Old Navy Fleece and one of the cutest things I could find...the Melissa and Doug License Plate game for the car. We play all the time in the car and I couldn't believe they make a game board to play. I also got him an iPad2. But, he shocked me by getting me the new Canon T3i Rebel camera. I've been wanting one so badly, but I'd hate to spend all that money. I'm so glad he got it for me, now we have 18 months to pay it off. LOL!

Christmas Day was fun and relaxing! We first went to the Mumbower's to meet up with Uncle Bill and Aunt Cari to give Pop and Grammy their gift from all of us. We got them their annual calendar and a new 32" LCD TV for the shore house. They also gave the kids their new bikes and motorized car! So we all went outside and tried them out! The kids had a blast!! After about an hour, we left to go to Poppy's and Mom~mom's house. They had already given them the Xbox Kinect on Christmas Eve and I was shocked they had bought more. But, they did! They got Daniel a Cars Geo Trax, Madison a Justin Bieber doll and a hair & make up doll, and they got Brayden the huge Buzz Lightyear robot. They also gave them money to add to their savings accounts. They are all so generous when it comes to their grandkids!

We then played awhile and had dinner and then had to head back to the Mumbower's. We were only going to stop for an hour or so, until Grammy put on ET. Brayden and I were hooked and watched the whole thing. Now, if you ask Bray what happened to ET, he responds, "ET sick!" It's absolutely precious! I was so shocked that it kept his attention through the whole movie.

We finally arrived at home around 9. We all headed to bed...especially mommy! I was BEAT! I didn't even care about the mess in the house. I needed to re-coop the many hours of loss sleep. I went to bed feeling so good about everything. It was the first Christmas that felt like everything went so smoothly. I am VERY blessed to have everything that God has given me! I have a wonderful family and extended family. I have beautiful and healthy children. We have jobs that provide nicely for our family! I honestly couldn't ask for more!