The Holidays

We had a great time this Christmas holiday and were very thankful we got to spend time with family. Here are a few of the pictures.

One afternoon I told the kids to head upstairs to get ready for their naps (yes I realize that only one child is dressed for the day). I was busy putting something away downstairs when I heard them head for the stairs. Then it got quiet. Very quiet. Not sure what was going on I started up the stairs only to be greeted with this sight:
Not sure what they were doing but they thought this was quite hilarious.

Now, I intended to get a picture of everything I made for Christmas (food-wise). Everything. Well 'everything' ended up being only two things. So here are two things I made, turtles (very good and very addictive, courtesy of my sister-in-law Marion),
and peppermint bark.
The other things I made: chocolate ginger cookies, potato chip cookies, chocolate peppermint cookies, muddy buddies (these are made with rice or corn chex and are delicious and easy if you haven't tried them), chex mix and cream cheese bread for snacking. For dinner: We had a turkey (which we brined, and it was AMAZING!), mashed potatoes, corn, homemade biscuits (they ended up tasting like the ones from KFC and were wonderful), cranberry sauce (Holley's recipe and I love, love, love it!), a small ham, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie, apple pie and chocolate mousse pie. This is making me hungry just talking about it.

A couple days before Christmas we had the Stellers over to have dinner and a gift exchange. Here the kids are ready for their gifts.
Ayden got a horse and loves it.
This picture makes me laugh because it looks like she is riding the horse. I told her I wanted to take a picture and she just kept getting closer and closer to me.
Here is Grant with a ribbon on his head from one of the gifts. Don't you like how it went with his outfit?
On Christmas eve, as I was baking up a storm in the kitchen, Andy got some pictures of the kids in their Christmas pajamas. Don't you love that Andy left food on Tate's face for all of these pictures?


This goes along with her saying to Andy, "What are you doing, Daddy?"
We are sending Tate to contortionist school.
This is Christmas morning playing with their 'Beings' they got from my mom. These little things do a little light show on top of their heads and 'talk' to each other across the room (make little noises at each other).
My brother Jeremy, his girlfriend Rosie and their youngest Kamrin.
Jeremy and Kaiden. Kaiden was not very interested in opening gifts, but he loved the ones that were already opened.

A good shot of the chaos that was our living room on Christmas morning.
The little ham!
Making the gingerbread house a couple days after Christmas. I kept forgetting about it, and forgetting about it, but we finally did it! Of course the kids wanted to eat the candy more than decorate.
Aunt Rosie helping the kids with the project.
Picture with daddy.
Now with mommy.
Tate and Ayden loved baby Kamrin. They always wanted to hold and kiss him. Here are a few shots of that. Tate loves Kamrin so much that when Andy's mom got both Tate and Ayden their own babies Tate named his Kamrin.


An awake baby! This was Kamrin right as they were leaving our house. The poor guy left our house with a slight fever and ended up in the hospital the next day. I found out they had to do a spinal tap and everything. Yuck! Anyway, he is better now and out of the hospital.
Ayden is riding in a stroller that Andy's mom got her for her baby. She still likes to sit and ride in it herself.
Ok, as part of my house decorations I used my trifle bowl and opened up a ridiculous amount of candy canes to completely encircle the inside. Then I placed a bow and poinsettia in there and it sat on our table for the holidays.
Now one day I walked in the dining room to see both of my kids with their bellies on the table licking the candy canes. So my nice, vibrantly colored candy canes became gooey, slimy, and white in parts. I can't believe how many times I caught them doing this. This is what the candy canes ended up looking like:
I guess it serves me right for having unwrapped candy in the open. These are addicts folks, they can't help themselves. They need professional help, but it will just have to wait. I've decided to spend that money on a Wii instead. Woohoo!! Merry Christmas to me again!!!