Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Happy Birthday to me!

I love her expression.......two candy canes and they are all mine!
34......when did this happen? The kids and Daddy made our traditional cinnamon roll birthday breakfast. YUM! They took me to my in-laws for lunch, which was nice. After some fun take-out, my parents & grandmother came over for cake and coffee. A Carvel cake......they just opened one here. Oh, how I have missed you Carvel. Lucky for us though, it is on the other side of town. My parents gave me an exciting gift.....a telephoto lens for my new camera!!!! Okay, they may be expecting a little too much from this amateur. So generous. Thank you!
A new cookie jar full of fresh cookies............what a delicious gift from a fabulous friend. Thanks, Janice!

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Breaking in a couple new toys.

She really likes her new playdome from Grandma & Grandpa. We still have to set up her new Leapfrog table from Grandma & Grandpa Scavo. She is sure to love it too!
Okay, these aren't the clearest pics or in order, but I wanted you to see our little girl trying out softball. She connected with the ball most of the time! We are checking out t-ball this year!

Monday, December 25, 2006

Merry Christmas!

This is what greeted us on Christmas morning. Do you see the cool Santa bag with our family name on it? There were only Santa presents in that bag. Is that how Santa keeps all his presents straight? After staying up until 5 am(I forgot to make the bread and pies), the photographer in me was not quite awake for all the mayhem that took place.
Michael really got the hang of it this year. He was so cute. His favorite gift? Animal planet T-Rex and elephant. Lindsey enjoyed herself. She surprised me with how patient she was. Her best gift? Dress and dance Dora, the ONLY gift she asked Santa for. Natalie was not in her best form that early, but she did get some fun gifts.
Tyler, the ol' pro, had lots of fun. He loved getting some new Monopoly games. He got 4.....I think his collection total is now 12 or 13.
Natalie after dining on sweet potatoes, turkey and "real" mashed potatoes.

Getting her ZZZ's with a little help from Grandma.

Oh yeah, I got 3 gifts for Christmas, which was fine by me. I got a Canon Rebel Xti, a bag for it and a new memory stick. I am sooooo excited about it. My husband loves me, unfortunately, so does Best Buy:) I can't wait to use it. Boy, do I have alot to learn about it.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Christmas eve at Grandma's

These photos are a little mixed up.....blogger is not cooperating today. We tried something a little different this year. We went to my Mom and Dad's for Christmas Eve. It was nice to change things up a little. We had a great time! I know, her ears are sticking out.....but isn't she adorable?
Michael helping pull off the paper to his train table from Grandma & Papa.
I like this photo of my Grandmother. She looks so happy to be giving her gift to my Mom. Nice to see her smile like that.
Natalie excited over her gift~
I love, love, love this picture. So sweet.
Tyler trying to be patient.......................

Lindsey excited/shocked/shy about her new Loving family dollhouse. I don't know who was more anxious to play with it, Lindsey, me, or my Mom. It has so many cool pieces. Fun, fun.




















Michael, A.K.A Major Bedhead was having a grand ol' time at Grandma and Grandpa's.


















Natalie thought she would try something new, an apple! She has no teeth yet, but she tried!




















Cookies for Santa, made by the kids. They really made some delicious cookies! Wonder what Santa has in store for us?

Saturday, December 23, 2006

I sure do love those Christmas Cookies, sugar.





One of my favorite Christmas songs.....Christmas Cookies sung by George Strait. Anything he sings sounds good doesn't it? The kids had a terrific time making the cookies from scratch, cutting the cookies out, and decorating them. The flour was one of the highlights, that's for sure.

Christmas fun by Candi.

Per Candi's request, we opened her presents early. She wanted the kids to know what Aunt Candi, Brad, and Ariel had sent to them. Boy, they had a good time. She sent them each a fun piggy bank to paint themselves.
Thank you so much for all of your gifts. It was really thoughtful of you. We loved the tower of snacks and the Nick Christmas DVD. Thanks for making our Christmas special. We love you!

Friday, December 22, 2006

Those generous Little Harmons.

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The 3 Little Harmons, our blogging friends, sent a fun box of Christmas presents to us. Lindsey was so excited that Kyra sent her mail. We didn't wait until Christmas, sorry Rachel. I wanted them to enjoy what you all sent without all the other presents being around to distract. Elijah sent Michael his favorite thing, A Cars car and a Cars book. Also, he was really happy with the Kidsongs truck DVD and Superman DVD. He thought it all was so cool! Kyra sent Lindsey two cute Pet Shop kitties, whom she named Cutie and Kyra. She also is enjoying her Kidsongs animal DVD. The big hit was watching Natalie with her new stuffed Octopus. The cutest thing ever. She was squealing and snuggling with it. Here she is napping with her new favorite toy. Don't worry, I moved it away from her face.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Lindsey on stage!





















Lindsey's Preschool had their Christmas program and she was one of the butterfly angels. We couldn't get a real close pic of her. She did a great job! This is a picture of her and her little friend, Kristina. They have become fast friends. Aren't they cute? Lindsey really stood out with her ornament dress.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Oliver is at it again!


There is some good ol' elf magic going on at the Darwin's! Check it out.....you may have just found a new tradition for next year!

Sunday, December 17, 2006

It seems I have done it again.

A couple of things I have failed to mention.

Happy Birthday Robert~ Hope it was a happy one.

Janice celebrated her, what is it now?, oh yeah, her 29th birthday! Happy Birthday, friend!

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Some cookie exchanging and some tree decorating.


We were invited to our friends, the Meyers, cookie exchange party. It was fun to see some of our friends that we haven't seen in awhile. Did those kids grow or what? Also, the highlight for the kids was the gingerbread houses they got to decorate. Janice found these cardboard doilies at Party City 10 for $1.50! I was surprised how much Lindsey got into it. I wish I had my camera(do you believe I forgot it?). Thank you Janice for such a nice time! Here is the recipe for the rumballs that I made. Who knew they were that simple? Not me!
1 1/2 cup of Vanilla Wafer crumbs (about 50 cookies)
1/4 cup Bacardi dark rum
1/4 cup honey
2 cups of ground walnuts
Confectioner sugar

Combine all the ingredients, except sugar. Blend thoroughly. Shape into small balls and roll in sugar. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.


After the party, we decided to finish decorating the tree. Everyone was very cooperative and excited during the whole process. What a relief, not to have too much fighting going on.

Good mail + Good mail = Great mail!





My Aunt Pat & Uncle Rich sent us this beautiful musical Santa Claus cookie jar. Cool, huh? Thanks for the early Christmas surprise!

Then, to top the day off, I got a sweet gift from our new friends, the Mathers. A Rattles and Roses black tank, red pants and an adorable barrette. Don't you just love it! Thank you so much, Cristina for thinking of us. Natalie is going to be so cute in it, as was Ellie! Cristina also has a new blog that she has started with all of her creative ideas. Check it out here.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Winterhaven.



This one is not that clear, but it was Santa in one corner and the Grinch in another. They used red garland for the boxing ring and the sign above them read "The Main Event-Santa vs. Grinch" The funniest part was they were playing the Rocky theme song in the background.
Festival of Lights is a yearly tradition here. An entire neighborhood decorates their homes. Some a little and some alot. It is great fun. They have hayrides and nights were you are able to drive through. I think there are even nights were you can only walk through it. We ate dinner, took baths, got their pjs on and headed out. We ended up waiting for 45 minutes to get in. Just as we were entering, we look back and all 3 of them were ASLEEP! We could not wake any of them. We tried gently waking them, we tried shouting, we tried shaking them awake. Nothing worked. They were snoring!!! So, Tyler, Charles and I got to see the lights. They were really cool. We are going to try it again and walk through it. For info on the festival check out www.winterhavenfestival.org Here are a couple of pics.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Our family gift from The Darwins.


We received this wonderful gift from our good friends, The Darwins. Every year, Stacy and 24 of her friends get together and make ornaments for the Advent Jesse tree. They each choose one day and make 25 ornaments of that day. Then they get together and exchange and talk about their ornaments to complete their tree. They also sent the book that goes through each day with you for both children and adults. I can't tell you how special this gift has made us feel. The kids are so excited to do this every night with us and I can't believe she didn't keep all the ornaments for herself! These women are pretty amazing. They really did come up with some creative ideas for each ornament. Thank you Stacy, Ray, Miranda, and Sam. We are blessed to have friends like you in our lives.

Monday, December 11, 2006

It came!


Today, my Pink Christmas gift arrived! So exciting! I opened the envelope, but shouldn't have. It wasn't wrapped, but was inside a pretty pink satiny bag. When I opened the envelope, everything had shifted and had fallen out of the bag. Sorry I couldn't wait til the 25th Kristi! Thank you so much Diana! You know what the perfect gift would be for me......a chance to RELAX! I haven't had the opportunity to listen to the cd, but I can't wait. Thanks again for taking the time to send me such a fun surprise.

I can't help but wonder if my Pink Christmas friend is enjoying hers....I hope so!!!!

Friday, December 08, 2006

Let there be light!

Okay, it is not decorated yet, but it does look very festive! This is very blurry, but I had to include it. Don't they look like candy canes? I liked yours better though, Cristina.
 Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Oh, Christmas tree

Normally, we get our tree at night at Home Depot or a fun tree lot. Not this year, Charles had the day off and we heading to Target. It was a good deal for around here anyway. $40 for a 6'-7' tree. We did get a beautiful tree. Lindsey liked this one.
Michael liked them all. He just loved being able to run among them.
Natalie could care less. As shown by her tongue/raspberry maker!
Tyler by the one we chose. Posted by Picasa
It was just like a tree lot....plenty of puddles to get dirty in. In true boy fashion, he got good and muddy!
Lindsey and Michael asking Daddy for their "trees". The rosemary bushes shaped like trees. How could we say no?
They enjoyed watching the branches getting cut, but the noise was a little too much for Lindsey.
My guy bringing it in. Now the house smells of pine..........I LOVE it! Posted by Picasa