Happy Birthday Mom!!

{The Birthday Girl and her Uncle Denny}
Today is your day....I hope it is special in every way....because you deserve it. Thanks for passing down the ability to roll my tongue and your love of Scrabble. Thanks for giving my youngest daughter those amazing eyes, my oldest son that gorgeous dimple, my oldest daughter that gorgeous hair color, and my youngest son...his strong chin. We won't get into the cheeks, but you know you are responsible;) Thanks for always being there for me and for the rest of my little family. We love you!

Christmas Day....only 18 days later....

Okay the truth of the matter is that there are not alot of photos from Christmas, or many that were suitable for blog viewing. It was a great morning. Highlights? Santa brought many games for everyone and a special gift from Freddy....an elf decoration and a book to remember him by. Watching our youngest squeal over "babypops" in her stocking and then pass them out to everyone was the sweetest moment ever. Tyler's excitement over his new Pinnacle Movie Box(to edit and manipulate videos) was fun to watch. Lindsey's Hello Kitty teacup clock radio was a HUGE hit. Michael was batty over his Batman Cave...ha....get it? Batty? okay, maybe I took that a little too far. Charles was surprised that Santa gave him a new, black ipod and I rec'd a beautiful stained glass heart jewelry box from the kids. Mom was engraved on top and the kids were just so proud of themselves, which in turn, made me tear up even more.

After we cleaned up the debri, we got ready to have our families over for dinner. Again, no photos. It was a delicious meal....I think one of our best, but what made it so good was our family around us.

Then it was gift exchange time again and I finally got some photos! There was so much chaos that I just stood in the middle of the room and took some 360 photos......it is sort of fun to see what was going on all at once.


Tyler opening a gift from his grandparents.....don't you love the box?

My grandmother watching all the commotion.

My mil, Marie, opening one of her gifts.

My Mom, in the middle of all the action.
My Dad along with my Sil, Cristina, and her husband, Dan.

Michael, showing off his new clothes....have I mentioned he loves clothes? And Miss Lindsey LOVING her new pink desk chair from Grandma & Grandpa.

Our youngest, the budding artist, breaking out her new crayons and paper.

Charles and I were there soaking it all up.

*Bonus photos~~~the only photos of her in her Christmas dress.

I told you the girl loves her candy canes!

Pink Christmas.

Christmas day was a little sweeter with my Pink Christmas gift to open. I was so excited by what I rec'd, I forgot to turn on my flash.....cool pic though.

Here you could see a little more of the detail. It is an AMAZING friendship star quilt in my FAVORITE colors. Who was my partner you ask? Cindy from The Apricot Tree Company was kind enough to make it for me. I absolutely love it! She was also sweet enough to include some cocoa, a berry wreath and a star.
She also made embroidered our name into a piece of the fabric and framed it! I can't get over her generosity! Thank you Cindy. I will always treasure it.

Before we go on our Sunday bike ride....

I want to wish my good friend, Lori, a very Happy Birthday! I hope your day is as wonderful(& yummy!) as Paula Dean's Red Velvet Cupcakes! Have an amazing day....you deserve it!

Good mail to the rescue!

Out of this blogging funk that I have been in. Kacey from Doodlebugs sent some fun Birthday good mail. A cute, cute, cute tote...along with some fun flower notepads, ribbon AND some personalized notecards! Thanks for making me smile!!! You made my day.

I also rec'd some good mail I had ordered....

I ordered this for Janice.....don't you think it is appropriate? I also bought this one for Lindsey......it is totally her. Want to look? Check out her etsy shop....the dreamy giraffe. You are going to find something you like....really you will!

As if all that good mail wasn't wonderful enough, I rec'd a gorgeous New Year's card from Cristin (seriously, her children are all sorts of cute!) and an adorable birthday card from our good friends, the Harty's. More like a great mail day!

I have alot to post about, but I won't bog you down now.

In case you are in need of a pic fix, here are a couple to tide you over.

Don't fall over Jill.......I was in 2 pics...I think it's a new record for me!

Christmas Eve 2008

Since my uncle and my 2 cousins were going to be leaving on Christmas Day, we had a fun Christmas get-together with them on Christmas Eve.

Our little cutie loved Grandma Nev's tree.Camden & Carly....can you tell that they are twins? Carly loves photography and took off with my camera. Alot of these are hers, except well, the pics that she is in:)

This is our family friend Paul. He just turned 82 on Dec 23rd. Happy Birthday Paul!

Natalie playing a bit before dinner.

Dad relaxing after doing all the cooking.

I like this pic she took. Almost everyone is in it.

Here is our family friend, Gladys. She turns 82 today! Happy Birthday, Gladys!

Carly & I goofing around.
A really good pic Carly took of our Grandma.
One gift that was a hit....this ball that is flat when you throw it, but opens up to a ball, while it is in the air.

And you can never be wrong with these......thanks Uncle Harold, the kids love em.

On our way home this was our view? Cool, huh?

She fell asleep like this. Can you believe that?

We came home to our Santa all aglow on the chimney.

After we got in our jammies, we set out cookies and milk...oh, and don't forget the reindeer chow.
We said our goodbyes to Freddy...we will miss him so much.

And read 2 stories. The story of Jesus and The Night Before Christmas. At this point, Michael was fast asleep on the couch.
And then we all settled in for a long winter's nap.

A little holiday rewind.

Since my computer and blogger have not been cooperating for the past 4 days, here is a little bit of what was going on before Christmas Eve. Just a little taste.

With some fresh baked chocolate chippers and hot cocoa....

we decorated the tree.
That we got the night before at this tree lot. The kids sat on the back of an old pickup. I like for once that this photo shows Michael in a pout and Natalie trying to smile....AND you got to love the leopard jacket and kitty boots:)
AND are your ready for this? Tyler & Lindsey ASKED me to take these photos of them. I almost fell over.

the next morning candy canes were added...yum. {December 2006~~~~the girl loves candy canes!}

Michael & Natalie made blue chocolate stars....yeah that is a candy cane stuck to her shirt, what is the big deal? She is saving it for later. Oh and those stains....they are permanent(adds something to the shirt don't you think?)

Our little ham.

We attempted to make our very own handprint tree.

Speaking of hams....here is Lindsey waiting to perform at her holiday concert.Waiting with her friend Ryan to perform. She looks so calm and he looks well, a little nervous. Cute, cute.

I tried my best from the nose bleed section.....she is on the left in the back(the only time I wish she were a little shorter)

Please forgive the blurriness, I tried my best. She really got into it! Thankfully, my dad had his camcorder.

My uncle and my 2 cousins arrived in town on Friday, so we met up at Zoolights.

And I thought getting 4 kids in a photo was hard....6 was not working out:) 5 in one scene is pretty good!

Carly, my 8 yr old cousin....


When we should have been decorating, wrapping, etc....we did what anyone else would do. We got out our bounce house.

When they were all jumped out, they rested together with their pillows, blankets and bed buddies. It was pretty cute.

We finally got our lights up.

Our cookies were decorated...festive, no?

Freddy brought some very exciting treats.
A basket full of reindeer cake lollipops.........can you take the cuteness? Neither can I.
Along with 4 bags of reindeer chow to feed those reindeers. Don't tell the kids, but Janice is to thank for these(as if you didn't already know)