Another Year.............

Well, another Christmas has come and gone and as much as I hate to admit it................I'm glad it is over. Scrooge! I know!! This holiday was so crazy busy I feel like it went by in a big huge blur and I didn't have time to really enjoy it. With traveling all over Ohio and down to West Virgina we spent so much time in the car with exhausted, cranky kids. What was left after the whirlwind of holiday chaos was a dirty vehicle with hundreds of added miles on the odometer, lots of toys that seem to all make noise and a feeling that my apartment has shrunk in square footage. I want to go crawl in my bed and sleep for a week!! However, New Year's Eve brought a new sense of calm and excitement. The feeling of a new year and new possibilities to explore. The thought of starting anew and making this the best year ever. We have been blessed with a new person in our lives that has opened doors to things we have only been able to dream about until now. He is truly a Godsend...................but that is another post. I will be filling you in as things develop!!
For now, I want to share some of our Christmas holiday. This year we decided to let the kids have total control of the tree decorating. We didn't even get out tree up until 2 days before Christmas................it was buried in storage. And then we never did find the box of decorations. Oh how I long for a house so we can be better organized!! However, it all worked out for the best and the kids had a ball. This is what they came up with...............


A toy themed tree!! They gathered toys from all around the apartment..........

Nothing was off limits.......................

We have Fairies and flowers, dinosaurs and giraffes................

And ornaments the kids made out of stickers...........

Handmade beaded ornaments................

It turned out so adorable! And the kids were so proud of their creation.

Even the FedEx tag made it on the tree!! LOL!!

The candy canes that were used to adorn the branches didn't last long..............

and ended up decorating the kids faces and hands instead!! LOL!!!

On Christmas Eve we went to Marc's Aunt's house. I made 6 dozen cookies and icing in red and green for all of the kids to decorate cookies to leave out for Santa. The kids had such a good time that we decided to make it a new tradition. I made a container of each icing and sprinkles for each child to have their own icing and sprinkles. I didn't want to hear "That's my icing!" and of course we didn't want any cross-contamination when the kids licked their fingers and suck them back in for more!!! LOL!!

Little Betty Crocker herself...............

And my little Emeril................

Bella takes her job so seriously!

Daddy acted as supervisor.......and photographer..............

And the end results were priceless...................

Then we opened gifts. We did a very simple gift giving this year. We wanted to keep it simple and just get together as a family. After all, isn't that what Christmas is all about?

We decided to start another tradition this year. Christmas pajamas. Bella couldn't even wait until she got home before putting hers on. Of course- They ARE Dora the Explorer!!

This is what the tree looked like after "Santa" got it ready.............at 4 in the morning!!

And then Christmas morning it was on and paper was flying!! Bella was excited to get her first Barbie..............

Kyle was excited over his tv and vcr. Mostly excited with the remote!! LOL!!

They even helped each other open gifts!

Wow! Somebody was a very good girl this year! Peek-A-Boo Bella!

Cali got Disney collector's books. Winnie the Pooh of course!

Poor Cali didn't really get the whole concept. She could have cared less but loved the sound of all of the paper!!

And then mommy and daddy brought out the big dawgs!! A Dora ride-on quad for Bella.

And a John Deere ride-on tractor with detachable wagon for Kyle!!

Even Cali got in on the fun..................

A little parade went up and down the hallway all day.....................

Don't worry- we didn't leave Bella or Kyle in charge of riding Cali around.............Daddy was always within inches!!

I honestly think Daddy has had more fun with these things than the kids have!!

Then again, I could be wrong. :)

All in all it was a wonderful Christmas. I'm just going to need a full year to recover!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and have a very wonderful New Year!!

~Heather:)