Christmas Day

The most important thing...the standing rib roast. Just Kidding...We don't forget the reason for the season, but the food is pretty good too:)

C has developed into quite a gamer. Whether it be video games, card games, or board games. We gave him TROUBLE and he can't get enough of it. We played a few rousing games...things got pretty heated, but not as bad as the infamous UNO game back in PK FL 08.

I just thought this was cute. AC using a talking book pen as a remote. She loves getting into things.
I like this too because she thinks he is distracted reading a book and she is messing with the remote... Papa KNOWS, AC!
Here is the DS that Santa brought for C. The jury is still out on whether this was a good or bad decision...

Christmas morning...

The cousins opening their awesome Pillow Pals:)

Leading up to Christmas...

This year I feel like the cousins all played so well together!! They played "monster" which involves a lot of running and screaming. We all spend the night at Gramma and Papa's one night.

Here's a jammie picture.

We decorated Christmas cookies for Santa. Aunt Kerri is so organized. She had m&ms, chocolate chips, gum drops, and crushed candy canes on individual plates for the kids to use. They came out awesome and Santa LOVED them!!

These boys are growing up and learning to love electronics. They sat there quietly for a good 15 minutes.

We attended Christmas Eve service and then had dinner at Mark and Kerri's. Here is everybody and fancied up.

Gramma got every one Christmas jammies that they HAD to put on immediately!! They also all got these sweet sling shot animals. Things got crazy on the stairs...

Group picture!!

Then we went on a hike:)

Look at me...baby wearing AC!! She is soooo cute!! I love her sooo much!!

I took a couple pictures, but I loved this picture of Gramma and Andy...so cute!!

Here is the waterfall!!! IT WAS GREAT!!!

This is the group picture!! Everyone is accounted for!!

This party was out of this world...

Did I just say that?

My sister and her sons invited us to a Star Wars Party the first day we were in SC. She posted about it here, Star Wars Party, but it was so fun I wanted to share a few pictures too!! Initially I was told "No GIRLS ALLOWED!", but me and my daughters crashed!

Here is C in his pod. They all decorated boxes. We were going to give him that light saber for Christmas, but gave it to him early for the party. He was so thankful and rarely put it down.
I highly recommend this idea for a fun get together. Don't worry, my sister, mom and I are against violence and guns and stuff, but these boys sure had a GREAT time!!

Where to begin?

Let's see... Our Christmas Vacation started on Sat with a celebration at B's parents. The kids were so excited they could barely sleep on Friday night!!

There were presents...delicious food...pumpkin pie:)
and more presents...AC did pretty well with the unwrapping.
Everyone loved C's rocket launch pad:)

C's Christmas Performance

At C's school, they put on a Christmas program. He does such a great job... and look at him in that sweater vest...It's magical!

He was a palm tree when they told the story of Baby Jesus!!

This is Daddy's favorite song!

AM's First Dance Recital

AM had her Winter Wonderland Dance Recital this Sat. She did such a great job!!! The weeks leading up to it she had been nervous and cried a couple times when they talked about it in class. Granny takes her to class every Monday and said this last week AM had been doing GREAT in class.

Here we are on the way...

This is when we first got to the studio. All the girls and their family and friends were standing around and the excitement was building. One of the other mothers motioned to me and then whispered, "I think you have AM's outfit on backwards!" Oops...off to the bathroom...

Here we are with it on the correct way:)

Our big girl had a wonderful time and we were so proud of her....ENJOY!!

Santa's Farm

The FFA(Future Farmers of America) put on a fun time called Santa's Farm where the community is invited to come have FREE hot cocoa and cookie and enjoy all the festive animals.

Like this lamb with an elf hat on:)

Here is AM looking at a pig...
She is not a fan of bad smells...like those found at a barn...

AC couldn't be bothered with pictures...AM spilled her cocoa on her dress...by the way it was like 75 degrees out:)

This is on the hayride where we sung all kinds of Christmas songs. The FFA girls on the ride said we were their best group ALL night!! C was sooooo proud!!

The kids also got to see Santa...they were more excited than they look:) C said he wanted a DS, Donkey Kong and Mario Party 8. AM said she wanted a Belle Doll and matching dress... I hope Santa delivers;)

Not to worry...She's alright!

So, Monday night, we put the kiddos to bed and then went to sit and wait in the living room. AM always gets up a couple times and this night was no different. The problem was she fell off her bed while trying to come out to the living room. I went to her room when she started crying and I knew something was wrong. I let her lay in our bed thinking that would calm her down. When it didn't, I took her out to B because things were serious. He took one look at her shoulder and said they were going to the ER.

Luckily, he came back and the ER doc said he wouldn't charge us for advice, but there was definitely something wrong. The diagnoses was the same whether it was a break, fracture, or strain. He told B to wait and see if kept bothering her and then take her to our pediatrician for x-rays so that it would defray the cost. I can't tell you how appreciative we were!!!

Our AM is fragile. Recall here when she "fractured" her arm as a baby. Maybe we don't give her enough milk!! She did break her clavicle, but nothing too serious. Our DR told her to wear a brace...

She is less than excited about it, so we can barely keep it on her!! She is also upset because it is blue...

On a lighter note than we are allowing our kids to break their bones, we found a pup in our backyard 3 weeks ago.

She is very sweet and good with kids... We hung up signs and posted ads online, but no one has claimed her.

We have been just calling her "new pup".

I bought her a bed and collar last week...

She is one of a kind!

Thanksgiving 2010

Here is AM's thanksgiving feast. I made these mini muffins that were suppose to look like mini pies. She is wearing a pilgrim's women hat.

Here is Running Buffalo! His dad was so proud.... and so was C. I made turkey and ham roll ups for his feast and they went quickly!!! :) C was so proud!

This is the day before Thanksgiving when B smoked ribs, sausage, stuffed jalapenos, and a bacon explosion. Everything turned out GREAT!!!

Here we are at Thanksgiving dinner. With all the kids and parents, we didn't all eat together, but the meal was so delish!!!

Here we have Aunt Tbird, Baby M and AM! They are all so beautiful!!

Family pic of the Austin contingency!
FAMILY PORTRAIT!!!

S's Wedding!!