Christmas Chaos!

Ah, Christmas...It's the Most Wonderful Time...of the Year...

This year we were super glad to not have to travel for the holidays, as the Midwest got totally dumped on with snow...
When you don't have to travel, it's actually quite pretty...


Thankfully our company was able to come early & be with us too...The hubs' family came to town & we were able to enjoy the holidays & a few extra days as well thanks to 20+ inches of snow & freeway closures!



Who needs a Christmas Dress when you have a flower girl dress that fits so perfectly? I'm actually sort of glad she wants to wear it so often, because then I feel better about how much they cost! She loves it! And thankfully had a chance to wear her Christmas Dress already so...that wasn't all for nothing!

She even insisted on an updo with twenty bobby pins & Auntie Christy obliged! HA!

I think it's safe to say that Bmann is always most excited when Grandma Betty comes to town (or when we go to her house for that matter!) She wrapped him up a gift under the tree and he did soooo good keeping an eye on it for two days before he finally got to open it!!





Grandma Betty with a 3 of her 5 grandkids and her Grand Dog.



Attempting a family photo...bwahahahahahaaaa



Auntie Christy who has the patience of a flippin' saint let all the kids make Better than Bleep Cake with her...(in the flower girl dress no less!)

And when they were done - everyone got a turn licking the utensils!

(don't worry - he went last!)



And then dressing it up with calories deliciousness!



The kids made us these little canny pots at daycare and wrapped them up as a surprise for us - D must of not meant to put the nose where it is on his because he kept asking me if he could move it...um, no...sorry kid! The glue was dry! I think it's adorable just the way it is!!

Grandma Betty remembered that this past summer the kids had to make due with a poor man's fishin' rod and bought the kids fishin' rods for Christmas -

They. Were. Thrilled!

And that, is all he wanted to play with. He didn't care to open anything else...He just begged to have water put in the bathtub so he could fish. But he settled for the stairs for awhile!

And there his gifts sat, long after the rest of us had opened ours!

H was thrilled with her loot - and I was too!





In addition to the fishin' rod - he got a really cool Sioux Jersey - it's a little big, but at the rate he's growing - it will fit next month!!

And for the little Miss - Her very own Cheer leader outfit! (If anything is going to get her out of the flower girl dress - this will!)



And when Santa came...He brought a fire house which has been a huge hit for BOTH kids - thankfully Santa knew that the little man needed some place manly for his army men to play other than the doll house his sister uses - though she's all but claimed the firehouse for her own!

H only wanted one thing for Christmas this year - A polly pocket roller coaster...I debated and debated about talking to Santa about this 'big' gift for her...and in the end, decided she most certainly was worth having the one gift she coveted...and besides, it wasn't as expensive as it could have been - even getting her a new bike this spring will cost more than this did...


Bosco enjoyed himself some canny canes off the Christmas Tree!

Our cheerleader and her fishin' pole!

I love the Amaryllis plant. Every year I try to get one - they remind me of my Dad who's been gone ten years this coming Valentine's Day - he was sooo good at growing these things - he could keep the same one year after year and they'd bloom for him every time...
I miss that man. Especially at Christmas.

I am hoping to get our holidays back to what they are supposed to be about -
Christmas can really get away from a person...and it all adds up...and if you think about it - is it really anything that we need or even want? Honestly, being together is what is really important to me. I recently read something that said when you are making a purchase for yourself it's more likely to be a good one...it's well thought out (well, usually) and it's something you need or want...but a lot of the times - with gifts - they are given because it's the thing to do...leaving the person 'stuck' with it...Think about it - how many of you have been out there buying something because you 'had to' - because it was Christmas and you didn't have a gift for so and so?

This was one of the best Christmasses we had in terms of 'stuff' - We gave each other useful things like new running shoes and walking shoes for our upcoming trip, butter pecan syrup, character band aids and electric toothbrushes and toothpaste - I worried for just a minute that the kids would be disappointed...but they weren't! I was soo proud of myself for taking that *risk* and not buying every zhu zhu pet and American Girl Doll thing that all the other little kids were begging for this year - and so proud of our kids for being happy and excited about the gifts that they did receive...
It's my hope to get our lives back on track and get away from the consumerism that surrounds the holidays...and our every day lives! I'm just as guilty as the next person - our house is brimming with more than we need and then some...But I have to ask - If you spend several hundred dollars on your kids now - won't they always expect that that is what you will do? Then do you have to do something bigger and better than before? I don't ever want to be in that place where our kids are expecting anything like that from us and I honestly hope and pray I can pull that off -
Call it a resolution if you will...but there's no day like today to start!