ringing in the new year

Our last week of the year was a quiet one.  With Nathan splitting his time at work and home, our week really wasn't much different than usual, other than that Seth was home with us.  Our mornings were spent at the Y and running errands, the boys played Kirby on the Wii every afternoon, and the kids would play the evenings away.  On New Year's Eve, we decided to run into town to buy Nathan two more books in the series he likes.  We had dinner at Five Guys, went to Target, and on a whim decided to see how busy the bowling alley was.  We were able to start bumper bowling right away, and they had the black lights on at 7pm.  It is so cool that we can now do these kinds of things together.  Unfortunately, no good pictures, because all we had were our cell phones!   

When we got home, the kids put on pj's and we popped in a movie.  Seth started getting sleepy, so Nathan instituted hourly sparkler time on the deck.

By 11:30, Seth was REALLY sleepy, so we started watching silly videos to pass the last half hour.  Then it was time for the countdown...

 ...they made it!

They were upstairs and in their beds before the ticker tape finished falling in Times Square.  They slept until 7:30, but still, it was a quiet Sunday at our house.

enough with the Christmas karma-grams!

Back when Seth was three, he told me what he'd gotten me for Christmas the minute he got home from the mall.  I thought I'd gotten my karma-gram then.  Evidently not.  A couple weeks before Christmas, mom called and asked if I had gotten a wine cork trivet the year before.  No, I think you gave it to Bryan.  "Okay, forget I just asked you that."  Hmm.  Then, Nathan calls me one day to ask me which lamp I wanted, because I had put a natural light lamp on my list, and Seth decided that's what he wanted to get me.  "Act surprised when you open it."  No problem.  Flying home from Minnesota, my pen leaked on the side of my purse.  So, Amelia wanted to give me a new purse, and told me I was getting it many times the week before Christmas.  On the 23rd, at Costco, I commented that I should have told Santa that I wanted a recipe book I saw there.  Seth said, "I don't think you should tell Santa that because then you might get two of them."  Hmm.  Bryan gave me two books as my present, and told me the second part would be coming in the mail.  I assumed it was the next book in the series.  Later Christmas day, mom asks me if we should boil extra potatoes to make lefse.  I say, "I don't have a ricer, remember?"  My dad says, "I thought someone was taking care of that?"  In my head, I'm thinking, "I said I'd buy one after Christmas" as Bryan is saying, "I told you, it's in the mail!"  Ha!  It was pretty funny by the end of the holidays!

one spoiled dog

I think Colette received her favorite gift of all time this Christmas.  I found an Angry Birds frisbee at Walmart.  She loves it!  She acts like a puppy when she plays with it.

But Colette is getting to be an old (11+) dog.  She is still in excellent health, but you can tell her eyes are starting to get a little hazy and her joints are getting a little stiff.  Not that either has effected her squirrel-chasing habit at all.  Due to allergies, Colette isn't allowed in our room anymore, and we don't let her hang out on the couches when we're on them (although I'm sure she makes up for it during the night and when we're not home).  She used the holiday as an opportunity to bend the rules a little bit.  She'd jump right up with Bryan to get belly rubs or hop up on the couch next to my mom to take a nap.

No cats allowed

Someone, who sometimes goes by the name Santa, gave the kids Build-A-Bear gift cards for Christmas.  I thought that someone would like to see the kids redeem their gift cards, so I took the kids and my parents to  the mall the day after Christmas.  Gram and Pops got to experience the process from start to finish...the animal selection, the stuffing...

 ...the cleaning...

...the selection of accessories...

...the dressing of the animals...

...the creation of birth certificates, and the check out process.  They also got to see two very excited kids bring home Kit the Kitty and Spark the dog.

The smiles didn't last long, though.  Seth chose a dog house for Spark, and not long after we got home, this sign showed up on his door:

...which of course resulted in a big fight.  It's now eight days later, and poor Kit has yet been allowed to visit in Seth's room...

Christmas!

Santa's definition of "good" must be different than mine.  Although Amelia did get a lump of coal in her stocking as a warning, there was no shortage of gifts on Christmas morning.  Seth slept until 6:15, which was a minor miracle.  He waited patiently (along with his parents and grandparents) until his sister woke up at 6:55, and they both waited rather impatiently until 7, when we let them go wake up Uncle B.  We opened presents round-robin style in age order, and it took over an hour.

Seth had "Angry Birds everything" on his list.  Santa brought him this game, a card game, a stocking hat, and a gaggle of soft Angry Bird toys to play with.

You can't go wrong with Disney princesses.  Amelia has had her eye on this Ariel for a long time.

We ate breakfast, cleaned up the first round of paper and boxes, and started in on the family gifts, which took at least another hour.  By the time we were done, it was time to make lunch!  The rest of the day was spent testing out all our new stuff, oh, and cooking our turkey dinner.  We were too full to eat much of anything on Monday!

Book List 2011

Bear with me, we'll get back to Christmas soon.  It's time for my annual book recap, if for no other reason than that's it's really easy for me to find when it's the last post each year.  Fifty-one books this year, although I must admit there was a lot of young adult, easy fiction read during this lap around the sun.

• Sweet Potato Queens' Guide to Raising Children for Fun and Profit
• Lakeshore Christmas by Susan Wiggs
• Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon
• Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews
• In This Mountain by Jan Karon
• The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma
• Key of Valor by Nora Roberts
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Key of Knowledge by Nora Roberts
• Key of Light by Nora Roberts
• Twisted by Sara Shepard
• The Island by Elin Hilderbrand
• Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy
• A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
• Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella
• A Common Life by Jan Karon
• The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
• Dune Road by Jane Green
• Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo
• Princess: A true story about life behind the veil in Saudi Arabia
• A New Song by Jan Karon
• Summer by the sea by Susan Wiggs
• Amazing Gracie by Sherryl Woods
• Rising Tides by Emilie Richards
• Iron Lace by Emilie Richards
• Deja Vu by Fern Michaels
• Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette
• Out to Canaan by Jan Karon
• The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club by Gil McNeil
• The Mitford Series Books 1-3
• The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing
• Home Free by Fern Michaels
• Can't Wait to get to Heaven
• The Thirteeth Tale
• Living Dead in Dallas
• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
• Three Fates by Nora Roberts
• Pretty Little Liars 1-8 by Sara Shepard
• Angels Fall by Nora Roberts
• ...plus 3 I can't remember the titles of...

However, besides the countless children's books I read to Amelia each day, Seth and I have knocked out a bunch of chapter books this year, and I since I was the one doing the reading, they count, right?

Charlotte's Web (for the second time)

Stuart Little

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Pinocchio

Winnie the Pooh

The BFG

I think in 2012, I will keep a list of our bedtime books as well.  Might be fun to see what strikes our fancy in the year ahead!

Christmas Eve

Last week, it was confirmed that we would do Blackorby Christmas here, and not in Cary.  So I spent Friday evening and Saturday morning cleaning.  After one last quick trip to the grocery store, I spent the afternoon making sausage balls, homemade Chex mix, chili to put in the crock pot, corn dip, and fudge.  Once all that was done, it was time to go to church.  We took a family picture when we got home:

You can't tell it in the picture, but Amelia is wearing the same skirt (2T) from last year.  We had to safety pin it up last year, and this year it still fit.  I only spent $5 on the skirt to begin with.  Nice!  (Although the shirt and tights I got 50% off at Hartstrings, so I guess that makes is a $25 outfit...)

I had just cleaned up the kitchen post-chili dinner when my parents and Bryan arrived, loaded with gifts.  Perhaps the tree in the dining room wasn't such a great idea after all...

The kids stayed up until about 9, tracking Santa online, and left out reindeer food and cookies for Santa before they went to sleep:

The grown-ups stayed up way past my bedtime.  I was one tired girl the next day!

you know what they say about idle hands...

Which is exactly why, as it got closer to the holidays, we spent our evenings being crafty.  The kids made candy cane mice to give to their classmates and neighborhood friends:

Then they made snowmen out of milk jugs:

They also made reindeer root beer for part of Uncle B's present:

And finally, our tree topper.  We have had a pretty star since we got married.  Last year, our unreliable strings of lights burnt out, and we replaced them with LED lights.  The star and the lights didn't look right together.  The plan was to replace it this year.  I didn't see anything I really liked, and honestly, I didn't have a lot of time to make a grand search for one.  Last week, we decided to make our own!  We used a piece from an empty wrapping paper roll and cut the star out of whatever shipping box had arrived that day.  We bought silver (washable) paint, and the kids put two coats on each piece.  Then we sprinkled on the glitter and let it dry overnight.  The next morning, it was ready to top our tree!  

our Christmas card picture

Merry Christmas, from our house to yours!

school pictures

Amelia:  MWF 3's
Seth:  First Grade

dressed up with Santa

On Monday, Seth's class did a theatrical reading of "Arthur's Christmas".  Seth had the speaking parts of the father and Santa (along with the two boys on either side of him).  

 He didn't get to practice as much as the rest of the class, but he didn't let him nerves get the best of him.

Once he realized I was taking pictures, he covered his face.:

Silly boy!  Afterwards, the class did a craft and then had their holiday party.  Fun times in first grade!

hope he's not claustrophobic...

Cricket is back this year.  He is not a naughty elf, like some people have visiting in their homes, but he has been getting into some predicaments this year!  In fact, before I go to bed, I need to see if the poor guy is still hanging on for dear life to the closet door knob, or if he's already made his nightly trip to the North Pole to report in to Santa....

Christmas comes early

We celebrated Christmas Saturday morning in Kings Mountain. Here is a picture of the tree (complete with Seth photo-bomb...he was in rare form this weekend).  Note the presents sprawled across the floor...there was a whole lot of snooping going on before breakfast.

I took a lot of pictures of us opening gifts.  I need to make an album for Elise, since she couldn't make the trip.

We all have custom stockings made by Grandma Sarah.  The kaleidoscopes and flashlights they found in them were big hits!

Great-Granddaddy

Friday night we went to Forest City for the Mayse Christmas party.  It seems like all the natives under 5 feet tall were a little restless, but it was nice to see everyone again.  As the evening was winding down, I turned around and saw Seth talking with Great-Granddaddy.  I got out my camera and started snapping:

After a few minutes, someone else decided she needed some attention, too:

Then Seth ran off to play with his cousins, second cousins, and first-cousins-once removed, leaving Great-Granddaddy with an empty lap, but not for long!:

Christmas parade

On Sunday we headed to a Lewisville Christmas parade, to support our favorite Daisy troop.  The weather was much warmer than last year, which meant more spectators, but we still wiggled our way into front row seats.  The kids got a bunch on candy, and we saw our first snow of the year:

The reason why the parade was so long this year (over an hour) was that a lot of antique cars participated.  Seth told each one "Merry Christmas!" (probably a ploy to get more candy).  He asked me to take a picture of this one because he thought it looked like Tow Mater:

Post-parade began the latest van drama.  It wouldn't start. AAA came, started it, and said they thought it was the starter.  We dropped it off at Carmax right as they were closing (warranty).  Monday morning, they call me mid-morning to say it was under factory warranty and we have to take it to the dealership.  Ugh.  Luckily, it just needed a new (under warranty=free) battery, and I had my wheels back by the time Amelia was done with lunch bunch.  Never a dull moment around here!

party day

Last Saturday was a BUSY day.  We braved the mall as a family mid-morning, had some down time, and then it was time to PARTY.  The kids were invited to back-to-back parties.  One of Amelia's BFFs, Carley, turned four and had a Little Mermaid themed party, with a surprise visit by Ariel herself.  The girls made clothespin mermaids, got their faces (or hands) painted by Ariel, and trashed Carley's house.  

I left that party a little early (Amelia rode home with a neighbor), picked up Seth, and drove him to his party, Bennett's sixth birthday party at the bowling alley.  Bumper bowling, pizza, and cake.  It was great!  Bennett is a huge Panthers' fan, so Seth wore his jersey that night.  (Bennett had on an Angry Birds shirt, so they were both admiring each other's clothes, it was cute!)  Seth is sooo my kid, he was dancing to the overhead music the entire party:

 Bennett, Blair, Seth, and Case's first game:

breakfast with Santa Cow

A local family magazine hosts a "kids' day out" once a month.  This month was a breakfast at Chikfila.  I thought it would be packed, but the rain scared most people away.  We had breakfast, did crafts, and Amelia had a nice time playing with her buddy, Michelle.  Amelia donated a toy to charity, and we won a free Chikfila 2012 calendar.  She monopolized the Santa Cow's time.  A professional photographer took complimentary pictures with the cow.  If it ends up being good, I'll post it!

lefse

After church, my mom helped me make lefse.  Scratch that.  My mom peeled the potatoes, cooked the potatoes, rigged a way to rice the potatoes, mixed up the secret recipe, and rolled the potatoes.  I became the official cook/kitchen multi-tasker.  I tried to roll out some, but ended up saying bad words.  There were small children around.  I let my mom do the rolling.

I had forgotten how much Seth likes lefse.  He had some that afternoon, that night at dinner, and for breakfast the next morning.  I even let him have the last fresh piece.  Amelia likes it, but she isn't as excited about it as Seth is.  So if I don't get a new ricer for Christmas (hint hint for anybody who is still shopping!), I will go out after the holidays and buy one, and I promise I will try to make it one more time this winter.  Somebody hold me to it!  While we were baking, the guys were entertaining themselves with football and technology.  Here Seth is helping my dad with a project for work.  (I'm not kidding.)  And I'd bet Dad is playing Angry Birds on his phone.  :)

debuts

On the first Sunday of the month, the kids participated in our church's Christmas program.  Amelia made her theatrical debut as a sheep, and she knew the songs by heart and when her little sheep-y self was supposed to move during the play.

This was Seth's second year in the play, but his first year with a speaking part.  He did great!

(His part consisted of him answering the "Are we there yet?" question three times.)

Amelia's penguin hair clip came off and she clipped it to her costume.  Seth could have passed as Anakin Skywalker rather than Joseph.  And he was a squirmy worm.  At one point in time, he was leaning over so far that we thought for sure he'd fall and we'd have another video to send into AFV.  

They had a lot of fun practicing and performing with their friends.  After church, they celebrated with birthday cake for baby Jesus.  I'm so proud that neither one of them got stage fright!

at the red barn

Got ahead of myself again.  We went to the Festival of Lights on one of the throwback nights ($5, yippee!). The entire evening was a surprise to the kids.  We didn't go see the lights last year, so it was like Amelia was seeing them for the first time.  Halfway through the lights, we stopped at the red barn.  Inside there were all sorts of crafty gifts you could buy, and then outside there was a heated tent with Mr. and Mrs. Claus:

This was an extra-special surprise for Seth, because Santa is his teacher, who had just started back to work  part-time that week!

 The lights are going green, phasing out older displays for new LED ones.  We were impressed!

It was such a fun night.  It definitely started our holiday season off right.