Goodbye 2012

 We may not have had a white Christmas, but we are definitely having a white New Years Eve!  The kids had a ton of fun playing in this snow, which made the yard look like a snow globe, and even though it was cold, the wind did not blow, so the kids had a lot of fun playing in it for quite a while today!

 When I was a kid, and into my adulthood, with our older kids, we always seemed to be at my grandma's house for the New Year.  I remember making confetti for hours and waiting for Dick Clark to ring in the New Year.  And then cleaning up said confetti for a couple more hours, all at grandma's house surrounded by her brothers and sisters, and all my aunts, uncles and cousins.  We played pitch and it was always a ton of fun.  The older kids have great memories of these New Years Eve parties, and Cam even told me that Grandma taught him to play beer pong (using Dr. Pepper of course).  The kids were reminiscing about it this afternoon.  Some of my cousins are trying to recreate grandma's parties, however, with the weather being kind of gross, as well as having little ones to drag, we opted to stay home this year.  Madison and I cooked up a feast, and we are now waiting for who ever is the new Dick Clark to tell us that 2013 has arrived. 

Harper did not make it.....and neither did Saige.

I did get a kick out of the girls this afternoon.  They had to work at the nursing home's New Year's party.  They had a ton of games and food, and even had a ball drop - at 5 pm!  Madison said most of the residents start going to bed at 7, no way would they make it until midnight!  From the sounds of things, it was a nice (early) party!

2012 was a pretty good year.  I am looking forward to 2013, but with it brings the big girls senior year of high school, which makes me a little sad.....the years fly by too, too fast! 

Relaxing vacation so far

 We are really enjoying (well at least I am enjoying) the kids being on Christmas break from school.  It has been a relaxing week here at our house.  The kids have been having lots of fun with their new Christmas stuff, the little girls have enjoyed being home with the big kids, I have been able to get some year end projects done at work, and we have all just been content to hang out together. 

 And of course, it helps that Madison has been feeding us tons of the recipes that she finds on Pinterest and never has time to make until she has a break from school! 

 Jim's mom gave Quincy a soccer ball that you decorate with paint.  She had a great time with it, and I was impressed that she didn't make a huge mess.  She did a nice job!  She is pretty proud of her ball....it is on her dresser as she doesn't want it to get dirty in the garage!!  :) 

 Having so much attention really is wearing this little girlie out.  She hasn't been taking naps very well, which means that we are finding her passed out in the middle of the floor sometimes.  Even on the kitchen floor!  Poor little thing! 

 Crawl or walk, but never let go of that cracker! 

 Saige continues to walk around on her knees a lot, which to me seems very uncomfortable, however the girls frequently remind me that babies don't have kneecaps until they are at least 2 years old.  Its nice to know that they pay attention in their biology class?  I guess they must be right, because it would seem the only possible way to walk around like this is if you are missing kneecaps! 

 These photos aren't very good, but Preston wanted a "revers-a-pal" for Christmas.  It is all he really asked for.  I had no idea what this was, and apparently wasn't watching the right programs on TV to learn.  Jim found one online (he's good like that) and although it did not arrive in time for Christmas day, Preston was super excited about it.  It is a stuffed animal that you can stuff inside itself to make a soft football.  These photos were supposed to be of him demonstrating how it worked!  Not exactly what I had envisioned! 

 Saige likes it too!

 Today we had a visit from my friend Grace and her family.  I love to see Grace, and wish she lived closer.  An afternoon with her and her boys never lasts long enough.  Grace is Madison and Quincy's Godmother.  Several years ago, she made a quilt for Madison which Madison has cherished and slept with (because it is the softest, warmest quilt ever).  This year, she made a quilt for Quincy.  The quilt is really neat, Grace took all the things that Quincy loves and made blocks.  There are pigs, cows, fish, a soccer ball, and even a ring neck snake block included in the quilt, and it is all bound together with pink cammo!  Quincy is so, so excited about it.  She even asked to go to bed early!  I may have to try to get some better photos, as these don't show the entire quilt, but you can get the idea. 

 Thank you Grace! 

 Every now and then, the girl decides to stand on her feet.  It doesn't last very long, and with the kids home, they have really, really tried to get Saige to walk!  She is getting there! 

Merry Little Christmas

 We started out our Christmas festivities a bit early with a gathering of Jim's family.  I forgot my camera, so I had to steal these off of Jim's brother's facebook page.  (Thank you Steve).  We had a nice evening of visiting and the little kids were thrilled with their light up pillows!  Harper had a wonderful time fixing up Grandpa Ken, his hair has never looked better! 

 Christmas eve, we spent at my brother's house with my family.  Every year, we try to get a photo of all the cousins together, and every year, I am amazed at how crazy of photos they are.  Even telling them they cannot open any gifts unless they stand nicely does not work!  :)  We tried right?

 We had a very nice evening of visiting with family, and the kids got lots of good loot! 

 My nephew loved the helicopter that we gave him (a little payback toy - revenge really IS a dish best served cold!). 

 We have spent today with our family here at home.  It has been an enjoyable day.  The kids and I served at the 10:00 am mass, and I am once again amazed at how empty Christmas day mass is.  I guess everyone must attend Christmas eve.  I love Midnight mass, but with little ones, it is especially hard to endure! 
Cameron was up before early and I insisted that he wait until a reasonable hour.  Besides, at his age, most of his gifts were clothes.....nothing too exciting that couldn't wait until the sun came up!  :)

 Mallory and Madison both had to work today, so I am cooking our Christmas dinner and we will eat when they get home.  I am very proud of them.  It is not easy to pull yourself away from home on the holiday and go to work.  It is important that the residents are fed though, and someone has to do the job, so I am happy that they did so without complaining.  They are good kids!  I think the promise of  time and a half didn't hurt their attitude though! 

 Harper's gift to Madison.  Each year, we give the kids some money and expect them to buy gifts for each other.  This year, Cameron helped Harper.  Enough said.

 Saige loves her new baby.  She couldn't even put it down long enough to eat some fruit loops! 

 Quincy did her own wrapping this year.  She ran out of regular tape, so she finished the job with some painters tape she found in the garage.  Mallory spent a long time getting the gift out of the tape! 

Colin made Jim and I a bench at school in shop class.  It is a very nice bench, and we are excited to have it to set by the door to sit on while putting on our shoes!  He did a great job!

We have had a wonderful Christmas.  And once again, we proved that nothing is over like Christmas!  :)  Hope yours was great, filled with unexpected blessings and love!