Christmas goodies, Christmas Eve, and Christmas dinner...oh my!

Christmas seems to come and go SO fast anymore-I feel like we never get to sit back and take it all in...and this year was the worst yet! On Christmas Eve-Eve Rob and I were up till 4am working on the kiddos presents from "Santa", Christmas Eve till about midnight...what happened to loading up a cart at target and them being thrilled with all of those toys? We also had to make our annual Christmas goodies for friends and neighbors, and get the house ready for all of Rob's family to come on Christmas day.

Neely making pretzel truffles

The kitchen was a disaster but we had so much fun!

Santa visited our house on Christmas Eve morning, because the kids were so good, right?! ha- no- so we could have the house in perfect order on Christmas. ( I'm a little OCD ) Santa brought Rob an XBOX 360 with Kinect--it was set up and ready to go...ignore the wires and the box holding up the Kinect-it was late and work is still left to be done.

Santa brought Neely a stage...yes a stage! Rob built a stage/bed for her during the past week. It turned out better than I could have imagined!

It looks like a daybed when the stage is up....

And easily converts to a stage when she wants to sing and dance. She was soooo excited!


Christmas day was full of cooking, cooking, and more cooking....it was so much fun having everyone over but so much work at the same time. The kids love hanging out with their cousins, although I think they have out grown the "kiddie"table....

All in all it was a great Christmas...but somehow we didn't get a single family photo! I guess we were all too busy playing, visiting, and eating to even remember. Hope all of you enjoyed your Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Happy 8th Birthday Robo!

8 years ago today I was fat (HUGE), uncomfortable, cranky, nervous, excited....Rob was finally born at 9:47 pm and I didn't even see him until the next morning. He was beautiful, perfect, sweet, all I had hoped for, and all that I never even knew I wanted. I can't believe it has been EIGHT years!!! He is sweet, caring, funny, laid back....hard-working, honest, smart....I could go on and on.

I always get nostalgic on the kids birthdays. I remember what Rob and I did the day before, that morning, the next few weeks having a new baby in the house. It's not only a birthday but a day that we celebrate our "family'". Our family that changed and grew with each one of their births. We wouldn't be the same people without each of those little munchkins and I love them dearly! It's funny how what you wish for your kids before their born changes as they get older. And how that list of wishes grows and grows. I miss that sweet, fat, bald baby sometimes...but my athletic, health nut, smart kid works too : )

Happy Birthday "Wobbo" We Love You!!!!

It's been a busy month!!!!

Thanksgiving and Christmas happen all at once in Oklahoma every year....this year was more shopping than resting and visiting but Lindy (my sis-in-law) and I had a lot of fun!

This is Neely's "cool" pose. Every time I pull out the camera she pulls out the peace signs!

Look at those baby Uggs!! I hate that every time I see her she has changed sooo much! She was so funny on this visit...I could just eat her up! And Neely thinks Makenzie hung the moon--she cries every time we leave Oklahoma.

Then came Rob's birthday...I can't believe we are celebrating his 8th birthday!....

Great friends hanging out! I love these little guys! Last year when we did his first sleepover it was chaos!...I had no idea that kids could jump from a top bunk and try to catch a ceiling fan, or eat a bag of popcorn, an entire box of cookies, and 2 pitchers of koolaide in 20 minutes...but they did! This year was completely different- they played outside, played DS/Wii and we took them bowling. They are a great bunch of boys!!!!

Blowing out those 8 candles!!!!!

I always have a hard time in December enjoying the season. Usually I am so stressed out trying to go shopping, decorate, send out Christmas cards, get ready for holiday parties....as soon as Christmas is over I feel exhausted and like I didn't enjoy the busy month. So I have been shopping early, prioritizing my countless lists, and this is the next priority....

Christmas Cards!!!!

Two years ago I made a coffee table book with captions and small stories about the year that our family had. Rob had started kinder, we had built a house, taken the kids on a few big vacations...and we wanted to share that with all of our family. Our family loved the books and the kids still look at them all of the time! Shutterfly made it super easy!!! (Find these books at http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books) So this year, when trying to pick out a Christmas card- They were my go-to site. They have so many great ones to choose from that I have had a hard time choosing. Here are some of my favorites...

You can find these cards and many more at www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationary.
Maybe this year I will get everything done and still have fun while doing it?! Soon to come- Awards pics from Rob's Championship football team!!!!