Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Whew I guess time flies when you are having fun! Christmas was great. On Christmas Eve we drove around and looked at Christmas lights with the kiddos. They went right to bed when we got home which made Mr. and Mrs. Claus's job much easier! We took big bites out of the cookies Kim decorated and Jeff and I stacked up gifts around the tree before we drank spiked egg nog and watched 'A Christmas Story'. :) That movie will *never* get old for me.

Christmas morning was magical. The kids really do make the holiday worthwhile...their excitement was palpable. I love Kimberly's Baby Alive doll. She is a little scary but I have this obsession with babies and she feels very real. Oh, and she poops! It's so gross but so funny. Kennen is loving his new tiny acoustic guitar. Jeff and I have no idea how to tune the damn thing but Kennen actually makes pleasant sounds with it. It cute watching a little blonde boy walking around with a guitar strapped onto his body. :)

The kids got a ton of presents this year, thank you Grandma, Grandpa, Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Geno.

Here are some pics from Christmas morning:

Kennen is just getting started:
What is that buddy? "uh-tar" A what? "UH-TAR!"
Kimmy-girl rockin' the bed head.
Her American Girl doll made out pretty well this Christmas!
Me and my girls. I swear I'm not choking the dog.
Oh boy.

This new years is going to be really fun!

We have the beginning of our arsenal of fireworks because I got Jeff a bunch for Christmas. He saw the big wrapped box and was kind of annoyed. He is a simple man. He said there is nothing that he wants. On his birthday last month, I bought him a dart board. He thought it was totally lame even when I told him he and his buddies can drink beer in the garage and play darts. He kind of nodded and smiled but he was so unimpressed. For Christmas I really wanted to surprise him with something he would actually like and use. He is jewish and has the whole, 'I'm the only kid on the block without a christmas tree' syndrome and he is a little jaded about the whole Christmas thing. I think it's just because he hasn't felt the magic himself. I took it upon myself to really make sparks fly! I mean, I really want him to be like, Ka-boom! Cool gift! Okay...enough with the sad attempt at puns.

Ch-check out the video below of Jeff opening his firecrackers! Ladies and gentlemen, this is 'surprised and happy that my gift doesn't suck Jeff':

My little baby is a firecracker!

Presents

Today we had our first annual neighborhood gift exchange! We created this gift exchange because last year was so incredibly over the top. Jeff and I bought gifts for every child and every adult in each household that we were friends with. Ka-ching!

This year we did it right. Me and my friends all left the kids at home with the dads to orchestrate the super secret gift exchange for the children. Basically we got dressed up and went out for margaritas. We each made 6 ornaments and we exchanged them and we each came home with a handmade treasure from each of the the families. For the kids we drew names to buy $10 gifts. For the Dads? Well, they each got delivered a drunk wife at the end of the night, so make of that what you will. :) Except for Kempy. She is incubating Baby D right now so she stuck to water all night like a good Mama.

Tonight Laurie put together the soiree and it was really fun! There was a buzz in the air that only kids anticipating Christmas gifts can create. It *almost* filled me with Christmas cheer. But the food, wine and company were great! I'm looking to many more SBHL/RFL parties in the future!

Before we went to Lauries, we were buslting about the house getting ready. Kimberly and I went into my bathroom to do our hair. Kimberly said, "Mom, Kennen went into the closet (where the presents are tucked away) and I made him get out and I shut the door." This is where I used my scary stealth investigative skills and gasped, "You PEEKED at your presents!" She shook her little head (pony tails shaking too) and said, "No it was Kennen!" Then I said, "Kimberly..."

With that she hung her head and big fat guilty tears fell down her face. She saw a pink princess castle alarm clock that my Mom had sent for me to wrap for her. Oops, I guess I should have hidden it better. I kept drilling her to see if she saw anything else and all my crafty girl said was, "I don't want to remember. I forgot what I saw. It will be a surprise." Little love. I knew she was beating herself up more than I could if I punished her so I chalked it up to a lesson learned. I think she saw another big thing my Mom sent...a toy scooter for an American Girl doll to ride. She has been wanting this for a long time. I hope she didn't...Kimberly wishes she hadn't seen it. We both want to have a magical morning so our story is, "What scooter?"

Works for me.

Murphy's Law

I have been shampooing my carpet over the last two days. I borrowed Keikicakes carpet shampooer and it rocks! It's big and it's a hoover...that's all I know about it. My carpet actually stands up again and is soft to walk on. I didn't realize how 'crunchy' it had gotten over the last year and a half. Yes, I hang my head in shame...I've not had my carpet shampooed since we moved in. In my defense though, the main living areas are wood and tile and it's just the bedrooms that are carpet. Still though, it was time.

So I get everything clean and all the stains out and literally within hours, The dog peed in the gameroom, Kimberly spilled chocolate milk in my bedroom, and then I woke up at 5:00am to the dog squirting diarrhea all over the floor and barking frantically! I was pissed off at first but then I saw her sad little doggy face. She was so scared she was in trouble but you could tell she was just not feeling well. :( Poor puppy.

So I cleaned it up and OMG! So fucking gross. I guess that's what I get for thinking that I am a person that is capable of having clean carpet. :D

I have a few more things to do before my in-laws come but I am getting there! This weekend I am going to bake cookies and then Monday is Christmas Eve and then on Tuesday the paper flies! Yipee!

Preschool party!

Well I pulled it off. Kennen's preschool party was organized and fun and went off without a hitch.

Oh, and there was a Mom there that had a boy in Kennen's class, plus a 10 month old boy and they were both crying and clinging to her and she looked like she was about to shot-put them both across the room. I, being the baby hog that I am, took the baby boy and introduced him to the toy kitchen on the other side of the room. He stopped crying and was infatuated with putting food in and out of the microwave and feeding the baby in the highchair. Once the Mom got the bigger boy to calm down, she came and sat by the baby and said, "Thank you" in a way that said, "You are dismissed, now get your paws off my baby."

Gah, I guess this means I need to have another baby of my own and quit borrowing other people babies. Or not...I just can't decide.

The best part was the music program that the kids performed for the parents. I am shocked that nobody cried and made a beeline for their Mom. I'm even more surprised that Kennen not only didn't cry, but he participated and knew the choreography to the songs.I took some videos of Kennen doing his thang at the preschool x-mas program...he sang "God is BIG", Jesus made my fingers, a classic rendition of Jingle Bells, and my personal favorite...a Wiggles song!

I know that nobody else cares to watch my sons preschool video but it is short so please humor me. Isn't he the sweetest little soul?

This is for all you Wiggle fans out there!

p.s. I don't know why I insist on shrieking and cackling on video but apparently I can't help it.

Preschool Christmas Program

Do'h!

Don't you just hate it when you look at your calendar for the day and it says "9:00am" in the square for today but you have no idea who or what was supposed to happen at 9:00am that day?

Sh!t