Three Christmases

Well, all of our Christmas celebrations are over. The kids cashed in with tons of great gifts, and I didn't do so badly either! Marc got his 2 framed Houston jerseys and seemed happy with them. After many trials and tribulations, Luke's trampoline was put together and has been enjoyed by all the cousins and even mommy! (Check Amy's blog eventually for a possible photo of me in action!) The Ohio clan arrived Friday night and tomorrow we take off to Brenda's for a few more days of family time. Today well all went to Austin to the Arboretum, and it turned out to be a gorgeous day for some outdoor shopping! We ate at Cheesecake Factory, and I got to spend my big Sephora gift card -and my best purchase was Smurfette brand glitter eye liner. Fabulous. We hung out at the fountains there, that someone had filled with bubbles, and grandpa let Mia slip a bit and she went face first into the bubbles! 

Marc is away at a tournament so we won't be seeing him all week, but we'll enjoy these last few days with the rest of the fam.

Photos will come over the weekend... until then, happy new year everyone!! 

My 12 favorite things about Christmas this year

12. Listening to Luke singing Christmas carols (even in the shower!)

11. Plugging in my new skinny, prelit tree every night

10. Picking out the perfect ornament for each of my kids

9. Starbucks eggnog lattes

8. Shopping shopping shopping!!

7. Two weeks off of school

6. Falalala Lifetime - Christmas movies all the time!

5. Making cut out cookies with Luke... and eating them too

4. Helping the kids make their Christmas lists, making sure to guide Luke to pick the things I already bought!

3. Getting cards with photos of everyone's kids, especially since I haven't sent any out yet!

2. Waiting to see if Marc is as excited about his gift from us as we are to give it to him!

1. Impatiently and anxiously awaiting time with family, especially my nephew Jacob and niece Jenna that we haven't seen in a year! Can't believe I haven't seen those two in so long.

updates

seems like several things have happened the past few days and need to blog it all before i forget! it's late, i'm tired, so sorry but no photos added tonight.

1. yesterday was party day at school. luke and i got to wear pjs all day and watch polar express, so that made it even more relaxing! got some great gifts from students this year including a dillard's gift card which i may use to buy a fabulous mascara that vibrates! what will they think of next??

2. mia had her party at school and stayed healthy through this one!

3. the kids and i went to killeen high school to watch marc's game. this is the school where a few years ago HUGE fights broke out and it was scary. it's not the team's fault, just the fans who get worked up with two killeen schools play each other. anyhow, the game was great, but they ended up losing at the very end, not that i saw the end. with only seconds to go, someone threw a full bottle of gatorade from the upper level that bounced off the rafters and hit my shoulder and luke's head. he was crying so hard and i knew it hurt because my shoulder hurt! if looks could kill, the kid (age 18ish) would be dead after i stared him down. i've never come close to being in a fight, but i was ready to run up those stairs after him. i call it my  "mom rage" that came out. i think the cops got him, but they couldn't prove who did it so they took the 3 guilty looking ones out. you just don't mess with my kids. and luke had a nice lump on his head as a souvenir. 

4. today marc and i went to april-dawn's wedding. she was my roommate about 10 years ago and played piano at our wedding. we didn't head to the reception because we really didn't know anyone else, but it was great to be there and see her so happy.

5. we had a family dinner out tonight. may not seem like much, but with our busy lives and 2 little kids, we haven't been out anywhere that requires a waitress in months! we've been wanting to go to cracker barrel since it opened a few months ago, and it was worth the wait. i think we all agreed that it may have been our best meal in a long time - plates were scraped clean, we were eating off everyone else's plates, and the kids were so well behaved! and all for $24. not bad.

oh, and if you're checking your mailbox for a card from us, stop looking... i just didn't get with the program this year and cards are not headed your way. doesn't mean i don't love and miss you all though! 

Fa la la la humbug

What a day. It seems like everyone at work today was a scrooge, making the rest of us who thought we were happy feel like scrooges too. I thought it was tis the season to be jolly... anyone else finding a lack of "jollyness" out there this year? Everyone seems so grumpy and moody. Last night was my school party and I wasn't able to go since Marc is out of town and I had no sitter. I was upset till I found out there were rude comments still being said today over the staff gift exchange, of who didn't get what they wanted. Come on people, they were $10 gifts. Who really cares what you left with? So now I'm pretty glad I stayed home in my PJs making goodie bags with the kids. I, for some crazy reason, agreed to make them for Luke's class, Mia's class, and my class... so now Luke knows that 13+18+20=51 since that's how many we made last night.  My kids at school today were crazy, and I'm starting to buy into the "full moon effect" on kids... has anyone else checked out the moon last night and today? So cool. I even saw a man stopped by my house snapping a quick photo. Go out and see it tonight if you haven't yet. 

In other news... Marc is still out of town at a tournament. I feel bad for him, missing 2 days of school, only playing one game a day, getting a good night's sleep in a hotel, spending most of today shopping at a nice mall in Dallas area. The kids and I have to clean the house and cook tonight since I'm hosting my third grade teacher party tomorrow night. We voted on a soup and hot drink party, trying to force ourselves into the holiday/cold weather spirit. 

Well, not much else to say. I should have some photos to post after this weekend. You aren't missing much - right now both my kids are a mess from dinner, and Mia is burping while Luke is repeatedly saying "fart fart fart" while eating. **Sigh** When did Luke become such a boy????