White Christmas

We experienced our first White Christmas this year spending the holidays at home. It was a great week with Craig coming home early most days and us just hanging out together as a family. The kids and I didn't get out of the house much Christmas week because we got snow almost everyday and the roads were a mess. Christmas Eve we carried on with the Texas tradition of tamales and chili and then watched The Polar Express ending the night with the kids opening one present from under the tree and reading about baby Jesus from A Christmas Story children's book. Christmas morning the kids finished unwrapping the rest of their gifts and played all morning with their new toys while Craig and I enjoyed a big breakfast. They took great naps from all the excitement of presents that morning that Craig and I had our Turkey dinner with all the fixin's alone and loved it!! No interruptions, no whining about the food, no arguments...you all know what I'm getting at. Anyway, the timing was perfect that as we cleaned our plates, the kid woke up and then they ate so I just left everything out until they were done. We spent the rest of the evening lounging around while the kids played, snacking in the kitchen, and enjoying our Christmas together. Even though it was a quite day without any other family around, it was nice spending the day at home.

We took pictures from Craig's work camera for Christmas morning and the pictures turned out terrible and grainy looking. Later that day I used our old digital and the pictures (the last 3)came out so much better.

All the stocking stuffers came from a convention Craig attended in Vegas at the end of November. The biggest hit: a slinky and a flashlight keychain

They are into puzzles so they got a ton of them this year

This is the beginning of all the Star Wars stuff for Brandon

They got these great V-Tech computers from their cousins that I knew they'd love

Brandon was so excited when we told him that these were Darth Vader gloves even though they are really Batman. My mom got them for a $1. The original price tag was still on them for $19.95 - what a deal!!

Grandma and Grandpa Holbrook sent this snow tube that I haven't inflated yet as you can tell. It is awesome and I can't wait to get the kids outside in it - they will have blast. Here they are testing it out already!!

Camping out on the kitchen floor after a toy-filled great holiday!!

Dressed for Christmas

I had to snap a couple photos of the kids today before we headed out to church. This is the first time Briana has worn this dress even though we bought it a couple years ago and she and I both were excited for her to wear it today.

**To explain about the line across Brandon's neck, he was in the playroom standing on the window seat, grabbed the blind cords and somehow pulled them across his neck, or strung them around his neck, or whatever, but that is the mark that it left. I happened to walk in just after he did this because he was grabbing his neck when I came in. It makes me sick thinking about it!!! I swear the older he gets, the more stuff he is getting into.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

We got dumped with snow all day Saturday and last night and the kids were so excited to get out there and make a snowman today. They had to wait most of the day with church all morning and then naps in the afternoon. Once they woke up, we had about an hour left of daylight. After bundling them up, Craig got the snow shovel and started clearing the driveway while the kids did their best to help out with their little shovels. Unfortunately, the snow was all powder so it wouldn't stick together to make a snowman. I don't think the kids really cared though because they actually asked to come inside. They were freezing from getting all wet in the snow and it didn't help that the temperature was 25 degrees!!

Hide and Seek

Last night Briana wanted to play Hide and Seek with Craig. So while Craig and I were in the kitchen, he started counting to 10 and told Briana to go hide. He started to laugh and asked where the camera was. I asked why and he showed me Briana's hiding spot. Then I started to laugh and took pictures of all her hiding spots that night. As you can see, she needs some helping understanding what a hiding place really means.

This one is my favorite and is what got us laughing to pull the camera out

Major Breakthrough with Brandon

I gave myself till the end of the year to get this kid potty-trained and now I can finally check that off my TO DO list. He made it so difficult and fought me so bad about going on the potty that I thought maybe he STILL wasn't ready. I was ready though so I made him be ready too and maybe forced it some but oh well. I mean, he is 3 years old and will be going into primary at church in January so it is just time. He still isn't 100% yet but at this point, there is no going back. Next obstacle - getting him in a big kid bed but from what we went through with potty-training, it will be a piece of cake!!

Twilight Movie

I saw the Twilight movie last night with two friends for a girl's night out. Our first stop was to a neighbor's home that was having a Scentsy party - candles. Both Kathy and Angie wanted to get some but I guess I'm not a big candle burning person so I passed on buying anything. Then we had dinner at the Pizza Factory. Both Kathy and I had never been to one and it was great. They have the most amazing breadsticks. I could have just eaten those up and would have been satisfied. Then off to our movie. I had heard so many things about how parts are corny, silly, and even laugh-out-loud bad that I went into the theater with very low expectations. So now my assessment - I though it was pretty good. Of course it isn't close to being as good as the book but still I enjoyed it. I thought they cast Bella perfectly - exactly how I pictured her in my head. Edward was just okay. Sometimes I thought, "he is pretty cute" and then other times I thought, "he doesn't do it for me". I also wished that the Cullen family had more to do in the movie, especially Alice, but I know there is so much that has to be cut out so it doesn't get up being like 3+ hours. Overall, I was just glad to finally see this movie and get out for an evening. I hadn't been to a movie since Indiana Jones in May so it had been awhile and I was ready to see this one.