Merry Christmas!!

We all had a wonderful Christmas this year.  A little crazy but so much fun.  I was remarking to my Mother-in Law that Christmas just passes too fast for me. It seems like I blink my eyes and it is over.  She reminded me that this happens with any major event (weddings, babies being born, etc.)  The actual event passes all too quickly. It is in the preparation that we must take enjoyment.  My mother in Law is very "matter-of fact."  I am glad that we all got to have fun in the time before Christmas and did not have to do any major shopping or preparation at the last minute.  I always like to get my trees up early and have my shopping done before it really gets into December.  That way we have time to really enjoy the season and all the stuff that goes along with it. 

Yes, I did write "trees" above.  I am a Christmas tree lover. Always have been.  We now get two. One big tree in the living room for my stuff.  I have a collection of  angel ornaments that I have collected through the years which I love to put on my tree. After the kids came along,  they started making ornaments and getting ornaments as gifts from the grandparents.  What started as me buying a teeny tree for Tony, now has grown into an (almost) full sized tree of their own each year.  Next year, I have to get them a bigger one.  We could not fit all of the hand-made beauty on it this year.  No fake trees either.  We like the real things.  We have a fun time teasing our friends who have fake trees.  I know...it is a sick thing to do, but we can't help ourselves. We call it "going over to the dark side"  when one of our previous real tree friends get a fake tree.  Our trees start getting that real sweet piney smell into about the third week. New Years Day, we say adios to my beautiful (dead) trees.

Merry Christmas to all of you!!  I hope you had lots of Joy and Peace and were able to see the wonder of Christmas through the eyes of a child this year. I truly did and I will write about it in a few days so I do not forget the moment, it was the best.   

PS....  If you read this, please leave me a comment to what kind of tree YOU have. We promise we won't tease, even if you have gone over to the dark side. LOL!!! 

Gotcha Day Number Three

Nicky and Cousin Ashley.
Don't be alarmed...Michael did not get in a fight, he got hit in the nose with a baseball.  Yes, his poor nose is broken.  He thinks it is cool.  Michael will be going to college next year on a baseball scholarship.  Not sure where yet.  We are way proud of him, even with his bent nose. Click on the picture and you can see all the spectacular colors of his black and purple eye.  You can also see just how much this kid eats.  This was his first plate, he was just getting started.
The Pelmeni were stuffed with ground beef and onion and garlic. Sour Cream goes on top. YUMMY!!!
Sunday was Nicky's Gotcha Day Celebration. A fun time was had by all.  We cooked up some Russian Food and Celebrated the 3rd Anniversary of bringing our little man home.  The Pelmeni were divine this year. The kids all helped to make them. We also had Russian Salad and Roast Beef in Sour Cream.  We added Hot Fudge Chocolate Cakes for Dessert, not Russian, but delicious.  It is always fun to do this.  Nicky still has no idea of what it is truly all about, but he enjoyed getting to pick out the guest list (his favorite uncle and cousins) and telling everyone it was his Gotcha Day.  He got to eat on the special red plate. Do you all have a red plate? If not you should try to get one.  All of my kids love it when it is their turn to use the red plate.   BTW...we are having a big storm here in CA.  The wind is whipping and it is about 45 degrees outside. Off and on rain. What the heck?  I am freezing.  I have not worn my flip flops in 3 days.  Not a happy camper, here.  Ugg Boots are my friend!! 

Christmas Card Fiasco

In my ongoing quest to save money, I attempted to take my own Christmas Card Photo this year.  It was a complete disaster.  I made my kids put on their Christmas outfits, and report to the backyard.  I took a bunch of photos which all pretty much stink. First of all, my kids except one, take after me and are not very photogenic.  Second, my camera is horrible.  Third, the kids were grumpy and un-cooperative.  This is a sample of what I got.  I think I am going to use a shot I took in Kauai last summer and be done with it.  

Our Thanksgiving

These two pictures below are the way the weekend started. The above pictures are how the weekend ended. Below.... the girls going nuts, look at Claire's evil face. They were dancing like crazy women inside our motorhome. Note the filthy clothes and we had only been there a few hours.  The boys after an airsoft war.  Another note of filthy clothes on boys.  Don't they look horrible?  Like a band of some kind of outdoor criminals.


Best plans....did not actually pan out the way we had planned but fabulous all the same.  We had planned to go camping with our friends as we do every Thanksgiving.  I spent the week before the holiday shopping , gathering winter clothes and packing the motorhome with feast fixin's   and tons of junk food for an army of hungry campers.  When we go camping, I let the kids eat all kinds of stuff we never have at home (think pop-tarts, peppermint oreos, pringles chips- you get the picture)  We drive six hours, set up camp, play for awhile, just long enough to coat the motorhome,  kids and dog completely in dirt.  We finally settle in for the night and the rain starts falling.  It rained all night and into the morning.  That dirt I was talking about was now mud.  Did I want to spend 3 more days with 4 kids and a dog covered in mud?  No thank you!!!  We were out of there.  Our friends stayed and went up the hill to Mammoth Mountain for snowboarding.  Not us, we headed home.  6 hours of driving and one flat tire later we were back in our own driveway.  

The girls and I were able to spend the entire Thanksgiving day cooking and getting ready for our own Thanksgiving Feast.  We just hung out at home with the 6 of us and had a spectacular day. Not the crazy picnic-table Thanksgiving the kids are used to, but a great family day.  

We made all the good stuff and enjoyed a great meal, the food was even HOT!!  Claire set the big table in the dining room and made it look really beautiful.  It was so much fun.  During dinner, we all talked about the many blessings we have as a family.  I absolutely loved it, except that now I have a ton of junk food left and guess who is home eating it?  The kids actually packed pop-tarts in their lunches this week for snack.  They are so happy.