the aftermath...

of Christmas every year is that our (that would be Brent & I) analness kicks in, and we go in OCD overdrive with organizing, purging and cleaning. So far, the office has been gutted and put back, as has the kids craft cabinet, and the kitchen and playroom. The garage and Cam's room are next.
We have to make room for the insane amount of Legos that made their way in our house, and the Star Wars collection of miniature people, ships, and strange animal things (no, not a fan, and no, haven't seen any of the movies, and yes, my husband and son watch them all regularly). Along with the creepy doll that's always sleepy and reaching our her arms to you whenever you walk by, the insane amount of bathtub soaps/bubbles/toys, the new games, and the new collection of Mickey Mouse (the latest Meg obsession) stuff that has weasled its way in. And let's not forget the enormous three room dome tent that now has taken over the playroom (thanks, Shelley).
I'm ready to get the Christmas stuff put away, but just can't bear to do it before the NYE party, so up it shall stay until next weekend!
Bring on the fondue and fireworks, and let's hope I remain injury free this New Year's!

Merry Christmas!

From our home to yours, here's wishing everyone a blessed, fabulous holiday, full of great memories, fabulous food, and wonderful friends and family!

poor megan....

now that she's potty trained, her tiny little booty just can't keep her britches up... we're always struggling with plumber's crack around here....

and the winner is...

Carmen!
1. Star Wars people
2. Transformers
3. Power Rangers
4. Stuffed Animals
5. Webkins
6. Hot Wheels

fa la la la...

many good times abound.

Had Haven's birthday party yesterday...princess party for a princess turning 3.... :) complete with a wishing well, face painting, and a cute little craft for the kids to decorate their own ornaments- they were so excited to hang them up on their tree upstairs-

Then we had Rita & Jim's wine tasting party- great times! Every couple had to bring two bottles of wine- one cheap, and one a little pricier. They had to be covered so we couldn't see what they were, and everyone brought appetizers to go with their wines. LOTS of great food!
We all had score cards to rate the wines on a 1-10 scale, and the best wine got a prize, the best cheap wine got a prize, and the worst wine got a prize. Guess who got the worst wine prize? Yes, yours truely brought the most awful wine that has ever been tasted in the history of the world. That stuff was horrible. Amusingly, Rita and I picked the same wine for our other bottles, and almost everyone scored them differently! ha!

Had a really great time- great way to celebrate the holidays!

And here is my new hair, with my cute little hubby... it's hard to tell in the picture, but it's angled and the back is a lot shorter....oh, and I bought my new pink Chi yesterday. :)

Tonight's girl's night at the Melting Pot for Stephanie's birthday- after last night's endeavors, I'm tempted to wear sweats! Either way, love me some girl time and Melting Pot- sure to be a fun night!

12 on the 12th of December

You know, I've been doing these a while, and yet, I haven't gotten tired of them. Most of my favorite pictures throughout the year come from doing the 12 on the 12th pictures- capturing random funnies and things throughout the day... give it a try and mark your calendars in the new Year!

1. Countdown to Christmas Calendar- I actually DID finish it (we missed the first few days of December, but hey, there's always next year)! Cameron loves opening these up every day, and Megan has caught onto to it also, so she's never far behind him to check out what's inside.

2. Megan chillin' in the chair watching some Sesame Street while I do some laundry- she looks so little next to the tree, and in the chair!

3. You didn't think I could go two months without having this somewhere, did you?

4. Really haven't had near enough time on computer as usual... hopped on to check email and weather.

5. Pool progress- they have the slide up, and will be covering it entirely in rock. To date, we're up to 24 tons of rock that's in the backyard so far.

6. Today is baking day. Brandy has come up to bake with me for the last few years, and Rita joined us this year. Lots of fun! I think this was about the time that we realized Brandy's popcorn mix was looking more like popcorn poo.

7. Our little helper.

8. Stephanie picked up Cameron for me, and he was so excited to play with Dylan for the afternoon!

9. Rita picked up Jensen and brought her over after school- all the bigger kids love Dylan!

10. Mud Pie for storytime- Megan is being the toot that she is so well- that's the back of Rita's head, telling Megan maybe it's not such a good idea to have a ceremic plate on your head. (yes, all the while I'm taking pictures... send your "mom of the year" awards right on over...

11. Rita and I ran to the Dollar Tree for tins for all the goodies, then through the Chick-fil-A drive through for dinner (healthy!) and came back to the house and chowed while packaging everything up.

12. Went to the children's program at the church... Chase was in it, and adorable! they had cookies for the kids after the program. About 2 minutes after eating that cookie, Cam didn't feel so good. I wonder why?? Baking day goodies, CFA for dinner, cookies at the church... hmm... it's a mystery... again, you can send all "mom of the year" awards my way... you can also check out Cam's new buzz cut in this pic! :)

adjusting my list...

that doesn't exist, for Christmas. I would now like to add a Chi to the list please. :)

Hacked off all my hair today. Feel oh so chic. Need a Chi. If anyone would like to send me one wrapped up in a pretty bow, feel free!

a moment...

yesterday was Santa's shop at Cam's school... the kids all bring money, and they have a special store set up so they can buy Christmas presents for family members and have them wrapped there. So fun to see all the kids getting so excited about doing for others.

the teacher was walking through helping the kids shop, when she made a little announcement to the kids:
"Now, boys and girls, you need to think about who you're purchasing for today. If you're buying a gift for your Mommy, she's probably not going to want a little squishy football, or light up shoelaces."

I've never seen such sad little looks as all ten little boys in the class going through their bags, and all putting back the little squishy footballs they had picked out for their mommies... so cute.

my cuties..

pre-buzz cut anyways. Cameron is now buzzed in December. Thankfully, it's been 82 the last couple of days, so it all works out.

This was at the Angel Tree party at the church this last weekend... we really enjoyed participating in this, and I'd encourage anyone that can to help with it too- my kids had a great time at the party. We adopted two kids this year, a boy and a girl, and it was great to meet them and spend a little time with their families, and for my kids to put a face with the random gifts. We took pictures of all the kids together, put for the sake of privacy for them, I just wanted to post the one I took of mine. :)

Also had Gray's 5th birthday party this weekend too- Shawna always does such fun and creative parties- the kids had a blast!

oh, and made this Friday night- if you're looking for a great Christmas dinner, this is it. I'm definitely making it for Christmas. I served it with Parmesan mashed potatoes, and asparagus wrapped in proscuitto and feta- so good!

it took five and a half years...

but he did it.

Cameron cut his own hair at school today.

Part of me just wants to laugh, because of course he would cut it right in the middle of his head, down to the scalp.

When I asked why on earth he would do something like this, he said, "Because I just wanted it shorter right there."

Of course.

Cam's Santa list....

haha! My adorable son and his handwriting :)

Any guesses as to his list? I'll send a RAK your way for whomever gets the most right!

Serene has a blog now-woot!

AND the Christmas party pics are up! Who knew I threw my arms in the air so much when I was dancing?!? Must check effectiveness of anti perspirant.... oh, and I'm pretty sure Brent consumed more alcohol Saturday night than he had...ever.

insanity of the season...

has sprung! woot!

'kay... Thanksgiving rocked. Really it did. Had a great time. Proof. Very cool to have ALL my sibs there. SO cool. Did I say cool?

The rest of my mom's visit was.... well.... upchuckish? shall we say? Someone was sick every day 'cept T-day, and it rained. A lot. 'Cept for the day it we went to Kemah, but Nathan was upchuckish that day, thus the pics of him not moving much.

Still had good times, but I won't put it in the "to repeat" category.

Been working on this. Hope to get it done by tonight, and yes, I realized I'm late. Almost done, I swear.

Brent's company Christmas party was this weekend. Still working on getting those pictures up. They took us to L'Auberge du Lac for the weekend. Lots of pictures, lots of editing. Brent did lots of shots of tequila Saturday night. Thus his upchuckish nature during the night (and before he responds, yes, I was due- 'specially for my broken nose last new year's)... he got a round of applause the next morning at brunch if that tells you anything. :) Had a great time tho', just crazy to be gone a whole weekend like that this time of year.

Almost all of the decorations are up... my goal is to have the inside done by this weekend. We'll see. And as far as the outside, not so sure it's going to happen with the sad state of affairs our yard is in with the pool work right now. the king scrooge is saying no. We have the downstairs trees done, and the upstairs one is up, but not decorated... Megan got to hang her first ornament this year...

My son informed me tonight at dinner, to my devestated ears, that he has kissed his first girl. Dude. Thought I had a couple of years. (yes, that is the way the picture goes, and was taken. Do not adjust your monitor.)

These are freakin' adorable. Got them in the mail the other day for Scrapfaith. Awesomely cute- can't wait to cut it up!

Alrighty, surely I'm forgetting plenty, since it's been entirely too long since I updated.... although I'm probably the only one that noticed! :P

I'm off to get more holidayish things conquered...