Christmas Morning

Santa was good to us again this year!!!!!! 

Since I have SEVERAL pictures, I think I will try to keep my words to a minimum!!!

Let the unwrapping begin

We will start with Ella……..

Can you tell she was happy about receiving a Kindle? Folks…….she cried!!!!

Laney received the one thing she has been asking for the past 3 years.

We have not seen her since……only dings from afar! JK!!! After the family got a hold of her number, her phone was burning up with one word text messages! 

My college child received what he needed the most.

He is taking a couple of online classes next semester. Can't do that without a computer.

His dad got him something else he needed real bad…..

A new/used speedometer for his car. Now he will know how fast he is going. 

A few other photos

All the kids try to get my big blanket to cuddle up with so Santa got them their own this year!

Are you noticing a pattern with Carmel's gifts? You can never go wrong with USC stuff for him. What do you do with all that stuff? He gets a USC room in the new house.

One of his gifts was left in SC at his parents so we had to show him a picture instead. It was a canvas of his 3 favorite USC players.

Every year we take a picture of each child and their gifts. You will notice in the pictures below how each child  has their favorite gift front and center!!!!!

I had a hard time trying to figure out which one of my toys was front and center!!!

 Since we are building a house, I figured that was good enough for me.  Since Carmel and the kids kept asking what I wanted, I finally jotted down a few options so they would have choices. Leave it to my husband to spoil me and get everything on my list. He always researches and gets the best thats out there. Let me share with you my list and what he ended up getting.

             My list                             What he interpreted/got

101 Days of Real Food book    - 101 Days of Real Food

Cuisinart ice cream maker    -      Cuisinart  maker w/ the extra insert

                                            

A cast iron skillet                 -      5 piece cast iron set

A food processor                  -     Breville food processor

This next one has a humorous story to go with it which I must tell before I forget it! You know I am 40 now ;)

Scarves     -He researches and finds the best scarf out there... for $500. Knowing  good and well I would never spend that much he decided to call a friend of mine. Thankfully, she told him where to find them a lot less expensive!!

                                     

This experience has taught me:

1. Only put 1 maybe 2 items on the list for next year.

2. Make those 2 items a diamond and a beach house!!!!!

Our Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we went to church and then to my sister and brother in law's house to eat and exchange presents. 

Ella was so excited about her chair. I was excited that it folds up. This child has little room left in her bedroom.

For Griffin and Laney, it was a coffee fix for them.

Griffin - coffee maker for the dorm

Laney - Starbucks cup with a gift card

For the boys, we got them matching Florida sweatshirts. (Update: Since then I have found out they love the sweatshirts just not on the same day as the other.)

After an enjoyable evening, we headed back home to get ready for Santa. We did our usual routine of reading Twas the Night Before Christmas, throwing out reindeer food and getting Santa's snack ready. Unlike the 2 boys mentioned before, my daughter has created a new tradition of matching pjs with her mom. Maybe next year, we will add the rest of the family to this new tradition.

Just so you know that is carrot sticks not cheese. Ella felt Santa needed something sweet and healthy.

Here is our tree on Christmas Eve before Santa came. We had to shrink our tree this year due to being in an apartment.

See the very top of the tree. This was my new purchase this year. I got it at a festival and love it! Hopefully next year, I will add back my bow as well. I was not looking through 100 boxes to find it!

That was our Chistmas Eve! Next up…….Christmas Day!

Homemade goodies

We are finally done with all our holiday extravaganzas!  Before I share all the fun, I wanted to show  you our homemade goodies this year. It seems I  have created a pattern of posting my creations after Christmas. Since most of them are always presents, I don't want the receivers to know what they are getting.

 I decided to involve the girls this year in my projects. Since Laney has discovered pinterest, she has several beauty ideas and recipes pinned. I figured I could help her knock off a few from the list. Several months ago, I got a great deal on these. 

After I drank them…..I saved the box and bottles to create these spa kits.

Hint: When you peel off the labels, there will be a sticky film left behind. I used Goo Gone to remove it.

I started by spray painting the box and bottle tops black. We filled one of the bottles with homemade hot chocolate mix, marshmallows, chocolate chips and peppermint.

The girls whipped up a batch of peppermint foot scrub and peppermint foot soak for the other 2 bottles.

We filled the forth spot of the box with a pair of socks, candy cane, hand santitizer,  peppermint bark candy and homemade lip gloss.

We loved making these and even had some left over for us to enjoy!

Bass Pro Christmas

While my sister was in town, we took the kids to the Bass Pro Shop to see Santa, enjoy activities and eat supper at the restaurant. Since there was a line to see Santa, the men waited in line while the kids decorated a cookie.

Ella and Emma wrote Santa a letter. Luckily, Santa still checks his mailbox 2 days before Christmas.

Due to the lines, we decided to get a group shot of the kids with Santa.

Easton had no clue whose lap he was sitting in until he turned around. It was the cutest thing he didn't cry like most kids…..he just stared! I wish I would have had my good camera. It reminded me of a hallmark card.

After some fun with the toys, we ate and headed home.

The Nutcracker

As far as I can remember, I have never seen the Nutcracker. I don't even think I have seen a ballet before. I knew I wanted to get tickets for the girls. Being the kind mother I am I asked the guys if they wanted to go. Griffin opted out VERY QUICKLY!!!!!! Carmel wanted to go when I ordered the tickets but when it came closer……. nap time looked real good! In the kindest way possible, I explained how I gave him many chances to opt out before I bought the tickets and he was going! 

Don't worry he found a way to make everyone happy……just moved nap time to a different location!

Ella and I liked it!

 Laney said it was okay but that she is not really into all that drama stuff. I guess she has too much of that in her personal life right now! 

The few parts Carmel was awake for….. he liked.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Over the river and through the woods to Granny's house we go.

This past weekend we traveled to North Georgia to celebrate Christmas with my dads side of the family. There were several missing due to flu, work,  and crushed foot. Even with half of us missing, we still know how to laugh until we cry, eat til we look pregnant and steal from each other.

Some even snuck in a cat nap.

Since I turned forty this month, my sister brought a cake. It was delicious! I think she forgot a few candles though!

We had a great time and always love seeing my granny! I hope I can look as good as my granny at age 93.