Christmas 2010

I've decided what my new year's resolutions are going to be. I have two this year - I'm sure I need many more but for starters I'm going to keep up with my blog. I love the connection I have developed with so many people and I miss that when I'm not blogging and regularly keeping up with everyone elses. I'm also going to dig into my camera. I've had it for a little over a year now and have yet to sit down and really LEARN about it. I got some wonderful gifts for my camera for Christmas and I'm so excited to learn about all the ins and outs of getting better pictures of everything.

I am so behind in blogging but instead of getting even further behind I'm going to write about Christmas and then I will just have to fill in the spots I missed down the road. That's one good thing about doing my 365 album - I have those daily pictures so I can still remember the small things I'm not wanting to forget - that's one of my most favorite projects EVER! If you're not doing one you should totally look into it.

Christmas was fabulous this year - we had a wonderful time with our family and the kids were very happy I think. I love Christmas - there is just this vibe in the air that is contagious. I can't get enough of it. We went to my dad's on Christmas Eve and had our annual spaghetti dinner followed by the kids "little" surprise that night. Each Christmas Eve Nendny and Papa get the kids a little "sursey" and we always give them new pjs for Christmas Eve night and a book.

 Caleb was very unhappy with almost every present he received and bless his heart he let everyone know it. This little boy wanted a flashlight more than anything in the world and he was getting one (or two) on Christmas morning so I told Nendny to wait and she did but he wasn't happy about it. You can see it in his face here - I felt horrible but love the capture.

Allie wasn't interested in sitting for the picture but I got a pretty good one of the boys.

I finally got Allie to sit for me when we got home in her new pjs - loving the gown :)

Christmas Eve was a LATE night - I'm talking like 3:30 late. I think it could be the latest one we've experienced yet. I don't ever do any wrapping until Christmas Eve - one reason is I have a very hard time finding the time to wrap with four kids around and by the time they are in bed I have so much other stuff to do that wrapping falls by the wayside. I am thinking I may try and wrap some beforehand for the very first time next year - I say that every year though so we shall see.

Christmas Eve or morning at this time before we went to bed.

Lucas was the first one up on Christmas morning followed by Jacob and then Allie. Caleb was last and the most anticipated I think :) He took FOREVER to wake up - it was close to 9:30 before he actually crawled out of bed despite my repeated attempts to wake him up. We ate sausage and gravy biscuits for breakfast and then dove into our gifts. Christmas morning is a process at our house - it takes a while and it's not rushed. We open one gift at a time rotating around the room.

 Right after Caleb got his police car - he was in shock for about 5 minutes when he walked out almost like he couldn't believe that a police car that he could ACTUALLY drive was sitting in his living room. His response to me was "See Mommy I told you Santa could BUILD one!"

I was very blessed this Christmas - I got a new Keurig - which is sooo cool! If you haven't seen one it's almost a show just to watch it brew a cup of coffee. My goal now is to find someplace around town that sells the tea k cups so I can have tea at night. I also got a new baking stone so I can throw away my ratty pans for my oven. Funny the things we find exciting as we get older :) And I got goodies for my camera too - so fun! I got an external flash which I am very very excited about and  new 50 mm lens. I'm still learning the lens - I'm sure I'll be doing that for some time to come. I have the Nikon D60 and therefore the lens has to be operated in Manual mode. That's something I need to work on a lot but I'm excited to learn!

 And this my friends - this is immediately after I received my external flash - the different is like night and day and it's pure love! I'm head over heels!

 All of these wrapped gifts are the ones that Allie didn't get to on Christmas morning. She opened gifts for the next two mornings before she finished them all. She would open a couple and then play with something and then open a few more and play some more. Funny girl!!!

 Overall we enjoyed the day with family and didn't want it to end - until it was time to hit the bed which we did hard!