Christmas Review

Click on the slideshow and watch some photos from our Christmas. It will just like you were here with us just without having to hear all the noise.:)

The trash is mounded over and the tree has one lonely present left underneath. Christmas was a great success and I am thrilled that everything went well and its over for another year. The baking and Gingerbread House making started Wednesday night. The Christmas goody baskets were filled and delivered on Christmas Eve by the children.Macy and I had stayed up very late the night before finishing those up and they turned out very nice.

The kids were very happy with their presents. Of course, there was more than they really needed because Santa's best helper likes to fret and worry that they might be disappointed without that LAST perfect gift.Logan's new phone was a big surprise, Macy's makeup,shoes and clothes were exactly what she wanted, Molly and Parker are loving being laptop owners, and Collin got the red helicopter his heart desired plus so much more. Hudson literally had a ball at Christmas in his ball pit while dancing to the beat of his new drum.

There are times when I am reminded how grateful I am to not have a TV show featuring our family life. Christmas Eve's at Mom and Dad's house was nice but interesting. The meal went smooth , there was enough food and variety everyone was happy and really enjoyed it . Then came the presents,WOW is all I can say! Lots of people, lots of presents,a confined space, a one year old ,3 and 4 year old plus add 6 more kids ranging from 8-15, mix in a quirky grandmother and you get instant need for a few stiff drinks or some sort of mind altering drugs! The kids really did well and we all had fun. We ate, we laughed and we made memories. Mom read a book about The Birth of Christ before the mayhem began with the presents. After the clean up we had dessert and relaxed abit before we loaded the loot and parted ways.

The kids were told Christmas morning wouldn't start till 8 am. Logan walked into our room at 8:05 am. We got seated downstairs as the heavy eyed kids came down the stairs.Collin and Hudson were slow to get into the presents, Collin sat curled up next to me under a blanket examining his racing bicycle from the afar. The other kids sat by their stash and looked over the present left unwrapped. Hudson played in his ball pit and walked around looking at/stealing everyone's stuff. They took turns opening like we always do.I took my turn and I really love the necklace Brian had made for me with the kids name on it, and the hot pink ipod too.

We spent the rest of the morning opening packages and putting together things and playing with this years hottest toy Zhu Zhu pet Hamsters.The Pampered Chef kitchen sheers were a life saver opening up the boxes and little twist ties on the rescue cars Collin received. Hudson settled into a nap and Brian headed over to help his Mom and Grandmother cook Christmas lunch. Collin tagged along all bundled up with his bike in tow to ride over there where there isn't much traffic.

We joined them for a yummy Turkey and Ham dinner complete with the great dressing we missed out on at Thanksgiving. We got to love on baby Phoenix and our nephew Blaze and Hudson kept us on our toes making sure they weren't into everything. Hudson by this point was very overstimulated and started squealing at the top of his lungs to get our attention or show his disapproval over something. Again I was reminded how nice it is the whole world wouldn't be watching this Christmas mayhem moment . The present were exchanged later again and we all really received some nice thoughtful gifts. The kids were thrilled with everything they opened. Patrick (Brian's brother) wrote a poem that was very touching. The kids loved it as did we. We were all silently missing Granddaddy last night and the poem was a awesome way to express it.

The kids declared this to be the best Christmas ever and Parker told me the best present was having us as parents. Needless to say I feel so blessed and happy everything worked out so well. Thankful for everyone and everything but looking forward to the new year.