Christmas 2007 and Beyond

Christmas Day was wonderful and relaxing. Those two usually don't go in the same sentence. Usually we are rushing through our presents so we can rush over to Ben's parents, to open presents. Then we are rushing home to clean up and get started on all the dishes we plan on taking over to Ben's parents....you get the idea. This year I wanted things to be more simple. So I decided that we would take our time opening our gifts and have a nice breakfast and go over to Ben's parents when we were ready. It really doesn't matter if we are there when everyone else open gifts, b/c we all get the same thing anyway. Even with us taking our time, it still ended up that we got there about the same time everyone else did. After opening gifts, we came home and relaxed. I made dinner simple this year; the raspberry chipotle dip for starters, then a ham, mashed potatoes, my Shoepeg casserole, sweet potatoes and store bought rolls for dinner. We were all in charge of making something, so I didn't spend all day in the kitchen. It was actually the perfect amount food! We filled our day watching the Christmas Story, the Testaments and the kids played with their toys.

The kids had a great Christmas. Boston was excited to get his Nintendo DS. I swear he had DS radar. We put his gift behind the tree so it would be the last gift opened. The next thing we know Boston is in the middle of opening it. I don't even think their was a name tag on it! He also was happy to get several games to go with it! His other gifts included some Star Wars Legos, Magnetix, some Wii games and clothes. I never have seen a 6 year old BOY so excited to get clothes!

Aubrie enjoyed a new shuffle loaded with Hannah Montana and High School Musical. I feel like I have a teenager, her beboping around and not being able to hear anything I tell her. She also got a jewlery box, a lot of clothes from Justice (one of her favorite clothing stores), a baby set that included a high chair, pack and play, stroller and swing. She has been wanting that for a long time. She also got a handful of other things, like the rest of the kids!

Ethan's favorite toy was a cleaning cart. I found it at Ross and instantly knew it was for him. It has mops and a mop bucket, and broom and "pretend" cleaning bottles, and sponges etc. All Christmas day he was going around cleaning all the rooms. That's all he did for the next couple of days. Moon Sand and a Nerf gun was also high on his list! All the kids also got Razor scooters from Santa. They didn't touch those much, until they made it through all their toys and ventured out front! My Dad also bought them digital cameras, the cheap kid kind of course. That was also a favorite! Ethan took many pictures of his cleaning cart!!:)

Sophia didn't get much, of course. She doesn't even know what's going on and she has plenty of toys and clothes from the other kids already. Her favorite thing was eating the wrapping paper!

Ben surprised me with a trip to see Wicked and a new Camera, and Ben enjoyed a new shuffle and some work out clothes. We also bought ourselves an early Christmas present, a generator! To bad preparing spiritually can't be as easy as preparing physically!

We ended our Christmas day starting a 750 piece puzzle. My Mom bought it for Aubrie, only looking at the picture and not realizing the amount of pieces. I should have known better than to start it. I love puzzles, and also can't stop once I get going. Aubrie did a pretty good job helping and finding pieces I just couldn't find. She has an eye for puzzles! My Dad joined us around 10:00 pm and Aubrie, my Dad and I finally went to bed at 12:30!

The next day we woke up and finished the puzzle. It took us about 7 hours, total, to finish it. I had to leave that one sitting on the dining room table for a few days! It hurt to finally break it down and put it back in the box.

Later that day my Dad and I enjoyed some Daddy/ Daughter time at Red Robin. That evening my brother Joe came over to spend time with my Dad, and Ben and the kids and I went to see the movie "Enchanted". It was a cute movie. The kids really enjoyed it and kept going over their favorite scenes on the way home!

Thursday morning my Dad left, with tears in his eyes (mine were a little watery, too) and then Ben and I rushed to Home Depot to get paint for the kids bedrooms. We picked out a nice blue for the boys room, and Aubrie picked out a bright pink for her room. It was way too bright, and I couldn't convince her on a lighter pink, so instead of fighting her I just switched the paint chips when we had them make the paint. Good thing, b/c the lighter pink is still quite bright! Luckily the white bead board in her room softens up the color a little! Of course, the bead board is still only half way done, so Aubrie has been sleeping in our room the past couple of days!! Why do we start these projects?! LOL

Friday Ben went golfing with a friend while I stayed home catching up on 20 loads (not really but it sure felt like it!) of laundry. I also cleaned out the boys closet and the kids craft cabinet! I feel like after hours of work I didn't even make a dent in all the organizing I still have left to do! Later that night we finally finished all our returns. We had a few at the mall and somehow we left that place spending more money than we got back. After returns, we grabbed some dinner at Uncle Sams, a pizza/ hoagie place we hadn't tried yet. Their pizza was yummy and their is a new hoagie that I am already addicted to! (Chicken, mushroom, cheese toasted and served w/ honey BBQ sauce for dipping. YUM!!!)

Pictures we took at Uncle Sams!

Saturday I met up with Ben's Mom and the Sister-in-laws for lunch at Chilis. Aubrie wanted to go to Pets Mart afterward, and convinced Krista to come along. Krista ended up getting a tabby cat that looks like our cat Simba. Aubrie insisted we visit her and her cat later, so after dinner Aubrie and I made a trip over there. When we got back the family played Aubrie's new High School Musical game. It's pretty fun watching the kids do the dancing and singing parts! After the game, Ben headed off to his "Fight Night" get together...still don't understand the appeal of watching that stuff! Anyway, while Ben was gone Aubrie and I enjoyed some alone time.

Sunday we were running a little slow. The kids have been waking up later, and so we forgot that we had to set our "real" alarm clock! We made it to the last two meetings which were really good. The Laurels were in Relief Society, so Erin and I got to go to RS, too! We sat in the very back w/ our babies. Sophia, of course, didn't want to fall asleep so I passed her off to Ben so I could enjoy the lesson. It was on supporting our leaders! We spent our afternoon playing Disney Scene it with the kids. Sunday night we had dinner over at Ben's parents. We had a ham dinner and I brought my yummy Seven Layer Salad. I have to remember to double the salad next time. It went fast and everyone went for seconds only to be disappointed that there was nothing left. They brought out the Ninetendo 2 for the kids, so that kept them busy while we all visited. After we got back, Ben's sisters came over for games and visiting. Aubrie wanted to stay up w/ us and play games. So we played 10 minutes of Disney scene it? and one round of Hide and Go Seek. After we got her to bed, we played Chicken Feet (a domino game) and Ultimate Spoons. I have to play that game with the YW sometime. They will love it!

Well, that's a wrap of our 2007 Christmas and Beyond. Now it's time to take down the Christmas decorations (outside is actually down already), make new goals for the new year (working out and consistent scripture study are always a winner) and preparing for early school mornings and endless activities (our new additions are voice lessons for Aubrie and Karate for the boys)...Heaven help me and give me strength! Only 4 1/2 months till summer!!! My Mom took Ethan out on Saturday. This is what he came home with!:)