2010 Goes Down in the Record Books ...

So, I'm postdating this by about an hour so it still "counts" in my December posts ... I think it's fair since I haven't gone to bed so "technically" it's still the same day as when I woke up, right? We stayed up to ring in the New Year - all the way until midnight - and then I still had to get the pics downloaded and post written. Sheesh.

We started the day with breakfast ... made by me, again! I think that's a record on the number of times in a week that I would actually make breakfast. Today was pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, and *perfect* bacon. Seriously.

I hopped on the treadmill after breakfast and then we got everyone ready for the day. Steve only had to work a half day today so once he got home the games began! Skip-Bo was first on the agenda.

Cougar helped make his own lunch - a bologna face! These are pretty popular around here ;)

I had to make a trip to the grocery store go grab some goods for dinner tonight, plenty of snacks, and things needed for dinner tomorrow ... the grocery store was PACKED!!

I got home just in time for everyone else to decide a quick run to In -n- Out was in order for a late lunch. While they were gone I headed to the airport for the 5th time in the past 2 weeks ... Grammy & Paca were returning from their week in Seattle!! They came back to our place for about an hour before getting on the road to head home. Since they weren't here on Christmas this year they got to see all of the kids' loot, play a quick game of Pirate's Cove, talk some Bowl games, and get a french horn performance from Brinley. A group hug and they were on their way!!

Pam took some time to make Steve's favorite guacamole dip ... I've tried to make it several times and just can't get it right, so he only gets it when his mom is around.

I got busy making dinner. I'll be honest ... it was good {in my opinion}. It's been unseasonably cold here the past few days (got some snow flurries in the valley yesterday and temps dropped into the 20's - BRR!!) so soup sounded awesome. Baked Potato soup in bread bowls sounded even better!! That's what I decided to make for our last dinner of 2010 - pretty darn good choice, if I do say so myself! I think EVERYONE was extremely pleased and I am THRILLED to have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow!

After dinner and clean up it was time to prepare ourselves for some New Years festivities! We had gotten "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" from the Redbox so we sat down about 8 PM to watch it. Kendyl decided that she didn't want to see it, so she took a movie up to the playroom to watch on her own. The pic of her is dark but I had to take it ... when I went upstairs to check on her she was sitting in the dark, had turned on the lights on the Christmas tree in the playroom, and was sitting and singing along to the Disney Princess Christmas movie that she had chosen ... it was so cute!

The movie ended at 9:52 PM ... just in time to get ready for the ball to drop at midnight in NYC!! I love that we can watch the ball drop at 10PM so the kids feel like they got to ring in the New Year without having to let them stay up until midnight ;)

We had hats, party blowers, clapper rings, leis, masks, and party poppers all ready. We partied like rock stars, drank sparkling cider, blew out every party popper, smooched, and then it was off to bed for the kids!

The party didn't stop there, though. Tonight we busted out the cards for a game of hand & foot. We hadn't played in quite a while and it seems we always play when Ed & Pam are in town. The ladies were on a hot streak tonight, taking the first 3 hands. The men came back to win the last hand, but were too far gone to catch up ... gotta love a good win {since I NEVER seem to win}!!

Our game ended just a few minutes after midnight and thus ended 2010 ... and my December "on the go" challenge. It became a lot more than what I had originally planned in terms or the number of pics and the details I added, but I'm so glad to have done it!! My family, on the other hand, has told me more than once how glad they will be when I am done taking pictures of everything and writing everything down. It's funny - I don't blog for 10 months and people complain. I blog every day for 2 months and people complain. Clearly I need to find a "happy medium," right? My girls have started to tell Pam stories and she's said "I read about that on the blog!," to which they have replied "we don't have any stories to tell you cuz they're all on the blog!" I think it's funny ;)

2010 has been awesome. I'm sad I didn't write more of it down, really. I am totally looking forward to what 2011 has to offer ... should be an interesting ride!

Holiday Visitors ... Round 2!

Well, today round 2 of our visitors began!! I woke up and went for a run {having no bootcamp these 2 weeks of break is KILLING me!} and then came home to dig in and finish "touching up" the house - sheets going back on, towels back into the bathroom, clean bathroom, unload and load dishwasher, vacuum, laundry ... you know the drill. I also spent some time on the phone with Epson tech support trying to figure out why my printer died on me - NOT good timing with a big work deadline looming!! It's back up and running after an uninstall and reinstall of the printer drivers (which I had already done once). I was happy to get to shower before heading to the airport!

Cougar discovered a new trick this morning that he was THRILLED to share with me! I wish I would have video taped his enthusiasm. Really. He took the camping mattress {that he had slept on last week when he was kicked out of his bed by aunt Kris *wink*} and found that it made GREAT sliding device on the stairs!! It kept him and his sisters entertained for quite a while.

Mamo & Papa arrived just after 3 and everyone made the trek to the airport to greet them :) I love when the kiddos flood out of the car so excited to greet their grandparents who they haven't seen in months! Cougar talked their ears off the entire drive home ... if only he understood that Papa can only hear half of what he says!! We came home, and Steven arrived home shortly there after. Kendyl read books to Mamo while the rest of us visited.

The kids were anxious for them to open their Christmas gifts, so we finally gave into their demands before heading to dinner. They were especially excited to give Papa his gift. We found it months ago and knew it would be just perfect!! It is a nutcracker of a Boy Scout. Ed has been Scoutmaster for as long as I have know Steven ... and longer. Ed and Pam are the ones who got us started with our nutcracker collection. See the perfect fit? We just loved it and hope he does, too!

Then it was off to Red Robin for my annual birthday celebration!! Rarely does a birthday go by that we don't enjoy our free burger at Red Robin ... it is a family favorite! Add to that the gift cards we got for Christmas and this birthday celebration didn't cost us a thing *WOOT*

I had the Ensenada Chicken Platter which is always delish.

The kids were silly, as usual.

Really, all they wanted was my sundae.

We came home after dinner and sent the kids upstairs to get ready for bed. A little while later I found them up in the playroom ... Kendyl reading to Cougar in her "fort," and Brinley and Ashton in their own "fort" playing travel Battleship. They were being so kind to each other, so tender, so unusual - it was delightful!!!

At dinner I ran out of room on the SD card on my phone ... that's how many pictures I've been taking this month!! Steve has commented MORE than once now how happy he will be when this month is over so I will quit taking pictures of him (and everything) - I think I'm embarrassing him!! Oh, well ... he'll be glad 2 years from now when we can look back and remember everything we did in December 2010 ;)

P.S. This is post #250 on my blog ... 57 of which have been posted in the past 57 days. Whoa.

Christmas 2010

So, today was Christmas. How did that happen? I know I blame a lot of my current *ACK* state to my kitchen disaster {turned blessing}, but losing out on almost 6 weeks right before Christmas really has a way of wreaking havoc on one's perception of time!

We have a standing rule in our house that we do not begin Christmas festivities before 8 AM. Period. The children are up well before that, but we keep them sequestered in the playroom until we can get our wits about us, get the cameras ready, and get them lined up and ready to go downstairs to where the *magic* has happened ;)

Santa did not disappoint this year. Our Christmas seemed "smaller" because our kids already have every gadget that kids their ages could want {iPod, camera, DS, etc}. It felt strange to not have more "big ticket" items, but it was so nice to get back to the "basics" of clothes, games, and the more simple things ... they have been WAY too spoiled the past few years! Funny thing is they were smiling, laughing, and enjoying themselves just as much if not more. Rather than being connected to their new "devices" they were playing games together. BLISS for a mama to see!

Steve surprised me with the Silhouette Craft Cutter I'd been wanting and I got him an iPad ... not really a surprise because I can NEVER surprise him, but he plays along very well ;)

Just a few more pics of the unwrapping frenzy ... gotta love that it takes hours (for Steve) to wrap everything and about 15 minutes for everything to be torn apart!!

We spent time in the morning playing games and eating our traditional breakfast Strata casserole ... YUM!

We laid low for a while, ate snacks and treats, watched Despicable Me, and decided it was time to open my birthday gifts!! I am a lucky girl to celebrate my birthday on Christmas. Most people think it would be awful, but I've never known any different and everyone has always done a great job to differentiate between the two celebrations! I received lots of wonderful things, money, and some gift cards - can't wait to shop some more!!

I just have to show off a bit of Steve's creative side while I'm at it ... he knew I wanted to get a new pair of jeans from the Buckle but also knew that buying jeans is not an easy task - certainly one he didn't want to take on by himself ;) So he gave me cash to buy them and made this fancy "buckle" out of cardstock to hold the money!! Isn't he the best?!?

Next it was time to take Aunt Kris to the airport so she could head home. We are so glad she was able to be with us this year to help us celebrate the season!!

Since we chose to eat our "holiday feast" a few days early this year, I decided that making one of my fave dinners was in order for my birthday ... homemade pizza, of course! The kids made their own and I decked one out for Steve and myself. Yum-O!!

After dinner we had the Wilsons over to share in some birthday cake and ice cream - what better way to start winding down a fabulous day?!? Texas Sheet Cake and Peppermint Ice Cream were the perfect way to celebrate!

A few more minutes for games and light saber fights before calling it a night ... what a fun and fabulous day!

Did I mention that it was my birthday? I turned 39 today. I'm not living in denial of it. I'm not even dreading the idea that I'm turning 40 a year from today. Life at 39 is pretty darn good. I look forward to seeing what the next year holds in store!!