Christmas morning and decorations

our tree had far too many presents under it- spoiling grandparents- so we spent most of december trying to keep the presents wrapped- love that my kids are fighting in this pic :(

I spent a lot of time playing and didnt take nearly enough pics but here are some from Christmas day and some others form subsequent days playign with their loot and a few of decoratioins to fill in for the lack of photos

Christmas eve (backwards)

Christmas eve included: swimming and Jocie modeling South Fla's version of the Christmas Story kid who cant move his arms cause he's bundled up so!; a yummy fancy dinner of: ham, meatballs, rainbow jello, green bean casserole, hashbrown casserole, carrotts, and pumpkin pie oh and martenellis; opening presents from Grammy and Gramps as well as pjs form mom and dad and books from maga and papa; a trip downtown to Daddy's work to see the big tree and of course slide on the slide

about this time we wished we had a family party to attend and be festive with everyone. it was a lot of work to cook all the food myself and keep the kids busy doing fun things but i did love using my china

pre-Christmas celebrations

the after


the before
sugar cookie decorating for Santa and us


a little kid party thrown together at the last minute really. activities included: pin the tail on rudolph, graphing our favorite reindeer, christmas aroudn the world: handprint poinsettia and poinsettia fable from mexico, dutch clog holding prizes from carnival like games- ring toss on mini tree, throw the balls in the wreath, Christmas bingo; and representing Germany a take-home of gingerbread playdough. following are our treats-

suppossed to be ornaments of cream cheese spread on crackers with bell pepper and carrot pieces for decorations

extra neighbor gifts of chocolate covered pretzels with Christmas sprinkles

These last two are pics of a light show set to music at a shopping center. fun night with friends. thanks for the company and great restaurant reccomendation. if you havent eaten at Yardhouse try it!