HAPPY HOLIDAY HUGS!!

The boys were up later than usual on Christmas Eve so they were still asleep when Robin and I awoke on Christmas morning. We were up till 2am getting everything ready the night before so we were happy to have the chance to put on a pot of coffee and get the video camera ready to capture their reactions before waking them up. The boys were so excited that they immediately started tearing into the gifts faster than we could snap pictures. Santa had also left the boys a big inflated ball pit in addition to other presents under the tree. It was wonderful to see their excitement and expressions with every opened gift. What fun it was to experience the wonder and magic of Christmas all over again through my children's eyes.

After all of the presents were opened, my mom and I got started cooking the Christmas feast. Our menu items included garlic mashed potatoes, corn, roasted turkey, cornbread stuffing, greenbean casserole, sauteed mushrooms and brussel sprouts, bread rolls and cranberry sauce. We ended the delicious meal with fluffy Pumpkin Mousse. Mmmmm, yum.

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Tyler and Ryan helping us prepare goodies for Santa's arrival.







Right before bed, our family Christmas Eve tradition is to spread reindeer food on the lawn to attract the reindeer to our home and give them energy to fly to the next house. Then, we come inside and put together a plate of cookies and a glass of milk to set on the fireplace for Santa. Ryan doesn't quite grasp the idea that the cookies are for Santa and not for him so we had a few cookie casualties before we finally got everything together. Then, we set about getting the boys ready for bed when we suddenly heard a smacking noise coming from the fireplace and realized that our cookie plate preparations had met an untimely fate. There sat our dog, Cinnamon, happily smacking her chops after devouring one of Santa's cookies and licking the rest. (Santa's reindeer were in for an extra treat this year...leftover doggie slobbered cookies. Oh Yum!)

Christmas Cookie Decorating with The Browns

For the past 3 years, our neighbors, the Browns, have invited us over to decorate homemade Christmas cookies with them and their kids. This year, they also invited a couple of other neighbors to join in the fun too. The kids look forward to this special night as it has become another one of our favorite Christmas traditions.

MOMS Club Holiday Party 12-14-05

I've been a member of the Sugar Land-South MOMS Club, which is a national support group for stay-at-home mothers, since Feb 2002. Each year, the MOMS Club hosts a holiday party for all of it's members and their children to enjoy. It's held in a big meeting room at our local library and Santa always drops by for a special visit to hand out gift wrapped books to all of the children. We also feast on holiday munchies and do a few crafts and activities. One craft we've done in the past was construct and decorate gingerbread houses using graham crackers, icing and candy. This year, the kids decorated a paper bag to look like a reindeer and then filled it with reindeer food (oats, raisins, corn, cheerios, etc.) to sprinkle on the lawn Christmas Eve, which has now become one of our annual family traditions.





Ryan smiles as he eats holiday treats. What a happy kid!










Ryan coloring his reindeer bag










Tyler and Ryan looking at their new books

Look Who's 2!!!

Ryan turned 2 on December 1st and we had a "puppy" themed birthday party for him on Saturday, December 3rd at our home. As each child arrived, they were asked to pick out some doggie ears to wear on their head which I had made from felt that I cut into different dog ear shapes and then hot glued to thin headbands. I painted my face to look like a puppy and wore some puppy ears too. And I painted Ryan's face and dressed him in some cute puppy overalls. I had made homemade playdoh along with a personalized container for each kid to keep their playdoh in and put out rolling pins and cookie cutters of a puppy, bone, dog, fire hydrant and a cat out on the tables for everyone to use. I think the kids really enjoyed playing with the playdoh and sat there for at least 20-25 minutes making their creations. While the kids were busy with their activity, Robin made balloon puppies for everyone. For a snack, I served Human Puppy Chow (which is just Chex cereal, melted chocolate chips, butter and peanut butter with powdered sugar on top) in a real dog bowl to all the guests. The party was between 11 - 12:30pm, so we also ordered pizza for lunch and had Sybil's wonderful fruit salad along with it. My longtime friend, Shannon, made Ryan's birthday cake. She decorated it with a big dalmation puppy face and what a fantastic job she did! The cake was absolutely adorable AND delicious. Instead of singing the Happy Birthday song, I asked that everyone bark the tune of Happy Birthday which the kids seemed to enjoy. After we had cake, Ryan opened all of his gifts and got so many wonderful things: books, a floating doodle pad for the bathtub, 2 Aquadoodles (one for home and one for the car), a Pop Onz set and a Pop Onz Action Ape add-on, 2 shirts and pajamas, a Boohbah doll, a Shake/Giggle/Roll ball, a blender and mixer to go with his kitchen set, a Bob the Builder sticker book and the "March with the Penguins" movie. Thank you everyone!!!