Moving on to Christmas Eve...

Christmas Eve is probably my favorite part of Christmas time. Or at least a close second to Christmas Day. Christmas Eve means Prime Rib, new jammies, dressing up, and the general feeling of the big day coming up. This year we did Christmas Eve at Mom and Dads and Christmas Day at our house. I think it works perfect that way.



Santa (Grandpa) came early for Grandma this year.



My beautiful parents. So special to me.




With the boys. At this point the kids were sooooooooo ready for Santa they were completely wound up.

Oh my, they are adorable.

Grandpa looks proud of the Prime Rib.

We made the mistake of turning our back on Jimmy. He was so proud to serve the punch.

Jimmy is the one who got the Reindeer food in class but the almost 10 year old was the only one who wanted to spread it this year. He really wanted Jimmy to do it with him but he was to busy writing Santa a letter to leave with his cookies. We all read the letter later but we could not figure out what it said. He just seemed to be "sorry" for something and he "loved him". LOL

I promise I will take pictures of this kid at 20 spreading Reindeer Food.

Oh yeah, and that dinner was SOOOOOOOOOO good! I had nothing to do with the making of the meat but I sure snapped that picture anyway. LOL

The kids both got new jammies from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas morning but they have been in them all week since then. They finally fell asleep that night around 11. Since this was not our first rodeo we knew we only had a few hours until they were up! A few years ago we decided to start exchanging our gifts with each other late Christmas Eve. After the kids were in bed. For so many reasons it is one of my favorite things in the world. It seems like after a month of non stop craziness time stops for a moment for us. Quite and calm and just us. Giving each other the little things we had been hiding from each other for weeks (ok days in some cases) Christmas Morning will bring enough crazy with a 9 and 6 year old. TRUST ME!! Next up...the big day! No wonder I am still tired.

Meet Jimps

Oh my, I really don't know what to say. I fought it as long as I could. Jimmy is just so stinkin cute. Fred Jimps Duncan aka Jimps showed up at our house around mid December this year. He got into a little bit of trouble but mostly just moved around the house. Next year should be fun. Yikes, what have I gotten myself into?

Christmas with Grandmother and Papaw

The day before Christmas Eve we headed to Woodstock to have Christmas with Grandmother and Papaw. We had fun getting the holiday weekend started.


We took Archie so we didn't have to leave early to get back to him. Or else he would have been crossing his little legs by the time we got home. He was so good. He pretty much just stayed on the back of the couch like a cat.


Tommy with his rootbeer as usual.

Archie and his new Christmas toy.

The boys LOVED their "Money Trees" from Grandmother and Papaw. You can see the looks on their faces. Tommy is in deep thought on what he is going to buy and Jimmy is in shock. LOL

Their new spy glasses were a big hit. They can wear them and see behind them. Not sure if that is good or bad.

Marc loves his new GA jacket. You know he loves his Dawgs! He always has and I'm pretty sure always will. It's just a huge part of who he is.

We played a game called Headbands. It was so much fun. Even though Tommy is a TOTAL CHEAT. Can I just tell you, it is way harder then it looks. You have to ask questions to figure out what your card says. It will make you feel real dumb real quick. LOL

We had a fun time. The kids had a blast as usual eating (candy and rootbeer) getting presents and playing. Jimmy was asleep before we hit the highway. We were so happy Papaw got some time off. It was another fun day.

Trouble in Toyland

We have been BUSY BUSY BUSY! I wanted to share the adorable little puppet show we took the kids to see last week. The week before Christmas we decided to take the kids to see Trouble in Toyland at Aurora Theater in downtown Lawrenceville. I just love this little theater. It is kinda hard to see but the first picture has the puppet who played Santa. lol



My three boys. Marc was being a great Daddy to even be there, Jimmy was really excited (because he thought he was seeing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer), and Tommy was wondering "how" this puppet show worked.


The stage. The best part for Tommy was that after the show they showed everyone how it all worked. He loved that part.




After the show we walked across the street to the courthouse to see Santa and do some crafts and have hot cocoa. Tis the season! Leave it to my three to find a museum about war while seeing Santa. They were in their glory!

After we saw Santa (and got the best picture to date for our family) we took Tommy's suggestion and walked to a little cafe for lunch.

They had the BEST box lunch. Chicken salad was SOOOOOOOOOO good. They were just so happy they got a cupcake with their lunch. HA It's the little things.

Yummy cupcakes.

My loves!

Jimmy was so excited he was on Santas list. lol Poor Tommy never found his name.

My cutie.

Love Lawrenceville.

We had the best time. I was really glad we went. I have so much more to share of our beautiful Christmas Holiday. Next up will be Christmas at Grandmother and Papaws. What a fun time of year!

Cocktails and Cookies WooHOO

Last week I had my first annual Cookies and Cocktails. I call it that because I will for sure be doing it again next year. FOR SURE. I had a blast with my girls. Sure, they were all ticked about the whole baking thing. BTW, yes Krista I DID host a cookie exchange with store bought cookies.


Sandi out did herself, I must say. Girlfriend put some time into these and I loved it.


So proud of her little creations. I didn't have the heart to tell her how weird it was to eat a cute little mouse but whatever.

Partners in crime. Nuff said

Little wine and cheese never hurt anyone.

Some Punch, that everyone forgot about... but was actually REALLY good.



We hooked it up with the cookies! For all the complaining they did I was pretty impressed.



These ladies crack me up! Christine and Jackie. Such fab ladies!



I was in love with my "Cookie Exchange Tree". Make fun of me all you want..and they did...I loved it. LOL

We had a blast just getting to hang out for a bit before the Holidays get crazy for all of us.

Good old fashoned girl time, the best.

Bunch of nuts, but I love um! Thanks for coming girls, I had a ton of fun. Same time next year. BTW, how proud of myself am I that I had a party with NO drapes or dining room chairs. It didn't even bother me...that much. LOL Good times!

I'm strong to the finish, cause I eat me spinach.

I am on a "Green Smoothie" kick.

Sooooooooooooooooooo yummy, and good for you too. Let's face it. The only way I am getting my spinach is either spinach and artichoke dip or this smoothie. LOL

Odds and Ends.....

Such a busy time of year for us. We have just been hanging out lately. We went with Grandma and Grandpa to see the Muppet's. It was good but just a little odd. Not exactly the Muppet's I remember. We had fun though. Tommy LOVES the chipmunks. He had to get his picture taken . He is in that weird...I am a 10 year old....but still loves little kid things stage.



My "three" boys getting groomed. I have three kids sometimes. I had to get them pizza afterwards too.



He has always been SO good getting his hair cut.

Boogie

Time to make the cookies.

The kids worked on one roll of cookie dough for a full week.

Jimmy is such a stinker.

Good times for sure!