Christmas Day Pictures

(Posted 1/10/12, but backdated to 12/27/11).

Here are pictures from Christmas Day. We went to 9am mass and then back to my parents for the day. We had a nice time, but it's always a long day! Jack and Nick took a nap together which was nice--and Jack needed it. Nick's mom and stepdad also came, but just for dinner...we were really happy to see them, but didn't get any pictures :(

This is the tree at my mom's house...gifts for my family, my parents, sister and Gigi. First, it's crazy, we know. What is so funny is that every year my mom says she "didn't go overboard", but every year she does! At one point Hunter said, "Nana, I want to be done opening presents". I think this year she discovered how convenient online shopping is and went a little nuts. Hey, I shouldn't complain b/c we are on the receiving end of things, but it is a little excessive. However, she just loves to make people happy and I must say, she is an excellent gift giver.

Favorite gifts: I got a pair of diamond earrings from my mom and dad...I LOVE them!!!!!! They also got me several other lovely gifts (new pillow, memory foam for our bed, pandora charms, and more) Nick got a new snowblower and lots of other fun things. The kids got rollerskates, scooters, ice skates, an ice rink we can set up in the yard, and tons of other cool stuff from my parents. My dining room is still full of gifts that I need to put away! I just have not had time to sort through it all. At this point, I'm just hoping to get my tree and decorations down by the end of January. (Mom, I NEED help!!!!!!)

Aunt Emily and Jack

All Hunter asked Santa for was a 500 and 1000 piece puzzle. Lucky boy. Not sure it will get opened any time soon, but I love puzzles so I'll help when the time is right :)

Aunt Emily got Hunter a fun frame for his room...she put pictures of a lot of the special people in his life. We talk about them most nights before bed and say "I love you" to all of them.

Nana and Grandpa got Jack a new vacuum. The child loves to help, clean,etc. My mom was vacuuming really quick after opening gifts and Jack was following her around "helping". So cute!
New tennis shoes from Aunt Emily. This child is so rough on his shoes....he goes through them (literally, they get holes, etc) after a couple of months.

Jack loved just diving on the piles of gifts, playing with wrapping paper, etc. No, he doesn't normally have a binkie, but the child was overly tired, so we gave in. Usually it's only at bedtime and we are trying to get motivated to take it away completely, but haven't done it yet.

Gigi...she has had a lot of health issues lately, so I'm praying she has a better 2012. She is so sweet...she invited her friend over for dinner. Miss Katherine is 92 and was such a nice lady. She graduated from U of M in the 40's (or something like that--too lazy to do the math)...amazing.
Trash man! I think I have pictures every year of him holding garbage bags.
Getting ready to ride his scooter...love all the padding. Hunter got a big boy, two-wheel scooter, and Jack got one with three wheels. Right now they follow each other around inside banging them into things. I can't wait for spring already!!

Christmas Eve Pictures

(Posted 1/9/11, but backdated to 12/27)

We go to my Aunt Rhonda (my dad's sister) & Uncle Joe's house on Christmas Eve. We had dinner, played with toys, and had fun :) The kids were wild and once again, not many pictures...I hope to do better next year. Nick was in charge of the camera and there were pictures of my feet, dogs, my dad's bald spot, etc., yet no great pictures of the kids or anyone else. That's what happens when a certain someone has too much to drink and then I ask him to be the photographer. Anyway, we were there, along with my parents, Emily, Rhonda, Joe, Joey, Heather, Tyler, and Connie.

My parents got this cool track for the kids. It was a lot of fun and we are still having fun with it at home.

Jack is ready for food. He does this at home too...he'll just sit in his chair waiting for us to bring him food. So cute. The highlight were these nerf guns that Rhonda bought...at least 6-8 of them. We were having a fun gun fight, but more importantly we were shooting them up on these super high windows in their family room. The "bullets" are those kind where you lick them and they stick to things. It was my idea, but I'm not sure who knows that (well they might now). I told Joey to do it and then Hunter started, and then everyone else. I don't think my uncle was thrilled, but we had a good time and I figure they will come down at some point!

Christmas Pictures--Part One of Many

I am backdating some posts so they are in my 2011 blog book. I am going to order my "2011 blog book" once I get caught up, but I want the Christmas and Florida pictures to show up in the right year. Below are just some random Christmas pictures and of our Christmas with Hoppy and Mimi. They came on December 23rd, which feels like a long time ago as I'm typing this on 1/4/12. We had dinner, exchanged gifts, etc. As a side note, the kids have been so wound up with the holidays that I have not been good at taking a lot of pictures because I'm always after them. I put Nick up to the task, but am not thrilled with the results (sorry Nick). Between December 23-January 2nd (Christmas & FL) there are 760 pictures I just loaded onto my computer and I don't see that many good ones :-(

Lesson to self--if you want it done right and are going to be picky, do it yourself.

Hoppy and Mimi with Jack

I got Hunter a three piece luggage set for Christmas from us...for our FL trip. He was very excited about it and was pretty helpful carrying it on and off the plane. The suitcase was a carry on and fit all his clothes for FL. The kid needs to be put to good use now that he's capable of helping us out!
Jack frequently scowls and makes weird faces
He loves wearing capes around the house
I took some random pictures of our Christmas trees. This is our main one in the family room. My mom helped to decorate it, along with Hunter. I LOVE my trees and it's so much prettier in person--the picture barely does it justice. I LOVE ornaments. I'm such a dork, but I like to take them out and remember where they all came from as I put them on the tree....it's so fun!

I loves these too...I got Nick the frog one this year--get it, Hopwood, frogs hop...lol.

This was from last year--I buy them for Nick b/c I want them, but shouldn't buy gifts for myself like some people in my house do..

I have one that I got from a co-worker back in 2005 where it was just Nick and I. How things have changed!

Each year since we've been married, Nick has gotten me a nice ornament for Christmas with the year on it. Above is my 2011 one. I look forward to it and they have been mostly Waterford ornaments, which have a tag with the year on it. The only bad thing is they are quite heavy and the tag with the year is so small and not permanently attached to the ornament.

I love these little decorated cookie letters. We have an H, J, J, and N for everyone in the family. (minus Chopper)

My mom set up this small tree in our dining room...I have one more small one that I didn't set up this year. Maybe next year Hunter will want one in his room? I asked him this year, but he said no. He is a creature of routine. My parents started putting these up two years ago (our first Christmas in this house) and I LOVE it. I don't have the patience to do it, but my parents each did one half, Hunter helped, and it looks so cool. The one year I attempted to help I apparently did not do it quite good enough, so I was banned from helping. Pretty smart of me, huh? Ha! I do that with lots of things...just ask Nick...Ironing clothes or pretty much anything else I don't want to do. Plus I can stroke Nick's ego by telling him how good he is at ironing or saving money by grocery shopping.

I have lots more catching up to do this week with Christmas and Florida pictures!

I'm SO tired this week, so if I sound a little crazy it might be b/c I'm slightly delirious and somewhat crazy.

Merry Christmas

We are going to have a super busy next few days with celebrating Christmas and leaving for FL on the 27th bright and early...I may be MIA for a while :)

Have a Merry Christmas!!

Pre-Christmas fun

We've been trying to do lots of fun things this time of year. I love having fun traditions that we can do with the kids. We started Elf on the Shelf this year. If you don't know what that is, you need to google it, b/c it's been a lot of fun. Hunter helped decorate the trees, did baking with Nana, and more. We have an advent calendar with chocolate. Surprisingly, the kids don't bug me about it and we are at least 10 days behind, which is fine with me. We also made a poster counting down the days till Christmas and Hunter crosses off a number each day. Yesterday the kids made and decorated gingerbread cookies with Julie, but I didn't have a gingerbread cookie cutter, so they had to improvise. Also, I got these gingerbread cookies you can decorate that are on a stick...we're going to do that tonight or tomorrow. Nick and I are off work tomorrow and Hoppy and Mimi are coming tomorrow evening. I have a dr appt in the morning and Nana is going to Hunter's school for his Christmas sing and taking him back to her house for the afternoon to do some baking and hang out. Yay! I still have a few last minute items to wrap and get situated....we have a busy time coming up...Friday, Saturday, Sunday and then we leave for FL on Tuesday bright and early!

Hunter and I ate a cookie after Jack was in bed last night...they were tasty! Far better than they looked, but what do you expect when a 2 and 4 year old are using frosting?

He was very proud of his cookie that had an "H" on it :)
I put up all the picture cards on our pantry door. I'm a dork, but I love getting them and looking at all the families and kids changing so much from year to year. It makes my day when I get the mail...I think I had 6 picture ones in the mail yesterday and Nick was teasing me b/c I was so excited! haha.

Christmas with Gammy Dori and Big D....and one other random thing

Last Saturday (December 17th) Gammy Dori and Big D came to celebrate Christmas with us. They came around 4pm on Saturday and left Sunday morning. We exchanged gifts, ate dinner, watched the Lion King, and relaxed (as much as we can with two kids). I woke up feeling really bad on Saturday, so I was not in the best of moods, but I managed. I didn't take a lot of pictures b/c both boys were being crazy and driving me crazy, but here are a few.

Gammy got Hunter the Lion King. We've watched it a lot since Saturday. I actually enjoy that movie, so it's fine with me.

I got boys boys these little nerf guns. Mostly b/c they were on sale and b/c they looked like fun. Not a good idea. I actually feel the most guilty b/c Hunter said, "Mommy, why did you buy me a gun?" Look carefully at his face...you can just see he can be a devil at times!! I have had to take them and put them up on the fridge b/c we have rules with them. Toys that are abused go on the fridge for at least a day. I don't like violent tv shows, toys, etc...this is the first. I guess boys are boys, and these are innocent enough, but I still don't really like stuff like this.

I got Jack Mr. Potato Head. That has been fun....just one of those classic toys that provides a lot of entertainment. I guess I should say "we" got Jack Mr. Potato Head, but I do all the shopping and wrapping myself. It's all news to Nick when kids and other family members open their gifts.

Big D playing with Jack :) I love that smile!!
There was a time Jack was a little scared of Big D, but you can see that he's fine now!

Hunter's having fun too!! Do you like my tile back splash? haha. I picked it out myself and I love it. I was self conscious about my decision b/c I did it all by myself (I'm feeling like a grown up now!). I have seen two designs just like it--one on Keeping up with the Kardashians and another show and it made me feel good about myself...they had the similar tile with mini-glass tiles in a box above the stove.

Gammy and Hunter on Sunday morning before they left.

They got Nick a new jacket just like Big D has. Nick has about 50 fleeces b/c he gets them for free from the investment companies, but this one is actually really nice and warm, so I think he will be wearing it :)
Jack was actually crying that Big D was leaving. Poor guy.

Gammy and Big D are going to come to my parent's house on Christmas Day for dinner, so that will be nice and we are looking forward to it.

I just can't believe Christmas is only FOUR days away!!!!!!!

Oh, and the other random thing (thus the title of the post). Last night I asked my sister to come over and help me wrap presents. I'm pretty much done--thanks Emily. Anyway, Jack was going to stay with us and Nick was taking Hunter to the mall to get a few things for me. He backed out of the garage...and SMASH...right into Emily's car. He ruined her driver side door and mirror. No damage to our car, but a decent amount to hers. He admits he was in a rush and was going to fast. It could have been worse, but it was not a pretty sight. I think I saw a tear in Nick's eye when he came in to tell us about it b/c it's not going to be cheap to fix (unless we make an insurance claim). Better Nick than me b/c I don't get mad at that stuff, but he does. Poor Nick.

My puzzle master

I don't brag too much (at least I hope I don't sound like I am), but I had to post this...Hunter LOVES puzzles and has since he's been about 15 months old. He is so good at them (he gets that from mommy, not daddy!)! One thing he really wants from Santa is a 1,000 piece puzzle. We'll have to see what happens, but I doubt Santa would disappoint him :) Anyway, we celebrated with Gammy and Big D on Saturday and we got him this 200 piece puzzle. He did it SO fast!! It's for 8 year olds and he just turned 4. I'm so proud of my little guy and you can see he's proud of himself too. One thing he said that was funny..."Well, it's a 200 piece puzzle, but since we lost one already, it's really a 199 piece puzzle that I just did". He really likes to do it all himself. He tells me I can only put the pieces in his hand. If I try to sneak one in, he freaks out and gets super mad.

Another random funny thing I want to write about, just so I can remember. This morning we were driving to school (just me and Hunter) and he was saying how he doesn't like Jack and doesn't like having a brother. We got into a discussion about it (me trying to convince him why he should like Jack and why he should like being a big brother) and he then said, "Well, I just want to bring him to someone else's house and drop him off and leave him there forever!" I don't know why he feels this way, but we have been talking about it more and more b/c he was crying and saying the same thing last night. I really want him to understand that being a big brother is an important job, they will be friends forever, etc...I think I've uncovered a source of why he gets angry sometimes, so we just have to work with this and figure things out. Either way, I thought it was so funny that he wants to drop him off at someone else's house forever.

Our weekend--sleepovers, celebrating Christmas, and

Friday afternoon Aunt Emily picked up Hunter around 4pm for his sleepover. This was his first "official" sleepover! It went really well. She brought him back home around 11:30am on Saturday after soccer. I appreciate her taking him SO much--thank you Emily!!!!!!! Nick and I went out to dinner with Jack on Friday and it is truly amazing how easy it seems to just take one child out. I know we didn't feel that way when we just had Hunter, but Jack is super easy and we had a good time! After Jack went to bed I wrapped presents b/c here was my hot date for the night. Lame.

He said he ate too much, but he was asleep on the couch at about 8:15pm!

Saturday was a rough day. I was feeling light-headed and just bad all morning. Hunter was at soccer with Emily, Nick took Hunter to Costco and grocery store, and I cleaned the house and wrapped presents. I was just not feeling well and had so much to do. When Hunter got home he was being really wild...didn't nap and drove me nuts for 1 1/2 hours. I think he was wound up b/c he knew Gammy Dori and Big D were coming and he was getting presents. We celebrated Christmas with Gammy and Big D Saturday night. I have lots of pictures that I'll post soon. The kids got some fun things from them and from us. We've watched the Lion King several times---thanks Gammy Dori. I just had a physically and emotionally exhausting day.

Sunday we had breakfast with Gammy and Big D before they left. Then we went to the mall. I was going a little stir crazy having not left the house all day on Saturday. Jack and I did some last minute shopping while Nick and Hunter were in the play area. Once again, no nap for Hunter. Nick had to go to a viewing for a client, so I had fun dealing with that. Hunter will sit up in his room just making loud noises. It makes you want to go insane. Seriously, if you could witness what we go through, you would understand how horrible it is. I hate to let him out and give him his way or let him out and watch tv b/c then it's like a reward. Sunday after Jack woke up we went to Brighton to do more shopping and then went out with Gigi to Yum Yum Tree for dinner. We had a good time :-)

Yum Yum Tree has a train that goes around the top of the walls...around the whole place, so Jack was having so much fun watching it go around. At one point it goes through a tunnels and he gets mad!

Here comes the train!

He was a little fussy, but it worked out just fine. I used to go there when I was a kid and it's neat to now bring my kids there!

My sister may come this week to help me wrap presents, so that will help!

Have a great day!!