Christmas & New Year

A fun afternoon skating with Santa~Nolan with his little buddy Will, and Liv with her friend Kennadi

Christmas came and went way too fast this year.  The kids didn't get out of school until right before, and then went back January 3.  Whew, it was a fun filled, fast break and time together as a family.  I unplugged to most things besides this party of 5, which always keeps me on my toes ;) Christmas Eve was nice & simple.  Church, a yummy dinner, and watched Christmas Miracle.  The kids enjoyed having their uncle Jo Jo over for a sleepover.  He eventually fell asleep with them watching The Polar Express.  My husband made homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning, and I have to say, they turned out great, and were a huge hit Christmas morning, the grandparents especially loved them.  Way to go Shane :)  I won't go into detail on the gifts that both Santa and Mom/Dad surprised the kids with.  I will however say that both of the kids are enjoying their cameras, Nolan his Lego's/games/airplanes, Liv her craft stuff, books and new clothes/accessories(as you will see, she is beaming when she opened them)!
One thing I forgot to mention.  The highlight of our Christmas was seeing Noel!  He didn't plan to come up from CA for Christmas, but ended up doing so.  Unfortunately it was for a very sad reason.  He was up to support his best friend as she said goodbye to her Father who had passed away the week before Christmas, and the funeral was the day after Christmas :( It was an incredibly sad time for him here, and it broke my heart too.
Jesus has the best Birthday party of the year! It's sad when it ends so quickly, the whole season does.  New Year's Eve was just as simple as our Christmas.  We had our traditional calzone dinner, the kids love making their own, and I enjoy it too.  It has been fun the last 2 years to start our own traditions as the kids have gotten bigger, they count on it now too.  We told them they could stay up until midnight, or at least try to.  They made it, Nolan barely.  We had a fun night of playing games, dancing to Liv's new wii game, eating ice cream, and snuggling up.  We did watch the ball drop, and counted down until 2013, followed by passing around smooches.  Still can't believe it's January!  As I sit and type I'm looking at how beautiful it is outside, the ground is covered in snow. To top it off I am enjoying the most delicious cup of caramel coffee with a splash of Baileys french vanilla.  Nolan is downstairs with Shane while he's working out, Leo is sleeping, and Liv is with her Yaya.  It's a happy, simple, peaceful morning for this mama~Thank you Lord!

My favorite winter drink...the one I just described

Christmas Eve watching movies with uncle Joe

Christmas morning with Yaya & Papa

Santa and his Elves delivered while the kids were sleeping

Christmas Eve, I liked this picture because of the way the nativity scene looked

2 of Liv's favorite gifts, her new glasses and purse

Nolan got his first tackle box & was thrilled, obviously ;)  He can't wait to go fishing with Dad this year!

Leo's favorite gift, his vacuum

Pictures got out of order, this is just more Nolan enjoying his tackle box

Leo's 2nd Christmas, much more fun for him this year

Santa brought Liv a jacket she's been wanting for months, boy he's good ;)

My favorite girl~she was cracking me up, literally wanted me to take a picture of everything she opened, she was having a good time!

She loves these books

Now we each have our own wii controller

Uncle Noel just got to our house, so happy!

Liv in her new "stuff"  she was so excited!

Daughter/Daddy date night

Celebrating Christmas with Walker/Lofstedt/Sander Families

Uncle Bry had fun shopping for Liv & spoiled her!

Pictures out of order again, shoot!  I put this on here because Rob is cracking me up in this picture

Liv with Auntie Shawna & Uncle Bryan

A rowdy group!  And Leo's hair proves that it was a wild time ;)

Leo's hair here, can you say Art Garfunkel?

 New Year's Eve~our last family picture in 2012

New Year's Eve sundaes.  My mom got me a set of these vintage ice cream dishes for Christmas, they are super cute!

Tis the Season to be...

Sweet Sassy Molassy, what a BUSY time of year!  Does it ever get to a point where you don't feel a bit stressed before Christmas?  It seems backwards right?  It shouldn't be a time of year to feel that way, but rather joyful, simple, reflecting on the goodness in life, and just loving on one another.  We have squeezed in loads of parties(Birthday, Christmas), shopping, baking, running errands galore, and I sit here typing so exhausted, dreaming of a solid nights sleep(which I WILL NOT get)!  I do enjoy this time of year so much, I know that it feels a little heavier because I have 3 little one's who need me all of the time still.  Especially Leo, so clingy, stuck to me like glue these days, if he's not in my arms 24/7 these last few weeks he thinks I've abandoned him, little stinker.  I broke out the old moby wrap yesterday and he was covered in sugar and flour while I held him in that and tried to bake~lol!  Already hit round 2 of separation anxiety.  Love him to bits, he's just wearing his mama out these last few weeks...wait I mean this last 17 months ;) Here's what's been going on, and what you will so in the pictures. 
~We decorated GIANT gingerbread cookies, it was so much fun, they turned out really cute.
~Liv had her Christmas program, which was Veeeery interested because it started out with a Kindergartner vomiting on stage, and it doesn't stop there...but I won't go into detail.  So that was a super fun night, not!  I just wanted to get the heck out of there, there were sick people everywhere!  We didn't get any family pictures because as soon as Olivia was finished singing, Shane took the boys and got the heck out of there ;)
~Olivia has had a gift cert to get her ears pierced for a year now.  I really wish she'd wanted to wait til she was a teenager but she's begged for a long time.  So she and her best babe, Ella Bean, went together last Friday.  Laura and I laughed so hard, it was such a scene.  You have to know that the girls have talked about this for over a year, and at the last minute they chickened out, and were so worked up.  OK we are good moms, we weren't laughing at them, it was just funny because they would ask us things like "pinch our ears so we now how it will feel", and Liv asked about 100 times so her little ears were all red before they even got poked.  So when you see that I took pictures of them right before while they were crying, it was only so that I could show them afterwords because I knew the minute they were pierced, they'd be smiling...and they were!  Wish we'd recorded it, it was priceless.  They are so darn cute, yin/yang.  Ella went first, and she's Olivia's rock so if she breaks down, Liv assumes she needs to RUN FOR THE HILLS!  And bless her little heart because after Ella went through it, she wanted to run.  Ella got scared and cried(can't blame her) so Olivia decided she "wasn't ready, can't do this."   Was crying and wanted to walk around the mall and think about it.  Uh, almost an hour later ;)  she decided she'd go through with the ear piercing.  There is so much more to the story, and like I said, Laura and I will laugh about this day for years & years.  So, my girl has her first piercing, and hopefully the only piercing she will ever have.  I love these girls so much, glad they got to share this moment.  We will have lots of stories to share in their later years.

I have been beyond ready for Christmas break, and it's here, thank you Lord!  Can't wait for our party of 5 to just hang out, enjoy each other, stay in comfy cozies all day if we want to, not rush out the door for anything...and to keep everything simple!  This is probably the last time I will be on here for awhile, so wishing you a Merry Christmas, Happy EVERYTHING, and that 2013 brings you much love, peace, happiness, & health!

Ginger boy & girl decorating=fun, Fun!

With Gam, Yaya, and her Papas

At Liv's Christmas program

Pre-earrings, she is so excited, well for the time being ;)

Liv has already started to cry, notice her eyes

Ella getting ready!  Lol!

Oh Noodle, so worked up!

She is bracing herself ;)

Seconds later, happy HAPPY, which I knew she would be!

They did it!

This is SO TRUE!

A friend of mine posted this. It speaks volumes to busy Mamas!  It reminds me to let these things go~ the dust, windows with baby & kid fingerprints on them, and the list goes on ;)