Grandma & Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa (Todd's parents) came into town a few days after Christmas, so we celebrated with them on the 31st, and then celebrated Todd's birthday later on that day.

This kid loves a candy cane!

I can't believe he doesn't already have every single Transformer ever made... we have to be getting close.

The kids made ornaments with my mom over the course of a few early release days and teacher work days this fall.

Happy 39th, Todd!  Can't wait to celebrate BIG next year!

That night we decided to lay low.  Todd only wanted to watch the Marquette game at 10pm that night.  I was more than ok with being a bum on the couch after the business of the Christmas holiday.  Plus, yours truly had to work bright and early New Year's Day.  People need their drugs!

Christmas continued...

I told you I would be back!

 I'll go back to Christmas mid-day where we left off... after we opened presents and played with new toys and finally got cleaned up, we headed down to my parents' house, about 30 minutes away.  My youngest sister, Meredith, was also there with her dog, PeeDee.  Later in the week, we celebrated Christmas there again with my other sister Erin, Jeff, and baby Parker.

Cousins!  Parker was pretty much over it at this point, but was a good sport as long as he had his puppy car.  He had just figured out how to get on and off by himself.

All of the fam!

Brett got these Bumblebee gloves and immediately started making Transformer noises.

My family thinks this shirt is hilarious - mostly because there is some truth behind it!

A dog and his bone

Mom gave us each a giant sweatshirt with our initials embroidered on it... this thing is insanely comfortable and is my new go-to bum outfit with some fleece lined leggings in the winter.  Love.

Meredith made both kids their very own afghan.  The kids LOVE their afghans and sleep with them on their beds every night.

Kate with her afghan - safe to say she absolutely loves it!

Our own Santa - ho ho ho!

Just the fam all decked out in Marquette colors.

Sisters <3  I'm so lucky!

Brett finally lost the 6th loose tooth over Christmas break... we really thought that Santa and the Tooth Fairy would be coming the same night, but they just missed each other by a couple days.

Hey, who's got me!?  Whew, just Uncle Todd!

Daddy is the best!

Classic face!  Babies can't fake excitement :)

More wheels - yes!

My favorite picture from the day

Although this one is pretty good too - Kate and her Poppy

I know, I'm the prince!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Christmas morning was low key. It was just the four of us at home. We tried to convince the kids that their presents would still be there at 8 or 9am, but it just did not work. We were totally done unwrapping presents by 7:45, and spent the rest of the morning playing. Later that afternoon, we headed down to Holly Springs to celebrate with Memere, Poppy, and Aunt Dithy. Pictures at their house will come soon :) It is safe to say that Santa was good and we are all super-spoiled!

Brett and his new DS... he will do anything to earn some extra screen time!

Thankfully, he also loves to read!  Here he is, already engrossed in a new book.

Kate, opening some presents

A quick lesson with her new Rainbow Loom book... I have to say, it is pretty cool!

No Christmas would be complete without new Transformers.  These you have to construct yourself.

And back to the DS :)

Christmas Eve

As we've done ever since we had the kids, we stayed here for Christmas this year. We cooked a huge pot of homemade spaghetti sauce that day to enjoy after mass. Erin and Jeff were in Swansboro with Jeff's family, so we celebrated with them a few days later, and Grandma and Grandpa a few days after that.

Morning Prayer

Each class gets an opportunity to lead Morning Prayer for a week, which means that each child gets to participate in Morning Prayer at some point in the year. Brett had a ton of reading during his part this year, and he rocked it! We were so proud of how well he did - he read loud and clear so that everyone could easily understand him. Good job, milkshake!

Deck the halls...

A few pictures of the kids helping to decorate the house for Christmas... the tree is still up as I type this on January 18. Don't judge.

Turkey Day - Gobble Gobble!

Like almost every other year for as far back as I can remember, we spent Thanksgiving with the Harrison family. My mom is one of 9 kids, and there are 16 grandkids (my generation) and 14 great grandkids (my kids' generation) with another on the way.  We don't ALL get together every year, but whoever can make it is there.  We usually have one version in or near Raleigh with another version in Alabama or Georgia and usually a third version in Texas.  I can't speak for the more southern Thanskgivings, but we always have one or two random people who aren't part of the actual family, but as long as they can deal with the chaos, they are more than welcome to have a seat at one of the 4 or 5 tables that are set that day.

Anyway, this year my mom hosted.  It sounds like a big undertaking to host, and it is, but not as bad as you might think.  The hostess assigns things for everyone else to make, so the host generally just makes the turkeys (yes, plural) and a couple other things.  This year we made the green bean casserole (Todd's favorite) and the gelatin.  I have to say, I was nervous about making the gelatin because it's a staple dish at our Thanksgivings.  Pressure!  Thankfully, it turned out great :)

Baby Parker's first Thanksgiving... he wasn't sure what to think, but was taking it all in

Sweet little Wells was the star of the show :)

My dad, carving up a turkey

Kate and I enjoying a quiet moment during a chaotic day

Kate thinks Uncle Jeff (my brother-in-law) hung the moon just for her.  He might be tall enough :)

The boy cousins playing DS... Brett was amazed, and promptly asked for his own DS for Christmas!

Relaxing with cousins

Check out that spread!  It was delicious!

COUSINS!  We have this picture from the beach when we were all little... sitting from oldest to youngest with our feet propped up.  It's a classic.  This is the first Thanksgiving that the 6 of us have all been together, so we decided to recreate our picture.  Apparently Steven (the oldest of the 16) decided to photo bomb us!

Better - no boys allowed!  Jenn, Erin, Lauren, Meredith, Allie, and Megan (the baby).  I didn't get the straight hair memo that day ;)  If you go back to the last few Thanksgivings, we were all wearing the same color scheme, totally unplanned.  Kind of weird!