Merry and Happy!

Merry Christmas 2012!
It was a whirlwind of a week filled with fun and chaos!!
We started on Friday night with the all the Shield's and Susan over for dinner. And in so notlike me fashion, I took no pictures! I was thrilled though visiting with little cutie pie Chaney, I miss that 1 yr old baby stage, he is soo stinkin cute!! It was a fun night catching up with everyone and celebrating the holiday!

Pop and Noni came over on Xmas eve day and we all went out for lunch. I think we all decided it was much more easier to go out to lunch then for me to cook another meal. I am all for this new tradition. Good sandwiches and some beverages at the Blue Dog while watching football. The boys did great too!

Of course then It was back to our house for presents, one of the reasons the boys were so well behaved at lunch--the threat of presents going back to Delaware!

The bow and arrows were a big hit, I think more so with Daddy, unfortunately the wall in the foyer was the main target--we definitely needed to come up with something outside!!

Maks was loving all the Spongbob legos and started working on them right away!

Alek was estatic over getting the complete set of the Whimpy Kid books, that was the big thing on his list this year--books-gotta love that!!

As always it was a fun visit with Pop and Noni and a great way to kick off Christmas!

This year was the first time ever we did not go anywhere on Xmas eve and I have to say it was kind of nice. We just hung around the rest of the afternoon, some target practice outside, watching movies. It was great. We had a great dinner of crab cakes, shrimp cakes, mussels for Alek and Pop's mac and cheese to top it off.
Brandy and Steve stopped by for a short visit and some holiday cheer, but other than that, it was a nice, quiet and relaxing night by the fire.

The boys prepped for Santa, cookies, milk, a letter and beer. Yes beer. Alek decided Santa could use a couple cold ones. So he asked if he could put two out, one for the road and one for back at the Noth Pole. I am pretty sure Santa enjoyed that extra treat and hopefully he refrained from drinking and sleigh driving!

Next up was putting out the reindeer food, that was a quick trip as the temp had dropped quite a bit!

Once last quick peek to see if the fireplace was all clear for the big Guy, then it was up to bed! Alek actually rushed me out of his room, he said Santa would never get here if I didn't let him go to sleep!! I think they both fell asleep in record time!

Kevin was close behind and then I headed out to 11pm church service, which has become my own little tradition. I really enjoy the peaceful candlelit service. It centers me and reminds me that Christmas isnt all about the chaos and presents. It was another great service and I came home relaxed and ready for the morning's insanity!

Keeping with tradition, once the boys woke up, they came right to our room. Santa leaves their stockings in the hallway, so they get to plop on our bed and dive in.

Their favorite stocking surprises were these awesome hats. They do look so cute in them.
We opened the stockings and then snuggled and watched a little bit of A Christmas Story while waiting for Grammom, Poppy and MeMe to get here. Maks asked if he could try and stick his tongue to a frozen flag pole. Probably not the best movie for this guy to watch!

Once Grammom, Poppy and MeMe were all settled in downstairs, the boys made their grand entrance, paparazzi in full force in the living room and as usual Grammom had an issue with her camera. She is tragic when it comes to electronics!!

They loved their snowboards and were hoping for some snow to go test them out, but we had a rather warm week leading up to xmas, so no white stuff for us!

Alek loved his chucks (exact same pair of his favorites now, only bigger), Santa is a smart guy and seriously he can keep those shoes coming, this kid has boats! He is already in a 4 1/2, its scarey to think that next year he could be close to my size!
His other favorite gifts were his iDog which clips to his pants anddances along with his iPod or my iPod that he has confiscated!

Maks loved his legos and his new keyboard. Now he can officially practice after his piano lessons. The piano has a microphone, not sure what Santa was thinking there!
They loved Grammom and Poppy's gift of a tetherball set and have been begging to have daddy get it set up, but the ground has been a bit frozen, so a little hard to do.

MeMe brought them their usual Hess Truck Sets, so much fun seeing all their sets lined up.

We had a great breakfast thanks to Chef Kev and we were so happy MeMe was able to make it up. Sadly the day after Christmas she came down with the flu and has been pretty sick since. I know how hard it is on her to walk far and get up and down, but we love that she rallies to get here every Christmas morning, She has been with me just about every Christmas morning since I was born and I know the boys will always remember these mornings with her.

After Grammom, Poppy and Meem headed home, the boys dove into their toys and we relaxed a little until it was time to start cooking again.

The Harkins clan all came over for dinner. This was my first year hosting Christmas. It ended up being a great time. It was fun having the girls all home from school and the boys were thrilled to have everyone, especially Jakey over.

They again were totally spoiled from the book sets for Alek, to the WWF wrestling guys for Maks (who thought Santa forgot), to more books, legos, DS games, clothes, art supplies and nerf guns! Thanks Granny, Jo, Jim, LaLa, Krissy, Kait, TT, and Jake.

It was a fun evening and glad we got another cousins xmas picture in. I love looking at them each year and seeing how much everyone has grown, it is fun yet sad to see how fast it all goes!

And as always, after all the prep, rushing around, stressing, it was over in a blink of an eye, kind of like a wedding!

Thank you Kevvy for getting everything on my list and for surprising me with my tanzanite ring, I love it.

December 27th was our 14th anniversary. We enjoyed a night out with some yummy italian food.

We are looking forward to our trip at the end of January, sailing off of Cancun on a catamaran, just us and Tim and Rach. Thanking the grandparents and LaLa in advance for your help with Alek and Maks! We are looking forward to doing absolutely nothing except soaking up rays, sleeping in, snorkeling and enjoying time alone together.
So another year is winding down, and we all are enjoying time off school and work, a well deserved break for all of us!

Next up, ringing in 2012!!