Christmas Family Fun

Christmas this year was fun, as always. As all of the kids in the family have gotten older, however, it has been harder and harder to all gather together on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. But this year we were lucky! We had about an 85% attendance rate. I imagine one day, not so far in the future, our traditions will change dramatically with the expansion of the whole fam and the balancing act we all have to manage. But in the mean time, "cheers!" to a fun family Christmas this year!

We were exceptionally goofy this year and spent quite a long time organizing a silly photo shoot, victimizing Grandpa and Grandma in the process. Probably a bit too much wine before dinner. But they were good sports.

We also did our traditional White Elephant gift exchange. So fun! It is always a blast! We have a whole crazy set of rules that we have developed over the years (although I think they change every year too!). This year I ended up with a rachet set that my Dad actually asked for for Christmas!! I kept it so I could re-gift the next day ;) I'm so bad! Ryan ended up with a light that he can attach to a hat. He was so excited about it. Nerd alert!

It's also a tradition for the dog to sniff around the presents, drooling to get her paws on all of the Christmas goodies! It started out with Lizzy, and now Maisy has taken over that duty.

ADORE my cute cousins! I love how Madeline (the Cheerleader) takes her place in the middle, posing happily across all of us. Front and center is her natural element... heehee! But I love her for it.

Bah-humbug!

We kicked off the Christmas season this year with a trip to the downtown IMAX theater to see "A Christmas Carol" in 3-D!! First we had dinner at the Spaghetti Factory with some family friends, the Leverkuhns.

The 3-D was a little too much for me at some parts in the movie. It's cool, but it makes you a little woozy if you don't watch it straight on. But I loved the take on the classic! Jim Carrey always takes it to the next level.

The glasses are so fun! We look like little martians.

The Big Hunt

A couple of weekends ago, we partook in our annual outing to hunt for the perfect Christmas tree. Color (not too green, not too blue), height, girth (hate that word!), and symmetry are all key for the perfect tree in our household. Especially symmetry. Keeps me awake at night worrying about all sides being even, the separation between the branches being even... Ryan probably just needs to send me away. I am obviously not sane enough to stay in mainstream society with my symmetry obcessions.

Anywho, back to the hunt. We typically attempt to find a good Christmas tree farm, you know, the ones that are dedicated to Christmas trees, with lots of variety for us picky tree-choosers. We have lost a few farms over the years to people moving away, selling their farms, etc. So this year we were on a mission to find a new one. List in hand of the local farms in the area (I use the word "local" loosely... most on the list were in the outskirts of Arlington, approximately 20-30 miles away from where we live), we headed out to find a dandy.

We ended up driving to a "farm" that was actually a former nursery. I'm not quite sure how they managed to make it onto the coveted Christmas Tree Farm list, but I guess they had a few trees that could be worthy enough to be displayed in our living room. I was skeptical, but I got out of the truck with an open mind. We searched around for a bit, and low and behold, Ryan spotted one. It had great height, a little larger girth than we needed, but still not too big to handle, had wonderful color, and best of all... obtained that required symmetry. It was perfect.... so was time for a photo-op.

The man helping us had a chainsaw that he was willing to cut down our tree with. But Ryan, being the rugged man that he is (umm...) announced that he would be glad to cut it himself with the hand saw that we brought along. Go, hunny, go! Tiiiimberrrr!

Load it up! Time to get back to civilization and get some hot cocoa to round out our adventure.

Dream of Peace

This isn't really a Christmas song, but it's one, that especially at this time of year with all of the references to peace, and love, and good will to man, that brings about the spirit of Christmas and about loving all people, no matter what your differences may be. This song makes me want to be a better person, in hopes that if we all do our part, we can make this world a better place for all. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCn9RKdx-XA

When I was young I used to wish for many things
All the things that children wish for in their dreams
Every night before I lay me down to sleep
I’d dream of all the things that tomorrow would bring
but now i’m older and i have children of my own to protect
and everywhere i look all i see is the hate and conflict
if i could have back all the wishes of my youth
i would wish for one thing only

I dream of peace
i dream of love
i dream that everyonewould throw down their guns

i imagine theres a future where all of us live
in a world of peace where people have more love to give
its a place where hate can never, never survive
its a place where war is always, always a crime
cuz i beleive theres a goodness in each one of us
if we could find the language to help us to trust
then we could grow the seeds with all, all that we need
we could find a better way

I dream of peace
i dream of love
i dream that everyonewould throw down their guns

oohhhh…i beleive that we can
make a difference this time
i beleive that we can
change the future one by one
i beleive that we can try…...

*guitar break*

When I was young I used to wish for many things
All the things that children wish for in their dreams
now i’m older and i see things through my sons eyes
all the innosence and hope

I dream of peace
i dream of love
i dream that everyone
would throw down their guns

i dream of peace…for you
i dream of love …for everyone
i dream of peace
i dream of love
i dream of peace…

My playlist

I made my own Christmas playlist, with 48 songs and counting! Feel free to tune in. :-) ..... http://www.playlist.com/playlist/18397316107

Christmas Music

Ok, I might be pushing it a bit, but it's just about time for the Christmas music to start a-playin'! I am totally getting into the Christmas mood, now that all of my Halloween decs are down. I want to decorate for Thanksgiving, but we won't even be home for that, so there is really no point. I'll just start in with the Christmas decorations, and then we can enjoy them longer. :-)

Anyways, if you'd like to listen to some great Christmas music, try out this site! It lets you type in a search term (I just type in "Christmas") and then you can click on the Playlist tab to see other people's playlists that they make. Some folks have great playlists already made, which makes it really easy to just pick one that looks good... and enjoy!

www.playlist.com

Fabulous Fall!

Fall... so fun! This fall has been great for us. We have been SUPER busy but it's been filled with Friends, Family, and lots of fabulous Fall fun!! Ok, enough "F" words for ya?? ;)

We grew some of our own mini pumpkins this year... :-) Can't wait to grow more next year and see how big we can get them! We even got a little quirky gourd this year!

Then I enjoyed my first baking session of the season...

In early October, we visited the Pumpkin Farm for the thrill of the hunt...

The weekend before Halloween, my parents had their Harvest Party... perfect day for it! I made my caramel apples... yuuummmm!