Finally. Christmas at Our House...

Christmas Eve evening we drove back to Nashville. Babbo and Tammy came later to spend some quality time with us before the rush of Christmas morning. It was nice for them to see Nico's reaction to all of the wonderful things Santa brought. Then it was time for more presents (from my dad and Tammy). Then we all sat down to a yummy lunch and fun conversation. My mom and sister joined us, along with David's mom and dad. Such a great day. We are still coming down from all of our Yule Tide Adventures. I hope your holidays were just as merry as ours and I wish you all the best that 2012 has to offer!

Christmas at MeeMaw's

As I mentioned in a previous post, we did things a little different this year. We had lunch at my Granny's (instead of dinner) which allowed us time to visit with David's MeeMaw. We usually have to dart out of there to make it to Granny's. Not this year. And it was nice being able to hang around for awhile. The kids had a great time and can do no wrong at MeeMaw's. The food was good, the company better and we're already looking forward to next year.

These boys are really getting this posing thing down!

The 3 Stooges. Sweet cousins.

Christmas at Granny's...

We did things a little differently at Granny's this year. We usually head over there for a big lasagna dinner (which cuts into our time at MeeMaw's and puts us on the road home pretty late). This year we decided to make things simpler and do lunch. Things weren't as rushed, there wasn't as much prep, making it easier to just enjoy the company. We laughed and laughed and ate and ate! We swapped gifts and then headed to MeeMaw's. Phew. Even writing all this makes me tired :)

Nico, Papa, Granny and Mommy

La-La, Nico, Granny and Mommy

Ooooohhhhh, monster trucks!

Christmas in Alabama...

Since Christmas fell on a weekend this year our usually short trip to Alabama for the holidays was even shorter. David worked until 2 on Friday. When he got home we packed up the car and headed down to Madison for about 24 hours. Christmas Eve morning we woke up, had a homemade breakfast and then exchanged gifts. The little kids are all at an age where they really enjoy opening all of the gifts and seeing what everyone else got. It was so much fun just seeing them interact with each other. After that we went to Granny's to have lunch and exchange gifts with her (details and photos in another post). After several hours with her we headed to David's MeeMaw's for dinner and even more gifts! After a nice visit with the Monger side of the family we drove back to Nashville to meet my dad and Tammy and to get everything ready for Santa's arrival. We put out Oreos and milk for Santa and some special food for the reindeer (dried oatmeal and glitter).

The Monger family at Gabby and Paw's on Christmas Eve.

Buds.

Nico and Eli have gotten closer as they've gotten older. The one year age difference isn't such a big deal now. They had a great time playing together over the holidays.

Gabby and Paw got all of the kids a little sofa/couch thingy. As you can tell, they all loved them!

Gabby, Emma and Paige

Aunt Julie and Robbie

Uncle Adam, Eli and Nico

Christmas at Giggy's...

Since my mom moved to Nashville several years ago, we have celebrated Christmas with her the weekend before the actual date. This is a great way to start off the holiday season and it helps free up the schedule (a very little bit) on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We all pack up pj's and head over for a night of good food, too much stuff, and a great time. This year we added baking dozens of cookies to the list of activities...such fun! I love making these memories and starting new traditions.

Snuggled on the couch watching Shrek the Halls.

Nico and all of his loot!

Nico and La-La (and all of her loot!)!

David and his (you guessed it) loot!

La-La, Giggy, Mommy and a sweet little monkey!

School Party...

Nico has his cute little holiday party at school on December 14. I always like going to these to see how all the kids interact. Mom's sign up to bring special treats or activities and this time it was my turn to help set up the room. Here are some funny shots from the day.

Nico posing with his nativity wreath.

I just love this one. It's so typical of this age!

Visiting Santa...

It's hard to pass up a free photo with Santa. Bass Pro Shop offers this every year and we actually took advantage last year too. It's really a cute set up, complete with remote control cars, trains and a carousel. Nico told Santa he wanted Legos and ninjas for Christmas. Then from that point on he would say that Santa was only going to bring him 2 presents since that's all he asked for. Boy, was he wrong!

We've been practicing our smile. Practice makes perfect!

Such a big boy. Nico. Not Santa. Well, he's big too.

Nico and Frosty. Check out the picture from last year. It's amazing the difference a year makes. My baby is so big!

Wii...

I think we have a future gamer on our hands. We brought out the Wii for Nico to try out and he absolutely loves it. He's pretty good at the controls. It was actually quite surprising.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Indeed it is the most wonderful time of the year, but it's also the BUSIEST! Here is a quick look at what we've been doing...

...making abstract art with Bendaroos...

...hamming it up at Granny's birthday lunch...

...singing to Granny...

...hanging out at the cabin in Georgia with great friends...

...trimming trees...

...and being on our best behavior so that our Elf on the Shelf, Kenjamin, has nothing but good things to report to Santa.

I hope to post again before Christmas, but don't hold me to that. If not, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Halloween 2011...

Halloween was so much fun this year. Nico really got into trick-or-treating. This child hasn't met a candy he doesn't like...just like his mommy. We actually went through his candy to let him pick out about 12 pieces to eat over the next couple of weeks and then donated the rest to a dentist that will ship it to troops over seas. He was also fascinated with all of the spooky stuff (spiders, witches, zombies, skeletons, etc.) that comes with the holiday. He would say, "Why are skeletons scary?" He couldn't understand why they were supposed to creep people out. He is not a huge fan of dressing up in general, but tolerated his costume (hat and all) for the evening. We enjoyed trunk-or-treating at his preschool. We played games, rode a hayride, ate hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy. We even made it home in time to hit a couple of houses in the neighborhood.

The cutest Peter Pan ever! We got lots of, "Look. Robin Hood." Next year, he may wear the same thing and go as Robin Hood...just add a bow and arrow. David could be Little John and me Maid Marian. I can see it now!!!

Our jack-o-lantern.

Papa and Peter Pan at trunk-or-treat.

Fall-filled Posts Below...

Enjoy ALL of the fall themed posts below!!! Hope you have a happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Party...

Nico had his Pumpkin Party at school on Wednesday. The room was decorated so festively and the kids had some yummy treats to eat and fun games to play.

Nico and his classmates sitting so nicely at the table.

Cheese ball!

Showing Mommy his jack-o-lantern. Look at those dimples (on Nico, not the pumpkin, those are "band-aids" he said)!

Pumpkin Carving...

We carved our pumpkin earlier this week. Nico decided our jack should have one circle eye, one triangle eye and a square nose. Nico was extremely excited to carve our pumpkin. He kept talking about the goop inside...

Here he is doing some preliminary artwork on the pumpkin.

Bring on the goop!

He has his spoon ready to scoop the goop...

...and now the look of total disgust! He didn't get near the thing again once David started pulling the seeds and pulp out...HA! Such a stinker!

(I'll post a picture of the finished product in the Halloween entry.)

Music and Molasses...

Another year, another Music and Molasses Festival. Every year we get together with the family to attend this fun little festival. They have mule cart rides, a "little farmer" area, local arts and crafts and yummy food. It's a fun family tradition that I see happening for many years to come.

La La, Nico, Mommy and Papa on our mule cart ride.

Nico hulling corn like a pro! This seriously occupied him for a long while. I think you can buy these corn cobs in the bird food section of stores...hmmm?!

This would have been impossible without the help of the sweet girl working the booth. After a minute she held the string making it a little easier for him to "grab" it. It was quite hilarious to watch him try to get this apple!

Walden Farms...

A couple of weeks ago Nico, Giggy and I went to a local pumpkin patch called Walden Farms. It was a beautiful fall day...perfect weather for such a fun memory!

There was a pint-size hay maze that was quickly navigated by Nico. He loves doing mazes in activity books, so this was right up his alley.

Nico snuck into the locked toddler area to check out a rock table. We might be recreating this for our backyard since he's quickly outgrowing the turtle sandbox.

My sweet sunshine! I love this picture!

Nico and Giggy in front of the GIANT pumpkin! Yes, it's real!

Nico was fascinated with the water pump.

This was a terribly uncomfortable train ride for mommy!

Such a big boy! And check out those muscles!