Happy New Years!

Happy New Years!

I have to confess I have no resolutions this year.  I have a great family, wonderful friends and I think after a lot of trial and error I am starting to get this parenting thing down (at least until it all changes tomorrow), I even weigh what I want to weigh (maybe I will lower my BMI a bit).  If I could change anything maor it would be to have a little more sleep in our house and a little more time to spend alone with my hubby (my brother's Christmas present puts us closer to this goal). We already have a lot of fun things planned for the new year, I'm looking forward to it! Hope all you out there are having a great night! 

Last Playdate of the Year

We are very lucky that we have a great group of friends. The kids have grown up together and so they get along really well and us parents have each other to lean on. Today we all got together for a laid back playdate, a perfect day for a perfect playdate. 

Presents Presents Everywhere

When preparing for Christmas I was told by more then one member of my family that I was going to get really great presents. Nothing could have prepared me for how great and thoughtful the gifts I received ended up being.  I am very lucky to have my family with me and that they got me such wonderful things. Everyone (except Audrey who is still sick) had a great time, especially Ryan who took over opening presents for everyone. Merry Christmas All! 

 Extra frustration packaging- it was like they did it on purpose

Merry Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve! We have my mom and brother over helping us celebrate. Our tradition is that our big meal is Christmas eve dinner- since we are all worn out by Christmas day dinner. Today I made Chicken Cordon Bleu with Fingerling Potatoes and broccoli and Key Lime Pie for dessert (my brothers favorite). It was a success which is good because it was my first time making the chicken and the pie. 

We watched lots of Christmas movies and had a relaxing afternoon. Unfortunately Audrey is really sick- threw up 3x and has a high fever but she was glad to have the company here to give her lots of extra attention. Hopefully she feels a little better tomorrow so she is able to enjoy her gifts. 

Now that the kids are in bed we are going to watch some more movies and hang out before the craziness of Christmas presents hit tomorrow. 

Like Mother Like Son

My mom commented on how funny Ryan's face was in the picture on the hayride. I knew it was a familiar face and then it dawned on me where I had seen it before... Like mother like son apparently! 

Christmas Light Hayride

Last night Ryan and I with a few of our friends went to a farm where they have a tractor pulled hayride touring a their HUGE lights display. They have everything from a nativity scene to houses and carnival rides made out of lights. It was chilly but I think that that added to the Christmas atmosphere. We were lucky enough to have gotten there early and had almost no wait to get on the ride, by the time we left I would say the wait was about 2 hours (which would not have worked for anyone in our group). This is one of our last official activities  out before Christmas and I'm really glad we were able to do it and especially with our friends that were able to come. 

Office Christmas Party

Don and I went to his office Christmas party last night. We were lucky enough to have a wonderful babysitter (thank you Amy) and were able to get dressed up and have a whole night out. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed putting faces with the names from the stories Don has been telling me.

 It feels like it's been years since we had an excuse to really dress up and do non-parent things, it's probably something we should do more often because really it made me feel like a whole new person. Luckily it's my birthday next month so we have another night out planned. 

Just Play

It seems like there are so many activities in the month of December (and even the end of November) that there isn't anytime to just play. Well we decided that we would take the morning off of the Christmas bandwagon and take a walk/ play on the playground and pull out the trikes. The weather was crisp and it was  a fun and relaxing time. I'm glad we took a few hours to just play.