Christmas Eve..

I like traditions... I hope that they create fond memories and excitement for my kids.  This year I was so excited to start a new Christmas tradition for my family... making cookies for Santa.

Notice the tight grip he has on the one cookie.  Every once in a while he will try to sneak in a bite and we have to stop him and remind him it is for Santa.

Then we decorated them with mini M&M's...

He did a good job for a while and was really getting into to it.

Then the brilliant idea struck him that he should eat one...
Mmmmm... mini M&M's are pretty tasty!  Thus began the UNdecorating of the cookies for Santa... so we had to stop there.
If you look really closely you can see the voids in the icing where some M&M's used to be.
And when we got up in the morning the cookies were all gobbled up!  Santa must have been pretty hungry.  
We forgot about the reindeer this year... but hopefully they will realize we are new to this as parents and forgive us this once.  Next year we will be sure to leave some carrots or something out for them!  Sorry reindeer!!

Christmas at Pawpaw & Mawmaw's...

For some reason I didn't really take too many pictures of the gift opening... it gets a little crazy sometimes... but his favorite thing to do was play the piano.

He was having some trouble with his hair on this particular day... so we call this one the "Mad Composer."

Christmas at Grandma and Pawcaw's...

It all began with the unfortunate incident where he got a bag stuck on his head.  If you will notice, he has his arms through the handles... it was quite funny! 

Then, there was the unfortunate toe-popping incident.  Though, I guess it isn't too unfortunate if it is asked for.

Again with the sitting on the gift before he can open it.
The big boys... and boy are they getting big.
The reindeer impersonator... he's pretty cute... and makes a good reindeer.

Before the Christmas festivities...

Before I had a chance to wrap it, Caden discovered one of his toys in our bedroom.  He was very curious, but he never tried to take it out of the bag and eventually left it alone out of boredom.  But he sure did study it for a long time.

Later he got to open a gift from Papa Bumb.  He was less concerned with what was in the box, and much more interested in whether or not it made a good chair.

People, this has the potential to be the most obnoxious toy ever.  He loves it, but man it gets old after hours of hearing the "road noise".  

I tried to tell him not to talk and drive, but he wouldn't listen.  We are working on explaining exactly where his ear is... and that it isn't on his forehead.

So much to do, so little time...

From our family to yours,

Merry Christmas

&

Happy New Year!

There are Goldfish crumbs in my wallet...

And there was a tractor in my laundry hamper this morning.  

Most mornings there is some sort of vehicle in my shower.

The other day there was a dinosaur in my muffin pan.

I tripped on a car in the entry yesterday.

There are rubber balls in my Tupperware cabinets.

Often times you can find a stuffed monkey in my bed.

In my car there are enough rogue snack fragments to feed a third world country.

I make a picnic lunch to eat in the playroom every Tuesday and Friday so we can watch the garbage truck, of all things.

I get excited about things like Geo-Trax.

There was a sippy cup on my Christmas tree tonight.

There are trains in my dishwasher.

There is a Corvette next to one of my nativity sets.

Every time I turn around there is a reindeer at my feet singing and dancing to a horrible rendition of Deck the Halls.

And all I can think is... man, I love that boy.