Merry Christmas!

Photo by me, but last year. What a slacker, I know!

Christmas this year was great! Here is what some of the Christmas season brought us:

The local Christmas parade. The one where Ed got lost. We'll never forget that one!

Breakfast with Santa! Kacy asked for a binder so she could organize her papers. Will wanted a Lego set. Ed asked for an Ironman helmet. Jessie cried/screamed. Before I put her on his lap, she tried to talk me out of it by saying Santa is mean.
On that same note, I eavesdropped on the kids to see what they wanted from Santa, and I had told Ed that if he asked for an Ironman helmet (the kind that makes noise- just like his Transformers Bumblebee helmet that he never plays with) I would tell Santa no. He comes up to me after he talked to Santa and says, "Hey Mom! I asked Santa for an Ironman helmet. SOR-RY!" all happy. Stinker!
For the record, he got an Ironman figure on a quad. And Jessie got a new baby. All her happy!

We don't get our kids a lot. They got what they asked for (sort of- ED!) and then Santa brought a group goft of Play-doh toys and lots of Play-doh. The kids were so happy! And so was I, because it wasn't tons, and they don't have high expectations. Ryan and I have decided that when they get older and get more expensive tastes, they won't get those things for Christmas. They will have to work and save money and buy them (with or without our help), and we'll save Christmas for those fun things/little things. Hopefully they'll take more pleasure in participating in the season, and not get so caught up in asking for things that cost hundreds of dollars. We'll see!

We got to visit with friends that we don't get to see enough due to distance and conflicting work schedules. Good times with good people- we miss our old friends and can't wait for the house to be done so we do some inviting. We have newer friends since moving that we would like to hang out with more, but again, with the lack of space and all, we can't do any inviting.

On that note, Ryan is making more and more progress on the house. It can be depressing because he can work all day and it looks like nothing got done. For example, on one day he wired the entire kitchen. That's a good amount of work, drilling holes, pulling wires, installing boxes... but if you stand in the kitchen, it doesn't look much different. Oh well, slowly but surely.

We also had a killer rain storm. It rained about 5 gallons at our house in three days: a 5 gallon bucket we had outside was filled to the top. The storm has closed our usual route to Bakersfield, causing us longer travel times. It also washed away our usual street we take home. We are grateful for alternative routes. We had no personal flooding problems, because our property is way above grade. There are several spots in our valley (and in Bakersfield) that have major road damage. It was a LOT of rain in a short time.

Some gifts received this year: Santa brought the kids what they wanted (hello?!? A binder that zips and has pockets on the outside to organize stuff with? How can he NOT bring that?), and the grandparents and cousins did not disappoint. PJ's, books, more books, little flashlights, the boys got a little RC car, some magnetic building things, gift cards to McDonalds... they were thrilled. Ryan and I got a Wii (from his parents), a dutch oven that I am claiming for my own and might practice with SOON, a night out with food, and some gift cards! My mom supplied me with hair care products that I won't buy for myself and the best shade of black-purple nail polish. The gift of beauty is always appreciated!

I procrastinated my Christmas shopping until the last minute, and I loved it. I think when we have a house and a place to store the goods, I'll try looking year round for gifts so that I can take advantage of sales, but for the most part, it was great!

The sad part of the whole season? As much as I love it, I'm afraid it'll be here again before I know it. When I was a kid it seemed like it took FOREVER to get here. The older I get, the faster it comes. It boggles my mind.

And, why no pictures this year? I had my camera, with my new cool manual flash, which I've figured out, but with so many people and so much action, coupled with my fear of annoying people, the few pics I took ended up being a mass of people with half of them with their backsides to the camera. No one wants their butt on the internet. At least, no one I'm related to. (Your welcome, familia.)