too much fun, not enough pictures

WARNING: this post is very, very long.

this last week has been very full, fun, busy, and wonderful.

last thursday we celebrated the birthdays of my aunt, Becky and my kid brother, Christian.

Christian is 13.

a teenager.

my little brother is becoming not so little.

he chose to eat at Logan's for dinner, because what kid teenager doesn't think it's cool to be able to throw food on the floor?

little man was in rare form.

he decided that instead of taking his nap that day, he would sit in his crib and talk to himself for 3 hours. if i talk to myself for 5 minutes i get worn out. how he managed for so long without falling asleep is beyond me.

so, husband and i ate our food quickly, and left as soon as the screaming crying fit began.

there was no time to even think about taking a picture.


friday morning, Caleb and i headed over to grandma's (my mom's) to have a baking day. well, Caleb had a play day while grandma and i baked.

we tried to get Christian to bake with us, but baking isn't so cool when you're a teenager. so, his participation was limited.

i put little man down for his nap upstairs.

he talked to himself again for 3 hours.

apparently, he has a lot to say.

sleep finally won.

we were able to finish up the baking, and actually had a very productive day. we made shortbread, cookies 'n cream shortbread, fudge, and mints.

you would think that at some point during the day it would have occurred to me to take a picture.

it didn't.

we packed up all our goodies, little man, Christian, and grandpapi (my dad), and headed over to my cousin's house for dinner because we had a lot of family in town visiting.

we had a great time seeing everyone and had a yummy dinner.

little man did pretty well, considering he had a short nap - but at least he had one at all!


on saturday, when it became obvious that Caleb was, once again, not going to be taking a nap, we headed back over to my parent's house to visit with family again and have dinner.

and if you're wondering where Bobby is this whole time, he was working. a lot. Christmas time is the busiest, craziest time for them.

anyways, we had so much fun that, guess what? i didn't take any pictures!


but on sunday, we did!

sunday was our Chirstmas dinner with Bobby's side of the family. yes, he finally had an entire day off to spend with us! so, we put little man down for his talking session nap, and we started in on all the cooking.

i had to limit Bobby's participation in the kitchen. he gets a little carried away, and i really wanted to serve dinner at some point that night.

so, he was in charge of the shrimp cocktail.

if you know my husband - you know that he did not simply buy ready-to-eat shrimp and cocktail sauce and call it a day.

no - he cooked and seasoned the shrimp the way he wanted it, he made his own cocktail sauce, and then he spent an hour garnishing away.

he even made lemon baskets.



after dinner, we opened gifts.

the boys got some toys and clothes and matching teddy bears.....


but they weren't really interested.

next year, we are going to save some money and give them a roll of wrapping paper and some bows instead.....




this little guy did a lot of sleeping.....


this little guy posed for me the whole time.....


this little guy just hung around.....


and these little girls were worn out from it all. here is Ebony and Ivory Bella konked out.....


Caleb and i have been in the house ever since taking it easy and preparing for Christmas.

how is it possible that it is only 3 days away?