Sunday, December 26, 2010

A holly jolly Christmas!


(You've been warned, this post will be MASSIVE!)
Henry, just thinking he can keep up with the big kids!
Love this stinker. Not walking yet, but I keep thinking, any day.
Here I go a caroling.
Jeff would not carol with me, so I hosted a girls caroling/cookie exchange party.
It was a blast, and super success.
We had a great time, great weather and enjoyed tasty cookies, bread pudding,
cheese ball and wassel.
We had some super neighbors (Thanks E family!!) who did a random Christmas Elf to our family. (like the 12 days of Christmas, but random)
They sent over these HUGE marshmallows and all the accessories to make very
large snow men.
Funniest thing. Lucy has never build a real snow man, so after we did our candy snow man,
she loudly proclaimed "lets take him outside".
I feel 100% responsible that she's never played in the snow. But, to my credit, there has not been any to play in.
My dear Lucy, until then, we'll just build our marshmallow men.
Chars showing off his snow man. He carried that thing around for hours.
The volunteer fire department of FairFax Co. gets engine #9, decks it with
Christmas lights, blaring christmas music AND santa (seen on top)
and makes its way around the streets, various nights in December.
If you think you'll miss it, thats not possible.
Sirens, music, and an occasional "ho, ho, ho" will draw you from your home!
This was by far the coolest christmas thing I've ever seen.
I ran out of the house, yelling and singing!
You can't help but let that little believer in you shine a bit this night.
Lucy still talks about santa on the fire truck, and pines for the candy cane given by his helpers!

And this is where it all begins.
The Ellis fam and us decided we needed to make gingerbread houses.
As we planned our Thursday evening, we decided to have mexican food for dinner.
Thus began the Christmas Eve Eve Mexican dinner tradition!
We enjoyed a fabulous mexican feast (all the while listening to Mexican Christmas songs)
and then the craziness began.

There was hardly a detail left out when it came to decorating the gingerbread houses!
Oh, papa Ellis, after his TRAGIC fire encounter,
(which resulted in an ER visit, and hospital stay)
filming the evening events.
This picture just makes me laugh!!!
Holly and i did work on our house for HOURS, but not nearly enough to have her fall asleep during the creation.
The kiddies hard at work. Well, actually,
my kiddies hard at work eating all the candy they
could muster.
Tada!!! It is not being done justice in this picture!
We called it the WV house. Complete with fire pit, yard train, santas sleigh, and christmas tree.
Check out this fire pit. Tell me it doesn't ROCK! Complete with chairs AND accent pillows.
(Don't tell me I didn't do anything with my design degree)
Holly was so kind to let her house turn into reck for the evening.
This place was amazing!
This is more sugar then I think I've eaten in my life time!
Fast forward to 20 hours later.
Christmas Eve dinner.
(How did we not just sleep over for the last 3 nights?)
Let the feast begin!
Designer salad, honey baked ham, funeral potatoes, orange rolls,
brussel sprouts, shrimp, cheese ball, apple pie, monkey bread....
tasty tasty tasty!
Just enjoying a little chuckel after stuffing ourselves from dinner.
Every good story has to have a bad character, right?
Or what exactly was our roll in these events?
Acting out the nativity.
Henry made a beautiful baby Jesus,
lucy really was a sweet angel,
and Chars played a pretty good wise man.
It was DARLING to see these kids do this!
I've waited all year long, and it was perfect.


The traditional Christmas Eve jammies.
And the children were nestled all snug in their beds, wearing the new Christmas jammies
And good morning!! Christmas 2010
Had we not told the kids it was Christmas, they would never have known.
We finally got things started around 8:30 or so.

By the looks of this picture (a yawn, not a yell)
you would have thought we woke the kids up before dawn to welcome Christmas.
Just making sure Henry is as cute of a girl as he is a boy.
Yep! Still a darling stinker.
Chars trying out the new bilibo.
Oh, yes, and eating a sucker, from Santa.
Pink always has suited Jeff very well.
Lucys probably lost 10 lbs in 2 days jumping on this tramp.
Chars hasn't yet got the thrill from it yet, but we'll give it some time.
I guess there is more then one way to enjoy a pull toy, eh Henry?
The partial disaster, but very manageable mess after Christmas.
It was a day filled with lots of happiness, gratitude, and of corse, missing family!
It was weird, having the whole day to ourselves, not rushing here and there, but just enjoying each other.
Family WAS missed, but fun was had.
Hope your Christmas was merry and bright.

Monday, December 20, 2010

730 Days


Do you remember this dress?
This was one year ago (WOW) at our home in Centerville.

Its made another (and perhaps final) appearance this Christmas Season,
now across America, in Virginia.
Lucy all dressed up for the Sunday before Christmas.
She LOVED this dress, and kept getting called a winter princess.
(Thanks Mom!)

Our little Sanders family has tried to come up with some fun Christmas traditions.
This year, we started the Christmas tree decorating.
For this night, we get to have a special drink while listening to Christmas music and munching on gingerbread cookies, while we adorn the Christmas tree with ornaments.
Sounds spectacular, eh?
Well, this year, and now for all the years to come, I'll have to make the same HORRIBLE gingerbread men, just so we can poke holes in their overcooked heads,
and stick THEM on the tree.
The kids loved threading them, and Henry's enjoyed sucking on them, from off the tree.
Sound like we have ourselves a TRADITION!
Despite their over molassed/ crunchy taste, a few were eaten.
Henry. What a love.

730 days on this earth! Dec. 15th, Charlies Birthday.
LOVE. THIS. BOY.
Happy happy birthday sweet sweet Charlie!
There were days, ( I hate to admit, more then a few) when Charlie was younger (pretty much up until he was 17 months old) where he gave me a run for my money!!
There were a few days he was up for sale.
Fortunately for me, we never had any takers.
Karma (Jeffs mom) once bought a very appropriate outfit.
It said "mamas little monster". My point, that little stinker has grown
into someone I ADORE!
I love this sweet little boy, to pieces!!!!
He is SO tender hearted.
Loves his brother, mostly when he can play rough with him.
Loves to follow Lucy with HIS pink stroller and high heals.
LOVES his breakfast mush (all time fav. oats w/rasins)
LOVES his daddy.
Is by far the most affectionate of my other children.
Is SO SO charming, and constantly gets comments about the way he carries himself.
Loves a good tickle.
LOVE YOU CHARS!
His birthday cereal.
A REAL treat at our house. However, I've discovered he's not that fond of these sugar balls,
as Henry lately has collected the leftovers on his own tray.
Charlie has a face for every moment!
We had some friends over for cupcakes, cheese nibs and candies.
He didn't want a cake, just cupcakes, with blue frosting.
I love this tenderhearted little boy, and am so honored to call him mine!
We have a new couch, its the fav. place in the house, and we've defiantly broken it in.

At our community center, in the winter, they offer an open gym.
Its fantastic!! Trikes, climbing tunnels, foam slides and mats, balls, hoops, trains...
Charlie gets chauffeured, while Luce gets her work out in! (oh, while Henry naps in his car seat, and I visit with other going crazy moms.) Perfect for us all.
Luce and Chars were insistent that Henry rock with them.
This is exactly what I picture. Henry, not so much.
Oh my babies, LOVE them!

Monday, December 6, 2010

My heart is FULL


I took this picture after the kids had a bath in my tub.
I cannot count the times in the day I say "I'm going to miss these days"
I am going to miss a sponge filled tub, having 3 bowls of mush to get ready in the morning, having a grocery cart full of babies, (not food), sitting on the floor and reading books, watching them get great joy playing with each other, holding Charlies hand as he sits on the toilet and grunts. I LOVE MY BABIES, and hope I'll be as happy in the future, as I am now.
Oh, and I may even miss a messy house. Really.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF!!!
I surprised Jeff with a NEW CAR!!! (truck)
He's really been wanting a truck, and I thought ok, go big or go home. SO, this is what we chose. He loves it.
The kids love it, and the neighbors, not so much.
But hey, when you make it to 34, you deserve anything!
ok really, not really. Just a huge truck parked at our house, but it WAS on his birthday.
We had some friends over to celebrate that night.
YUMMIEST chocolate cake I've ever made!!!
How I love Jeff!! I am so lucky! He loves our babies, and loves me!
We had a great b-day celebration, out to dinner and a movie with friends.
I love him, and was happy to celebrate another year of life with him!
Henry has grown and GROWN. Crawls, pulls himself up, and even pushes things to help him walk!
He's not even 9 months yet!!!!
Lucy wasn't crawling yet, and Charlie didn't walk till he was 17 MONTHS!!!
He's called by our friends the Ellis's "the chosen" because hes so happy, observant and peaceful.
We love our little che-che.
I laughed at the site of this.
We had little Abe Ellis, my 3 babies, and some clothes to take to a friend, and we looked
like a homeless advertisement. oh, we HAD to bring the grocery cart, popper and trike.
We were just making our way to the park, to enjoy the almost eternal fall weather back here!
Chars and the popper, oh, and the back pack.
This is looking up the street, where our house is.
Love love LOVED the fall here!
Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving! I feel like its been CRAZY around here!!!
From visitors, to my birthday, to Jeffs birthday, to Thanksgiving...you get it.
We had Thanksgiving with Zack and Karlyn, and our cherished neighbors, the Ellis's!
Oh how we love the Ellis fam!
It would have been a bit more amazing, had Holly not been on bed rest.
She's prego with her 5th, on bed rest, and we were doing Thanksgiving at their house!!
We started the feast at 11 with appetizers, planed on eating at 12:30.
This is the last of the last. I had done a cheese ball, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, 2 pumpkin pies, tuxedo cheese cake, rolls...and just as I got the last batch out of the oven, said
"ok, we're just about ready to eat!!! what time is it?"
The plan was to eat at 12:30, and it was over an HOUR later!!
It was CRAZY in the kitchen, Josh Ellis worked wonders, but we didn't make our deadline.
However, it was a FEAST!! GREAT food!!!! BEYOND perfect company, and we didn't go home till after 8!! We love LOVE love the Ellis family, and feel so lucky to have them as our neighbors!!!!

Oh, and future potato makers. If you find yourself wondering how many potatoes might feed
8 adults, and 7 kids, the answer is NOT 15 lbs!!!
This is the LEFTOVERS picture!!!
But boy oh BOY were they enjoyed for DAYS to come!!!!!
Lucy and her makeup.
We got together with our friends, the Baltz, to watch the BYU vs UTAH game, and the girls
kept VERY busy and quiet in the basement, doing this. Makeup.
Everyones got to start some time, right.
To celebrate the season, we pierced Henrys ears.
Doll, right?
Really, its just his lunch, that had landed perfectly on his ear.
Ok. LOVE love love this!
I made this wreath, it is hanging on our wall, and I try and not "ohhh and ahhh" at it as I pass.
Happy Thanksgiving, and bring on Christmas!!