Christmas Memories

I really wish I had done this post sooner to capture all the memories I wanted to....I'm sure I'll forget something now.  But, boy has life been busy this past week!  I believe I still have other things to catch up on, too, but for now, here's our Christmas recap.  

Jarrod had to work Christmas Eve, so our morning wasn't out of the ordinary; playing, cleaning, baths...  The kids then helped me get the tripod all ready for our annual self-timer family pic in front of the Christmas tree.  They crack me up.  Notice Gavin's 'scared' face below; it's his new favorite face to make.

 When Daddy walked in, we got the picture taken right away before the kids burst.  They couldn't wait to call Ohio on Skype and start opening pictures.  These always turn out good, but not great.  Still a little out of focus, but you can only get everyone to sit still for self-timer pictures for so long!

Then it was time for Skyping!  We love that we celebrate Christmas via Skype.  The kids love seeing everyone, everyone there loves watching them open presents, and this year, Riley was just fascinated with the computer!

We took a break and cooked our Christmas dinner and it wasn't long until Riley snapped.  Meltdowns galore!  She desperately wanted another bath, so I finally gave in and let her get in.  Then came another tantrum when it was time to get out.  Followed by more....so ultimately, Gavin got to quickly open her pajamas that she was getting for Christmas from Daddy and me for her, I put them on her and she went to bed.  Before 6:30.  She didn't get to open her other presents from Daddy and me; we saved them for the next day.  She was a terror.

So then came bedtime, and Gavin was out like a light.  Too bad it didn't stay that way.  He woke up around 1 or so to pee, and never went back to sleep.  I kept telling him on the monitor to lay back down, I went into his room several times to rub his back and tell him he had to go to sleep so Santa would come, then we found him in the living room trying to sneak a peek... Finally around 3 I went in and went to sleep in his bed with him.  At 5:40 or so, he was shaking me away because 'It's Christmas Eve, mom!'  I explained that it was actually Christmas and that it was too early to go out, but that didn't work.  So, he came into the kitchen with me and we got the monkey bread started, coffee brewing, then woke Daddy and Riley up.

 

After a nice nap for all, we finished off Christmas day with the Faminis.  The kids played, we ate, we played a little Rummy....fun times!  I'm going to miss them *tons* when California gets them back.  :(

Christmas time always reminds me just how lucky we are.  Our children are so incredibly lucky to be loved by so many people.  We all were quite spoiled this year.  Gavin even said that it was the best Christmas ever and he got everything he ever dreamed of.  It was awesome!  I'm not sure if our toy room can handle anymore Little People or Angry Bird things.  Jarrod and I got equally spoiled with things that we've wanted but haven't bought for ourselves.  To say we have a lot to be thankful for would be an understatement.  We love you all!

Preschool Christmas Program/Party

I haven't uploaded photos yet from the past couple of weeks, but I do have videos!  Gavin was excited about his Christmas program at school.  I think he was most excited about the cake... :)  He played Joseph in the Christmas story part and then they sang lots of songs.  Gavin, as I expected, didn't participate much.  He gets shy when he's up there.  But, he had a speaking part in one of the songs and he did great!  You can watch the videos on You Tube.  There are 5 total (and on my screen they're showing up in reverse order).  Look for '4 Year Old Preschool Party', 'Song with Gavin's speaking part,' 'More singing,' 'Finale,' and 'Pinata Time.' 

You Tube Channel 

Twas the Night Before Christmas

The Lights

Despite this being our third Christmas here, we hadn't yet made the drive down south to see the lights on the Fayetteville square.  It's not that far, but still, it is a bit of a drive at night when you have kids that go to bed early, etc.  But, this year, we did it!  And it was gorgeous!

But, this trip down was another perfect example for me of how I just HAVE to learn my camera better!  The photos from the night turned out awful.  Grrr...  It's hard to try to play with settings when you have two impatient kids.  I'm half tempted to start taking my tripod places, too.  I think that really would've helped here!  But, I recently read a blog post about how not every photo will turn out perfectly, but that's ok...it's about capturing the moment.  So, I decided to post these anyway, because seriously, I love this little girl and her new crazy faces.  So ignore the poor photos and enjoy the many faces of Riley.

And again, even though it's poor quality, I want to include this....because it's not always that Jarrod offers to take photos with me in them, and I love the ones I have of me and my babies.  :)

 

Resolutions

I know it's not even Christmas yet, but I've been thinking about resolutions already.  I went through my 30 Things list to see how I was doing and realized I really like the idea of creating a 'to-do' list for the year.  I'm also thinking about picking ONE thing to really focus on each month, or every 2-3 months.  Photography, for example, is something I've had on my 'list' for year or resolutions for years.  Since I got my camera, I'm sure.  But I still feel like I haven't accomplished that goal.  I get excited about it, but then get stuck on something or don't understand something and feel completely overwhelmed and take a step back.  There's a class on February 2 that I really want to take so I'm thinking it might be a good goal for me to really focus on getting better and understanding my camera more in January and February.  I really enjoyed making the capes for the kids, so sewing is another big task I want to focus on.  Our budget, coupon binder, etc. is another..  Plus, I really liked my resolution last year to make a new recipe each week.  I'm thinking I want to do that again.  My list gets longer every day.  What are you going to focus on in 2013?  Give me some ideas!