A Very Baker Christmas

On Christmas Eve Eve we headed to mom and dad's to celebrate the holiday at their house. As usual these days the boys headed straight for their homemade bow and arrow sets and went to demolishing a perfectly good piece of styrofoam. Only by the grace of God, who's birthday we were celebrating, did no one emerge from the garage with a punctured lung or missing eyeball.

In keeping with tradition, my dad had devised a scavenger hunt for the boys. They had to find all the reindeer, including Rudolph, based on clues my dad had written out. They get a little prize at the end of the hunt and they always look forward to this part of the holidays.
Cade found the first reindeer hiding in a drawer in the garage.
Grant found one under a garbage can....
and Rhett found one under a box on the workbench.
By the end they had successfully completed their challenge and headed in to get their prize.
Killing time before present opening always consists of several high intensity ping pong games. And, as every year, I feel certain that my dad pulls this table out during the months of September and October just to hone his skills. He kicks everyone's tail nearly every game!
He tried to pass the ping pong champion torch along to Little Buddy but he was convinced that his way (which really stunk bad) was the way he preferred. That being said, games against him were nothing short of torture and lots of ball chasing.
Lanie just hung out and did whatever it is she does. Right here she was lovin' her daddy.
After a great dinner of steaks and chicken we finally got to the long awaited present opening. This year Trac and I got mom a kindle. I hope she uses it!
Jared got a nice flashlight from mom and dad to add to his growing collection of man tools.
Elaina still hasn't quite gotten the concept of gift opening but never fear, she had more than plenty of help.

Tracie and Jared got her a Cabbage Patch Kid and her little brown skinned, black haired self is named Morgan. Morgan Morgan. Maybe she'll marry one day and lose the double name.
I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship between a girl and her Cabbage Patch. If you know me well you know that my Diana Lorna held a special place in my heart for many, many years. Some say too many. I say mind your own business and I'll sleep with my baby until my first born arrives if I want to. That's true love, people and I'm unashamed.
Bobby's getting back into duck hunting and got his first duck call. Now he needs to learn how to use it appropriately and not drive me bonkers in the meantime.
I got a plaque commemorating my experience in this year's Warrior Dash. I did feel like my time needed asterisk guiding the reader to a footnote that described the numerous times I was kind and considerate and waited on my panting brother-in-law. But, that's another story...
One of Rhett's presents was the blasted pop-gun he's been dreaming of since our last trip to the Bass Pro Shop in October. His face lit up like the sun on a summer day when he pulled off that wrapping!
It didn't take him long to whip it out and point it haphazardly into innocent bystanders in the living room.
Then it was "POP, POP, POP, POP!" (repeat endlessly).
I made Tracie a book of her wedding pics and I think she liked it! I'll probably never be able to top that gift. I've hit my pinnacle. It's all socks and underwear from here.

Quick pic with Lanie:
After all the regular presents have been opened, it's annual tradition for the gals to gather in my mom's room and get a special gift.
This year my mom gave us the cutest little piggy banks. She knows me well as you can tell by the inscription on mine:
Photo time: mom and dad
Mi hermana and me
Mom with her grandkiddos:
And the whole clan. Let it be known that my children dressed themselves and then refused to change into something more appropriate. It's also hard to smile naturally when you're waiting on the beep, beep, beepbeepbeep of the self timer.
In any case, it was a wonderful Christmas at mom and dad's and in the blink of an eye, if the Lord allows, we'll be back here again to do it all over. I can't wait!

Photo Op

Well, I guess three out of four ain't bad. After waiting in line for only about 30 minutes Bobby and I decided that Santa probably gets a scalding bath in antibacterial sanitizer followed by a stiff, stiff drink after his shift. If he doesn't, he deserves it. You really couldn't pay me enough to hold snotty, screaming kids for hours that aren't mine. Wait a minute. I do that for free every time I have worship care at church. Ahhh, well, I guess life calls for sacrifice of which worship care and being fake Santa are of the highest calling. Merry Christmas Picture, everyone!

Turkey Day

Rhett had his very first musical as a kindergartner and it was all about Thanksgiving. It was pretty precious, too. I have never seen a more adorable turkey either. Here he is with one of his favorite new friends, Abhi, both dressed in their turkey costumes.

My kiddo sung his heart out and was right on cue with all the motions. I did not get a very good seat despite being 45 minutes early because parents of kindergartners are wacko and I'm pretty sure they just go straight to the gym to get a seat straight out of car rider line.
Moving on: We had our Thanksgiving Day celebration at mom and dad's house. Here's what I look like since I hardly ever make it on the other side of the camera:
Here are the boys and Lanie after completing their turkey hunt.
And here's what filled my tummy and put me into a Thanksgiving coma:
Well, the coma was probably caused by the sweet potato casserole, sister schubert rolls, and the apple pie and ice cream. Who knows. I do know that I have LOTS to be thankful for this year and I'm so happy to celebrate it with my family! Happy Thanksgiving!

You Can Find Me in da Club

This post is way, way overdue! As a Christmas present to my boys my dad decided to build them an actual clubhouse down over the hill. With spotty weather it was a long process but the finished product was grand! It started just before Christmas when dad showed up in the back yard with a platform- perfect for jumping off and onto (unless you're me and you think you're 18 but realize a little too late that your hops aren't what they used to be. I made it, barely, and had the shin bruises to prove it.) It was also great for dancing and shooting bbs from.

Shortly after, the walls arrived and things were starting to take shape.
Mr. Happy-I'm-not-in-school-yet-so-I-can-be-a-helper "helped" (a term I use lightly) dad with some small portions of the club.
Bobby's dad also came over to shoulder some of the workload.
Here's my dad, Master Clubhouse designer and builder and super cool Granpa.
The shingle day didn't exactly go as planned. We had leftover shingles from the house we were using and things just weren't going right. Dad and I, much to his chagrin, could not for the life of us figure out why they weren't lying correctly! One call to Brent and Carl with A to Z Roofing and things were rectified (It always helps if you're using the correct shingles!).
Next thing you know one of their workers was at the house with an air gun and some talent and knocked out the shingles on our super clubhouse for free! We were some seriously pleased AND thankful clients!

Next up was the painting that my mom and I tackled. It was all coming together!

Finally, in spring, all was completed! The trees came in nicely and provided some great coverage for our little clubhouse!
Next step: Inside furnishings. Despite Rhett's request for a t.v. on the wall, we ended up with some chairs, a little table and a nice outdoor rug to make it feel homey. I've been in there recently and the floor was scattered with gatorade bottles and miscellaneous empty boxes of raisins and such. All it needed was a loser friend sleeping on the floor and it would've been a frat house of sorts :)
One thing the boys love to do is have their friend's join the "club" by writing their name on the wall with sharpie. I really don't know what rights being a "member" grants you but everyone seems to think it's cool. I think it will be fun to see all these names on the wall years and years from now.
To make the house useable at night we put lanterns throughout. Thank you Lowe's for pricing those crazy low!
So, the Morgan Clubhouse is now fully complete and in it's short life has housed many a child, some indians, some robbers. I've heard cops in there. And orphans ("Let's pretend we have NO mom and dad and we have to live in here alone!" Pilgrims have been served dinner and friends have shared yogurt smoothies.
How grand it is to have a place for friendships to blossom, memories to be made, and fun times to be had!
And, just in case the kids read this one day, there WILL be remote cameras installed once you reach dating age. This will not be "kissing clubhouse"!!

Thanks to all the hands that made our clubhouse! We love it!

H, A, To the Double L, O, W, to the Double E, N

I actually love when Halloween rolls around. I don't particularly like the abundance of candy (although I'll eat my share of the mini twix and butterfinger bars) but I DO love seeing the kids get dressed up and run through the neighborhood like maniacs. Cade went with Blackbeard this year but he wouldn't let me put a stitch of pirate makeup on him. Boo on him.

Grant chose to be a cowboy. I'm not sure real cowboys wear blue faux under-armour shirts but this one did:

Rhett wanted to be some kind of weird Bakugan somethingorother. It was a dragonoid something. It was....well, weird. But, he loved it so I went with it.
Elaina was a Halloween fairy. My neighbor made her cute little tutu and then I ordered her some matching wings.

I decided that since I had never donned a tutu in my entire life that I, too, would be a Halloween fairy. I got one just like Elaina's and she was my mini-me. She LOVED it.
Can't you tell????
Here's our little dressed up family.
I wasn't the only crazy adult that dressed up. This piece of bad hair ended up in my driveway!
One last picture before dark and then we were off candy hunting.
Thus starts the season of eating too many sweets. Once this is done the next thing you know it's Thanksgiving and Christmas, and birthdays. No use trying to be good now. I'll shoot for next year. Happy Halloween!