26, 27, 28...2008 wrap up

with lots of toys, friends and family on hand the holidays were lots of fun....

but folks, by the 26th our poor real tree had seen better days. it was TIIIIME!!! so as vivian and bauer played, clif and i began to disassemble.

some of my vast glass ornament collection...

and vivian's amazing gingerbread house were the hardest to pack up, but by mid afternoon...

all of our christmas pretties were tucked away in their labeled little homes. :)

the next day we headed to the mulhearn's to eat dinner, while vivian and setler loved on each other...

bauer loved on a bean burrito.

but after bath time, and ANOTHER snack, the three decided to have a little cousin pose time.

they even sat long enough to let aunt su read them a story.

on the 28th we skipped church, vivian and i spent the day doing our art projects. mine included repurposing old frames and a mirror. hers included three different pieces of mixed media named: jungle salad, sammie, and toilet. seriously, this is what she told me.

then during a brief hiatus from her ode to warhol. we finished a big canvas for the playroom (picture soon to appear). thank goodness popa and dotdot called and invited us over for bean soup, because while vivian and i had been painting the boys were watching football, and everyone forgot about dinner....oooops!

the 29th included lots or errands, but luckily we were joined by our cool aunt cyn from california!! we even got to take her to lunch.

so there you have it. the year's end wrap up. we wish each of you have a very happy, and healthy new year!! see you in 2009!!!

christmas day 2008

check out how much these two have GROWN!!

AND check out santa's spread for these two super spoiled kids....

his sweet elves even managed to assemble the train table that was left at gege and pawpaw's house.

right after checking out the goods, vivian looks at her brother and points to the train and says, "look bowiewowie, santa's elves are MAGIC!" ;)

vivian loved her desk, and all her princess barbies.

bauer enjoyed his newly assembled train tracks.

since santa is SOOO magic, and mommy is SOOO not, we forgot to put cookies out. HOWEVER, santa knew how much vivian and bauer love gingerbread, so for a twist he left them each a cookie with a sweet note. man he is gooood!!!

they both decided cookies sounded good for breakfast (oh what the heck, it IS christmas!).

then it was on to stockings....i guess vivian wasn't too happy with bauer's technique.

"let me give you a hand, bubbie."

it was a great morning. lazy pj "day's" followed by daddy's famous pancake breakfast.

soon after, popa and dotdot arrived with more of santa's goodies.

ooooh, popa is getting a giggle out of the fact that santa left BOTH vivian and bauer guitars. oh goody!!! ;)

rock star vivian took right to hers...

but, bauer preferred a little dotdot loving.

but really it was daddy who rocked out....did i mention they also got a keyboard and microphone....did i mention, oh gooody gooody?!!

then the day's came back to visit. pawpaw quickly agreed to play dominoes even though the rules (made by vivian) were a bit sketchy.

and finally we finished by a visit to nene's house. the kids were super happy to see her...

vivian was excited to give her the jellies she picked out for her...

and bauer.....well, he was just excited!! hope everyone had a very, very, exciting and merry christmas!!! :)

christmas eve

we had planned a lazy christmas eve morning...so we were surprised when the doorbell rang!

but what a wonderful surprise...manny! on his way to the hospital, he brought the kids their gifts. vivian loved her markers and sketchbook, but bauer (who loved his thomas train) was most excited to see manny. :)

after a yummy pancake breakfast and getting dressed, the day's and mulhearn's arrived. and after a late christmas lunch, the unwrapping began...

brother and sister worked as a team...

but vivan had to go solo to unwrap the princess stove the crow's sent.

then it was on to the big gift santa left at gege and pawpaw's new house in tennessee, with help from setler....a train table!!

(i love this picture...surely gege knows how to help all those grandkids, how sweet!!)

next it was time for church...the boys in plaid look super handsome! :)

and might i add, vivian did a GREAT job singing "away in a manger"!!

i might, or might not, have cried with happiness!!! ;)

we managed to get a day family picture too, but were also joined by the lee's, the poole's, and (of course) popa and dotdot. i found myself smiling the ENTIRE service!! i could not help it! there i was, squeezed into two tiny pews for an hour and a half, with 18 people, sweating like a monkey at the zoo...and it was the best feeling in the world! i quickly realized that everywhere i looked was someone that i loved very dearly...what a blessing!!! thanks everybody for coming!! :)

the 23rd: the smith cousins

the best part about the holidays is seeing those cousins you only see once a year!!

keri and i are only a year apart, and her brother charlie is only a few months younger than me. so you can only imagine how fun it is to have our kids, stair-stepped as well. mitchel is four, vivian three, kathleen 2 (named for great aunt catherine to my right) and bauer 1 (who is asleep.)

mitchel and vivian had a great time playing.

and eventually bauer got to join in!!!!

the sweetest thing was how candy (my mom's cousin) captivated the girls...or was it the other way around?! ;)

the 21st

so the numbering will now begin. i am SOOO far behind on blogging this is the only way i can think to catch up.

every year we have the pleasure of having vivian's picture taken with drew dillman at christmas time. this year it was double the please by adding drew harris. all three go to school together, sing in the preschool choir together, and have mom's in the same bible study....aren't they cute (the kids not the moms)?

and yes, vivian IS the littlest one....sigh....but the CUTEST!!!!! :)

clif's birthday remix

ok, so maybe i am SO far behind in blogging, that i am just now getting around to posting things from clif's b-day. he DID have a great day, though!! he picked to eat dinner at quiznos (i know...i know...)

then vivian and i baked him a football cake, complete with a "q" and a number "32". this was vivian's idea. when i told her it was daddy's birthday she said, "i think he would like a quiznos football cake." the kid knows her father WELL!!

then it was time to open presents. he got a pancake griddle (since he LOVES to make them for the kids), and a custom quiznos razorback shirt! not too shabby, for an old guy in a shower cap!! ;)

vivian, vivian, vivian

a friend once told me there was more vivian on the blog than bauer. well....what am i going to do?! sometimes that is just the way life is...so here is a little vivian wrap-up for you:

lately she has become obsessed with taking pictures...

some are better than others.

she also has a special talent for talking her daddy into a bedtime snack...

on this particular night, she didn't quite make it to the snack. hehe.

but possibly best of all...she made me this BEAUTIFUL jewelry box for christmas. i'm sure the queen mum herself doesn't have something so lovely to hold the crown jewels!! :)