Christmas 2013 -- The Condensed Version

Pretend this is read like the fine print at the end of auto sales commercial  . . . nospacesnobreathsandsuperfast!

Little Girls Baking Club - Princess Sparkle tied for 1st place!

Finally found some decorations for on top of the closet in the entryway.  LOVE IT!

Celebrated Christmas with a friend that knitted each child their very own hat.

Got to spend time celebrating Christmas with this cutie pa-tootie!

Oh, and the rest of mom's family . . .

but everything pretty much revolved around her . . .

until we found out she is going to be a BIG SISTER!  Congrats, Aunt Mel & Uncle Josh!

The ornament I made for the sibling ornament exchange -- shrunken chip mobile for Jon,

The ornament I received from Steve.  (We don't even try to come close to this skill level.  It would just make us look worse.  Whittled from a couple 2x4s. Hmph!)

The ornament the Knight received from Anna. (An awesome compliment to the ornament I received.)

Church Christmas program - Bud with his age group

Butterfly (far right) with her friends from Sunday School performing their part.

Nana (aka church secretary) being recognized for the amazing support she gives the church staff.

My Knight (aka church treasurer) being recognized for his exemplary work on the church finances.

Christmas Day - Round 1 with Nana & Pappy

Sparkle finally got her Vera Bradley purse & wallet.

Daddy getting a new winter coat.

Bud trying to drag off all his loot before the rest of the family came.

His bag was partially filled with this new tire pillow from Nana & Pappy and this ragtime quilt that Mommy made for his bed.

Christmas Day - Round 2 with the cousins (Daddy's side)
We decided to open gifts in two rounds -- kids then adults.  With 21 of us, the kids don't like to wait their turn anyway.

Round 3 with the adults - So much easier now that we do grab bag style.
Over-sized lap blanket and feet warmer I made for Aunt Pat.

Cousins hanging out in the "kid cave" playing their DSs while the adults hung out and talked.

Sparkle and Daddy working on her new 3D puzzle.

Tada!

Above average temps gave Bud the opportunity to drive around his new orange 'maro!  (He wanted me to take a picture of the front of the car, then her turned it around and told me to take a picture of the back too.)  Love that kid.

Quick Visit

I've very thankful that my sister and her family only live two hours away in Ohio.  We usually manage to see each other every couple months. 

 

My brother-in-law is taking a contract job for a couple months in Washington state, and they have decided that my sister and my niece will be going along with him.  I'm glad they'll be together during this time rather than miles and miles apart, but I'm going to miss them. 

 

We had the opportunity to sneak in a quick visit last week before they leave for Washington.  Here are a few of the pictures from the visit.

 

Bella and I had a great time in church nursery together.  What a beautiful child!

 

Not sure who is entertaining who at breakfast here.

The kids all wanted to spend some time with Isabella before she left . . .

These two are so cute together.  She always touches his face when he comes close to her and talks to her.  I think they might be good buddies!

I made sure I spent some time with Isabella too!

We didn't get any pictures of Aunt Mel and Uncle Josh, but we enjoyed the time we had with them as well.  Always wish we had more time, but thankful we were able to see them before they go out of town.  Can't believe Isabella will almost be a year by the time they return!  We'll definitely need to learn how to Skype soon!

My Darling Niece!

We headed to Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  While we were there, I took a few (and when I say few I mean over 1,000) pictures of my niece and a couple pictures of my sister and brother-in-law for their Christmas card.  It would probably help if I had a better camera or knew more about how to accomplish what I wanted, but I just set my camera on Burst (the setting where you hold the button down and it takes like . . . a 1,000 pics).  We were just winging it, and having a great time watching Bella react to everything.

 

 

 

 

HaPpY {belated} bIrThDaY to Uncle Josh!

Firefly's Miniature Golf

We asked Aunt Mel for some ideas for fun activities in Cleveland.  We met her, Uncle Josh and Bella at a local mall for a fun round of glow-in-the-dark miniature golf!

 

Butterfly (L), Sparkle (Middle), Bud (R Front)
Didn't think about putting them in light-colored clothing.

Knight taking a put while Butterfly fills the time until her next turn.

It was so hard to get good pictures especially when everyone was moving.
Uncle Josh (Center) and Sparkle (R) look ghostly in this one!

The decor was pretty awesome.

Just to prove Bella was with us.

Everyone enjoyed themselves.  Bud got a little bored towards the end and wasn't happy to stay longer for a family picture.

A Special Visit

My sister and neice came for a visit.  Actually they'll be back.  Long story, short.  My brother-in-law is doing some work east of us, so we're a convenient stop on their way to and from visiting him.  No matter the reason, we're thrilled to see them.

They came in Sunday afternoon.  I wormed my way into working the nursery that night and had Bella all to myself!  Her and I had a great time.  She was fed, dry and happy, so we talked and smiled for a while.

She's a talker!

They headed out this morning to see Josh.  We took a quick cousin pic.  We'll have to make sure my kids are showered and more presentable when they come back through!  I'd like to have a better picture.

The cousins

Had a few problems uploading the video directly to the blog, so I uploaded it to youtube. Thankfully, it uploaded successfully!  Enjoy my beautiful, intellegent and adorable neice!