2014 Coming to an End

What?!?!

It's so hard to believe that another year has gone by!  Where did it go?  All I did was blink!!!

We started out this past week with a bang - S getting the flu, ON CHRISTMAS!!  No wonder she wasn't feeling well that afternoon!  After several days of feeling terrible, she finally started to get better!  Poor girl was miserable!

Other than being sick, C attended a couple of birthday parties, we all put some of the Christmas gifts to use, the kids and I enjoyed some play dates and watched a lot of movies:)

C got a trampoline, monkey bars and glow in the dark trains!

C was also able to go to two birthday parties while poor S was home sick and had to miss out:(

Max's Lego Party

Daven's Monkey Joe's Party

S finally, after 4 days, was feeling well enough to try out her new bike!  Then, the next morning, we all went for a walk/bike ride around the neighborhood!!

1st time on her new bike!

I had two passes for the Bounce House that expired on 12/31, so we used it this week along with all the other parents who had passes that needed to be used:)

With being as sick as we have been, it has been hard to get to the gym very often!  Here was one lucky day that I made it and it just had to be documented!!

I took the kids to a little music class that they were both able to attend together.  They both really loved it, but I was not very impressed and won't be going back again!

S got an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas!

There is a new creperie, Tandem, in downtown TR that I've been wanting to try!  I took the kids there one afternoon and they thought it was awesome!!

Chocolate and caramel crepe..MMM!!!

C thought it was "lick-the-plate-good"!!

New Year's Eve!  We celebrated with sparkling cider(and, like last year, neither of them liked it!)!

M and I enjoyed ours:)

Christmas Day

This morning we heard two very excited kids coming down the stairs!  The little whispers and gasps of quiet excitement was too sweet!!!  I am so glad that M and I were already awake, but just laying in bed waiting for the kids to wake up, so that we could hear them!!  Precious!:)

They were so overwhelmed by all the gifts, that C didn't even know where to start!!  S started in on her stocking first(this is our first year having stockings as it is the first year we have had a mantle on which to hang them!) and C started in on the wrapped gifts on the fireplace!

It was comical to watch the different personalities as they opened their gifts!  S opened all of her, quickly, not taking any out of their packaging and playing with them or analyzing them at all.  C wanted each of his gifts out of the box, put together and figured out before moving on!  Needless to say, that even though S had quite a few more to open(she got TONS of American Girl outfits that were wrapped separately!), C took a lot longer to finish opening his!  

I think S liked her American Girl doll stuff and Elsa outfit stuff the best.  C I think liked his ambulance the best - he got a LOT of emergency vehicles of all sorts since he is pretty much obsessed with them right now!  

Watching them give us and each other the presents that they had gotten for us was so sweet!  They really enjoyed giving just as much getting... well, almost anyway!

After we finished opening all the presents, we ate breakfast(cinnamon rolls, of course!) and then let the kids play with their loot while we cleaned up, did some things around the house and got ourselves ready to have lunch over at Elliott and Lara's house!

We ate a late lunch there, visited with family, let the kids run off some energy and then came home!  By this time, S was not feeling well at all and came home and went straight to bed:(  Poor girl!  I let her sleep for about an hour, but then decided to wake her up and we watched a bit of a movie, opened MORE presents from Grandmamma and Granddaddy, called Gigi and Grandpa, and then brushed teeth(with had been forgotten in all the excitement this morning - bleh!) and put the kids to bed!  

It was a long, exciting day and we enjoyed every minute of it!!

Merry Christmas!!!

The loot:)

He was so so so excited to give her the presents he had
picked out and helped wrap for her!

The one thing he has been asking for every time -
MONKEY BARS!!

One of the things she has been asking for - Elsa's shoes!!!!

She loved giving the gifts to us that she'd bought
all by herself at school!  She really did a great job
with the $6 I gave her, and came home with change too!!

Happy boys!

Not a flattering picture of me, but had to prove I was actually there!:)

Fun at Elliott and Lara's house!

This little girls started feeling bad mid-afternoon, but hung
in there to play on the trampoline for a bit! 

Sooo many trucks!!

Chillin' out, not feeling good, before bed!

Boy had to Leave

Boy the Elf had to leave last night, but we sure did have a great time with him this year!!  The kids adore him!  S loves to show him her dances, makes cards and notes for him and the both love to find him each morning!  I only forgot to move him one time, but I blame that on having the stomach bug!!  We used the excuse that he liked that spot so much, that he came back to it again:)

Undies on the stockings!

The countdown is on!!

OOPS!!!!  I came down from putting the kids to bed one night and
smelled something burning!  PSA - Elf on the Shelf is flammable!!
There were only a few days left before Christmas when it happened
so I was able to keep the injury hidden and the kids never knew about it!
But, I think it is safe to say we will be getting a new elf before next year...
and we also will not be setting him near any light fixtures!

Pooping.... buhahahaha!!

Boy left jammies for the kids to wear to bed Christmas Eve!

His final note to the kids and some chocolates to remember
him by!