December 31

We are ready for our New Year's Eve festivities/Julia's 13th birthday sleepover.

Happy New Year!

December 30

Clay took Elliott and Lucy roller skating today.

December 29

Happy Birthday Nonna!

We just got home from a whirlwind trip to IL to visit family and celebrate Nonna's 60th birthday.

 

Grandpa and Lulu with their 5 grandkids

 

 Grandpa and Lulu took the kids Christmas shopping. Lulu and Julia got Julia set up with makeup (she turns 13 next weekend - WHAT!?!)

 

  

You can't even imagine how much trouble these two are together.

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Nonna!

Here are Julia's pictures from our trip:

 

And here are Kat's:

Now it's time to get the house ready for New Year's Eve. This year we are celebrating Julia's 13th birthday on NYE with a slumber party. Should be fun! Pretty sure we will be ringing in the New Year sleep-deprived.

December 25

Merry Christmas!

Santa brought Lucy a dollhouse and Elliott a Nerf bow and arrow. Julia got an eye shadow palette, and Kat got Legos.

 

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

 Uncle Stump got Kat the 5 pound gummy bear that she asked for - yuck! She loves it. It has the equivalent of 320 teaspoons of sugar in it. 

 

 

 Food and money. Kat's a happy girl.

 

 

Kat got the ipod touch that she relentlessly asked for all month. We got a great video of her opening it, but this is really the only picture. And unfortunately the program I usually use to make videos on the computer no longer exists. Regardless, she was one super happy/emotional girl.

 

 

 

 We surprised Julia with a phone. We've told the kids for years that they wouldn't get phones until they turned 16. She asked if she was dreaming. 

 Julia made me new curtains for the dining room.

Elliott got the game Fantastic Gymnastics from Uncle Stump. He literally played this ALL. DAY. LONG.

On to Mamaw and Bapaw's for lunch and presents...

 

 

 

 Mamaw made the girls' nightgowns.

 

 Wake up and open your present Papaw!

 

This happened all day long too. We let them spend as much time as they wanted today. Tomorrow will be another story.

December 24

Merry Christmas Eve

December 23

  We joined several other families at a nursing home to sing Christmas songs for the residents yesterday. Kat and some of the other big kids did "Oh Holy Night" in sign language while the rest of us sang it. Clay was off work, so he got to join us this year. 

 

 

We headed to Mamaw and Bapaw's to make sugar cookies.

Either Lucy ate too much dough, or she had a stomach bug. She complained at Mamaw and Bapaw's house that her tummy hurt. I rode home in the van next to her with a bag under her mouth. Well, when she suddenly threw up, she lurched forward, throwing up all over the top of the bag, herself, me, and the seat. Clay, who was driving, doesn't handle vomit well. He had the windows all rolled down (it smelled AWFUL) and had his head practically sticking out of it the rest of the drive home. Once we got her home and cleaned up, she acted like she felt fine again. Our van is another story. Yikes!