Happy New Year!

Hope everyone has a safe and exciting NYE out and about or at home with your loved ones! Can you believe tomorrow is 1/1/11? xo

Christmas Extension

Sledding Champion

All by myself

Reminds me of the bundled up boy in Christmas Story

Whee Mommy!

I can't see Da Da!

New books filled the stocking

A new digger from Santa! We REALLY needed more toys in our house. Ha ha.

What did Santa bring you?

Cookies made by Dana, Dett, Ben, Justin, and I on Christmas Eve...

ugliest cookies ever but they tasted good and Santa liked them, his milk, and the carrots for the reindeer

Our Christmas season is dragging on...we would like to issue a Christmas extension through New Years. On actual Christmas it was only Justin, Jackson and I and it felt so lonely without family. I have tons of presents still piled up for my mom and sister Shelby and for all of Justin's family too. I'd love to put away the tree, but it just doesn't feel right when there are still all of the presents (now half or all the way unwrapped by Mr. Jackson). Hopefully we can get together with Justin's parents and sister soon and I know that my mom and sister will both be here for NYE and we can have Christmas part II then.

The day after Christmas Justin convinced me that Mountain High was only 90 minutes away and we could go sledding. So....three and a half hours later we got to Mountain High and it was a ZOO. Actual lift tickets are so expensive that I think all the families now go sledding. It was insane!! Families were there in full snow suits, picnics, fold out tables, walking through miles of woods....INSANE. We got in a quick 30 minute sled and then headed back home (which really did take 90 minutes give or take without the crazy traffic). It was fun, but I think the day after Christmas sledding trip will not be in our annual traditions. I'm looking forward to a night in NYE, opening presents, and drinking wine with my family. Till then...QT time with my boys.

Happy New Year Blog Friends!

Ready for Santa....

Christmas Cards hung...I painted clothespins like candy canes and hung them off the ground...great kid proof idea this year

Stocking are hung and stuffed...

look at the stocking my mom made me from when I was little

Starbucks Candy Cane cup in hand...

Gingerbread Cookie Jar full of Aunti Ruppy's cookies...

Fashion Island annual Santa picture framed...He's the best Santa! Jackson is never thrilled

The middle picture is my dad and uncle with Santa in 1951

This year's ornament hung...

depicting what usually happens about half way through the night

Presents finally wrapped and under the tree...

Ready to be opened in the morning,

but Jackson may have started a little early with the paper ripping part.

This Christmas Eve is a little strange with husband at work and mom and Shelby states away, but Jackson and I are very cozy after taking a LONG nap together on the couch and we will be joined by Dana, Ben, and Dett for baked ziti and board games tonight. It doesn't quite feel like Christmas Eve, but we are ready for Santa! Merry Christmas to all my friends and family! We are sending nothing but love from the Holmes' Home to You!

Christmas Train

Tonight we went to Irvine Park's Christmas Train with one of my mommy friends and her 3 kiddos. We got to ride the train through the Christmas light decorated park to Santa. We took a decent picture with the hoky Santa and then we had yummy hot chocolate and a cookie. Jackson is in the "bull in a China shop" stage right now so he's kinda hard to handle, but he had a great time (I think). All in all it was our first successful Santa visit and a for sure tradition that we will bring Justin on next year. Justin has been working 5-6 nights a week so we have had a LOT of alone time together...thank God 4 of my best friends live close to me, but sad to say, the blog has been quite neglected. Nothing really cool to say except for doing parent teacher conferences (31 of them), shopping on a tight budget for the perfect personalized meaningful gifts, and picking up a lot of toys. On a high note it was 81 degrees today in HB.

owie...

It has been extremely cold for Huntington Beach this last week. We have never ran the heat in the apartment so we broke out the old space heater and it works wonders. This is a boring little post, but as a mommy or anyone who has the dry skin, "second lip" (all my kindergartners get it from licking their lips outside), chapped lips, cracked feet, and I heard it even works for baby bottoms use Aquaphor by Eucerin. It works wonders! All the teachers told me about it at school and I had NO idea. I feel like a good mom now.