Christmas Day...

After Santa we head to my Mawmaw's for my favorite meal of the year! I am so glad that I was able to get photographic evidence of the Polk men cooking:

Meanwhile, the Floyd men were apparently there just to look cute, and my brother did look nice all dressed up in his new clothes.

Of course, GranBobby thinks he's always there just to look nice :)

Our rule is that you get to bring one thing that Santa brought you to show your cousins. I remember as a child being so excited to see what he brought Christopher. Ashton brought her new make-up studio and gave she and Alexis makeovers. Can anyone guess what toy Wesley brought?

Then bring on the food: the perfectly prepared country ham and homemade biscuits with butter and Ka'ro syrup. I can't talk about it too much since I have to wait a year to get it again!

Then we head up the road a bit for the Dodd family Christmas. This is my favorite picture because Wesley and Pop are just too cool kicked back on the stairs. Wesley may even be texting his BFF or heaven forbid his GF. Nah, he was probably sending out pictures of his vacuum cleaner!

I believe this was the first gift I bought this year. Fancy Nancy is Ashton's all-time favorite book, and I knew my sweet niece Addie was definately Fancy Nancy material.Again this year Nana and Pop were treated to a calendar and a year's worth of cuteness.

Jackson was thrilled with the Webkinz he got because now he can get an underwater room for his fish. For those of you not in the know, that is a really cool thing.

I don't guess anyone loved their gift more than Princess David and his princess shoes, awww!

I wonder what Wesley was doing while everyone was opening gifts? Oh yeah...

I don't know how Addie can look just like her mom and yet remind me so much of Ashton. Those Dodds sure make some pretty girls I guess:

Since his daddy is a firefighter Logan played his Imagine'xt firestation with all the correct lingo. I got so tickled as he raced off to a "structure fire".

Gazing out the window had me tearing up. That is my baby boy out there who is somehow big enough to play with the men. And they weren't just humoring him (well, not too much anyway) he was big enough for a real game! Of course, I had to dry my tears to run outside to dry his since he got hurt by his own dad who was also his teammate. I don't know which was sadder getting taken out by his beloved dad or a teammate who is supposed to be on your side??

So, another busy Christmas in the books and already praying for good health for next year and wondering where in the world I'm going to put all their stuff???

Santa Time...

Apparently all our kids were good this year due to all the loot Santa brought. Santa was supposed to be scaling back this year. I wonder if he got some stuff in October then forgot about it? Hmm... Anyway, I remember last year looking at the amount produced by 4 kids and being so overwhelmed as we often are at having 4! Shocked but loving it! You will notice something missing...the tree! We knew there was no way we could have a tree with breakable ornaments with 2 wild men around. Instead, we had them bring down their individual trees from their room the night before for Santa to leave their gifts under. I thought it was really sweet.

Jon can't believe that our kids have to be woken up on Christmas morning since he and his brother woke their parents before daylight. I guess they get it from me because I always had to be woken up. I have always liked my sleep. This year Ashton actually woke up on her own. That is the first time that has ever happened on Christmas. She got to go wake up Jackson which she always loves.

This isn't the best picture but is the best expression of when they first saw what Santa had brought.

Santa brought them each a homeschool box complete with some supplies to get them started and a letter telling them to be as good for mommy as they were for their teachers at school. They really liked it, seriously it was almost their favorite thing.
Daddy's stocking had him some cool grills I'm sure he'll be sporting at church soon. It must really be nice to have someone who loves you enough to search for thoughtful "stuffers" instead of making you search late at night for things around the house to stuff your own, I'm just saying!

Jon always tells me he can't use lotion because it smells which is bad for deerhunting. Santa was beyond excited to find this scent-free lotion made just for hunters. He has no excuses now!

Ashton finally got the Barbies who sing when they touch each other's hands that she has long been wanting. However, much to Daddy's chagrin Wesley probably plays with them the most!

Jon loves when Jackson gets toys that he had as a child. You can't beat the football kicker.

Will decided he wanted big brother's game- Rock Band!

What's a twin brother for if not to be the guitar to your drums?
I think I've mentioned before how much Wesley loves to sweep. Santa assumed he would love a vacuum, and boy that Santa knows what he's doing. He didn't like it, he loved it! Doesn't he look proud?

Wesley dug right in with his vacuum. It has a detachable dust buster, but when Jackson took it apart he had a fit until he fixed it back. Will on the other hand likes to sit back and take it all in. I think they look like such little boys in this picture in their big boy pajamas.

Will always have the funniest looks. Here he seems to be saying, "Where did all this come from?" or maybe it's more like, "You mean that Wesley kid pushes me down and steals my stuff and Santa still brought him a vacuum?"

Ten minutes later and what was Wesley doing? About 20 years from now I expect this same expression when he brings home his cute girlfriend (I'm planning that girl to be Eliza because he's such a stinker he needs an older woman to keep him in line, besides he'll be quite a catch if he still loves to vacuum!). Doesn't this picture look like he's in love and showing her off?

Here is Ashton showing off her pink camo robe that says, "hunting diva", but where is Wesley?

I love having a daughter because while some people (with new grills) might not get me a gift until the day before, if then, she of her own volition (Jon) picked me out a gift from her jewelry box and wrapped it herself and hid it in her room for over a week. Her love language is so giving gifts. But where is Wesley?

Jon and I were laughing all morning because he never took his hand off the vacuum! This was my favorite memory of a wonderful Christmas morning.

If You Can't Blog Anything Nice...

I really do want to post some heart-warming Christmas pics and tell you what a great Christmas we had despite all the sickness. However, I can't muster up the energy due to the new sickness that Jon and I are currently battling.

That's right folks, our current count in a week and a half is:
4 strep throats
4 stomach viruses
& 1 horrible persistent cough and fever for a little girl

Please don't give up on me. I hope to post all kinds of warm and fuzzies soon. Since we have decided to stay at home for New Year's due to not wanting to be exposed to more germs (or expose others), not wanting to have to ask someone to watch our kids again, and looking forward to spending some family time hanging out with (prayerfully) healthy kids, not to mention some rude person who invited then uninvited us to their house due to everyone being sick (you know who you are and you're lucky I don't expose you!)!

2nd Christmas Eve...

After a family nap which was wonderful, the big kids and I headed to the Barker family festivus, just kidding there was no public airing of grievances (Seinfelders are giggling somewhere, everyone else totally confused). Here's my baby bro smiling, wow!

I loved this picture of me and the big kids though I hated being without Daddy and the twins. Jon has been coming to Mawmaw's Christmas since I was a senior, 1992!

We all draw names and of course I gave scrapbboking stuff. I'm trying to raise my own minions!

We gave Mawmaw some pictures of the cutest kids we know. Grandmothers are so easy to please!

Another great Christmas though for the first year in over a decade, a wrapping paper fight didn't break out. Wait a minute, first year with no wrapping paper fight and first year Jon wasn't there??? It seems a little suspicious. He must either be the instigator or an irresistible target!

Christmas Eve...

Christmas Eve was incredibly windy. My dad thought it would be funny to send the kids out carrying a huge sign. They almost blew away until the sign broke!

Christmas Eve always starts with a wonderful breakfast cooked by Grandmother and Donnie though this year Toby got in on the cooking action too! Next year this kids table won't be big enough to add in the twins.

Aren't they sweet?
My son is obsessed with brooms. He will spend forever just a sweeping. I REALLY hope he doesn't outgrow this.

This is about as good a family picture as we are able to get with squirmy little ones.

We wanted my sissy to know she was missed.

We were teasing my grandmother to get up there and show off her new hip because last year she was unable to be in the pictures due to it hurting.

I have never seen a 3 year old as excited over some Handy Manny tools as my nephew, Justin. He even felt it through the paper before he opened it and said, "Can I open my tools now?" Heather said he slept with them that night!

My dad gave us shadow boxes with our childhood Harley Davidson shirts in them. They had a picture of us wearing them and he had taken a picture of Ashton and Justin wearing them too, a family tradition I guess.

Another Mangrum Christmas with too much food and too many presents. I love it!

Game Night...

Christmas Eve Eve is our yearly game fest. This year Jon and I had to go in shifts so the really sick babies could stay home. He chose the first shift which included the food then came home so I could go for game time. This year we played my new electronic Monopoly which was a lot of fun. Daddy and Toby ended up being the big money men and winners.

Heather and I tried our best but couldn't keep up with the men making their deals under the table.

Even after cooking a great dinner for all of us Donnie hung in there late with us.

Meanwhile, the boys ran around and played and Ashton crashed. We were all amazed when Ashton began sleeping vertically.

We were sad to be without my baby sister who moved to Vermont. Without her being there we only played 1 game and only stayed up until midnight which is nothing compared to usual, and we barely made a dent in the chips and dip! Missed you Jessie!