The Big Christmas Hit

3 days filled with opening hundreds of dollars worth of presents from all kinds of family and this; this, my friends, is what the girls fight over. (despite the fact that Anneliese looks like a slave laborer).

The $4 Little Tykes broom. Merry Christmas Everyone!

Shotwell Family Christmas

We headed down to Blake's parents' house around lunchtime on Christmas. With double the kids this year - we knew it would be a little crazy, but it was really fun. We did manage to get all the kids together for a picture. Proud cousin Kate was in charge of getting baby Collin to stop crying, and Anneliese got a turn feeding him. Kensleigh was in charge of being a perfect baby - and she did great as always. (seriously - she is one good baby!) And we even got a family picture in. Oh - and that ornament Anneliese is holding in the first picture? Yeah - she totally broke that about 30 seconds later. Nice Anneliese.

Christmas Day

The "big" gift this year was a train table. I know - 2 girls?, train table?, really? Yeah - I think that's what Kate was thinking when she saw it, too. (Did you see her face in that first picture?) But with the emphasis on the table part and not so much the train, it has quickly transformed into "dog carnival fair" - and they're loving it. Whew!

update: as it is now spring when I'm actually posting this, I'd like to add that it makes a fantastic caterpillar carnival fair, too. also - if you're coming over, watch out for caterpillars.

This is where I've been

I have all these (well, 2 at least) other posts almost ready to go, but I've been a little distracted lately. With what? - you may ask. Head on over to jakandjewel.blogspot.com to find out! See you soon(ish)!

Christmas Eve

The last few years we've spent Christmas Eve with my mom and dad, which is always a lot of fun. After sorting the presents (nearly as fun as opening them) - and opening them, we ate a big breakfast for lunch. Then we headed out for a movie. And just FYI - Princess and the Frog is fantastic! Back to the house to play - new games, puzzles, lip gloss - and then a glorious dinner. A wonderful, tiring and relaxing day. Oh, and on the way home - Anneliese was asleep in 1/2 a Musketeer song.

Christmas in Goldsboro

We start our Christmas the Saturday before Christmas when we travel down to Goldsboro to celebrate with my mom and dad's families. After braving the blizzard here in Winston, we finally made it down to the Strouds' where Rex the German Shepherd was the big hit. The girls went outside at least 15 different times to run up and down the fence with Rex chasing them the whole time. I'm not sure who was happiest to see us go - Rex or Blake, who got stuck going out in the cold with the girls nearly every time.

On Sunday we headed to Rick and Karen's for the Sutton Christmas. The girls had fun with (not so) Precious the cat, and I had fun eating some really good chicken pastry! and lots of other stuff. Kate got Corrine (the Three Musketeers Barbie) who has rarely left her side since. Oh! - and here's a treat for the whole family - Corrine came with a Three Musketeers music CD!! Now we can listen to Musketeers music ALL THE TIME. And since there are only 3 songs on the CD, we get to hear each one A LOT!!! I can now tell the girls how long it will take to get somewhere by how many Musketeers songs it will take. Did you know - it only takes 2 1/2 Musketeers songs to get to Target? Well, it does. Believe me, I know.

Happy 6 Birthday Kate!

Kate had very specific plans for her birthday this year, so she decided to make a list to make sure she didn't forget anything (that's my girl! - If you click on the pictures, it should take you to the larger version so that you can read her list. I know you're dying to know!). We compromised on the sleepover party and had a nighttime party with the girls from her class (+ Lydia!) instead. Some craft bracelets, cheese pizza, presents, cake, books, surprise Christmas carolers and dress-up games later everyone went home and we called it a smashing success!