~Poop On Jelly~

Our Family's Bitter/Sweet Life



Tuesday, January 4, 2011

New Year, New Look, New Goals...

Same Old Me.

So, it is 2011.  How did that happen?  The years seem to fly by, yet the days sometimes have a way of dragging on and on.  Still, I find myself trying to dodge the "r" word... you know the one... resolutions.  Yes, it is that time of year when I dust off the treadmill and rid the cabinets of junk food.  (My kids always complain that I make them eat healthy, pack healthy lunches, and monitor what they put in their mouths.  They just don't know about my hiding places. ;0)  I love pushing myself to be a better person, but I hate failing.  Regardless, I have made a few resolutions.

My first resolution (and the only one I will bore you with) is to get my bloggy grove back.  This blog is, first and foremost, a gift to my children.  I plan to publish this for them.  (I'm hoping it will make up for the fact that Sweet Pea doesn't have a baby book.  Yep.  I am one of THOSE moms.)  Secondly, I have LOVED  "meeting" all of you.  I honestly have bloggy friendships that I value and treasure. 

So, after taking a month off, I plan to continue blogging whether you like it or not.  :0)

Now, to get you caught up...

December was filled with a whole lot of family fun.  Here is a picture of the kids on our annual trip to see Christmas lights.  (Have NO idea why Dimples was making that face.)  They never know which night it will be, until we tell them to put on warm jammies BEFORE dinner.  Then we pack everyone in the car, hit a drive thru, and drive around until bedtime.  It is one of my favorite traditions.

We have also enjoyed spending a lot of time with this guy!  He has 5 full weeks off from school and we are trying to enjoy every moment with him before the next semester makes him a stranger to us.

We spent Christmas Eve the same way Mary and Joseph did... minus the labor pains, so maybe not EXACTLY the same way.  We went to my parents' church and sat right next to a cow, a donkey, and a lamb.  (Yes, we got to see the cow poop.  C'mon, I know you were wondering.  And, yes, it may have been the highlight of the evening for the boys.  Pray for me, people.)

The kids LOVED it and I thought we were going to go home with a pet donkey.  (I won't lie, it was kind of cute... smelly, but cute.)

We came home and celebrated with my family.  We always end the night with a birthday cake for Jesus.  Here they are blowing out the candles.

Christmas morning was filled with noise... and not just the moans from the parents who were up past 2 am putting together a kitchen set for Sweet Pea that is fit for a princess.  (Seriously, it is wrong to be jealous of your daughter's play kitchen?  I mean, why does SHE get granite?!)  Bruiser can play a mean Paper Jams Guitar.  He is a natural rocker... and, I'm not sure that is a good thing!

Dimples even got a piano playing t-shirt.  Yep, there is NO escaping the noise!

 Sweet Pea also got this adorable dollhouse with wooden dolls and magnetic outfits. (It doesn't make noise or require batteries... I LOVE it!)

I'm afraid all of the boys spent a lot of their break doing this.  I hardly recognize their handsome faces now that we are back to our regular routine... which means game play is only on the "Wii"kends. 

And, check out Nurse Boy's new toy!!!!!  (This is pretty much my view of him most nights. :0)  Santa really came through for him!  I think my parents may have felt sorry for him when they heard about us getting up at 3:30 am on Black Friday only to come home tired and empty handed.  (That was the first and LAST time we will get excited about a deal on Black Friday.  Lesson learned.  The hard way.)

Happy New Year!  Hope you all had a blessed Christmas!

13 comments:

susan said...

Woot! Woot! You're back!

Missed you!

Christmas looks fun and the kiddos look like they've aged a year in a month.

You are both looking great! Isn't time with our man the best gift ever. unless of course all he's wearing is a laptop...then, not so much ;)

Thanks for the Christmas card.

Happy New year!

Hug!

Rachel said...

Yay - so good to see you back!

Though I know how special those college breaks are!

Love all the pictures - and that you finally got on the other side of the camera too!

Happy New Year!

Shana Putnam said...

I am so happy you are back!! Missed you around here! Love the lights tradition too. Cows pooping looks really gross to me but I have no issues with horses pooping lol. Maybe because we have horses. Who knows? Love all the photos too!!

Pam Bowers said...

Aw...it's good to see you back. Christmas in your house sounded wonderful. I love all your traditions. Hope all else is well in the Nurse Boy family.

Kmama said...

Welcome back!!

Looks like you had a great December and Christmas!!

I want to see Sweet Pea's kitchen. Pictures please!

MotherT said...

So glad you are back! We certainly missed you! Glad you had a good Christmas/month!

Sir Nottaguy-Imadad said...

Good to see you back.

What is Christmas without noise? Noise is what the Grinch hated the most.

The birthday cake for Jesus is a great idea.

Jewel said...

It's good to see you, too, Mrs. NB!! And I love the picture of you and the hubs AND of the kids! :-)
So glad to hear that you had such a wonderful holiday season! We always had a birthday cake for Jesus with Daniel and will have to start doing that with little Jaylon. I don't know why we didn't this year! Oh well.....:-)
May you and your precious family have the best of years ahead in 2011! ((HUGS))

He & Me + 3 said...

Love the picture of you and hubs. Too cute. Your hair looks great.
Looks like everyone had a nice Christmas and a nice break. WE do the same thing with the lights...my kids love it too.
Hope you have a blessed new year. I want to get back into blogging too.

Lisa @ Boondock Ramblings said...

Is it possible that in only a month, your kids look so much older!?

I love that tradition with the lights....need to copy that.

You think the poop is bad, when we went to a farm in the Fall Jonathan had to point out all of the pigs' wee-wees. Oy. We need to pray for each other.

Chrisi and Silas said...

I was wondering if you were ever going to come back. Me being MIA for months is not an issue, you on the other hand is a PROBLEM. Please don't do that again! OK?!?! Glad you are back!!

Mrs. G-man said...

Hey there, I just LOVE your blogs and am so glad you're back!! :) Thanks for signing up to be a follower of my blog!! I hope to do a better job of keeping up with it this year! We shall see... LOL! :)

Michelle said...

Sounds like a fantastic way to spend Christmas! I love it. And I'm so glad you're back. Now if only I could get back too... :)

I love the new layout too! Is it time to make a new button?