finally christmas pics!

so after a week's hiatus from blogging, i'm back with pictures of christmas. would have done this sooner, but for some reason, kodak picture share doesn't want to work to download these....

anyway, we had a great time being lazy and living in a house that looks like a tornado hit it for a full week. i'm still home from work - won't go back until the 3rd. not getting as much done around here as i'd like, but i keep telling myself i have days and days ahead of me to get laundry, kitchen, trash picked up, etc. done before my life goes back to normal. instead of doing all those mundane things, i've been playing with the babies, which is waaay more important, i think!

so here are some highlights from the big day.










these were the kids' "big presents" - except that aidan also got the v-smile game from vtec. it's really cool. he is so excited that he now has games on the tv just like the big brothers. he hasn't quite gotten the hang of the game, with the learning aspect of it, but he will.

sadie was so darn excited about her little play yard. she is still enthralled with it, and it's nice to keep her entertained so mommy can get things done. but it's also very fun to play with her, and watch her get excited about all the features, like a squeaky phone, a peek a boo flap, and a door bell. soooo cute.

noah got an electric guitar, and alec got a pocket pc. both were psyched about these gifts, and have spent inordinate amounts of time trying them out. the pocket pc is pretty amazing. one feature we found is that it can be a remote control for any type of tv. just enter what brand the tv is, and presto, you can control it. so when we were in walmart the other day, alec had a great time turning all the tv's inside on and off. i think people thought there was a ghost. i had to get them out of there fast, even though i was laughing my butt off too. noah came into our room crying yesterday saying that he broke a string on his guitar already trying to tune it. poor kid. we told him it's ok, we'll get it restrung asap. he is just so excited. i hope he acutally sticks with it long enough to be able to play something. he'll have to practice, so wee'll see if he's willing to do that.

don't have a picture of it, but jerry bought me some bee-yoo-tee-ful earrings from our jeweler friend. they are very pretty and sparkly and diamond-y. very special, and i'm excited to wear them to our church dinner-dance in february.

so here' is the scoop on the 12 days of christmas thing for jerry. he's actually liking it. on christmas day i gave him a pack of 12 envelopes, all sealed, each with a note or a gift inside. he got to open the first one, (partridge/pear tree) which had a note to go look in the oven, which revealed a pear tart, all hot and bubbly. his eyes lit up, and he got the idea. after a few seconds, though he turned to me and said, hey, that means i gotta wait for all the other presents!! no fair! what a boy. on the second day, i had a chocolate/pecan/caramel "turtle" and a dove chocolate bar hidden in the pantry. he opened the note to look in there, and got his present. then he said, do i get another pear tart too, like in the song? i told him no, and he grinned and said, good, because if i did, i'd be big as a house by the end of this thing! the third day (french hens) was three $5 gift cards to chickfila, which he was very excited about. to quote jerry, chickfila is "so the shit!" yesterday (calling birds) i called him 4 times during his workday, just to talk. he always tells me he loves talking to me, and while i'm working i often have to cut him short, because i'm busy. but yesterday i made an effort to talk as long as he liked, and didn't get off the phone. he noticed, and appreciated that.

so today is 5 gold rings. i'm going to make onion rings for dinner, along with some homemade pizzas (golden crust in a ring....ok it's kind of a stretch, but it works.)

i'll keep the updates coming.