More December photos

Some more random photos from the month

Nathan and his blankie

Washing his hands in the sink :-)

Decorating Christmas cookies.  Chris had to leave the room when Nate started dumping sprinkles!

Xander rolling out his dough

MOA fun...a ride on Magenta

Sometimes Xander gets a little too close for comfort with his brother

Rockin' out!

Goofy guy

Squeaky clean

Gorgeous seasonal bouquet 

Lounging

Ummm...not sure what to say about this one!

Christmas 2008

Just waking up and had to rub his eyes before taking it all in

Xander checking out the crumbs left behind and the notes left by Santa for him and Nathan

Checking out all the presents

Chris' new griddle.  More pancakes for all!

Giving me a wink while standing next to his big pile of presents

Opening up the Loving Family dollhouse that Santa brought them

Chris opening his Santa present

Nate playing with their new dollhouse...naked, of course

Xander and Nate hanging out on grandpa Jimmy's couch, waiting for Christmas dinner

Christmas Eve

We decided to stay home this Christmas Eve rather than travel and it was the best decision!  We stayed in and listened to Christmas music, watched Christmas shows and I even cooked a Christmas dinner!  It was so nice to not have to drive home late and try to get over tired boys into bed.  It was a great night!

Yummy cookies!

Proof that I can cook when I have to!

The ham smelled so good!

Snuggled up and watching the Polar Express (for like the 15th time this season!)

Xander's letter he wrote to Santa.  It reads:

I be happy Santa

I can't wait for toys

Good day and good ride

Loving Family (doll house)

Big Dinosaurs

Vincent Avenue North

My Name is Xander

It took some time to read it phonetically and not normally, but so cute!

Yummy cookies left for Santa

Gingerbread houses

Having piles of candy in front of him was sure to put a smile on his face

Chris and Xander are far more precise about their decorating

Nate and I just started gobbing on the goodies!

Such concentration going on

Everything on Xander's had to be just perfect

Nathan is enjoying some of his decorations

the finished product...beautiful!

Holidazzle 2008

A beautiful night to head downtown and check out the parade

Nathan checking out the wine list at Brit's

Xander patiently waiting for the food to come

Tummies full of hot chocolate, sitting back and enjoying the show.

I didn't add any photos of the actual parade just because they are pretty much the same every year.  Also, we were inside the heated tent this year and it was hard to take good pictures through plexi.  I could have put in photos from a different year and nobody would know the difference!

Putting up the tree...again

Chris and I have had the little tree since our first Christmas together in 2001 and I was kind of attached to it.  And with a small house and four people in it, I really hadn't entertained the idea of buying a bigger tree.  I didn't know that they made trees that were tall, but not so wide.  Chris has been having an inferiority complex about the tree size so we started discussing a new one.  I figured we would buy one at the end of the holidays for next year, but we were able to find one on sale that didn't take up much more space than our tiny one.  Only problem is...it is so tall that it touches the ceiling and we can't put a star on top!  We'll have to figure it out next year I guess.

Our poor little tree :(

Our new tree dwarfing our poor little tree

Starting to decorate the new tree

The boys have much more tree to cover

Decorated and looks beautiful!

And even better at night!

Playing and decorating outside

Perfect snowman making weather

Nate loves the snow!

Chris put up all the outoor Christmas stuff, including the new musical trees!

Pictures with Santa

Nate needs a minute to check this guy out before getting his picture taken

Family tradition carries on!  Ever year we go on carousel rides at Maplewood Mall after visiting Santa

Crafty fun

Nathan really gets into it!

painting trees

Nathan painting with the mess-free paints