December Daily 29 Monday

We had a fun day playing, scrapbooking, and trying to setup Jim's ipod. Ryan and Jim headed to Jackson to get 4-year-old pictures taken. They had dinner at "Chicken Nuggets" and stopped by Toys R Us to buy Wii Play since we needed another remote controller. Tyler and Mommy stayed home and enjoyed a relaxing bath and then some playtime with remote cars and bowling pins. Bedtime gets later and later for all of us and I am sure that the transition back to work next week will be tough.

December Daily 28 Sunday

What a wild time getting the Hawkins family together for the holiday. Five kids running around attempting to take down their uncles. Women gathering in the kitchen for a holiday toast. Great meal. Great company. And finally, the gifts were open and the kids played merrily. You can get a sentimental feeling when you hear the sound of laughter in a jam-packed home. Good memories.

And then we sang Happy Birthday to Ryan and served desserts just in case we can't all get together again on the big 4 on New Year's Eve.

December Daily 27 Saturday

Just loving the day after Christmas and playing with every toy imaginable. We spent alot of hours playing Wii today, but also enjoyed Candyland and Cars during our breaks.

December Daily 26 Friday

December Daily 25 Thursday

"He came. Mommy, he came." Ryan said in reference to Santa.

The reindeer made a crash landing in our yard and plowed down our polar bear and penguin. But that didn't stop Santa from leaving a pile of gifts.

"How lucky!" I told Ryan. "I wasn't sure if Santa would put you on the nice list these past few days." I joked.

We had to wake Tyler up to open gifts. Any other morning Tyler is up promptly at 5:45 a.m. He must have been bushed from the evening prior.

We opened gifts. Ate breakfast. Played with toys. Got showered. Discovered that the driveway was pure ice. Jim scraped, salted, shoveled, and skid down the driveway face first before we headed for Homer to see grandparents. He said the fall really rang his bell. (Sorry sweetie.)

Another great holiday with family.

December Daily 24 Wednesday

Christmas Eve is always an enjoyable evening spent with family. Jim's brother David and his wife Jennifer invite us down for a fun evening of food, gifts, and laughter. The food was especially tasty and the kids were happily rambunctious.

The ride home mostly clear and safe. The ride down our driveway caused a little stir of panic as the watery rain slithered and froze in deceiving black ice. The Tahoe didn't take kindly to the ice and somehow Jim managed to stop us in the "Nick" of time just inches, literally, from our garage door. Santa's gift to us this Christmas Eve was most generous.

Grandma Cathy stayed the night with us tonight to see if Santa would actually make it to our house. Ryan has been teetering between the naughty and nice list.

10:00 p.m. Cookies on the counter for Santa (Thanks to Aunt Jen)

10:05 p.m. Reindeer food set on the front porch

10:10 p.m. Lights out. "Mommy, do we have a fireplace?"

December Daily 23 Tuesday

Upside-down-baby is requested daily. Even Ryan enjoys being swung upside-down. Tick-tock-tick-tock...Ryan is a clock.

I'm sure Jim would've liked me to take the picture in the first couple of minutes of swinging around an almost 4-year-old...but I didn't grab the camera until after about 5 minutes of the game and exhausted and Ryan feels as if he weighs 100 pounds.

Later in the evening, the family fueled up to some popcorn. Tyler discovered that he really loves feeding Ryan like a baby.