Christmas Vacation

The boys have really been enjoying their time off from school. They have been playing outdoors in the snow. After a couple of warm days and a bit of rain around Christmas, it has returned to snowing like crazy. It just keeps falling!! They have also spent much of their time playing with their new toys and games. They are proving to be good marksmen with their Nerf skeet shooting game....

Last Friday we went into Portland to have lunch with Dad and do some shopping at Game Stop. Our mission there was to exchange our Rock Band DVD. We were working our way through the songs together, (And doing a pretty good job of it, I must say!) when we came to a song that kept crashing the game! And the game wouldn't let us advance until we completed that song, so we were stuck!! Talk about frustrating! Oh well. Game Stop had NO issues with switching the DVD for us - there was a visible shadow on it - and they were having an after-Christmas promotion that the boys were thrilled to take advantage of!

Meet Bo and Luke Duke!!

It has been many months since my old parakeets passed away, and I finally convinced Dad that although he wasn't always happy with the amount of noise they made, he wouldn't mind if I got some more. (Especially since they were on sale and a really good deal - plus I already have the cage and toys!) Yesterday we went to the Lewiston Kennel Shop and I picked out 2 little (6 month old) parakeets. They had a great selection and it was a REALLY hard decision. But, I couldn't quite convince him that I needed more than 2 in order to get one of each color. They seem to be settling in and even sang for us last night. I am determined that they will be more friendly than the last pair, and since they are so young I should have no trouble as long as I remember to handle them daily. Last night before bed, I picked each one up and put them in their snuggle hut. Neither of them bit me! They both relaxed in my hand, so that made me very happy. I'll tell you what - I've been bit by many, many animals and parakeets are one of the worst because they pinch! OUCH!! The boys and I figured that since we were already going with the Dukes of Hazzard theme with Daisy, then Bo & Luke were great names for 2 boy parakeets! Bo, is the blonde(creamino), of course, and Luke is the blue w/black stripes(cobalt variety). Perfect!

Merry Christmas!!

Here are the boys and dogs in front of our tree. We started out the morning opening the gifts in our stockings, eating breakfast and then posing for portraits. Then, it was time to open the presents under the tree! We had a wonderful time. Everyone was very happy with the gifts that we gave each other!

This was one of Dad's favorite gifts from me - his reaction was priceless! As he was unwrapping it, he couldn't really see what was in the frames and he wasn't particularly interested, although he was trying to appear to be. Fortunately, I had my finger on the trigger when he realized what the images were - "You gave me naked girls!" They are perfectly modest images that look fantastic in our Western theme bathroom. I love the horses in the pictures, which is why he got them...

Dad got me this silly book called Yoga for Chickens. As soon as he heard the title, our youngest started meditating. Wherever did he learn that?! When I took this picture, I asked him to hold the pose for another second so that I could get another shot because he had his eyes closed. He informed me that your eyes are supposed to be closed when you meditate. Oops!

The big gift this year was Rock Band!! It's kinda like Guitar Hero, but with a drum set and microphone and the ability for all of us to play songs together!! It's AWESOME!!

Later in the morning we dragged the boys away from the PlayStation and headed to my parents' house to celebrate the holiday with my aunt & uncle, my sister & her husband and my brother & his family. This is always my favorite day of the year. We exchange gifts, which is fun, but we also thoroughly enjoy each others' company and laugh alot! I baked bread and Mom prepared the fixings for sandwiches for lunch, along with chips and other munchies. During the afternoon I baked rolls, which we ate with baked beans, lasagna, cole slaw, salad and ham for supper. Dessert was Lemon Meringue Pie, Chocolate Cream Pie and Butterscotch Pie.

Every Christmas, my brother, sister & I pose with the Christmas tree for a portrait. It's a tradition that keeps on growing as we add to our families. Boy, haven't we changed over the years!

The 3Ds...

with our spouses...

and here are our children...



My father presented this gift by walking into the room and saying "You know you're a 'redneck' if...your wife asks for an extension ladder for Christmas!" Mom was thrilled! Really!!



We said 'good-bye' to one of our little friends today. Our black bear hamster, Jengo Fett, passed away. The boys are very sad. We had a funeral, during which we shared our memories with each other. That always makes the boys feel better. In the spring we'll bury his ashes with another ceremony and mark his grave site, which will be next to Marshmallow, the guinea pig.

Christmas Eve

We spent this evening at my husband's parents' house, with his sister & her family. It was a great time, as always! Every year we try to get a picture of the 6 grandsons together. We posed them in front of the tree and I snapped as fast as my camera would go - I think I got a couple dozen shots in the few minutes that they were able to hold still - and yet I still only got one shot where they all had a good expression on their face! In all the others, someone was either making a face, or looking away, or blinking. Oh well, at least I got one!

Grammie put together a more elaborate treasure hunt for our gifts this year. The older boys had to geocache for their gifts this year with the GPS! They had a good time running all over the place outdoors searching for their coordinates and clues to their presents.

The most popular gifts this year were the Snow Boogie Boards that Grammie & Grampa gave to each of the boys. They are the best sleds we've come across and they actually last! Grammie was wise and saved them for last. As soon as they received them, the boys all ran outside to go down the hill, even though it was after dark. The moon was really bright and they had a blast!

While the boys were occupied, we got supper on the table - turkey potpie, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, squash, stuffing and salad. Yum! Yum! We topped it off with apple pie, a rich chocolaty/cranberry brownie and ice cream. Throughout the afternoon we munched on Peanut Butter Crunch Bars and mint/chocolate fudge.

After we returned home, we immediately went to the NORAD Santa Tracking website to see where Santa was. This has become a tradition for us, followed by setting out cookies, milk and carrots and running for bed so that Santa can visit our house! What a neat thing to be able to see the map of the earth, discuss some of the other places that Santa has already been to around the world, and try to decide how long it will take him to get to our house. This year there are even videos of Santa in his sleigh. The boys were fascinated...

Christmas Party!!

Yesterday was our annual Christmas party with my extended family. We had a fantastic time! Everyone ate, drank and was very merry!! For lunch, I made the giant sandwiches that my husband is so partial to and everyone really seemed to enjoy them. We had plenty of cookies and munchies to get us through the afternoon. A bunch of us went outside and skied/snowshoed the loop trail and visited the horses. The 'adult' boys thought it would be great fun to go out and sled down the road in front of our house, since it's such a looooong, steep hill. Unfortunately there was too much sand on the road and the sleds wouldn't go - probably a good thing which lowered the potential for injury! They sure were disappointed though.

After they returned, I started putting together a spaghetti dinner, always a hit with any crowd. My sister-in-law brought dessert, a yummy concoction of ice cream sandwiches, pecans, whipped cream and caramel, topped off with hot fudge sauce. Does it get any better than that?

Then, we dug under the tree and found all sorts of presents for the little ones. They had a great time discovering all their treasures. Once they finished and headed off to play with their gifts, we adults had our Yankee Swap. As usual, we shared a lot of laughter as the gifts were opened, displayed, argued over and sometimes swapped. What fun!!

My husband then started Guitar Hero so that we could show everyone how much fun it was and how well the kiddos do at it! They were soon hooked. My nephew and his girlfriend and my niece and her 2 little girls stayed until midnight playing with us!! After playing on the guitars for a while, we also played Country Karaoke and discovered that some of us had a hidden talent for singing. (Well, not so hidden in my nephew's girlfriend's case since she's an opera singer!) We were shocked and impressed when my niece and nephew started belting out the songs. It turned into a sing-a-long as we all would join in with the person taking his or her turn at the mike. It was wicked fun!!

My sister and her husband stayed overnight. The boys were pleased to have more time to play with them and our oldest helped to make his famous 'Nate the Great' pancakes for them!

Our youngest son's best friend since preschool, came up late this morning for a visit and to pick out a Christmas tree to cut down and take home. I hadn't told him that she was coming, so he was surprised and really thrilled to see her walk through the door! Since the rest of us were enjoying our visiting, Dad volunteered to be the one to take them out into the woods to get the tree. Our son strapped on his cross country skis and headed out to show the trees to his friend. After walking behind them with the saw most of the way around the loop, Dad asked if they had seen any trees that they liked. They had forgotten the purpose of the trip and were just having a ball being together! Finally, they picked a tree and Dad cut it down. What a great memory that will be!! They were so proud when they returned and we sat down for lunch, leftovers from yesterday.