Our New Year's Rockin' Eve

As a new year approaches, I can't help but wonder......where the heck does time go????? It seems like just yesterday the kids were headed off for their first day of school this year. Shoot, it seems like just yesterday that Mason was a baby!! 2008 has been wonderful, and now I am looking forward to what good things 2009 will bring.

We spent the day at the bowling alley. I took a semester of bowling in college (seriously!) and today was proof that I learned absolutely nothing!! The kids were smart and used the bumpers in their lanes, but Adrian and I thought we were better than that. Apparently not!!

Always so silly!!

After we watched the ball drop on TV and toasted to family, health and happiness in 2009 (with sparkling apple cider, of course!!), we headed outside to do some fireworks. The bigger fountains turned out to be duds (thanks Target!), but the kids had fun with the confetti poppers and sparklers. Here's to 2009!!

Cheers!!

Ringing in New Year's the same way since 1993!!

Drinking straight from the bottle.......we keep it classy!!

Curly Q

Every once and awhile, Reagan wants me to roll her hair with sponge rollers. It's such a tedious task, so we don't do it very often, but when we do she looks so darn cute!!! Last night, just before bed, we put the rollers in.

She said "When I wake up, I'm gonna look like Annie!!"

When she woke up, we took out the rollers and viola........cuteness!!

Merry Christmas.....Again

My friend Pinky and I are from the same hometown, so when she went home for Christmas this year, I sent her with gifts for our families and she brought some back for us as well. Thanks Pinky ;)

The kids were so excited to open their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Gonzales!! They got all kinds of goodies and $25.00 each!!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!

They also sent gifts for Adrian and I. Together, we got this beautiful picture (which goes quite nice with our decor!!) and they also sent me a bag full goodies too!!

Christmas Day 2008

"Wake up Reagan........it's CHRISTMAAAAAS!!!!!" Mason screamed from the top of his lungs around 7:00 a.m. this morning. Thanks for the wake up call, son! We all got up and ventured into the living room to see if Santa came.

The looks on their faces was PRICELESS!!!

Santa brought Mason a NERF N-Strike Vulcan, the one thing he really, really wanted. He was so excited, but unfortunately it jams like every 1.5 seconds. Seriously!! Who approved this toy to be on the market??? I digress. Santa brought Reagan a huge wooden dollhouse and, as you can see, she was thrilled!!

After the kids checked out what Santa had brought, we moved on to opening the rest of our presents. We all got everything we wanted.....and then some!!

After we opened all of our presents, I made a delicious hashbrown casserole for breakfast and then I started cooking our Christmas meal. I was aiming for a 1:00 lunch, but in true Wendi style, it was served at 2:00. Fashionably late, as ususal. We had ham, turkey breast, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, green beans, biscuits and pumpkin pie. Everything was made from scratch, except for the biscuits.....thanks Bisquik!! Not to pat myself on the back (wink*wink), but it was all fabulous!!!

Our friend Bogale joined us and after lunch, we spent the rest of the evening playing Guitar Hero and Boom Blox (this game is seriously FUN!!). It was a perfect, low key and relaxing Christmas day. And I got to spend it with the people I love most......what more can you ask for?? Merry Christmas!!

Doing what they do best!!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Since I am single-handedly preparing tomorrow's Christmas feast, I went on a cooking strike tonight and demanded that we go to Olive Garden for dinner. And what baby wants, baby gets.....hehe!! After a delicious dinner, we drove around a few neighborhoods and looked at Christmas lights. When we got home, we got to open our presents from my mom and dad (Mimi and Buddy to the kids) and we also let the kids open a few of their gifts from us.

Mimi & Buddy sent each of the kids $50.00 Target gift cards (one for Adrian too and a new digital camera & Longhorn recycling bag for me!)!! They're the BEST!!Our Christmas Eve gifts to the kids were new pajamas (High School Musical and Star Wars) and personalized story books. As you can tell, they absolutely loved their books and read them immediately!! Afterwards, they sprinkled their Reindeer Food on the front lawn and put out some cookies and milk for Santa. Then off to bed where visions of sugar plums danced through their heads!

Christmas Cookies and Reindeer Food

This morning, the kids made sugar cookies for Santa....from scratch....by themselves!! After the dough chilled for a bit, they rolled it and cut out Christmas trees, snowmen and stars. They even shaped some into balls, rolled them in red & green sugar crystals and topped them with a Hershey's Kiss when they came out of the oven.

The BEST part of baking!!

After the cookies, the kids made Reindeer Food, you know, so the reindeer will know where to land on Christmas Eve! They used oats, Cheerios, mini M & M's and red & green sugar crystals.....what a tasty treat!!