NYE 2014

Cora teaching Lauren how to apply (pretend) makeup

The boys doing more manly things over in James' room

Kiddos in the window watching the neighbors set off fireworks

Making their own pizza for dinner (and loving it!)

Setting off our own fireworks in the driveway after dinner

The boys were totally into it, but the girls were a little nervous

We stuck to small fireworks this year (in an attempt to keep the scare factor down)

Still a little loud, but not scary!

Jay did all the work while the rest of us oohed and ahhed

Cora retreated to Grambot's lap for safety

Sparkler kids!

Post firework cake! Ice Cream Cake from Baskin Robbins, courtesy of Grambot

Snacking and playing Apples to Apples

Drinking and playing Cards Against Humanity

What the kids did while we played adult card games (watched The Lego Movie)

Cheers to the New Year! (Pama and Champagne cocktails)

Watching the Moonpie drop. The Kennedy kids had the most energy left!

Cora was close to asleep (but ended up staying up until 1:00am)

This boy didn't even make it until 11:30pm (so we reenacted it the next night)

GIRL'S NIGHT!

Four generations out on the town!

 We left the boys at home again (James was exhausted, and though Cora was too, she threw a fit when we tried to go out without her) and I took the girls to Martin's to partake in their monthly Bacon and Brews night. Grandma was only apalled by the pitcher of bacon placed on our table until she took her first bite, then she gushed that it was the best bacon she'd ever had. Bonus? Bacon is free on these nights, and beers are discounted! I ordered her a SweetWater Blue (an ale with a hint of blueberry) while I helped them finish their keg of Lagunitas IPA and mom ordered an Oregon Pinot Gris, then we had Deer Camp Dip (recipe is similar to this one) while we waited for our sandwiches to come out. Cora played every board game in the house and I introduced my mom and grandma to Lisa. We had a great meal, then dropped Cora off at home before heading out to a casino where Grandma couldn't find any "loose" poker machines and mom and I spent all of $10.

GETTIN' ROWDY

Monday was a busy day for the kids. They spent 2 hours playing on the indoor playset at ChickFilA, then went to the movie theater to see Penguins of Madagascar (and laugh out loud loved it, according to mom). Cora worked on her first-ever big Lego set (this will be a yahct, which she picked out for herself with her Christmas money from Auntie Margie and Uncle Daryl). James finally got to play with his Kindle Fire (though was disappointed we hadn't added MineCraft to it yet...). We went over the river to buy daqueris and Lotto tickets, and champagne for New Years. Then we ended the night at Rowdy's for catfish platters.

 (They are intently focused on these projects, always)

 This is mom saying "Stop taking pictures and help me carry this heavy wine!" I'm sorry, but the 3 bottles and her Elsa sticker from Cora just cracked me up, and I had to document.

 They may not have MineCraft yet, but mama had Whacky Mole and Labyrinth on her Kindle Fire to share to theirs...

 After dinner our waitress let Cora feed the little catfish in the tank behind the hostess station at Rowdy's and she was beyond thrilled!

QUARTER MILE

For mom, a quarter mile walk with the dog. For James, Cora, and I, riding bikes in circles until Cora fell down and decided we were all done with outside time...

SHOPPING, SPLASHING, AND SNUGGLING

Hitting up the outlet malls and leaving the boys at home to play video games in peace 

 Telling her "no" doesn't always meet with compliance...

(though had it not been a Severe Thunderstorn Warning, I wouldn't have said no in the first place)

 Cats are always attracted to those who are allergic to them...

BADASS BEER GLASSES

CHRISTMAS DAY

Well, we didn't have to wake the kids up to start Christmas this year!

(They weren't up too early, but they certainly didn't sleep in as they have in years past)

We always start our day by opening Christmas stockings in mama and daddy's bed. This year we all donned our Christmas WOOT shirts for the occasion!

Books and snowballs (light up stuffed toys)...

Chocolate and scotch...

Lego Movie set and Tricky Dogs

Snoball fight!

Cards from grandparents, candy, movies, and slinkys...

Sad Face Jay because our stairs are too far apart for proper slinky deployment

"Santa's been here!"

Ralphie didn't know what kind of "Star Wars Rebels" to bring James, so he brought a giant Ezra figurine, which James seems pretty excited about

Cora asked Santa for a non-specific doll, so he brought an ice skating Elsa. She asked Ralphie for a "Santa Doll", so he brought her a little talking Santa figurine from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Santa brought James Skylanders, as requested

They thought there was a present for daddy hiding under the blankets (because they just KNEW it was a bike for daddy, since he's the only one of us who doesn't have one), but it turned out to be brand new, bigger bikes for them from Grambot and PawPaw (X Games for James and Hello Kitty for Cora). They were pretty happy about that discovery!

When she opened her pretend makeup kit from us she screamed "Yay! This is just like Addy has!" (She played a lot with cousin Addy's pretend makeup kit when we were visiting in August.) She has spent more time than I care to admit carefully applying makeup over and over again throughout the day... Not sure how we got such a girly girl, but she definitely is!

This book from Gramma came with a hand puppet monster to build and rebuild

Enjoying his tiny Teen Titans figurines

The Belle dress from her Auntie Taryn and Uncle Davey was a huge hit!

A couple more of his favorite gifts: The Lego Movie videogame from Gramma and a marble maze race set from Auntie Taryn and Uncle Davey

Playing Santa and handing out gifts (after James got tired of doing it)

Lego Legends of Chima building set and game from Uncle Jamie

Getting ready to open their "big" gift from us...

James opened his Kindle Fire and immediately asked to play Minecraft... Now we just need to get them registered and set up with some kid friendly aps and books! And await the arrival of the cases we bought for them that were backordered...

More makeup application for Cora, marble racing for James

Do you want to eat a snowman?

We set out various powdered donuts and toothpicks so the kids could create snowmen and eat their favorite type of donut for breakfast. Cora quickly dumped ALL the snowballs on her plate and James built one tiny snowman then asked me if it was ok to just eat the donuts...

Buster got a shiny new leash to match his collar!

The rest of the day was spent playing with new toys...

...and playing videogames, of course!

Merry Christmas all!