Merry Merry and Happy Happy

Geez...time flies when you're on vacation.  I can't believe I haven't updated my blog!  Blame Will, he has been here for a week or so and he is such a pleasant distraction.....


DECEMBER FUN


Let's start with something I forgot to blog about on December 8:  Will's birthday! In addition to a few small goodies and things, his main gift was a family outing:  dinner and theater tickets for the Mel Brook's Musical of Young Frankenstein at the Durham Performance Arts Center. Will, Joe, Spence and I had dinner at the Tobacco Road Sports Cafe right across from the DPAC.  We couldn't take cameras in the theatre and I didn't get any pictures that evening other than one (blurry) picture of Joe and Spencer goofing off at a fountain (right before a police officer yelled at my kid to get off the fountain!)

At first Spencer was complaining because we were in the balcony and he wanted better seats.  When he saw people a couple of rows IN FRONT of us with binoculars he was irked....but once the show started, I'm not sure he even blinked for the first 10 minutes.  The set was HUGE, the lights and pyrotechnics were captivating, the sound was excellent....the entire play was FANTASTIC!


The week of Christmas, we held a little party at Mama Laura's Chocolates and Ice Cream for our soccer team.  We had pizza, ice cream and one of the wildest games of Naughty Santa I have ever seen!

Speaking of Laura...she and I had been scheming about what we could do as a gag gift for Valerie.  And when we say gag gift, we mean literally GAG.  I'm not sure how it started, but Val and I have sent each other nasty food things for years.  Right now my desk is decorated with her gifts of cans of tripe, liver, garlic squid, spam, etc.  Laura and I considered drizzling chocolate over a can of spam...but then Laura decided she could take chocolate out of her tempering machine and we could dip whatever I wanted... so I bought a single serving of spam.  We blotted it dry and Laura double dipped it, added festive sprinkles....all while modeling for pictures:

She wrapped it up in official Mama Laura's chocolates packaging and I shipped it to Val in Jacksonville along with a box of REAL Mama Laura's chocolates.  The chocolate covered spam oozed just enough to look like the filling of a chocolate covered cherry when Val opened her gift....and she took a bite....and I got a "colorful" text message...... and a sarcastic threat on facebook!  We are still giggling....

The rest of my holidays were chocolate covered Spam-free...thankfully!


Some of the newer things about Christmas 2010 is that I made new stockings this year and Will's mom doesn't care for his little Yoda looking dog so he left Lacie with us while he and Joe stayed with his Mom for a couple of days before Christmas.

CHRISTMAS EVE

We had our Christmas with Joe on Christmas Eve since he was traveling with his Mom on Christmas Day.  Joe got a Kinect, pajamas, Legos, Disney T-shirts/ jacket, a Lego store gift-card and goodies from Nana and Boppa, a Halo Mighty Blocks set from IV, III and Melissa and a bike, clothes, goodies, etc. from me and Spencer. Spencer and IV also got to open their Kinects from Nana and Boppa on Christmas Eve!

We all had lunch together on Christmas Eve before Will and Joe returned to Will's Mom's house to get ready for church.  (Will's Mom goes to a different church than we do, but they are within a mile of each other.) My Mom's decision to cook a big pot of chili for lunch before we all had to sit in church was debated....

My favorite part of Christmas Eve this year was giving Will a special gift.

About a month ago while looking for Christmas boxes in the storage room, I discovered an unlabeled box in the back of a closet.  It was filled with stuff from high school and college.  In a folder full of high school things, I found my acceptance letter from Carolina, notes from an old boyfriend, an old journal and....19 cartoons Will drew for me in High School Physics class. I had NO idea I had kept them.  Evidently they meant a great deal to me if I had them for twenty two years, right? It HAD to be fate...

So I put them in a scrapbook along with our senior pictures and gave them to Will on Christmas Eve.  My entire family was excited for me because they knew how happy I was to surprise him with it.

It was a wonderful Christmas Eve luncheon and might just be the start of a new tradition.

Christmas Eve also held our usual traditions that I adore: baking cookies, kumquats for Boppa, church service, ice cream on the way home from church and looking at Christmas Lights, watching A Christmas Story on TV, new pajamas, Reindeer food, cookies and milk for Santa, and Spencer and I read all of our Christmas cards together before he goes to sleep. Without a doubt, Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the year.

CHRISTMAS DAY


I guess Spencer ended up on the good list...because Santa was here!


Spencer got a notebook computer, bow and arrow set, tons of toys and Legos, clothes, games, goodies, etc. etc. etc.  Bowser got a stocking full of treats, too.  (Evidently Santa didn't notice he was on the naughty list?) Spencer gave me a beautiful bracelet and a lap blanket.

After Spencer and I celebrated Christmas at home, we went to Nana and Boppa's house for our traditional family breakfast-- a big ol' country style breakfast that we look forward to all year long! After breakfast we open presents together and the boys have a huge Nerf gun war in the front yard...every.single.year.

And after an afternoon of resting, cooking, playing with our new gifts (and sometimes a lil nap!) we meet back at Nana and Boppa's for dinner that evening.  This year, Will and his Mom joined us for dinner.
Will opened his gifts from the family- included was a new shop vac from Jimmy and Melissa and our first "together" present-- a new microwave from Nana and Boppa. As we ate dinner, it started to snow and ice so Will took his mom home early and then we all settled in for the night. 
The next morning we woke to a winter wonderland and Spencer got to use his new sled!  Boppa spent HOURS over the next couple of days dragging the boys on the sled behind the four wheeler!

The week between Christmas and New Years was filled with playing and resting , reading and Bowl Games.  Will, Spence and I had a wonderfully relaxing vacation


New Year's Eve


Mom, Dad,  Spencer, Will and I spent the day at Ft, Bragg shopping at the PX and the Commissary-- then we met Jimmy, Melissa and IV at East Coast Wings for dinner.  We came home and played soccer on Kinect then cuddled up and quietly welcomed 2011 with hugs and kisses.