My favorite Christmas Pictures!

Diana modeling her crown that came in her stocking cracker, and Brooke playing Jenga in all her gorgeous glory!

 

 

Christmas Lights

In search of Christmas lights, we packed the kids into the Suburban and went in search of a display that was blog worthy. We found a drive through light show just in Sevierville that was great! It was timed to a local radio station and while the carols played, the lights danced in Rhythm. Well worth the 15 dollar admission. It wasn't enough though and we continued to search for more. We'd heard of a great light display in Pigeon Forge and decided it would be worth our while to check it out. We drove and drove, and 40 miles later as we entered into Gatlinburg realized that maybe, there were no such lights. Instead we decided sustenance was in order. After much searching we found a steak house way off the beaten path, up on a mountain that overlooked the area. It was beautiful and cozy and the food hit the spot. Ed had steak and lobster, Christina had ribs and crabcakes (odd combination) and I had crab legs galore!! The little kids had something boring like grilled cheese! LOL I'm thinking we may have a "Day-after-Christmas-Tradition" in the works!!


My lame pictures:

 

 

 

 

Keyboard vs. the Wii

I don't know why the only pictures I have are of Diana, but here they are none the less. The keyboard is great fun, but Karaoke on the Wii is downright hilarious!!!

 

 

 

 

Christmas Morning!

Christmas morning was WONDERFUL! I made an effort this year to STRETCH the gift opening , so after the kids looted their stockings, I made them sit down and eat a delicious breakfast of eggs, pancakes and bacon. Then we all sat down to get back to the gift opening that lasted well into the morning. By all accounts, everyone was satisfied and receieved exactly what they'd been hoping most for. For Brooke that was a Sony E-reader, a Nikon Camera and a BUNCH of Manga stuff. For Dom it was the Lego city garage, the "Moon in my Room" and a new (used) laptop for his Homeschooling work. And for Diana it was the Barbie RV, an Easy Bake Oven and a baby doll stroller.

For our family gift, Ed and I just couldn't agree on what the family would enjoy most, so we decided to split the task. I bought what I thought we'd enjoy and he bought what he thought would be best. I ended up getting a large Casio keyboard with the lighted keys, complete with stand and microphone. Ed played dirty and bought the kids a Wii, with all sorts of games and attatchments. I'm pleased to report, however; that the kids play just as much with my keyboard as they have the Wii, so there!

 

The Elf is Done

I tried to get the children in bed relatively early. I'd done better this year than most because I knew I'd done some pre-wrapping and I knew that this year there would be no Christmas Eve assembly required! With the children nestled all snug in their beds, I finally set to gift wrapping, and wrapping, and wrapping. And then just a bit more wrapping, and then I forgot where I'd hidden Ed's present from the kids and FINALLY at 5am, I looked around and realized I was DONE! I promptly passed out, fully clothed, down to my slippers.

The kids graciously slept in until 8am.

 

 

Christmas EVE!!!

Cookies:

 

Cookie Carnage:

 

Reindeer Food:

 

Gifts for Santa:

 

Christmas Eve Cookies!

As is our tradition, I made up some sugar dough on Christmas Eve and let the kids have free reign over how they wanted to design and decorate their cookies! Dom ate most of his dough, but he managed to turn out a few awesome mega-Christmas trees, Diana made some beautiful gingerbread girls, complete with red hair and "fancy" clothes, and Brooke stuck with simplicity and made some classic shapes and designs that were beautifully adorned.

 

 

 

 

Sunrise in Russellville

Very rarely can I capture the beauty of our surroundings, but this picture certainly does it!

 

More Ballet

I keep forgetting to take pictures of Diana at ballet, and though I did remember to do so at her last lesson before Winter break, they came out terribly. It's hard to shoot a decent picture through a glass window!

 

 

 

 

Jack of all trades...

And master of none.

Never is this more true than when it comes to photography. I actually love photography, more specifically I love photographing my children. The problem lies with my camera. I remember the day I begged my husband to give in and buy me the "fancy" camera I'd been eyeing for months. My old trusty Kodak camera had died, and I decided I was a big girl and needed a fancy big girl camera. No, I didn't know what half the buttons and knobs did exactly, but I rationalized that if "_______" (Enter any friends name here) could manage to do it, by George, so could I. HA!

So, we have a passionate love/hate relationship my Canon and I, and on most days it's very safe to say my camera is usually winning. It does the job I purchased it to do: Takes pictures. It clicks when I ask it to, and the flash goes off when it deems it necessary, so I should really have no argument with the thing. HOWEVER; It forgets that what I purchased it to do and what I want it to do are so very different. My WANT list is so much more complex! For instance, I would like a little yellow flag to pop out that reads "LESLIE, your child is being blinded by the sun, turn them around" when I accidentally have Dominick squinting in the direction of my voice. I would like it to have a million candle watt flash that will ensure my success in any lighting. Or maybe it could borrow my GPS's lovely voice chip and tell me things like "In point 4 seconds, lower the camera a fraction of an inch so that Brooke's head is not cut off" and when I still manage to decapitate her will say something encouraging like "Re calculating, please lower the camera and try again". IS THAT REALLY TOO MUCH TO ASK??

So here I am. Sorting through pictures that look as though they were taken by a drunk, blind monkey. The process of processing melts my brain. It sucks the life from my soul and haunts my very existence.

I present Exhibit A:



I rest my case. I should really just stick to disposable camera.

Because I'm too chicken...

It's a good thing Dominick is too young to remember that fateful summer day in Florida when Anthony took on a 30' pine... and lost. Had he been there when the helicopter landed to take him away to the hospital, he may not have been so eager to scale the ladder to string christmas lights.

Thankfully, he doesn't remember, and we have pretty christmas lights adorning the yard!

GO DOM!

O Timebomb, O Timebomb ...

As we were driving home from the grocery store last night, a christmas carol played on the radio that start with "O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum..." and then continued on into some sort of Christmas rock jingle I'd never heard before. It must have been a pretty catchy tune as I heard Dominick singing it later in the bath tub as "O Timebomb, O Timebomb..." he must have used his imagination to fill in the rest of the lyrics because he's been singing quite an extended version ever since.

I'm not sure which worries me more, the fact that Dominick heard "time bomb" instead of 'tannenbaum" or the fact that he has yet to ask me why, on earth, there is a christmas carol playing what he thinks is a ditty about weapons of mass destruction! LOL

And then there was snow!

The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event.

You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?

- J. B. Priestley

I love this picture of the kids! There are few things as entertaining as playing in the snow with your kiddos!

Poor Diana, her chubby little cheeks were wind chapped after an hour of playing outside.

On the Perfect Plie

After being shown a beautiful plie in ballet class, Diana proudly announced that she'd seen that move before: "My mom does that all the time when she puts on her jeans!".

Thanks Diana.