Breakfast like Buddy

May I begin by saying if you've never had the privilege of watching "The Elf," starring Will Ferrell. You are really missing out. It's a movie that we love dearly in our house. In fact you may recall one of Jack's funny musings from way back when he first was introduced to the Christmas comedy.

Recently, he asked if he could eat the same kind of breakfast that Buddy has. In case you've forgotten, elves stick to the four main food groups: "Candy, Candy Canes, Candy Corns & Syrup." So, Josh promised him that the next time we had spaghetti, he could make a Buddy-like breakfast for his dessert. Fast forward a couple of weeks and spaghetti was on the menu for dinner. Unfortunately, I had to scoot off to a meeting before plates were clean that night, but Josh did manage to capture it for posterity's sake.

Josh swears there were some spaghetti noodles under there somewhere. I guess it was good, although he hasn't asked to do it again...yet.

Cards Anyone?

I can't really remember where I first saw this a few years back, but I know I've always wanted to do my own. A couple of years ago, I trimmed and inserted photos into an album for Jack to look at, but it fell apart. But this year I vowed to give it a more whole-hearted attempt. So, why not document it?

Start with a bunch of beautiful photo Christmas cards.

Sort the cards by similar size and shape.

Use a handy corner rounding tool, scissors, glue stick and hole punch to clean up edges and trim necessary photos, etc. Then string them onto a silver keyring.

Presto! You have a beautiful book full of photos of your family and friends. Jack has already looked at this many times. I'm pretty sure it's because he's shocked at my ability to complete an actual craft.

A Whole Lot of Christmas (part 3)

Christmas morning arrived bright and early for Spiderman-clad Jack. I feel like my parents must have a dozen photos of me looking exactly like this on Christmas morning. Sam was still snoozing, so we got to experience the excitement of Santa's bounty twice. Jack was excited to see Santa had brought the big boy bike he requested, but was even more excited about the treasures his stocking held. The airplane set Santa left was also a hit. Jack also loved his helicopter, ice cream cone set and Batman Cave, his gifts from Mommy & Daddy.

Soon Sam was up and ready to see if he'd made the nice list. He loved the Weebles Treehouse and McQueen tent and tunnel from Santa. Sam was totally disinterested in opening any gifts, but did love the Ring Pop he found in his stocking. He kept saying, "candy paci." Later Mema & Pop (my parents) came up to see what Santa had delivered. It was a fun day full of sweet memories of two excited boys.

A Whole Lot of Christmas (part 2)

So, our Christmas fun with family continued on Christmas Eve with a big breakfast. Josh's family were on their way back home and my family arrived. So, we all enjoyed a big, tasty breakfast before the Garrett clan left. Shortly after our breakfast settled, there was more gift exchanging...

So many pretty packages...

His very own cash register. Ding, ding!

One of Sam's favorite gifts: his very own Molly pup. Named after Uncle John & Aunt Lisa's sweet dog. Hoping this will teach Sam to be more loving (and less torturous) to the real Molly!

Lisa's crafty wrapping included stamps. Maybe Jack could help out next year?

So true.

"Mom, take my picture with my tower!"

Speaking of towers, this one is coming down! The big blocks are a hit, Uncle John & Aunt Lisa!

Later that evening we all headed to my grandparent's house just outside of Athens for our annual Christmas Eve feast with extended family. The gathering is a tradition, but the menu is anything but. Featuring low country boil, fried shrimp, hushpuppies and fries, it's definitely not your typical ham and turkey. It's always a house full when we get together, and all the great grandkids make it a fun time. Here they are all patiently waiting their gift to open.

Everyone, except Sam, who couldn't care less about opening a present. He is much too busy to sit down and open something!

Shortly after the gift opening it was pajama time. We loaded our boys up and headed home. The boys watched Elf on the way home, and the last thing we did before turning in for the night was put out the cookies we made for Santa and strawberry milk (as Jack requested).

Stay tuned for the final installment of Christmas. Part 3 coming soon!

A Whole Lot of Christmas (part 1)

Christmas has come and gone, and I managed to get almost all my decorations packed away before 2012 rolled in. In my book, that's a huge accomplishment. Everyone knows how un-fun it is to put the decor away. While the decorations were still up though we had plenty of Christmas fun.

We started by hosting Josh's family for a couple of days. After we had tucked the kids in bed (much too late) on the night they arrived, we decided to go ahead and exchange gifts with one another. I'm sure some of it had to be with the late hour, and the rest you can blame of just being a family that loves to laugh, but we really enjoyed ourselves. There was much silliness involved...

Grandmommy got a real kick out of her very own pink pom-pom gloves!

And Aunt Kristy has a great sweater now for her growing neck. This was purchased at a giraffe super store :)

Who has the warmest head and ears around? Grandaddy!

We started the next day with an incredible breakfast at Natalie Jane's in Clarkesville. The poor boys were so ready to finish and get back to open their gifts. They were incredibly patient, and they were not disappointed once the fun began...

"What is it, Sean??" Jack even managed to do okay with taking turns.

Ready to explore with his very own binoculars!

Jack was soooo excited about his "iPad" from Aunt Cindy's crew.

Sam loved this rockin' Elmo and ALL his instruments...once we convinced him to actually open some gifts!

The big reveal felt a little like the Showcase Showdown from the Price is Right! They jumped in immediately!

Sam didn't know exactly where the seat was. Lounging in the floorboard with his arm up. I was hysterical at how comical he was.

Oh, look someone showed Sam where to sit, and not a moment too soon...

Hey, wait a minute!? Shouldn't this steering wheel be attached??

Sean & Jack breaking a sweat with the wii. Jack was too hot to wear a shirt apparently.

I have no idea what they were playing, but they were into it for sure!

Our Christmas dinner spread. It was even better than it looks in this photo.

Sweet potatoes were a hit...especially at the kids' table!

Stay tuned for part 2.

Merry merry

It was an incredibly merry Christmas at the Garrett household. I'd like to upload a bunch of wonderful photos from our celebrations with family this weekend, but I'm in full recovery mode already. I'm busy trying to sort through the cardboard jungle, organize all the new toy instruction guides, downsize the enormous baked goods/sweets collection that has accumulated over the last several days, prepare for one more set of visitors and host a post-production party. So, for now, you'll just have to trust me when I say it was a very merry Christmas for us. Hope the same was true for you and yours!

Oh, and almost forgot to mention a visit to see Daddy at the ER tonight, and unfortunately it was not for mere fun! Jack took a tumble and went flying towrds the ground, but the first thing to hit was his face on the corner of the keyboard tray of the computer desk. Thankfully, a little glue is all Josh thought it needed, and Jack was incredibly brave and didn't cry at all while Dad preformed his magic.

Remember that time...

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to take Jack ice skating as they set up a rink at our local park. I wasn't sure if he'd like it, but he gave it a whirl. He kept saying, "I can do it, mommy!" He liked holding onto the side so he could do it alone. He said several times, "Ice skating is slippery!"

Since that night, he's said on a number of occasions, "Remember that time we went ice skating? That was fun!"

Christmas Performers

Thursday marked the final day of preschool for the year, and the classes celebrated with a little performance and a birthday party for Jesus. The classes sang several songs, and Jack's Busy Bee group recited such a sweet little rhyme:

I couldn't buy a gift for you, because I am very small.
But I can give you something, the greatest gift of all.
I can give you kisses (smack, smack),
I can hug you too!
I can give you a friendly smile,
And tell you "I love you!"

Sam was in the bye, bye buggy with his classmates ringing the jingle bells as the big kids sang. Videos on the way.

Simple Pleasures are Sweet Treats & Bright Lights

Since Josh is off on Tuesday afternoons, he usually wants to schedule in some fun with the family (despite his sleep deprived state.) This week as evening was drawing near and we were still hanging around the house, Josh tossed out an idea and we ran with it! We scarfed down some leftovers and jumped in the car on a Christmas light hunt.

We knew nearby Helen would be decked out and hoped we could find a sweet treat as well. So, we ventured to the Alpine Village and each picked out a delight from Hansel & Gretel's. It was a mild night, so we just enjoyed walking around and taking in the lights. Such a simple pleasure, but it was such a fun night.

Sharing our wish lists

December Fun

We're a dozen days into December and we've been busy celebrating the fun of the holidays. We started the first day of December by introducing chocolate advent calendars to the boys. No surprise, the chocolate was a hit...stopping at one tiny piece was a little less popular. Each day the chocolate has a different little design on it. The piece for day one had a little train, and Sam has called it "choo choo candy" ever since.

Of course before you can enjoy chocolates, you have to eat a good dinner. Well, I guess Sam didn't want to leave any doubt. After he finished eating he was sitting with Josh and nibbling a bit from Josh's plate. Well, he decided he loved dad's mashed potatoes so much that when they were gone he instinctively picked up the plate and started licking it. Once he'd licked it clean, he noticed there were a few morsels on my plate and climbed down and up into my lap. I promise we feed him.