Christmas with the Cronin's

We celebrated Christmas with my family on Christmas afternoon/evening. We opened presents, ate TONS of food and played with all our new stuff! Everyone was present so it made for a lot of noise, fun, talk and memories. It's always good to see everyone and catch-up on things. The kids made out like bandits and I'm still not sure where we are going to put everything from everyone! We've already cleaned out 4 trash bags full of toys, games and clothes and donated them to Sunshine Acres Childrens home. It's our tradition every year to clean out our rooms and give things away to others who don't have anything or very little. The kids think it's fun and they don't mind giving things away when they get new things. We truly had a wonderful Christmas and love all of our family. We are so blessed that they all live close and that we can get together with them regularly.

Christmas at our house!

Mike made it home early on Christmas morning so we were able to wake the kids and have a great Christmas morning! Logan and Carlee went running in the living room and ran right past their HUGE gift that Santa left. They only saw the "small" stuff. Suddenly Logan turns and sees this GIGANTIC box sitting across the living room with a picture of a trampoline on it. He gets a big grin and starts yelling at Carlee, "look, look what Santa brought"! They were so excited and surprised! They got some jammies, books, games, clothes, toys and a new trampoline! Santa, mom and dad were very generous! I got a new ipod nano from Mike and the kids. It's perfect for the gym. I've been through 3 MP3 players so hopefully this will last longer! Mike got a new battery charger (of course it's not your "run of the mill" charger, it's got all the bells and whistles) since we have so many toys and vehicles that always need a charge!

Side note: Logan really does have warm jammies but he refuses to wear them. He HAS to wear tank tops and shorts! CRAZY KIDS! Santa brought him some CARS jammies, cross your fingers he'll wear them!

Christmas Carolers

My boss, his girlfriend, her mother and sister and a few friends all came Christmas Caroling on Christmas Eve. It is their tradition to go caroling and wear their PJ's. It was fun and they sang beautifully! I met them at the door with the camera and surprised them! Then I gave them a plate of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and off they went to the next house!

Christmas with the Pobieglos

Because of Mike's work schedule we always have to schedule holidays and families. We celebrated Christmas with Mike's family on Sunday (23rd). We opened presents, played and had dinner and desserts. It was so fun and everyone had too much to eat! The kids were spoiled as usual and love everything they opened. Logan got a new hunting jacket, a new hand-made blanket from grandma and a new RC quad. Carlee got some new earrings, a princess snow globe and her and Sara got matching pink glitter shoes. Thank you grandma, grandpa, uncle Scott, aunt Lindsay and cousin Sara!

Carlee's 1st Christmas Recital (for parents only)

Carlee had her first dance recital right before Christmas. It was for parents only to show us how far they have come in class. Her big recital is in the spring. She is doing really well and loves her class and teacher, Miss Whitney. Carlee is the oldest in her class so the outfits that they had for them to wear fit the other girls but not Carlee. She kept her leotard on underneath (thank goodness!) She'll have a custom fitted costume for her big recital.

Carlee's Pre-school Christmas Party

I got to go with Carlee to class just before Christmas break and participate in the festivites. We made "winter wonderland" scenes. You use a sheet of cardboard (12x14) and cover in foil. Then take ice cream cones (tall pointy ones) and turn them upside down and frost with white frosting. Make sure to put some frosting on the actual foil to cover the "ground" in "snow". Then you decorate the trees with all kinds of candy and sprinkles. It is so much fun!