An Animal Print New Years Eve

Our good friends, Rob and Nora Robinson, had a New Years Eve party with an animal print theme.  Of course it was much easier for the girls to come up with animal print items, but some of the guys had fun with it too!

Nora had prepared lots of fun games to keep us entertained.  Starting with the Newly Wed Game.  Which Sam and I won!

 Then there were several Minute to Win It games.  Shaking noodles through one bottle to the next.  Lots of fun, and a good arm workout. :)

Moving a cookie from your forehead into your mouth.  This was hard!  I did not succeed!

Another hard one was making a pyramid out of cans using an uncooked noodle.  Nobody got this one.  But it was fun to watch!

And

And shaking ping pong balls out of a tissue box to name a few!

It was a great party with good friends.  Goodbye 2011, I thought by now we would have flying cars and hovering skateboards! :)

Merry Christmas

Thanks to Nicole, I have lots of pictures of Christmas morning.  But somehow, we didn't a picture of the kids with the gifts Santa Claus brought them. Shaye got rollerblades, Jaxson got an electric scooter, Sydnee got a new princess bike, and Paige got a princess chair.  They have already gotten a ton of use out of their toys.  I love it when they spend time outside, so I was thrilled with Santa's choices!

The kids loved everything they got, but Jaxson was really excited when he discovered his new remote control helicopter grandpa had gotten him.  I have to admit, its pretty cool.  That little thing will lift right off the ground and fly all over the place.

When gifts were done, there wasn't much time before we headed off to church.  The kids didn't complain about leaving toys behind, and it was a nice Christmas service.

Our friends, Rob and Nora Robinson, joined us for dinner that evening.  We played dominoes, watched some football, and the girls put together a salon that they insisted all of us ladies try out!  They did makeup, nails, massages, and foot rubs.  Very cute.
It went by fast, but it was a nice Christmas.

Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve with the Springers, we spent the day at Chic's house.  It was raining and really cold.  It made if for more like the holidays, but it also kept the kids from playing outside.  But we had a great day nonetheless.  We had a ham dinner, visited with Pappy and the cousins, opened presents, and enjoyed Christmas time.  Kyleigh (Kyle and Ashley's baby) had lots of admirers and plenty of people to hold her.

Sydnee wasn't so sure about sharing Poppa with another baby!

Us with Kyle and his wife, Ashley.

When it was time to open presents, the kids were busy tearing into all their gifts.  This was the only picture I got because I decided to set down the camera and watch them enjoy their surprises.  They got some new cute clothes, coloring books and other toys, shoes, and more.

When we got back to our house, mom, dad, and Nicole came up and we carried out our usual Christmas Eve traditions, starting with the cookie decorating contest.

Of course my little eater #4 was all over the table licking frosting and grabbing sprinkles.

Sam was the judge this year, and the kids were oh so excited to see what award they would win!

Then GG helped the kids present the Nativity while Sam read it.

Then it was time to get to bed and wait for Santa to come!  All the excitement of Christmas Eve!!

Syd's Party

Sydnee had a small concert and Christmas party at her preschool. I didn't get many pictures because we videoed it instead. I am always trying to juggle two cameras, and usually don't bother with the video camera. I know one day I'll regret not having them on film to watch, and promised myself I'd start using it more!

Her class sang 3 songs. She sang and shook her jingle bell! They got to wear pajamas all day, and afterwards, they had some hot chocolate and cookies to eat. Sam had left his laptop at home that day, and had to come work from home. We were so glad he could make it!