Christmas is over?

I wish Christmas were on January 15th or something. It is too smooshed next to Thanksgiving. We run around like crazy for almost 2 months...and then...nothing. NOTHING but cold, long, days. Seriously. We all need to go on strike and change the date of Christmas.

Anyway, here are some highlights of our Christmas:


We went caroling around our neighborhood with some friends from our church. Brinly had the sniffles, so Dan took her home after a few houses. It was so fun, and I LOVE my NEIGHBORS and FRIENDS!

Look what Miss-Smarty-Pants is up too:

Oh yes.

She is PULLING HERSELF UP on furniture!

What is this child trying to do to me?!

But, that's not all...

look what I caught her doing...

just MINUTES later:

She can climb the stairs!

So, her crib has been lowered, and now we'll have to bust out the gates.

Oh, yeah.

She's busted.

Drool from the mouth and all.

 Good thing she's the sweetest baby ever!

I know you all got our lame family picture. (If you didn't, let me know! I probably misplaced your address and didn't realize it!!)

 It [the lame family picture] was the only one we had of our entire family together, and I knew that a "nice" one just was not going to happen in time.

I was determined to get one of the kids in their Christmas sunday clothes, so I got them ready for church EARLY, one Sunday (I know, a miracle in and of itself) and got a few pictures taken before Dan got home from meetings and I had to rush out to rehearse a few musical numbers..

(Sigh) Aren't they so beautiful?!

Christmas Eve we made cookies together. I have a hard time making sugar cookies with the kids because I'm such a control freak. I was determined this time to let the kids cut out their own cookies, even if they got swished, or had multiple cookie-cuts in them because they didn't pay attention to where they were placing the cookie-cutters.

I did have to roll the dough out myself though...

They did a great job. Maybe we'll do it again...sometime. :)

At least that was what I was thinking while I was finishing the preparations for our Christmas Eve dinner and the kids were "happily" playing with the left-over dough.

Yes, we were in the same kitchen...

...and almost tripping over each other...

...And I totally failed to see what they were REALLY doing..

What a mess! It was everywhere!

Oh well.

I only had 1 hour  to be grumpy before our friends were to arrive for dinner.

Christmas Eve in their matching jammies:

The Christmas tree stocked.

What?
What's that you say?
There's something wrong with the bed?

The mattress is too long for the box spring?

DOH! You're right!

(Wish we had noticed that a month ago before we snuck it into the garage, leaned it by the garage door that we never open, and water seeped in through the "protective" plastic wrap, and caused it to have water dammage so we CAN'T return it! Yeah...we had lots of surprised Christmas Eve....)

Yes, I'm still trying to get over it.
 I'm. Not. Upset.

Promise.

(AAAAAARRRGGGHHHH!)

On the bright side....Michael is thrilled with his new bed! (after all, what 4 year old wouldn't be?)

And, if he takes after his dad, like his growth chart is predicting...he'll enjoy the extra 6 inches of bed.

This is his stash of goods.

 (No he didn't get all those blocks for Christmas, but just some to add to the collection and building fun, as you'll see below...)

Chelsea and her stuffs.

Brinly-girl. Can you tell how giddy she is about her peas and carrots?!

I got a George Foreman grill! YAY!

And Dan got...

a tie.

From Chelsea.

(Hey! It's not my fault he didn't believe me when I said "No gifts this year!") :)

We didn't get a "White Christmas" but it did snow last night and the few nights before.

Chelsea and Michael made this friend, whom they have loving named "Frosty."

Chelsea even took this picture by herself!

Too bad they built him on the driveway.

Right in front of the garage door.

Where the minivan is parked...

...and had to back out to go grocery shopping.

= no more Frosty.

And Lastly...this is why the kids wanted more MEGA blocks.

Of course, Dad was there to help. Michael was giggling all the way down stairs when he asked me to come see the "surprise".  When I entered the playroom, there was a note that said "Push the green button."

Do you see it?

Kinda looks like his belly-button?

Anyway, I pushed it and I heard a voice that said "I am a Robot. I am going to eat you" I had no idea where the voice was coming from (the closet) or who it was (Chelsea) but I squealed and hi-tailed it out of there (according to Dan's prompting...)

So, the bottom line is, we're still having a party over here! 

2010, here come the Perry's!

overheard at our house...

Michael is (currently) singing. Here's how his song is going:

"The Lord is come, on a foundation! in a one horse open sleigh with Dora the explorer! Nah nah nah nah nah...cause Santa Clause is coming...TO TOOOOOWWWNNNN!"

Let Michael entertain YOUR christmas party call 1-800-Name-that-tune, today!

Signs that Christmas is here...

Even the smallest of us, is pooped. :)

I think someone borrowed my camera...

I went to download some pictures off the camera to the computer, and well...

I think someone has been using my camera...

I don't recognize this picture...

And I, personally, would NOT be taking pictures of my over-flowing trash can.

Or the trash on my countertops

...and I don't remember taking these pictures, either....

So, WHO has been using MY the familys' camera?!

Ah HA!

Someone forgot to cover his tracks!

Christmas is comin'....

We are so excited that Christmas will be here soon. Part of me wishes it would take longer to get here, as I love all the excitement that builds up.  Two weeks ago, we picked out our Christmas tree...

It was FREEZInG outside, but Brinly was nice and toasty in her carseat, so we left her asleep in the car, while we picked out our tree.

Michael wanted to watch trim the bottom of the tree. Reminder: It was FUREEzinG! Don't let the short sleeve shirt and shorts fool you. He had to go stand by the fire for a while after he came in.

Let the decorating begin!

This past weekend, we went to the Parade of Lights. The Kiawanis club hosts this, and people can decorate their boats and float up the Columbia River. There weren't as many boats this year, but it was still fun to see.

Chelsea and I went to see the nutcracker. I haven't been to a live Nutcracker performance since I was in Kindergarten, so I was pretty excited. I loved going with Chelsea and helping her understand what was going on...

In other news:

Thanksgiving weekend, Brinly learned to sit up and CRAWL...in a matter of days. Not only can she sit by herself, but she can get to that position by herself. I think I might have cried myself to sleep... Why does she have to grow up so fast!?

However, sitting on her own does have its perks. Now I don't have to be drenched when I give her a bath. She was just getting to big for that baby tub.

And just because I thought this picture was funny:

hehehhehe

Moving on...

Chelsea lost her first tooth! 

It was a very exciting event. Most of her friends started losing their teeth last year, in kindergarten. I think she was feeling a little behind. Dan actually popped it out, but trust me. It was ready, Like, laying-on-her-lip-because-its-so-lose, ready. (so gross)

The tooth fairy did come last night, but left her a note saying that she would come back tonight, after Chelsea had a chance to take the tooth to show and tell.

Michael was so fascinated with the whole process, and tooth.

Last night, after I came home from rehearsing for some musical numbers, Dan told me to be quiet, because the baby was sleeping. I could hear her breathing, but couldn't figure out where she was.

Until I saw this:

Doesn't that look SO comfy?! I want a basket to sleep in!

 

I love these little toes...

Truly, one of my most precious gifts, I have ever received!

Overheard at our house...

Setting: Michael brings me a chocolate "nummy", looking up at me with sweet, big, serious eyes, asks:

Michael: "Mom? Can I have this?"

Me: "How much do you love me?" ( I know, a horrible thing to say, but oh well.)

Michael: "Sixty?"

I hope "sixty" is a lot in his eyes. It was enough to grant permission to eat a chocolate nummy.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. For Family Home Evening the Monday before, we had some friends over to make Apple-Turkeys. This is the one Chelsea made...I have no idea what she is doing with her face...

This year, we drove to Idaho Falls, to have Thanksgiving with Dan's family. He has 3 sisters there now (2 live in Rexburg) and 2 of them just had babies, so it was easier for us to go there.

Here are the three newest additions to the Perry family. Sara, Annie, and Brinly. They are about 3 months apart, consecutively. It will be fun to watch them grow up together, and I love that they each have a different color of hair. Sara is our brunette, Annie the red-head, and Brinly will probably be blonde....there's just not much hair on her head to make a decision at this point.

This is a behind-the-scenes of the photo shoot. It takes a lot of adults to get the attention of three babies...


And here's Brinly brushing her teeth with her toes, again...




The cousins made these candy turkeys out of frosting, gingersnaps, mini candy bars, candy corn and a jelly bean. Of course, the best part was eating them...

We stayed at Dan's sister Michelle's house. They had a Wii. I've never tried one before, but have always wanted too. My favorite game was the boxing one.

Although Matt and Dan were quite entertaining to watch,

my favorite competitors were Mom and Dad Perry. Check out that aggression on Mom's face!And I love how Dad is trying to dodge her blows.

As for the dinner, Mom was the chef, and once again, made a delicious meal!
 I tried to help by washing the dishes...

I wish I had pictures of all the delicious fixins', but here's just a sample to make your mouths water...

Grampa also had an important job:


He was very good at it, too:


Matt and Michelle have a huge living room, so we just rolled up the area carpet, moved the couches, set up some folding tables, and wahlah!

Room for all of this crowd!

Matt made a special run to the store to pick up some apple beer...

Melissa was thrilled to find out it was alcohol free. :)
No, she was just being a goof, and I happened to have my camera out and ready...

Thanks to everyone who helped make our Thanksgiving wonderful!
There is nothing better, than family!