Christmas Wrap Up

Well, now that the Holiday hubub has settled down, I have had a chance to write about all that has gone on the last couple of weeks. We've had visits with lots of friends and family and made lots of memories.
About a week before Christmas, the kids and I drove down to Columbia with my oldest childhood friend Jenny to see our dear friend Ami and her kids. They live in Florida now, but every time she visits SC, we try to get together. I hadn't met her son Andrew yet, so this trip would be special. The three of us spent a few hours catching up while our kids played together. We got to give Jenny the low-down on raising kids as she is expecting her first baby in May!!

The next day, Kyle had his preschool Christmas program. He had been singing the songs from the program for weeks before, getting good practice. I was always telling him to turn down his volume because he was practically screaming. Well, that's because they had to for the program. Being one of the smallest in his class, he was front and center and enjoyed every minute of it. Patrick videotaped it and I hope to get a little of it on here eventually. Here's the only decent shot I got from my camera (Kyle's just to the right of the mic).

Then, the weekend before Christmas, we were back in Columbia to celebrate with Grandma Rummel and my Uncle Curt before they drove to Cleveland for Christmas. We opened gifts, then had a delicious dinner that Mom made and then went to see Christmas lights at Saluda Shoals(after waiting in a line of traffic for an hour and a half!!). The kids had so much fun opening the gifts from Grandma and Uncle Curt. Then, Kyle and his cousin Olivia got to spend a few nights with Day Day and Papa. They went to see the lights at the zoo and make Christmas cookies, among other things.




On Christmas Eve, we made another day trip, but this time to Greenville, SC to Patrick's parents' house. After Opa's delicious German dinner of sauerkraut, sausages and potatoes, we exchanged gifts with his parents, his brother's family and his grandmother from south Texas. Our niece Mia wrote down everyone's name on a list and that was the order we went in. Such a little teacher. After some dessert, we put the kids in their Christmas pjs and headed home.





On Christmas morning, a very excited Kyle woke us up and said "let's go downstairs and see the presents!". Anna was still sleeping and he couldn't even wait for her. I held him off a little so Patrick could set up the video camera. Santa came through for him, and Anna. Kyle's favorite was the RC Rocket ( from the Little Einsteins), which has already gone back to Santa's workshop after only 1 day. Anna's favorite was her baby doll and stroller, also needing to be fixed after a couple of days use. I just loved seeing the looks on their faces - it was a memorable Christmas morning. My parents had spent the night so they were there with us. After opening gifts, we had breakfast then went to mass. My brother and his family came over for dinner later that afternoon and then we exchanged gifts with his family.





I've always loved Christmas and I have enjoyed introducing some of my childhood traditions to my own kids. Like making a gingerbread house, decorating cookies, checking out as many Christmas light displays as possible and listening to Christmas music as often as I can. Our favorite this year was Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas. Anna has learned to sing - she chimes in with "hula hoop" when Alvin sings it ("I still want a hula hoop"). It's so adoable! Hopefully I can capture that on video and post it later.

Hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas, too!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas! Let this holiday bring you closer to your loved ones and remember the reason we celebrate Christmas. If you are traveling, we pray for safe travels for you and your family.

Game time!!!! I though that this might be fun to play. All you have to do is make a list of ten of your favorite things. But there is a little catch. Everything on the list has to start with a specific letter of the Alphabet. That letter is randomly assigned by the blogger who you are playing with!

I got assigned the letter B from Susan.

1. Baking - not really, but I do love to cook, but that doesn't start with a B.
2. Bubba - that's what we call Kyle around here. Love him to death!! It's so cute because he refers to himself as Bubba to Anna when he talks to her. It's also what they call my brother since that's what I called him when I couldn't say his name, which leads to my next favorite...
3. Brian - my favorite sibling!
4. Brixx - they have some of the best pizza! Just had the Chicken Florentine last night and for lunch again today. This was the first lunch place I went to when I worked for the bank (it was right next door), and probably went there about 200 other times in the 8 years I worked for the bank.
5. Bank of America has to be my favorite bank and favorite former employer. Great place to work and I made some awesome friends there!
6. Blue Moon - my favorite choice of beers - with the orange
7. The Beach - a must-have for any vacation if you ask me! Just take me somewhere sunny and warm. Not a big fan of the ocean, though. Bad memories of stepping on an unidentified sharp object in my childhood.
8. Blue Bell ice cream. This is hands down the best ice cream out there. My favorites are Cookies and Cream, Strawberries and Cream, Peppermint and good old Vanilla. Now that I think about it, my other favorite ice creams brands also start with B - Breyers and Ben and Jerry's. Yummmm.
9. Blueberries. Too bad they aren't as delicious as they are in the summer all year long. And what's up with how expensive they can be?!?
10. Bailey's - on the rocks. Yummy.

If you'd like to play along let me know!! I'll assign you a letter.

Kyle's artwork

Since Kyle doesn't take naps anymore, he spends a couple of hours in "Quiet Time" while Anna takes her nap each afternoon and he "quietly" plays, reads, builds Legos, draws, etc. Yesterday, while my mom was visiting, they drew some pictures together. Well, Kyle drew while Day Day watched. This is really his thing now - art projects. Just give the boy some plain white paper, which he raids from his Daddy's home office supply, and something to write with (a highlighter does just fine) and he's set. Give him some tape and he's in heaven! He drew some really nice pictures that we can actually understand what they are, so I thought I'd share them with you.