Christmas Part III

First, I have a few questions. . . .
How do you "sum up" a week that was so fabulous that no one slept simply because they didn't want to miss another's company???
Is it normal to miss people so badly that you physically ache???
Is it okay if I cry daily for the next month the way that I have for the past few weeks???
I mean, seriously. . . I almost feel pathetic! 

If you haven't figured it out yet, our trip to California was better than we could've ever anticipated.  We were excited and ready to go, but I don't think we knew just how much we'd miss it when it was over.
Anyone knows when you get THAT much family together, there's bound to be some serious "excitement" and if you've had any experiences like I have, you find this song quite comforting, One More Christmas Beer.  But not trip - instead, we just had a blast!!!!!

I'll take a brief moment to introduce you to "The Kent (& Chapman) Family"

Matt's Grandma (forever known as "OMA") has three children:

• Allan (married to Patty)
• Dave (married to Atheena)
• Heidi (married to Damon)

Allan has four boys:

• Matt (married to me, YEAH!!!!!!!!) - two children, C & P
• Danny (married to Abbie) - no children, although I wouldn't tell their dog. . . she might be a bit confused!
• Mike (very much attached to Jennifer/Jen) - two children, Drake & Lucas
• Brandon (he's the baby! and shockingly is not very attached to anyone - there's a very lucky girl out there somewhere - she just doesn't know it yet!)

Dave has one boy, Wyatt.

Heidi has two boys, Dylan & Brady. 

• Dylan (their oldest) and C (our oldest) have birthdays within days of eachother.  Brady (their youngest) and P (our youngest) have birthdays within days of each other.  Note: this makes Oma crazy!  :) :) :) :)

Patty (and her children) and Abbie weren't able to join us, but the entire rest of the crew were there at some point during the week.  Danny had to leave the morning of the day that Heidi & Damon came up, but the rest of us were together all week long and boy did we soak it up!!!!

The kids had a blast. . . ALL of the kids (including those of us who are well into our 20's & 30's). . .

We conquered fears and learned new things. . .

Uncle Dave cleaned. . . .

We ate. . . SERIOUS grub. 

And Dad & I drank a LOT of coffee.  I can tell you this. . . if the two of us were ever stranded at a coffee house, we may not ever call for help!  :) 

Someday, I hope to get ahold of the photos that Aunt Heidi took - she got some amazing pictures!!!  She arrive the afternoon before we left, and I never got my camera out. :(  But trust me when I say. . . "The kids all fell in love instantly.  You would've thought they were together all the time and had known each other for years." 

In the end, we were ready to go back the moment we left.  I can only pray it won't be another 5 years!!!!!!

Christmas Part II

This year was a little different because we spent Christmas week across the country.  So, I scaled down the decorations in a HUGE way.  Part of me is thankful, because the tree alone was a LOT in our smaller space.  The other part of me was kinda sad because I LOVE turning the entire house into "Christmas Land"!  :) 
Paring down did work though, because instead of using ornaments on every doorway, I put EVERY ornament on the tree!  Even items that weren't ornaments wound up on the tree and it was a mixture of elegant ornaments, Hallmark, ones that hold significance and ones that my babies (or my sister's babies) made.  In the end, I pretty much felt like it was the most beautiful tree I'd ever seen! :)

It's not a very good picture (was taken with my phone), but still LOVE it!!!

Amazingly, Christmas was still totally awesome and still as much about Jesus without all of my doorways screaming Jingle Bells and my toilet seat having a huge Frosty face on it! 

The kids were very blessed.  Some day I hope they will truly understand what it requires to provide presents, but for now, I'll settle for these sweet, adorable faces. . . .

While this isn't the best picture of my sweet bubby bear, I LOVE it because it starts to capture the reaction over a gift card!  "Money to spend however I want!!!!"  :) :) :) :) :) :) 

Mommy was pretty blessed as well.  :)  I'm convinced that I married the most amazing man on the planet.  It's not just the big things (like the fact that he is such an amazing Daddy or like the beautiful bracelet that he got me), but the little things (like planning something special for my birthday, well in advance, or not being one of the thousands of men who wait until the last minute to shop for Christmas because it's not quite important enough for them, or the subtle smiles from across the room when surrounded by a group of people - these are my favorite!).  Yup!  Mommy is TOTALLY blessed! :) :)

I pray your Christmas was a blessing this year!!!

More "Christmas" to come - this is just Part II!  HA! :)

:) Laura

P Grace

Girlfriend is a nut!  She always has been - she makes us laugh daily!!!!!!  She just gets better, year after year!!!!

And the other day (just prior to leaving for her Christmas program (Christmas Part-I), she did her own photo shoot. . . . . further proof of her being a nut. . .

I'm inclined to say her daddy is to blame for these expressions.  I feel that is necessary.  HA! :)

BUT - our nutty princess just turned 5 and we THOROUGHLY enjoyed the "quiet" party of her choice - a sleepover!  Believe it or not, a sleepover doesn't have to be a disaster. . . you just have to set limits.  My limit was "invite 3 friends".  For the time being, our home is pretty small and I was positive that any more than 3 would be a disaster.  After much consideration, she decided on TWO friends - both from church - both of whom she talks ALL week about being able to see on Sunday morning.  I asked if she was sure she didn't want to invite a third friend, but she assured me that "C" and "K" were the only ones she wanted.

So. . . . we baked cupcakes from scratch. . . .

In the process, they changed into princess attire - because what other clothing could possibly be more appropriate?!?!?!

And then in true princess fashion, we licked the love out of the utensils!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not sure who had more fun. . . the girls or me!!!!  They giggled for hours and watched "The Wizard of Oz" and then did the one thing that usually doesn't happen at a sleepover. . . . they slept. . .

The following morning, we ate french toast (because this momma only needs a slight bit of an excuse to make & eat french toast) and make the frosting for the cupcakes.  Turns out, you have to actually remove the butter from the freezer if you EVER want it to be room temperature.  BUT - with a little love (and a slightly warm oven), we had frosting. . . 10 minutes before time to exit for our nail appointment!!!!

 

The nails had to be my favorite part!  You see, I've really come to adore these girls (their momma's are my new, most amazing friends from church). . . and there was something pretty special about seeing the three of them lined up.  It was almost as if I was catching a glimpse of 10 years from now in each of them.  And enough of the sappy stuff. . . it was just stinking adorable!!!!!!!!

  

 We then went to the park. . . . . .

. . . . . lunch and then the movies.  At this point, this momma almost passed out. :) 

BUT - instead, I was reminded that TWO MONTHS AGO, I had told P (when she asked if she could get her ears pierced) that we might be able to get her ears pierced during her "party".  "K" had already left :( and "C"s parents were on their way.  BUT they were gracious enough to go along with us to take P to get her ears pierced.  I really do have the best friends ever!!!!  :) :) :) :)  They stood by while I tried to calm P's anxiety (she decided after all of the maneuvering to make it happen that she was now very afraid). . .

That would be momma attempting to not break down in front of someone that she just instructed to "be brave" and my sweet princess crying oh so very loudly. . . . . . 

and in the end, all was well - and we now have Hello Kitty earrings!! :)

 

In the end, it was a FABULOUS birthday party. . . . and mommy & daddy slept VERY well Saturday night!!!!  :)
Thank you, "C" & "K" for such a memorable birthday weekend! :)

Happy Birthday, Princess!!!! :)

P.S. - further proof of her ability to make us laugh daily. . . . when having a discussion about not eating out Sunday after church with her friend "C", I explained that the church as doing a fast and that once we were finished fasting as a church, I would talk to "C"s mom about doing lunch after church again.  Her response was, "well, when is the church going to slow down so we can go eat?!?!"

I. Rest. My. Case.  :)