Christmas morning

Merry Christmas everyone! I have battled the flu all week long and finally feel human again. Boy, was it rough. I probably could have stayed in bed again today but the kids knew Santa was due to come today so Dave and I rallied to give them a proper Christmas. Santa laid out all of their presents in front of the tv. The bags he always uses didn't work for the big boxes he brought this year. Hmmm. The boys were ecstatic about what Santa brought them and played for over an hour with those toys before moving on to family presents.

We really enjoyed each present and took our time opening things since it was just the four of us today. We missed our parents but did enjoy just having a day to ourselves. I managed to cook a small meal for us and it turned out really well. Just a tiny ham, mac & cheese, green bean casserole, sweet potato souffle and rolls. Nothing fancy at all but it was my first real meal in a week so it hit the spot :)

We hope you all had a blessed Christmas with those you love. I plan to return to the land of the living tomorrow and Jack and I will wake up early to get 1/2 off Christmas decorations :)

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Uncle Miller's surprise party

We totally surprised Uncle Miller at the "horsewarming" party that Sarah was throwing as a cover for his 40th birthday party. Dave had been working in Memphis all week and pretended to leave on Friday. I drove up the boys and Gigi and Dada after school on Friday and we stayed at Jerry & Christy's house (who were not even in town! They are too good for words. Christy even lined up a babysitter for us on Saturday night so we could enjoy the party kid-free for a bit).

I managed to capture Miller's surprised reaction and loved playing "party pics" that day. Theo was in heaven because unsuspecting people were giving him cider all day long. I had to kindly explain to them that he's like a Betsy Wetsey doll right now and what goes in comes out....... he did great though and that was a relief.

Dave's cousins, Liz and Paul, stopped by the party on their cross-country drive to North Carolina from Texas. It was absolutely great to see them (pretty sure I had never met Liz before, if I did it was years ago) and that gave the party and mock-family reunion feel :) We all met up early Sunday morning for breakfast together before going our separate ways (though we joke that cousin Paul should move here and become our nanny). Ha ha.

The Kookamonga

We headed across the street from the Peabody to the Kooky Canuck restaurant for lunch. They have a 4 lb burger that is larger than a cat and a wall of fame for people who have eaten said burger in less than an hour. I really pushed to get that burger for the table since the odds of us being back there any time soon were slim. Jack loves hamburgers anyway :) Three adults and Jack rallied to eat The Kookamonga and only managed to eat 1/2 before waving the white flag. I happily ate my BLT with a fried green tomato was a happy girl. Be sure to check it out if you ever find yourself in Downtown Memphis.

Peabody

We took the kids on a whirlwind trip to Memphis this past weekend and one of our first stops on Saturday was to see the Peabody ducks. The boys were barely impressed so we stayed all of 3 minutes there. They were filled with little boy energy so we got out of there pretty quickly ;) We did manage to stop and appreciate the gingerbread Peabody hotel on the way out of the door.

It's cold outside

Here Theo is before going to school on Monday. It was in the 30's that morning and his school goes out if it's above 32, hence the hat and "glubs". I love that he still says glubs, just like Jack did.

Also, here is the Santa 2010 picture from the Teddy Bear Tea this past weekend. Both looking at the camera! A Christmas miracle!! Remember two years ago? Christmas 2008

Lego house

Jack and our neighbor, Ethan, worked on this house over the weekend. Jack was so proud that he took pictures of the inside to capture the detail.

Warming up

It's been brutally cold here (hey, it is Louisiana after all) and the boys were beginning to get restless yesterday. I wanted to take them for an afternoon treat but our local bake shop had already closed :( We headed to Starbuck's instead and warmed up on hot chocolate (I had a peppermint mocha) and enjoyed some treats (Theo chose a donut and Jack had a peppermint brownie). It's really the little things that are fun with them. Until Theo made an absolute mess trying to drink from the lid........... so he got a straw instead!

The boys and I had a big day across the lake today. I parked over in the French Quarter and walked around a bit with the boys. I managed to take a cute picture or two of them in front of Jackson Square before catching a cab to The Roosevelt Hotel for the Teddy Bear Tea. The decorations in the lobby were simply breathtaking. I could have stayed for hours looking at everything if I were by myself. We had a huge group of nearly 30 people and tried out a kids table this year! That was awesome! Theo sat next to me at the adult table but Jack and his friend, Dean (the only boys in our group) were in heaven together. They poured tons of cups of hot chocolate and dined on cookies :) Mrs. Claus read The Night Before Christmas and then I took the boys to see Santa. Jack rattled off his list and Santa was quick to tell him that he might not be able to bring everything ;) We told the boys that they could only ask for three presents, just like Jesus got from the Wise Men. I think Santa was just playing it safe.

After the tea wrapped up I rode with my friend, Celeste, and her girls to The Miracle on Fulton Street. There are tons of Christmas trees and lights and every hour they have "snow" fall for a few minutes. The kids go wild when it "snows" (really bubbles) and just had the best time. We also checked out the huge gingerbread Superdome there. That was neat! We had dinner right there by the decorations before heading back to the car. It sure was a great day with friends and one that we look forward to every year!!