Christmas Part Deux

So the other great part about Christmas is spending the day with my family at my sister Dana's house.  We get there about 10 am and hang out until evening.  We play with new "toys", talk, EAT, and enjoy the day.  It's really one of my very favorite days of the year.  So, here are some pictures of that day. (I have more, but it takes forever to put each picture on and then position it, so I'll just put a few). 

Here's Brooklyn with Livy, trying out Owen's scooter. She had a great time!

Here are the 3 sassy princesses on the tramp. Tatum, Olivia, and Maya.  So cute! (Brooklyn's really trying to make it in their ranks.  She got to spend the night with them on Monday and she thought she was in heaven).

Maggie and Troy are sharing a conversation on the phone.  Allyson's blog has a cuter picture than this.  But it was sweet.  Mags loves her Uncle Troy lots!

Here's Coop with his new DS. They played with those lots that day.

And Carter playing with his DS!

Jere and Dixie (both obviously very sassy). Especially Jere. :)

Here's Allyson with her sweet baby Max.  (I have a cuter picture of Max I'll show you.  He's so dang sweet. Always happy and smiley, and very strong.  He is so cute!)

See, there's the cutie patootie! Look at those big eyes and sweet cheeks. Allyson got herself two sweet little babes. (Lucky duck!)

Since I'm always the one taking the pictures I had to beg someone to take one of me.  So, here we are...Troy and Jenny on this great day! I have other shots of family, but I think you get the idea.  We've got puzzles going on (read Dixie's post on that...hilarious!), games being played, football games on TV (where you will ALWAYS find Troy), food glorious food on the table, bike riding, trampoline jumping, ping-pong playing, air hockey playing, and talking and mingling going on all day.  It is truly the BEST. The end.

Project Saturday's continued...

So remember those project Saturdays we started a while ago?  Well, we've actually been keeping up on those, so I thought I'd give you a little update on our progress.  Troy worked for 12 hours laying sod in our backyard (after SEVERAL Saturdays just cleaning up and preparing the yard). I am so sad that I don't have a total before picture. But picture weeds as tall as children that can suck you in and never let you go. It was literally a jungle out there. After cleaning that up, Troy tilled the ground, and then laid the sod.  It's not totally finished yet (the sod part), but that will be finished this Saturday.  After that we are going to put a brick border all around and then put rocks and possibly some trees along the back fence.  We also left room for the garden we want to put in this spring.  So far, so good! 

Sibling Gifts

Alright, so this isn't Christmas Part Deux yet...but I forgot about a gift I wanted to share.  This year I decided that my kids needed to focus more on the giving, and that we needed to put more of our heart and soul into that and not just grab any old thing from the store. So, we decided to make gifts for each other.  I helped them look online for ideas, and sort of "nudged" them in a particular direction.  Needless to say they all ended up making the same gift for each other, but they were each unique.  We made fleece blankets.  I took each child separately to JoAnne's to get the fleece and they picked it out.  Then they made them.  Cooper had Carter, so he chose SpongeBob fleece (perfect), Carter had Brooklyn so he chose princess fleece (another perfect choice), and Brooklyn had Cooper, so we chose pirate/skull/treasure map type fleece.  Again, perfect. (I knew that cuz when we were choosing for Carter, Cooper said how much he loved it). Before Christmas Cooper ruined it for everyone by showing the fabric to Carter and telling him.  I was SO MAD!!! But, I got over it (sort of) and we went through with it anyway.  Just so you know, they were truly awesome gifts that they had to put a lot of time and effort into, and that they use every single day! (Alright, so Cooper's turned out the best...what can I say? Brooklyn's a natural blanket maker! :) Here's a picture of the 3 in their warm and lovingly made fleece blankets:

Christmas at the Crandell's

I LOVE Christmas. Have I ever mentioned that? For me it's ALL about the giving to my family.  I go a little bit crazy every year, and I've vowed to stop that because my kids don't fully appreciate it and they don't take care of their things. They have too much stuff, and yet always seem to be "bored." So this year we borrowed an idea from a friend of my mom's. They got 3 presents, and they had to make their lists according to a "need" a "want" and a "wish". Now you may think a want and a wish are the same, but I differentiated that by telling them that a want was something they wanted that they could probably get (not too expensive). A wish was something only Santa Claus could bring (my boys found out this year the sad truth, but I still explained it that way). It would be "the big one." Now, before I go further, I must say that I mostly stuck to my plan.  They did each get 3 gifts, but some gifts needed accessories, so they ended up opening about 5 gifts each. Also, I picked up tons of "family" gifts that they got to open because who can pass up the DVD deals for 3 and 5 dollars at Target??  So, on with the show!

Every Christmas Eve we spend in Heber with Troy's family, and Grandma Crandell gives all the grandkids pajamas. So here's a shot of that. Now we're ready for bed and for the arrival of Santa.

Brooklyn got her bran new kitchen this year from Santa! This was her  big gift, and let me tell you...she LOVES it! It even makes "bubbling" noises on the stove, and has a little phone that makes noise, too.  Santa found it at Wal-Mart for a smokin' deal the day after Thanksgiving. :

) (Nevermind her crazy hair in all these.  What's Christmas morning without crazy hair?)

Carter got a portable DVD player, which I didn't realize would be such a hit, but he loved it! He spent the morning in his underwear. Did I mention they got pajamas? Ya... but Carter really loves sleeping in his skivvies, so there you have it. At least they're not whitey tighties, right?

Cooper's "want" was an electronic keyboard.  When I first heard that I said no way. First of all, we have a piano that I can't get him to practice ever, so why would I get a keyboard? But then I found it for another serious deal on Black Friday, and I thought...why not? Maybe this will be more exciting than the piano and he'll practice? Let me just say...it was a hit! He has played it everyday since, and absolutely loves it! Yay, me! :)

Brooklyn's next gift was a fairy dress up box because she LOVES to dress up so much! 

Alright, so this was the super duper wish for the boys this year. A Nintendo DS. I told them it wasn't gonna happen.  These things are very expensive, and they hardly took care of the Game Boys they got 2 years ago. However, I found the BEST deal at Game Crazy the day after Thanksgiving, and so...they got lucky! However, these are the things that needed accessories, so that's why they got more to open (games, a carrying case, etc.) But needless to say, these were a very exciting gift from "Santa"!

OK, so it's not quite as fun to open your DS after you already know what it is, but it was still a fave! :) They were both quite happy.

Accessories for the kitchen. :)

The "need" for both boys was definitely shoes, and they both had their own choices there.  Cooper has really wanted Converse type shoes.  I found his at Old Navy for $8.95, so I totally scored because he LOVED them! Carter, unfortunately, wanted DC's, which cost considerably more.  But I made a good choice and he thought they were perfect. So both boys were happy, which, I gotta tell you, is rare! 

Brooklyn also got a little Cabbage Patch baby and a Princess hideaway tent.  She loved both! :)

Troy got a 16 gb Sansa MP3 player, and I got a Wii Fit! We both loved them, and thankfully for you...no pictures of our glamour in the morning! 

Stay tuned for Christmas part deux!

Christmas beauty

Just wanted to show you how 'dorable my little Brookers was for Christmas. I feel bad cuz I don't have any pictures of my boys, but seriously...they aren't that excited about "dressing up" for any occasion, so they just looked normal. I have lots of catching up to do, but thought I'd give you a little glimpse of my beauty! :)