i’m really competitive so…

I just wanted to be sure I could win the award for SLOWEST BLOGGER IN ALL THE LAND TO POST PICTURES OF CHRISTMAS.  Did I win? 

We’ve been out of town the last three weekends in a row so there just hasn’t been lots of time for posting updates.  There hasn’t been lots of time for much of anything.  It’s been fun, but it’s been a whirlwind and I’m ready to just hang out at home for a change.  Our Christmas tree is still up, for Pete’s sake. 

For Christmas weekend, we went to visit my mama and my sister and her family in Tennessee.

Apparently, this is about the best picture I’ll ever get of all 4 of my mama’s grandbabes.  Don’t worry Mom, I’ll keep trying.
Since I was a teenager, we always opened presents at midnight on Christmas Eve.  We had to let Theo and Dex go a little earlier because they would never make it that long.  We would have waited until Christmas morning but the whole fam went to church and we didn’t want to rush it.
Theo digging into his stocking.
Grammy and Dexter getting ready to read one of many Baby’s 1st Christmas cards.
Theo checking out his new “smart” phone.
Dexter’s reaction to presents was about what you’d expect.  Ribbons! Bows! Paper! Boxes!  (Priceless).
Toypalooza 2011.  Oh, HI BENTLEY!  (For the record, Theo was not scared of my mom’s dog.  I was a little nervous that he would be after the whole dog bite to the head incident).
Theo was pretty content just hanging out with his cousin, Malachi,all weekend.
We put the babies to bed and then us big kids started opening presents.  Seen here: The Aftermath.  I swear, my mom is not a hoarder.
I swear, she’s not.
The day after Christmas it was time to head back home and work a couple of days before celebrating Christmas with R’s side of the family.  I’m not complaining – having two Christmases is nice.  Sure is a lot of work, packing and unpacking so much.  I’m sad and happy about having our family Christmases at home in upcoming years.  It will be nice to wake up at home and share those moments together, but it’s kind of the end of an era, too. 
R getting his Perplexus on.  (Have you seen this? Tried this?  It is unbelievably maddening and addictive!)
Theo cooking in his new (used) kitchen with Aunt Chelle.
Spencer:  Hey, Pop Pop!  Wanna watch me play my new 3DS?
Pop Pop: Sure.  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
I had such a good time watching and helping the boys open presents.
Nana is good at a lot of things – cooking, knitting, and decorating just to name a few.  It wouldn’t be Christmas (or any day) at Nana’s without lots of pretty blue things sitting around.
One of Theo’s favorite little trinkets from Christmas – a light up glitter snowman.
And of course, it wouldn’t be Christmas without some fake mistletoe.  Fake or not, it always elicits a few extra kisses here and there.
So there you have it.  Finally.  It’s been bugging me for a good week now that I hadn’t gotten around to posting this sooner.  I was starting to worry that I’d have to lump 2011 and 2012 Christmas into one blog post.  Maybe if we can get our decorations put away this weekend, it will finally feel like Christmas is over.  Oh well.  What’s the rush?
be merry anyway,
~C~