Holiday in the Park

Saturday we headed to Holiday in the Park with Jon's mom, sisters, brother, and niece. None of us had ever been before, but for sure we will go back. We had a blast!! The only downfall was that none of us Myers' dressed warm enough. Jon told us it wasn't that cold, and we all wore short sleeves and hoody's. Jon and Chandler didn't bring jackets at all. Next time we will wear layers, so we can unwrap ourselves if we get hot as opposed to freezing to death! Anyway, I think I love Six Flags at Christmas way more than I do in the Summer. It was just so festive and the food offerings were better. Something about greasy food during the heat of Summer and of course the $5 sodas... I much prefer a cold sunny day and things to eat like: soups, cinnamon apples, kettle corn, and my favorite: baked sweet potato. Let's not forget the 1.99 hot cocoa. Yum! We all really enjoyed ourselves. Except, take my advice: Lamaze breathing does nothing to calm your nerves, fear, nausea, and dizziness when you are riding the Titan. I tried and I looked like an idiot (yes, they got a picture.) Enough gabbing- I know you wanna see the pics and you should definitely go if you can. They are open til January 4th and it's half the price it normally is. So worth it. Thanks Ginger and family, we will definitely do it again!

Me and Chloe


Sarah and Ginger (Jon's mom and sister)


Hayden and Cadence holding hands, so cute!


Chloe and Cadence


group shot, minus me and Ginger


Cadence and Hayden checking things out


SuperChan...


and the rest of his prizes


the boys in the old-timey cars


Chloe behind the wheel


Chloe!


the kiddos waiting on us to ride the Titan


Atalie and Cadence (mommy and daughter)


Myers family


mother and son


FROSTY!


Jon and Chloe. He was super cold so she offered her daddy her accessories...


and, what to eat after a cold day at Six Flags?



SALTGRASS!! (yes, I scraped off the extra butter) That was probably the best steak I have eaten in awhile. Probably because we were starving and cold. The fact that we got a gift card that helped cover the tab might have had some influence as well.

Merry Christmas, in you guessed it: a nutshell

Was awakened after 4 coma-like hours of sleep to open gifts. Kids loved their stuff. I am amazed, as they get older their pile of presents get smaller but my credit card bill gets higher... Made a giant breakfast, pretty sure the eggs were bad, we skipped those. Which is super annoying, I just bought them yesterday and do you know how long it takes to scramble eggs for 6 people?!?! Took a nap, cleaned house, picked up trash and put away toys like 20 different times. Made an awesome dinner: shrimp, bread, salad, and other fattening stuff. Drove around and looked at lights. Blogging. Fixing to take a well deserved bubble bath. I hope everyone had an amazing holiday. Merry Christmas to you and yours. And remember, just say NO to New Year's resolutions. You're just gonna break them by January 15th anyway. Oh yeah, I got an honest to goodness spin bike, ya know spinning, the scary exercise class!? And, an Ipod Touch. Basically I think Jon is ready for me to lose the rest of this weight. So, he got me a fabulous piece of exercise equipment and something to occupy me while I use it. The End.

the living room and all the goods


Jon's stuff and my little pile (Ipod in stocking, spin bike in garage)


Chloe's presents


Chan's stuff (sweet 12 string acoustic, his 3rd guitar)


Hunter's stuff (we hid his Ipod Touch under his hat, he was kinda sad til he saw it)


Hayden's goodies (yes, he got Heely's and a skateboard, cross your fingers for no ER visits)


cupcakes for Santa (what? I forgot cookies...) and carrots for the reindeer


Chan serenading his family


my fave slippers


Chloe looking tired and annoyed


Hunter and his new BFF


Hayden just plain excited

Christmas Eve: in a nutshell

Parents came over, sisters and their kids came over. Bummed that my kids aren't babies anymore, but also kinda glad. Ate too much. Didn't get in bed til 4:30, am amazed at how long my kids lasted.... I was on the blogs and Facebook at 3 in the morning to pass the time. Here are a TON of photos, and I do mean a TON!

me and Chloe


Jon and Hunter playing chess (waiting til the food was ready...)


me and Hayden


me- self portrait and Hayden an innocent bystander


my dad and his fave gift of all. Not really... let's just say this was a gag gift and my dad wasn't for change this election


me and the babies


Jonah and Corgan in an extreme closeup


sisters, daughter, and nephews


Chan doing a darn good Grinch impersonation


Jonah and Chloe


Chloe and Jonah

First Time Homebuilder

Today the kids and I went to my friend Joy's house to decorate gingerbread houses. Since I was busy working on Christmas cards I let them do our house. Let's just say I would have done things differently... Joy was nice enough to let me have an extra house (that had already been "glued" together!) all for me to decorate. And, boy did I! Let me know if you likey. This was my first ever attempt at a gingerbread house!! I think I would have given it up if Joy had given it to me un-assembled. That made it so much easier.









P.S. I used: chocolate chex, gum drops, mini Hershey kisses, red hots, Christmas marshmallows, red & green peppermints, candy canes, Lifesavers, M&M's, red/green sprinkles, Heath bar door, Kit Kat chimney, Rolos, giant Nerds, colored decorator's icing, ice cream cone tree, and powdered sugar "snow". I think I got a cavity just from breathing in all the sugar...

Friday night at the Factory

Tonight Chloe and Hunter had hair appointments with my friend Israel. Since he is a stone's throw from our new favorite restaurant- The Cheesecake Factory, we stopped there afterwards for a late night dinner and some dessert. We had a ton of fun, cracking up and being goofy. We were all annoyed by the warm bread and frozen butter, which is pure cruelty. So, Chloe stuck her pat of butter in her bra and Hunter put his in his armpit. Yes they were still in the foil and no it didn't work... but it was a good idea. And, did you know it only takes about 4 minutes for 3 people to devour a serving of the 30th Anniversary Chocolate Cake Cheesecake? I kid you not, I think I took 3 bites. Those 2 kids have their daddy's sweet tooth and their mommy's appetite. DANG! That cheesecake didn't stand a chance. It was fun to hang out with my little pre-teen drama king and queen. They can be stinkers, but tonight they were dare I say it, normal?


See, we like each other- sometimes


Me!


Smile! Mom's got her camera out, again!


me, waiting on my 3 whole bites of cheesecake to arrive


DESSERT! Don't ya love the big "30th" in cinnamon?


where do we begin?


checking out the different layers and marking their territory


2 minutes later...


4 minutes later...


Holy Cow, we're full!


P.S. I loooove Chloe's hair. She looks more beautiful than ever. She is growing so fast it's unbelievable. And, no I am not ready for it.