Jingle Bells and Cat Scans

Charlie (Left), Thomas, Tami, Genna, Kate,
Me, Gracie, Jake and Dave.
We bonded.

This year Christmas was a blast! We had Dave's sister Tami [Nickerson] and her family stay with us the days leading up to Christmas. It was so fun!!! I'm a little nerdy and believe in matching PJ's during Christmas, so I made our guests play along. They were good sports about it. I was way sad when they left. I wish we could have house guests all the time (anyone is welcome). It definitely made Christmas more fun.

Thomas and Jake Bonded.

Genna and Gracie Bonded.

We spent Christmas Eve with the Dickson's. We ate great food and had the little one's delight us with a reenactment of the Nativity. All was well until one of the Wise Men found a sword and started to duel with one of the Shepherds. Then Uncle Bruce decided to wrestle Dave, which turned into a dance off (don't ask me how... that's a Dickson party for ya). Carefully watching their uncles inspired the young ones to have a dance off of their own, which then turned into a wrestling match. Weirdos.

I think Dave won. That's my man!

The Traffic Cop.

The Running Man (are people still doing that LOL!).

Not sure who won this match.

Dance Off/Wrestling Match

My family came over Christmas morning to watch the kids have their Santa experience. I am one of 'those' moms who thinks that Jesus received 3 presents, so my children should only get 3 as well. I forgot that grandparents, aunts and uncles give presents too. It quickly turned into a mad house. I lost count of how many toys they got, but most of them weren't from us or Santa. They were also mostly loud and annoying. My brothers were very proud of themselves for that.

Messy, messy, messy!

Jake wants to be a Chef/Doctor
when he grows up.

We spent the rest of the week with a sick Gracie (ear infection) and a little depression that Christmas was over and the Nickerson's had left :(.

Gracie was still sick so we decided to spend New Years Eve at home. We had Olive Garden, sparkling cider in fancy glasses, played board games and were in bed by 10 p.m. For New Years Day we went to Nene's house for breakfast and Rohmer Park for sledding. Jake crashed pretty hard on his first run. He had a scratched up face, a double bloody nose and a cut up lip.

We all thought he was fine, but I had one of those "Mommy Feelings" on the way home so I took him to the doctor. They sent him on to the E.R. where they did a CT Scan and decided he'd had a concussion. Poor kid! He was tough though and held real still during the scan. He thought it was like a ride at Lagoon.

Scratched raw and red from forehead to chin :(

Being brave for the CT Scan.

What a fun way to ring in the New Year! I'm sure the E.R. bill will be giant, but I'm glad he's okay. We'll have to wake him up every 2 hours tonight and keep a close eye on him the next couple of days, but he'll be fine. Something to be grateful for!!! Happy New Year everybody and good luck with those Resolutions!