The dress has been picked out....
and Jen's all ready for the dance with her daddy.
This is the third year Jim has taken his Little girl to the dance. She loves picking out the perfect dress, flowers, shoes and getting her hair done up. Jim lets her pick the restaurant- which was Rd Robbins this year and then they head to the dance.
Every year we spend New Years Eve at Julie's house. It's lots of finger foods, noise and running around until the clock strikes 12 and then we pack up our crew and head home at 12:05. I know, we are huge party animals.
This year we had the addition of Just dance. We all danced the night away.
Jimmy had to remove his shirt- he was working it so hard.
Poor Lanie didn't even make it to 11:00pm. So pooped herself out.
Jen thought she was hot stuff drinking sparkling cider out of a fancy glass.
The kids were more then excited to see what Santa left for them. I'm not sure how many more "Santa" years are left for us, so I'm trying to make the most of the years left. This year they both got present that only Santa would bring:
Pillow Pets - Jen got a penguin and Jimmy got a frog. They were so surprised because they know there has been a stuffed animal ban in the house for awhile now.
Jimmy made this awesome hand print Christmas tree painting in class. The only problem is that he gave it to Jenevive instead of me - his beloved mother who gave birth to him after 2 days of labor. After questioning Jimmy about his selection of recipient, I calmly and firmly told Jen it was a mistake and that it was mine. After a few minutes of Jim, Jimmy and Jen trying to set me straight, I agreed to let Jen have it, and then I stole it and hid it in the Christmas decorations. She'll never remember.
Jimmy received a Follow Me Thomas toy that he had be begging for.
Dzia Dzia ( which is Grandpa in Polish) with just a few of his great grandchildren.
This Christmas started of the same as last year- with Jimmy crying about dressing up. It may have something to do with the dorky train sweater. It was the compromise I made in the store. It took 4 tries to get him to smile ( well sort of ) for a picture.
Take 4- thanks to Jenevive for her assistance I finally have a pictures of the kids dressed up and "smiling". I'll take it!
With the summer we had, losing both Grandma Thornton and Aunt Lori only weeks apart from each other, we weren't real sure how the holiday would be. Grandpa decided to come up from Georgia after all. Here is a great picture of Grandpa with 16 of his 17 great grandchildren.
Aunt Lori had a huge Madame Alexander doll collection which Uncle Tony wrapped and passed out to each one of the girls. It was a very emotional holiday.
Jimmy and Cody - best buddies.
Truth be told, our Christmas tree goes up only a few days before Christmas and then comes down right after. If we didn't have kids, we probably wouldn't even have one. Every year I buy the kids an ornament. Usually it has something to do with their birthday party theme or sport they were in for that year. Jen and Jimmy love pulling out their ornaments and decorating the tree all by themselves. Jen especially loves playing Vanna White, never passing up a chance to pose for the camera.
Jimmy mostly bunches up the ornaments at the bottom. You can always tell where his spot was.
Every year there is a fight with who gets to put the topper on the tree. So now, They takes turns- one puts the topper on and the other puts baby Jesus in the manger on Christmas morning.
