The last of Christmas

...And just like that, the much anticipated Christmas vacation was over. We packed as much of the good stuff into the last week and a half as we could. We relaxed, we spent lots of time with family, we finally finished painting our bathroom, Cody finally got shelves put up in our storage room, I finally boxed up our baby clothes and cleaned out Jaden and Brandon's closets, I enjoyed a day of shopping with gift cards and finding that pair of gray boots I had so desperately been wanting...and I splurged on a Starbuck's Peppermint Mocha... more than once. We watched our new Alvin and the Chipmunks "The Squeakuel" movie -- multiple times. And Jaden, Brandon and I ended our vacation last night with a full-blown dance party in the basement while Cody was out picking up a pizza. (Because the one thing we didn't accomplish during our break was grocery shopping).

As great as vacation was, one of the greatest things about it was that it really did "recharge" my batteries. I feel refreshed, and I am happy to be back in the swing of things. For now, anyway... :)

Here's a look at some pictures from our final few days --

Thank goodness for Pinterest. One thing that Cody's mom requested for Christmas was something that the boys had made. Hard to accomplish with a not quite four year old and not quite two year old. But we did it. And since we didn't exchange gifts with them until New Year's Eve, we had plenty of time to do it, too. I have to admit that I'm pretty proud of our thumbprint Christmas lights on canvas...

 

Things got interesting when it was time to get Brandon's perfect little thumbprints...

After we had managed to get thumbprints from him, we let Brandon sit for a while and play with the very washable paint. Our youngest loves anything artsy and was completely distraught when it was time to take the paints and paper away.

I tried another new recipe... a yummy ice cream dish with an Oreo crust that we took to Aplington with us and then of course FORGOT TO SERVE AND EAT. Sigh. Life with little ones, right?

New Year's Eve was spent in Aplington welcoming Cassi and James home from England and doing the gift exchange with Cody's parents.

Brandon with two of his favorite things... an orange marker... and stickers...

Guitar #2 of Christmas. Now the boys each have one. Of course, they each only want the one that the other one is currently playing with. But Brandon especially loves this one. He couldn't look cuter with a guitar over his shoulders and marker on his tummy. And speaking of... I'm realizing more and more that my kids have a lot of pictures taken of them with their shirts off. Gotta love having boys. ;)

All the grand kids got new jammies for Christmas. Brandon looked adorable in his, along with his new slippers -- and was pretty happy to show them off. He is a big fan of snowmen. And he knows when he's putting on a show... he took to the center of the living room floor like Bon Jovi takes to the center of a stage.

...And now we turn the page to 2012. I just had to complete the registration form and fees for Jaden's preschool enrollment for this upcoming fall. I'm signing them up for spring swimming lessons and April soccer this week -- and Jaden's birthday party is only three and a half weeks away! Life doesn't slow down, and I have a resolution to soak up each day... take life one day at a time... and to take lots of pictures. ;)

Happy New Year to you all!