**HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

Hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year! Talk to you all next year. :)

Christmas evening at Grandma Darr's

We went to my Mom's on Christmas evening. The kids were tired by then. They ripped through their presents. Van and Petey played. Ollie fell asleep watching The Great Train Story with Grandpa Troy and Mom read to Tatum till she fell asleep. It was a very nice way to end Christmas day. :)

Tatum pointing to Dora.

Ollie excited.

Petey and something else with Indiana Jones.

Grandpa Troy helping to it get it out of the box.

Van with a monster truck and a skull mountain.

Tatum with her twin babies.

Tatum asleep.

Van and Petey playing with Petey's Indiana Jones skull race track.

Christmas morning

Here are the pictures from Christmas morning at Nanny and Papaws. I think you can tell from the pictures that the kids had a great time. Christmas Pj's this year were little snowmen for Tatum. Van had spiderman and Petey and Ollie wore Sponge Bob. ( The kids get new jammies for Christmas Eve/ Christmas morning.)









click here to see pictures from last year Christmas morning at Nanny and Papaw's.
click here to see pictures from last year's Christmas Eve at Grandma Linda's
click here to see Patterson family pictures that we took last year on Christmas Eve

Holiday happingings and Christmas Eve at the farm.

Our Holiday week in Coshocton.
Monday, we enjoyed a nice lazy day.
Tuesday, I got to spend some time with my friend Frances that I don't get to see very often. Also, Josh and I had a party at Josh's parents house.***I had lots of fun Cassie and it wasn't until morning I realized I didn't get any pictures of us!***
The kids spent the night at my Mom's on Tuesday.
Wednesday, Christmas Eve, Josh's parents had a Christmas party at their house, then we went out to my Grandparents.
Thursday, Christmas Day, We spent the morning at Nanny and Papaw's (Josh's parents) , then we traveled to Grandma Linda's. Finally we went to my Mom's on Christmas night.
Friday, we traveled back home to Tipp City and had Christmas at our house. Nanny and Papaw also followed us down and spent time with us on Friday before driving home Friday night.
On Saturday, the kids got to see Grandpa Ron and share Christmas with him.
I'll share more pictures from Christmas soon.




We always spend Christmas Eve at my Grandma and Grandpa Lahna's on the farm. click here to see pictures from last year. The picture above is my Grandparents ( my Mother's parents.)

Mom and Tatum playing with her new tea set.

Tatum's new tea set. She would not keep the cups on the tray. If you would put them on...she would just dump them back off again.

Ollie got a train......so guess what he did all night? Ollie LOVES trains.

Van got Pirates of the Caribbean Lego set.

Petey got an Indiana Jones figure.

well...they did receive more presents....but those presents were the top winners of the night.

Damask?

Damask......It's just one of those things....you LOVE it or HATE it......LIKE it or DISLIKE it!
I LOVE DAMASK!
Do you?

Isn't the top one BEAUTIFUL?


What is it about this color and black that just looks so good together?

I LOve the black and white.


Isn't the blue and chocolate beautiful too?

pink and chocolate


so........what do you think?

A lost tooth & updates....

For starters......my baby bear Petey lost his first tooth last Monday. He was very excited because when he goes back to school he gets to put his name on the wall with all of his classmates who have lost teeth too! The tooth fairly brought Petey a dollar that he wanted to spend on a Star Wars figure. When I told him he needed a couple more dollars......he told me he needed to loose some more teeth! haha


**Update** I am back! Last week we were in Coshocton spending our Holiday with family and friends. We were there from Sunday (Nanny & Papaw took the kids on Saturday so Josh and I could play Santa ;) ) night till Friday. I don't know if I told you all, but I had set all my posts over the last week, last Friday, 19th. ...........that whole posting at a later time and date thing is pretty cool! Anyway, hopefully over the next week I'll be posting all the fun times we had over our Holiday and I promise I'll get back to everyone who has commented soon! :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas is not just a day, an event to be observed and speedily forgotten. It is a spirit which should permeate every part of our lives.
- William Parks


Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas.
Dale Evans Rogers


Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won't make it "white".
- Bing Crosby

Christmas Eve

I hope everyone is Merry and safe. Best Wishes to all!

last days of school......

Petey watched Horton Hears a Who his last day of school before break.(he loved it!)

Van watched Space Chimps on Thursday before break! (he loved it too!)

Van's school projects....

Here is the ornament Van brought home on Friday. He made it at school to put on the tree. I Love it!

This ornament he received from a classmate as a present. His Mom made them (gingerbread ornaments, pretty neat.)

Van's Santa and two reindeer.

Van's Alphabet book....It's pretty cool. He wrote something and drew a picture for every letter. He also brought home a couple of bags that I wasn't allowed to see. I had to put them with the gingerbread presents. I can't wait to see what they are.

The Gingerbread Shop

Van and Petey got to buy presents for us at the Gingerbread Shop at school and they were really excited about getting to pick out presents all by themselves! They even helped them put the presents in those pretty bags and fill out the tags. The day that they brought them home from school, Van and Petey told me that I wasn't allowed to peak and I had to hide them till it was time to put them under the tree.
Then when we got home they tried to give each other their presents. I told them they had to wait till Christmas and they got mad at me. Christmas is such a fun time.....it is so hard to wait! (but they are)

the frosting on top

I thought that I would include the frosting recipe that I used to frost my sugar cookies. It is real easy and it tastes really good! I used green food coloring for the second batch of cookies.

The trees are my favorite.

Is it just me......or are the food coloring bottles cute?


Here's the recipe....


4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup shortening
5 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
food coloring

In a large bowl, cream together the confectioners' sugar and shortening until smooth. Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes. Color with food coloring if desired.

story of the pickle...

Do you remember here, when I said that Petey made a pickle ornament this year and last year in school? Did you find the fact that it was a pickle a little funny?

Well, here is the story....

The pickle ornament was considered one of the most special tree decorations by many families in Germany. There the fir tree is usually decorated Christmas Eve. For good luck, the pickle is always the last ornament on the tree. Mother or Father hides the pickle some where on the tree. On Christmas morning, after the children first see the tree, they begin to hunt for the pickle. The child who found the pickle would receive a special present from Santa for being so observant.

We need a little good luck...maybe I should have waited to hang the pickle last!