Catching Up...

We were having some problems with our computer but thanks to Uncle Austin they have been resolved so I can finally post some pictures from Christmas and Caleb's birthday. Am I behind or what?!? I will start with Christmas since it is most recent...

Grandma and Grandpa came over Christmas Eve day to open stockings and presents, and we ended the day with a delicious ham dinner with all the fixings cooked by Grandma (along with a burned-on-top sweet potato casserole cooked by me). We gave the kids their Christmas pajamas, the older three wrote notes to put with Santa's milk and cookies and then Scott read "The Night Before Christmas" to everyone before bedtime. Amazingly, the grown-ups were in bed by 12:30 and Caleb (our early riser) didn't wake up until 6:40. Ella and Jackson weren't too far behind, and Lillian finally came out about the time the older three were finishing with their presents. We munched on some hot monkey bread and sausage balls and then started opening and playing with all the new stuff.

Mom and I headed to the kitchen to start making food for later on. Grandaddy was at his house smoking ribs, venison and brisket. Jackson decided mid-morning that the pudding portion of the banana pudding I was making looked much better all over him and the floor, so then after a horrendous mess being cleaned up mostly by my mom and Russ because I was so overwhelmed and in shock, Scott took a freshly bathed Jackson and went on the hunt for sweetened condensed milk and vanilla pudding mix. Thank goodness Walgreen's was open on Christmas Day - disaster averted!

The kids got rounds 3, 4 and 5 of present opening when Grandaddy, Uncle Austin and Mima and Papa arrived. After that we enjoyed a feast with LOTS of family, friends and neighbors. We all ate and ate, the kids rode bikes and scooters outside with a bunch of the neighborhood kids, Jackson took a 5 hour nap (no kidding) and then it was time to settle in for baths and bedtime. Lillian reminded me as we were putting her in bed that they didn't eat any dinner... oops! I was still so full from our late lunch that I forgot the kids might want to eat something. I started dozing off on the couch at 9:00 - what a day!!