It Brings Back Memories

As a young girl I would often stay the night at my Grandmother's house and in the morning she would make me the most delicious toast in her toaster oven that consisted of bread, butter, and brown sugar. It was warm, sweet, and crispy!

One time, when I was about 8, I did not understand the difference between a TOASTER and a TOASTER OVEN, and I decided to put the bread in our regular toaster at home with the butter and brown sugar already on it. Thankfully, my mom walked in the kitchen just as flames started to come out of the top. She quickly unplugged the toaster, sat it in the sink, and waited for the fire to die out. Amazingly, we were still able to use our toaster after that! Unfortunately, I did not get to eat the delicious toast I had been anticipating.

This Christmas Vince gave me my very own toaster oven!

It immediately brought back the childhood memory of the toast my grandmother used to make, so I had to try it myself.

It was every bit as incredible as I remembered!

Christmas Morning

Christmas Morning started out perfectly in that the four of us slept in! We had been out late at a Christmas Eve Party the night before, and then Vince & I stayed up very late (Vince came to bed even later than I did) putting presents together.

To start our Christmas Morning we played the Yule Log on TV and ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Then it was time to open presents!

Vince has been making fun of the Snuggie since we first saw it advertised on TV. So, as a joke, I bought him one for Christmas. Suprisingly, he's actually used it and I think he likes it more than he ever thought he would.

The boys loved opening their gifts and really seemed grateful for each one.

The best present they received was a playhouse (a gift from their grandparents). Grafton loved it so much he even ate his lunch in it.

We spent the afternoon at Vince's parent's house having Christmas dinner and doing our gift exchange with his famly. When we got home, Vince and I put the kids in bed and cuddled on the couch and watched "The Holiday".

It was a wonderful day and I'm already going through Christmas withdrawals.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Counting Down to Christmas

Now that we're in the final countdown to Christmas, we've been taking full advantage of all things Christmassy. Over the last week we....

Made a Gingerbread House

Hosted & decorated a table for the Women's Christmas Tea at church.

Met up with my sister and her family at the Bass Pro Shop to look around and have the kid's picture taken with Santa. When we walked in Grafton said, "Wow, this is cooler than I thought!"

Visited our outdoor mall with Vince's family to go on a carriage ride and experience the snow (which was really made of bubbles).

Played in the 20 tons of snow that our church provided after the Children's Christmas Play on Sunday.

The Best Sunday EVER!

Sunday morning started out just like every other Sunday morning around the Brown House. We woke up early, rushed to get ready, and headed to church. However, this Sunday was a little different because Grafton was singing two Christmas Songs on the big stage with his class.

For the occasion we dressed the kids in the matching outfits that their grandparents gave them.

Grafton was excited to wear his dressy clothes, but not very excited to have his picture taken in them!

To get the kids on stage in a proper order, they all held onto a black string and headed up.

I am proud to say that Grafton was the most boisterous singer in the entire choir!

Once church was over, I headed over to the mall with my cousin, grandmother, mom, sister, and aunt to celebrate my Mom's birthday. We started out by having Greek food, then went to the movies, and finished our day with shopping!

My aunt had to head out after lunch and wasn't able to make it into any of our pictures. :0(

We went to a mall that is mostly outside and it started pouring the rain. That didn't stop us though! It just made me want to sing, "Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful...."

We ended our Girl's Day Out with coffee at Starbuck's, took one last picture, and then headed our separate ways.

When I got home I immediately put on my pajamas and then spent the remainder of my evening with with my three favorite guys.... Vince, Grafton & Deklan!

Christmas Parties

Vince and I have attended two Christmas Parties so far this month. The first one was put on by our church to thank all of the people who serve throughout the year. The theme was "Candyland" and we sat in the Chocolate Swamp Section.

The party consisted of dinner, gift giveaways, Thank-You's from the staff, and a life-sized game of Candyland.

I didn't didn't take many pictures, but did manage to take a couple by the christmas tree with my hubby, mom, and sister.

Our second Christmas Party was for the YAC+ Group that we host and it is our only adults only event throughout the year. We had delicious Mexican Food, incredible desserts, and plenty of coffee. I don't know why it is, but the wives sit at one table and have our "girl talk" while the guys sit at the kitchen table and have their "guy talk". It never seems to be that way when you're dating.... The husbands were very nice to surprise us by brining dessert to our table because we were too busy visiting to get it ourselves.

We ended the evening by playing "Seen It: Squabble" (the wives won!) and visiting some more.

I can't wait to do it again next year!

Reasons Why I Shouldn't go Christmas Shopping by Myself with the Kids...

• Grafton insisted on pushing his brother in the double stroller and made it fall backwards so that Deklan was head down in front of a group of people waiting in line at Macy's.
• The large double stroller barely fits through doors and between racks holding merchandise.
• Potty breaks (poop and pee) at the most inconvenient times.
• Deklan decided to have a melt-down at the beginning of lunch resulting in food all over the floor and BOTH of us.
• Deklan was also wanting to nurse during his fit and proceeded to lift up my shirt and show all of the busy holiday shoppers my white stomach.
• Grafton stood in the stroller, with only him in it, and caused it to tip backwards for a second time that day.
• We temporarily lost a shoe.
• Only two gifts were purchased.
• We got on and off the same elevator 3 times because I could not figure out which floor we needed to be on.
• My feet ached, my head hurt, and I was completely exhausted by the end of our trip!

Feeling Stuck

While playing outside one afternoon, Grafton had the idea to crawl inside his cousin's Dora Kitchen that we are temporarily borrowing. Problem is, he wasn't able to get out on his own!

Tree Decorating

We are really enjoying the Christmas Season around the Brown House, especially because Grafton is really into it this year. We've been watching Christmas Movies, have looked at some Christmas Lights, and we've decorated our Christmas Tree.

One day last week I told Grafton that once Deklan went went to bed we would decorate it. However, Grafton fell asleep on the couch while Vince & I were getting all of the decorations ready. I then carried him to bed, turned on some Christmas music, and proceeded to decorate the tree & inside of the house by myself while Vince designed our Christmas Cards.

A few hours later I was in the process of putting everything away when Grafton suddenly woke up and said he wanted to decorate the tree. I then gave him a few bulbs and he went to work right away!

I love his version of decorating. He puts as many bulbs onto one branch as he possibly can.

Unfortunately, Deklan could reach all of those and so we had to move them much higher. Our tree actually looks somewhat hilarious right now. The top 2/3 of it is full of ornaments, bulbs, and ribbon. The bottom 1/3 is completely bare with the exception of the lights.

Someday we'll have our beautifully decorated tree again!

Too Cute for Words