Whirlwind

The past few days have flown by.  I'm taking a break from unpacking all of our loot (about 3 sleighs full), to update my blog.  I'm overwhelmed by trying to figure out what to do with it all and embarrassed by the amount.  To try forget about it all for a bit, I'm going to back up about a week  (this is going to be a long one).

December 22 was our "Christmas Eve".  The kids were incredibly excited.  We said our tearful goodbyes to Krispy.  We baked and decorated cookies for Santa.  And after a couple of Christmas specials on TV, went to bed giddy and restless. 

 

 

Last year I remember that by the time morning rolled around everyone had forgotten it was Christmas morning.  Not this year, no sir.  We were up before the sun.

 

 The kids opened their gifts.  Then we enjoyed our traditional Christmas breakfast of egg casserole and monkey bread.  The rest of the day was spent playing with our new toys and lounging around.  A quiet day together at home.  Rare and cherished.  I loved it, a stay in your jammies all day kind of a day.  (Betcha can't guess what Kate got from Santa.)

 

 

 

 

 This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it.  As you can tell, he was thrilled with the idea of being his sister's guinea pig...

 

Then the next few days slid by in a blur. The plan was to do Gridley on Christmas Eve, Watseka on Christmas Day, and Shelbyville the day after Christmas.  It didn't quite work out that way.  Remember the flu that hit each of the kids the week before?  Well, I was the next victim.  I felt a little off Christmas Eve, got hit full force Christmas Day, and spent most of the next day recovering.  We still hit all of our destinations, we just left Watseka much earlier than planned, and arrived much, much later to Shelbyville than I would have liked.  It also meant I took much less pictures than I normally do.  Here is a hodgepodge of Gridley, Watseka, and Shelbyville.

 

 

 

 

 

  

Here you can imagine Luke saying "op it, op it".  (open it).  He said this repeatedly every time he had a gift in his hand.  I just love how much this little guy is talking now.  

 

 

 

 

After the Chirstmas circuit, we were home for a day of rest (and more recovery for me).  Then it was back to Gridley for my cousin Jon's wedding.  Kate was the flower girl (and very, very excited to perform her role).  She did a wonderful job, of course, as she takes these things very seriously. 

 

 

After the wedding it was time for the celebration to begin.  Kate and Ben were so happy, they got to drink soda from a can (well..he thought it was soda).

The kids have been practicing their dancing for quite awhile at home.  Luke is a hilarious dancer, and I'm sad that by the time the dancing portion of the evening began, he was a little too tired to show off his moves.  Mono & Ben didn't wait for the dance floor to open, they started right where they were. 

 

Even though it was getting a late for my little guy, he looked adorable all dressed up.

  

Finally the moment they had been waiting for, the DJ started and the kiddos hit the dance floor!

 

 

I love family weddings and 2012 was the year for them...three Maurer weddings!