Christmas 2010 at Kim's house

I know that Christmas was almost 10 days ago. But I'm late in posting about ours and showing you our photos from opening gifts on Christmas morning.

Now my family does not get up early on Christmas morning. Never has, never will. Could be as most of us don't get to bed until after 2am. But even when Brandon was a small child, he never got up early on Christmas.

Nothing like my childhood where we would all go to bed with flashlights & then get up in the middle of the night to see what Santa had brought. And still got up early even though we already knew what Santa brought.

Nope, my family likes to sleep in on Christmas morning.

This Christmas was no exception. My family didn't even get up until around 11am. We didn't even open gifts until 1pm. Mike did make us omelets and hash browns for breakfast.


Above is the gift that I got from Andrea's family. It's already out in my front yard welcoming everyone. At least it is, until I take down my Christmas decor. Yep, it's still up.

Reading my Christmas card from Mike. He has learned over the years that I like the mushy ones better than the funny ones. But if they are both mushy & funny, that is the bomb!

Opening up one of my gifts from Mike. A large self healing mat so that I have something to cut fabric on. He also got me a rotary cutter and a quilting ruler (even though I don't quilt, I just wanted it for cutting fabric).

Jesse opening up the power inverter we, I mean, Santa, got him for his truck.

Brandon opening up the XBox live annual subscription card Santa got him.

See?


Mike got a Soda Blaster from Brandon. Just what he wanted. It's kind of like a sand blaster, but it uses baking soda instead of sand.

And what did Brandon give me? Why a Silhouette digital cutting machine. Just what I wanted. Brandon is way better than Santa.

Jesse opening up another of his gifts from Santa.

It's a Bucket Head wet/dry vac and a bucket to use it on.

Santa even brought Mike a new inner tube for his unicycle. Isn't Santa the best? Wait, Brandon is the best. Santa comes in 2nd this year.

Santa, I mean I, got Mike this new paint spray gun contraption to hook up to his compressor. Now I should be able to get him to paint more furniture for me. Aren't I sneaky? I'm always putting him first.

I'm not showing photos of all the gifts we got. Or we'd be here all month. Just kidding. We really had a small Christmas this year. Jesse got a couple of socket sets and Brandon got some new windshield wipers and some sour patch straws. The only other gifts to open were from Andrea's family.

About 3pm, after opening gifts, we drove over to Eric's house for Christmas dinner. Luckily, Eric only lives about 20 minutes from me. This was the first year that we did not get together with Mom, Dad and Jodi. They were going to come up, but decided they would spend a leisurely day at home by themselves. It was weird having such a small get together for Christmas.

But we still had 11 people at Eric's (his family, Taylor and Michael and my family). Jeannette cooked the ham, green beans, made a tossed salad and a cranberry salad. I brought the cheese potatoes and the home made ranch dressing for the tossed salad (per Cade's request). It was a very yummy dinner, but the company was even better. Just wish everyone from our family could have been there.

And can you believe that I forgot to take any photos while we were at Eric & Jeannette's house? I can't believe it either. I have 2 blogs and I forgot to take photos.

I guess I was enjoying the food, um, the company too much. That's it, I was enjoying the company too much.

So what did your family do for Christmas? And what was your favorite gift this year? And what did you eat for Christmas dinner? Do tell!

Kim

Merry Christmas from Sacramento!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Goodnight!

Christmas Eve and Christmas with the Sizemore's and all of our extended family.  With love and good tidings to all.

Kim's Top Ten

Isn't it the time of year for making lists? I'm not much of a list maker, but I want to change. So today, I'm going to share with you the Top Ten reasons why my Christmas decor is not put away.

This is as close as I've gotten to putting away my Christmas stuff so far.

Exhibit A: My family room table
I've managed to stack up all my Christmas plates, placemats and glasses. I did get my silverware put away. The mercury glass votive candle holders are packed away in the box. And I've taken down the hanging snowflakes from my chandelier. But the rest of my family room looks like Christmas! And my tree is still up.

Exhibit B: My living room dining table. Most of my living room Christmas decor has been moved to the table. I just need to get the boxes down from the attic & pack it away. And yup, my tree is still up in my living room as well.

My original goal was to have Christmas all packed up & put away this past weekend. But I failed. I'm not good at making goals and keeping them. I seem to get sidetracked too easily. That is why I never make New Years resolutions. I know I won't keep them. Did you make resolutions this time of year? If so, what are yours for the coming year?

I want to change. Really I do. But here are the reasons I didn't get it done. They are not in any order or importance, or what I liked the best. I put them in the order in which I was sidetracked.

1) We'll start with New Year's Eve. Who wants to put away Christmas decorations on New Year's Eve? Mike & I decided to go to the movies instead. You see, we rarely go to the movies as it costs money. Lucky for me, I have a friend who works at a movie theater & she occasionally gives us free tickets. Since it was the last day of December & the tickets were going to expire, we decided to see a movie.

I wanted to see Sherlock Holmes or It's Complicated. Mike wanted to see Avatar. I didn't. But since Sherlock Holmes & It's Complicated where special engagement movies we couldn't use our free tickets to see them. Avatar was the only movie we could see. So we went.

But I was wrong about Avatar. It was a great movie. I liked it. Definitely worth seeing. Now Mike wants to see it in Imax 3-D. Have you seen Avatar yet? Did you like it?

2) New Year's Day. Great day for taking down decorations. But instead, I decided to cook a ham dinner & invite Danica, Jase and Cade over for dinner. Eric and Jeannette had gone to Idaho to take Taylor up to school and left their other kids at home. So I invited them over for dinner.

It was like having Christmas dinner all over again. We had spiral cut ham with glaze, cheese potatoes, yams, green bean casserole, corn and the family green Thanksgiving/Christmas jello salad. And no, the above photo is not of our dinner. I forgot to take any photos of dinner or our company. I was too busy cooking and eating to think about photography. Can you believe that I forgot to take photos? And I have two blogs? Food can do that to me.

3) After dinner I turned on the TV & what was on, Pride and Prejudice. Now I had just bought this DVD for myself, for Christmas. And I had just watched it the week before. For the first time in my life, no less. Can you believe I had never seen this movie before Christmas? Me neither.

Well I loved it so much the first time I saw it, I had to watch it again. The Christmas stuff could just wait. Mr Darcy couldn't.

4) Saturday: When Danica was over for dinner on New Years she asked if I wanted to go shopping with her the next morning. Shopping!!!! I'm in!!!!
So we went shopping for most of the day. Got a cute apron & placemats at Kohl's for Valentine's Day. They have cupcakes on them! Found some Valentine plates at Target, as well as some Christmas stuff on clearance. Good thing I hadn't packed away my Christmas stuff yet. Ate at Chipotle's for the first time. It was OK, don't think I'll go back.

5) Saturday night: Guess what was on TV tonight? The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers. I guess the Fellowship of the Rings had been on the night before, but I was too busy watching Pride and Prejudice.
Don't you just love The Lord of the Rings? And can you believe that I never saw the final installment? Lucky for me, it's on Sunday.

6) Sunday: Today was the day I was going to get everything put away. I even told Jesse that he couldn't have his girlfriend over as I was going to be in the family room putting everything away.

And what did I do instead? I took a nap. But what a nap it was. I slept for most of the day. Isn't Sunday the day of rest?


7) The Return of the King. I had to watch. I'd never seen it before. And I'm in love with Aragorn!Wow, that was such a long movie. Over 4 hours on TV. Luckily it started early enough that I wouldn't miss my next distraction.

8) More TV: Desperate Housewives & Brothers and Sisters. I had to see who died when the plane crashed onto Wisteria Lane. And I had to see if Kitty was going to live or die. So much drama!!!

I'm glad it was Carl (sorry Carl). I like Orson. Sad for Lynette. I still love this show.

I'm glad Kitty made it. I like her. And I love Robert aka: Rob Lowe. He has the most gorgeous eyes. So that pretty much took up my entire weekend.

But I thought this was a top ten list. Kim, you've only listed eight reasons why your Christmas decor didn't get done.

Well, here it is Wednesday, so I should have been able to at least get a little done on Monday & Tuesday after I got home from work. Right? WRONG!!! Here are my last 2 reasons why my Christmas decor is still up.

9) The Bachelor. Did you know that the new season started Monday night? Did you watch? Isn't Jake a hottie? Can any man be that good looking & be that nice?
And did you know it's going to be The Bachelor's most dramatic season ever? Don't they say that every year? I guess I'll just have to watch to decide for myself.

10) And my top reason for not getting my Christmas decor packed away......THE TUDORS. My new obsession. I bought myself the first two seasons for Christmas. Don't you buy yourself Christmas gifts? I already watched the first two seasons the week between Christmas and New Year's. I wanted season three, but it costs more and I didn't want to spend the money. Lucky for me, Danica got season 3 for Christmas. She is letting me borrow it.

Last night I watched the first 5 episodes of season 3. I liked the first two seasons better. But then, I am a fan of Anne Boleyn. She was feisty. Jonathan Rhys Meyers makes a great King Henry VIII on this series. He is definitely worth watching. Tonight I will probably watch the last 5 episodes.

If you are a fan of this time period, this is a great TV series. But I have to warn you, it can be a bit racy. It's on Showtime, so there is nudity and sex scenes. And did they say the "F" word back in that time? It would probably be considered "R" rated, but I'm the black sheep in my family, so I watch stuff like this. Since I don't have Showtime, I have to wait until next year to see season 4 when it comes out on DVD. Boo hoo!!! Did I tell you I was impatient too? I have too many weaknesses.

All I can say is that I'm glad I didn't live during that time period. It was brutal. They make it seem all romantic. Even though I'm sure it really wasn't all that romantic to live during that time.

Well there you have my top ten reasons for my Christmas decor still being up. I did promise Mike that I'd have it put away by Valentine's Day. Wish me luck!!!

Christmas with Kim's family

Eric already posted a little about our family Christmas at Mom & Dad's house. But before going to Mom & Dad's on Christmas, my family had to open gifts at our house first.

Now my family doesn't get up early for Christmas. I had to wake most everyone up at 9:30 so that we might have enough time to get ready & open gifts before leaving for Mom & Dad's house. We were suppose to be at their house about noon. And it takes an hour and fifteen minutes to get there.

So we had to rush our Christmas a little. Which meant that I didn't take very many photos.

I'll start off with the stockings. It seems that I had great intentions of making new stockings for my family this year. So I didn't get out our old stockings from the attic. But here it was 1am on Christmas morning & my stockings were not done. In fact, they hadn't even been started. What is a mom to do?

Ziplock to the rescue!!! We had a Ziplock stocking Christmas.

How convenient that there is a place to write a name on the bag. Photo was actually taken late Christmas eve or early Christmas morning before I went to bed. I was up till 1am wrapping gifts. I tried not to get in Santa's way as he was filling the fabulous stockings.
Here is a closeup of Jesse's stocking. The boys all got a kick out of my Ziplock stockings.

I didn't take any photos of us actually opening up the gifts. They got nothing exciting this year, just the usual underwear, socks, t-shirts, etc. Here are all my "boys" after the damage had been done.

Mike getting into his pumpkin seed stash I gave him. I always give Mike a stash of different kind of nuts & seeds.
Jesse with one of his gifts. I think it was the Transformers movie I got him.
And Brandon. Both boys got new blankets for their beds.

I never got photos of what everyone got. Nor any photos of me. And when we got down to Mom & Dad's, I realized that I had left my camera at home. So I didn't get any photos at Mom & Dad's. Luckily Jodi took lots of photos there & some have already been posted on this blog by Eric (Jodi made copies of the photos for me & Eric while we were down there).

I will now post copies of the photos that had my family.

Danica & me. I forgot to put on my mascara. My glasses are just cheap reading glasses from the dollar store. I seem to need them to see everything now. Danica now has to wear glasses all the time.
Mike wanted to horn in on our photo shoot.

Jase & Brandon.
Santa Mike
Jesse doesn't like having his photo taken (Andrea's kids seem to have the same problem).

Santa & Mrs Claus, aka: Mike & me. I just opened up my gift from Jodi.

Jodi kept trying to take Jesse's photo. And he kept putting up his hand. Really it's because he only has one eye. Just kidding!

Brandon & Grandpa aka: Dad

I think he has had a little too much Pepsi.

The "Wow" rock was a no show this year. Brandon can't seem to remember where he put it. Everyone was disappointed. We were going to make a new one, but time just ran out. Maybe next year. And who knows, maybe it will show up for some one's birthday.

After we ate a fabulous Christmas dinner, Mike, Jesse & I went to visit our Grandson Gunner. I borrowed Mom's camera to take photos there.

Brandan (my step son) and his family were at Crystal's (my daughter in law) parents condo.
Here is Gunner trying to open up one of the gifts we brought him.

Grandma got me some t-shirts? How can I play with t-shirts?

Brandan opening up our gift to him & Crystal. New stainless steel cookware. Brandan was so happy he cried. He would love to be a chef someday. This cookware will help.

Brandan is telling his wife Crystal that she won't have to cook dinner anymore. The perfect gift for her. I guess I forgot to take a photo of Crystal. Oops!

Gunner is 28 months old now & it quite tall. He doesn't talk yet. And is always on the move. It is hard to take photos of him as he never sits still for long.
It was fun getting to spend some time with my Grandson.

After we visited with Brandan's little family, we went back to Mom & Dad's house to get my Brandon so we could go home. By the time we got back, Eric's family had already left as well.

Once we were home, Jesse's mom came by & picked him up to spend some time with her over the weekend. And I watched "The Holiday" and "Pride & Prejudice" (DVD's I got for Christmas).

On Sat 12/26 we went over to Eric's house for dinner. Andrea's family was stopping by on their way home from Arizona (where they spent Christmas). So our three families got a chance to visit & eat some more good food. But no one took any photos. Sorry.

The rest of the weekend was spent lounging around the house watching movies and or TV or playing video games. I also got "The Tudors" DVD's the first two seasons. I watched the entire first season & most of the second season. Danica warned me that it was pretty racy & she was right. But I love this series. I'm totally hooked. Now I need to get the third season. And I wish that I had Showtime so I could watch the current season. I guess I must wait for the DVD version.

So there you have my version of Christmas 2009. It was pretty sparse in the present department, but overflowing in family, love & memories. The part that really counts.

What did your family do for Christmas? Be sure to post about it. And you can post about your favorite Christmas gift as well. I will probably post about mine in a day or two.

CHRISTMAS AT THE LANGSTON'S!!!

JEANNETTE LAUGHING HER BUTT OFF!!
KIM AND GRANDMA
JESSE AND GRANDPA.
JASE AND CADE
ERIC RELAXING AND TAYLOR BEING NORMAL!!
AT GRANDMA'S HOUSE; JODI, DANICA, TAYLOR.
ERIC'S PARENTS; CARLOS AND DOROTHY.