Merry Christmas! 2009

We woke up Christmas morn w/a very happy boy ready for breakfast!

..then came the rush into the living room (and I spared you the photo where Henry walked into the shot and I said, "Damnit Henry get out of the way!" just as Brad started filming w/ the video camera..Nice.)

Ben liked his rocking chair almost as much as the bow that came on it...

..the drum was also a hit...but mommy had to open it because Ben couldn't be bothered to open it or pretty much any of his gifts!

...the bucket filled with gifts and tissue paper was the exception but only because he wanted to eat the paper....

..the lawn mower from Nana and Poppy was really the big winner!

....this hat didn't last long....

...there were a few sparse and unflattering pictures of mommy and daddy taken ....

Ben's second Christmas was a lot of fun! And he has been trying to open the remaining gifts under the tree ALL night (ironic since he wouldn't have anything to do w/ his own this morning) so I hope he will be ready for the Snepps to descend on us from Louisville tomorrow! Merry Christmas everyone! We miss you Cathey family and wish we could be there! G'night!

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Christmas Eve started very early....as in just after 5 am. I got up and rolled out these cinnamon rolls to take to Ben's daycare, Brad's office, and the hospital I used to work at (and did help out at on Christmas Eve for a few hours in the morning)

..I should also add that for my first yeast-based bread product they turned out very well. It was time-consuming but not difficult. And honestly when this amount of butter is involved I don't think you can go wrong. Move over Paula Dean here comes The Pioneer Woman!

Wipe the drool off your chin and give them a try...you won't regret it! BUT be warned...this recipe made 11 pans of rolls for me! I think it's because I refrigerated the dough overnight and it expanded A LOT!

Meanwhile, back at the hospital I got to see all my old buddies (well lots of them anyhow)...

(the blonde on the right is my former student AND my replacement when I left)

...my good buddy Jenny G who apparently couldn't be bothered to look at the camera (just kidding...we'll blame Jenn D for the shoddy camera work...LOL....besides she never reads this!)

Ben decided to 'help' me bake cookies for Santa by getting into the drawer under the stove.

By 8 pm, Ben had crashed out in daddy's lap and had to skip his bath and story because there was no waking him up.

So Santa (ok lets clarify that it was Mrs. Claus) got everything arranged around the tree! The big wooden box on the left w/ the giant red bow is Ben's toy box that took Santa SIX HOURS to assemble over a 2 day period. And notice the cute little white rocker for story time!

The magical glow of the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve...you just can't beat it...

This is definitely a "visions of sugar plums" pose...what a sweet baby boy...

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!