Merry Happy Something

Yay!! I finally got all 4,000 pics uploaded! The candy hangover is wearing off, and I am starting to find places for some of the things we got for the holiday..
Now. What to title this?

To be up front and honest with you, I am not christian. I am not devote to any real faith 100percent.. and yet I celebrate a winter holiday.
Ri Calls it Xmas a nod to futurama, as it should be I guess. We just love the whole thing- the Americanized winter holiday known as Christmas, food, tree, decorations, family, exchanging gifts, candy, even Santa. It doesn't have much to do with Christs birth to me.. many of the traditions we uphold this time of year came from much older holidays than Christs Birthday- and if we are bring honest wouldn't his Bday be in like-march or june? But even that story is a neat one, along with many other religious winter stories that we share this time of year. and many in my family are of other faiths, and celebrate a different-but similar winter holiday all together.
It's just a good holiday-Getting together in winter with the fam, traditions and reminiscing, getting excited for your children to enjoy the season, that's what it is all about. Even before churches turned it into a religious holiday- and that's why we keep it.IMO. So yes. we celebrate, and no I'm not sorry. I am sorry to people who are ignorant enough to not accept that other people , with different beliefs, celebrate a Holiday in winter. Either way I wish all of you a Happy Holiday- and hope it was wonderful :)

That minirant out of the way on to those pics.


1st off Pics of us exchanging gifts with Val .

Ignore our mess- check out those awesome new pot&pans!

She got pics- my mem card was in the laptop still trying to upload pics from Disney...and yes me and Rora were sorely in need of a shower.
We got up and cleaned up Xmas eve .
Ri had decided to make his Momo's Asparagus Casserole and bring it to Sari's, which meant a hurried run to the grocery store as we got ready, and he took dressed up Rory- which may have been a bad idea,he said every little old lady in the store had to stop her and have a five minute convo with her. We weren't headed out to Gram's until 4, with plans of going to mom's house after- we are thinking next year we will do xmaseve morn at mom's instead of evening.There was lots of sitting around all dressed up waiting to go- thankfully it helped me top finish my Disney blog post tho :p.
I did have to call mom and ask her if she could find me a jacket to match an empire waist dress, I couldn't find one. It was a pretty warm day tho.
On to Gramma Grapes



Awww! Allura and Nico's 1st Xmas EVE with the family!

Mitch's wife was excited to hold her- Mitch said she was too tiny to hold.
I can't believe she is soo bitty.
and Nico is soo big, he was raiding the food


Rory posed for Missy and Mandy's cameras. She showed off her shoes and hat to anyone that spoke to her
..I posed a little too.
Gram's little ankle biter dog barked and howled and played to rough- Ri embarrassed Rory yelling at her not to play with the dog when it was being so rough..
It embarrassed her badly. I couldn't get her to stop crying, and she wanted to go home. So I threw her in the nursing room with her aunts and a cookie
all better
Then she got to hold Allura," even more betterer"
Allura Rose seemed to like holding her- I could see her listen to every word Rory said ..
Nico got jealous though..

we still aren't sure if he was jealous because Rory is his to hold,or the baby is his to hold... either way he had to get in on that.
Look- she is even smiling!
Missy somehow even talked my overworked cuz Becca into coming, I heard it was something along the lines of a bomb threat
..this pic shows attitude

maybe I should leave their pic taking to them


Becca commented my hair- and HAD to touch it. I dunno if she likes it or not, but agrees it is very me. Then she cornered Ri outside and asked him if I wash my hair.lol. yes.

Aunt Marla , Grandad, and Becca


Alright-Present time present time!
I brought Gramma a pot for her hanging plants, and grandad a stocking with fancy soap and a candle, he really liked the candle.
I just got Aunt Marla stockings full of stuff for all the grandbabies- I figured they could figure out who would want what better than I could. I DID get Binky a Hannah Montana color in poster- she looked soo thrilled about it.I am glad , I almost kept it for Rory(extra glad when Rory got a dozen sets of those later).

Gramma finds a bunch of little toys and gives us mostly little small things-
She does so well for the kids though. This may have been my fav reaction. Baby D saw Leek get that puppy and was soo excited he couldn't even clap or contain himself
then when Grandma handed him the same toy I thought he would explode. SO sweet
Rory and Binky were really impressed by their matching dolls.


Cute baby-
and cute clothes for her
Yay! I finally got to hold her
She is too tiny



Hey look, Dad showed up after all.
Paparazzi Derringer ,Mandy, Missy and da boys.



Maurice even showed up with his new girlfriend- Haven't seen him in a long time- and he says he is about to move to Utah, so it will be even longer


Mom got them the dr.kit and it was a HUGE hit. Soo cute !

"Can I hold her next gramma?"


Becca and Mitch- and missy.
Gary & Aunt Marla- he almost fell asleep upright after dinner.
I stole this pic from Missy- but
Ri took lots of pics

Mitch should know better, such pics make it on the blog. ( you are probably wondering what pics DON't make the blog at this point, and you can shut right up because this isn't near a quarter of the pics to come)

Everyone asked about my blog. Weird. I thought I was all stealth with this thing,but not anymore - hi everybody!, leave a comment!

Grandma Grape just loved holding the baby



I tend to chat as close to the dessert table as possible.
Ri spent sometime outside with the more rowdy smokers and such.


Tristan looks too grown up.


Baby D still never lets me hold him, he just stares through me with those pretty eyes and reaches for his dad. He is such a Daddy's boy.

Amy and JJ

Maurice - and his Girlfriend behind him thought she could avoid my cam, little did she know I had already got a pic of her mingling in the crowd.
But as many pics as I snapped- or grabbed I don't know that I got a good one of everyone.
We were having fun though. I always love Xmas Eve at Grandma's.

Next we were on to Mom's house.
We found Boo already there with Dad waiting for us.

The tree!



I love this- because mom was Like " I tried to find you a pink boa , but I could only find white or blue",and Rory said "white is just perfect" she loved it soo much.

Libby had been trying to guess what her giant ,obviously framed flat gift from me was for days- until she touched the wrapping paper she didn't guess that it was a Virgin Mary painting, one that looks exactly like her tat even. She was thrilled.We got soo lucky finding that she was so hard to shop for.
I had to get JJ to help me get Mom's gift (a digi photo keychain)turned on , so much for being sneaky.
Amy liked the gift card we got her, but said the classic sock money toy freaked her out, we are hoping her Bf Aaron takes advantage of that and tortures her with it..


I really wasn't sure if JJ would like the shirt I got him or hate it. It is sooo cheesy,it even glows in the dark, I love it- I even love how much it reminds me of torturing through so many replays of that movie in the late 80s that we killed the VHS tape.but he loved it. :)

Rory got sooo much craft stuff! and some little pets!

Nico is such a ham!
Mom got him the same sort babysoft semitruck toy we got him- and we somehow managed to get the different version! :0! We got soo lucky, there were only two kinds at the store and we got him one of each.
pets! JJ got her a princess aurora wristwatch which she hasn't removed since I unwrapped it.

Mom got us towels!!!! wooot.
Gah. I am old- I am so excited over towels, and plates and pots and pans.

and gnomes for out newly cleaned up yard- the same gnomes i saw at the store and wanted , but didn't know anyone else to get them for. She also got me a bunch of little things, like hair scarfs ,earrings and make up. She got Ri 2 really nice shirts.I love the brown surfer shirt.. but the other just cracks me up. for one.. I often wonder if Mom thinks Ri is a starwars fan..which is different than a startrek fan(I spose, don't ask me).
for two- Did you know Chewy is a Rasta?
Me either, but it is soo funny .
Libby and Boo got us an interesting looking board game- we will have to play it one day when they come over.

Hats are fun

Nico is determined to walk. Who needs balance?

JJ has had Mom and Dad's gift in his closet for MONTHS since he found it at such a good price.
A photo printer!
Mom was soo thrilled.

Aunt Judy stopped in and even brought MORE presents- my goodness.
Nico LOVES the train she got him

"See grandad!"


She is soo teeny and pretty...and sleeps through anything!!
Eggnog, and pie and tons of Candy-
we got Dad the worlds largest Reece cup- I hope he hasn't neared finishing it.

Rory was sooo tired. and excited for santa to come. My Grandma had done the smartest thing, and gave each parent a baggie of homemade cookies to leave for Santa. Rory left out cookies and milk and rushed to lay in her bed. She left the picture ad she had cut out of the toy she wanted by her stocking for Santa.
I could tell she was having a hard time sleeping. SHe woke up to blue snowflake wrapped presents next to the ones she had under there wrapped in red.



Noobie should have got a stocking full of coal. Stinker dog had taken the liberty to try and steal the candy for stockings and ate one of her other presents from under the tree while we were away XMAS EVE- but, Ri gave her the disgusting pig tail , and bird larynx he got for her
I was surprised Rory wanted to open the presents from us before the new ones from Santa. I guess she had been curious about them much longer
"I KNEW IT WAS A GUMBALL MACHINE!!!!"

..lol for days she has picked it up and shook it saying it must be the gumball machine she wanted.
PETS!
Then she started unwrapping the one.
THE LITTLEST PETSHOP JUNGLE HANGOUT- the words she has repeated to everyone.. the picture she left out for Santa as a reminder
I thought she would hyperventilate

ooo
MY turn! The box I hoped was scrabble was indeed scrabble- woohoo= and the
Huge heavy box I could not figure out

PLATES! beautiful set- 6 soup bowls, and reg bowls, and mugs and glasses and silverware all gorgeous and all matching and all ours!
Ri said he couldn't wait to clean out and reorganize the kitchen.

Rory LOVES the little nursery set Ri got her- and it goes soo well with those tiny baby in my pocket toys she got.

The only thing frustrating about heading to Sari's for dinner - is that it leaves us rushing around to make time to exchange gifts with everyone else-
because Sari doesn't exchange gifts.(she will except bday gifts and gifts for Lily tho)..
So Ri's mom had to stop in and exchange gift.
She got us two more pretty wooden masks.
We got her a cordless phone with hopefully a large enough range to reach to the pool at her apt.
Rory has kept the secret for weeks but couldn't hold out any longer and told her as she handed her the box.

She got Rory a Zhu-Zhu pet- she had told me she rushed to stand in line for it, and knew Rory would love it.. but we had never heard of it- So I looked it up online. Yes.ROry does LOVE it.TOO MUCH perhaps..

Ri had to rush back to the store for more asparagus( I am amazed they were open) he took his buddy Rob with him to battle away any elderly women standing guard over the last can.

Mel & her fam showed up and exchanged gifts. Mel got Rory some cute little pets and a pretty candle for me. I think all the kids loved their presents(tho we forgot to pack batteries with Haley's textmessager-sorry!)

Then, casserole in the oven , time to get out of our pjs- and off to Sari's

Couldn't wait to have Lily unwrap that ball

Jade surprised me playing to himself off in the hallway.

I think Lily loved all of her presents




The food was pretty good- but Sari hadn't been prepared for us at all. She said she didn't expect to do dinner but was told she had to- which wasn't true. We offered to do it. SOMEONE needed to do it. I got all of Xmas day to spend with his fam- we were prepared to do it, but we figured Rj's fam was coming and they would want to host dinner ... and I guess they half thought Rj's fam was coming too.

Honestly, with having to do gifts first it would have been a million times easier to do it at Mel's house or ours.

Rory LOVES playing with Haley and Eli!- and every word out of Jade's mouth is comic gold to her. She had an absolute blast, even more fun when she found Lily's room and spent time playing with her.

Mel had left her roommate Devin home for the family get together..but Lynn was determined to get a pic of the whole family and was disappointed to not have a photographer.

Helllo Selftimer!


BUT.
a self timer can't account for all human errors



...thats where photoshop steps in
....Honestly, I think I like the last unedditted pic best. Jade's face and Lily's wildness is just too fitting.

I was exhausted and glad to be home. Even if home was filled with boxes and stuff toys scattered everywhere. Booze and scrabble was a pretty good cure. Rory helped me getting letters and mixing them up on my tray, we were kicking Ri's butt- but as soon as she got bored Ri started winning :( .

Christmas night I called mom to check on her- and she invited us to go to GrandmaGrapes because her Sis would be down for the weekend.
Ri was off Saturday, but I wasn't sure if he would want to go. AS he started drinking and gorging himself on foods that are not typically part of his diet, I knew he wouldn't be getting up early or doing much on his day off lol.
So, Mom picked Rory and I up, and took us to GrammaGrapes- well, almost, we passed Aunt Joy leaving and decided we would go get food before coming back to chat, Mom was hungry anyway.
Rory showed off the few toys I had let her bring and talked everyone ears off. She just loves chatting with Joy. Aunt Joy&her hubby are always amazed how bright she is, and think she is much older.

Lissy called as we finally started to leave - she had called into work and decided not to go. She told them when she applied she would have trouble working weekends, and they just keep scheduling them, I told her she should put her foot down on that-..Add to it her and Boo had some tension about Xmas and she just didn't want to stay home either. So we headed out to pick her and Nico up.

Lissy and Mom were both feeling a bit disappointed about how their Xmas day had turned out.
So we headed for shopping. Lissy was sad she just hadn't really got to do a chistmas for Nico, even though he is too little to get it, SHE wanted to get him something. Mom just felt sad doing nothing on Christmas Day after we did it all Christmas Eve.
Retail Therapy it is then. Lissy had a few cash /gift cards to spend anyway.
We went to a book store- which Nico and Rory loved and didn't want to leave.
Then bought some junk from the dollar store, snacks and half price toys - Chatting and looking around mostly.Mom bought her a Princess Aurora Barbie(like she needs more toys)- and bought me a cute tam(dread hat thingy)...and Lissy bought her babyboy one of those ride on 4 wheelers.Oh-we also got a half price ripoff hotwheels playset, to stay at mom's house for the all the grandkids to play with.
Rory was starting to get overtired.. she wasn't the only one

Oh noes, fussy children!
Thomas thinks he needs to visit this new service center...before Lissy could even finish putting it together.
Rory got soo overfussy- perhaps over hungry- she was whining about everything, Nico still loves her, and wants to just love her to bits, even when she is a fusspot
Rory was almost had a complete anxiety attack when she saw mom's weiner dog go after her new ZhuZhu pet, and heard they had one they let her play with. OMG... she freaked, as if the dog was really hurting the toy hamster.

I really think she had that lovely mix of Artificial coloring stimulant,tiredness, and hunger kicking .
Nico was in a good mood , and he though JJ was magic when he took strips of plastic and turned them into a whole big toy just for him!
Rory seemed a bit better when I bribed her to eat some pizza.Aunt Judy came and chatted a little with us. Mostly we just snacked and chatted. I think ..well, hope.. it made Lissy and Mom feel a bit better. I like unwinding with them and catching up at least.
Nico was happy with his late present


Thomas even gave it a test drive:



I don't think he was impressed.

I love the dread tam mom & Lissy bought me- Mom says she will keep her out for more,
"but then no one will be able to see, and complement your hair"- two different people stopped to tell me to tell me they loved my hair while we were running around town.

I should have had Ri come to pick me up, and I almost called him to do it- but by the time I called I was already soo tired and ready to go I didn't want to wait for Ri to come all the way out-so I begged JJ to take us home.
Ri managed to get loads done while we were gone. He washed all the new stuff that hadn't been washed xmas day, reorganized the kitchen for the new pots and pans,
AND finally washed poor Bailey Sweets who was sorely in need of a bath.

His dad had also came by with presents- outfits for Rory and hair accessories a card, -and an awesome digital picture frame and another card for us.
I did feel bad I didn't get to spend much of his day off with him.He bought a pizza - but I was too full of coffee and junk food to want more pizza.

We kicked around the house- still trying to organize and find homes for things.Poor Ri had to work both jobs Sunday, and Nalu's today.
...While I fought to finally upload pics.

Rory and I had a beautiful tea party with the new set and tea mom gave her- peach apricot tea sweetened with milk and honey.
...and then I broke the teapot knocking it off the counter making lentil soup today :( . I'll have to buy her a new one.

Thank goodness for crafts to keep the child busy while I shower and play with all my new things.
...and for our trash men that picked up all the trash we left on our curb(between the boxes O consumerism, and the decluttering we decided to do in our kitchen I really feared they wouldn't take it all).

We had SOO much fun.
I can't believe we all got more than we expected too!
Now. To go nurse my candy hangover with more twizzlers, and maybe...just maybe,
find my living room floor.

PEACE AND TOFU HAM GREASE,
BABYHELLFIRE