Identify Yourselves!

I'm kind of creeped out. I got a comment on one of my posts that had pictures of my kids from someone I don't recognize. So....if you are foodstr2, please identify yoursef so I don't have to go private! I find lots of people I haven't seen in a long time and I want to keep my blog open for that reason, but when a stranger tells me I have *beautiful* kids (stars and everything) I get a little uneasy. Thanks!

My Eyes Are Bleeding!

One day I will learn. It is easier to stay caught up than to spend 4 hours making 7 posts all at once.

Who am I kidding. I will never learn.

If you're interested, scroll down. A lot.

Christmas

My mom would not only not be proud, she would be downright disgusted with my picture taking on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, since it is Ryan's birthday (I told you! Craziness!), we always have family over for a soup dinner. (He turned 36!! His mid-life crisis should hit any day!) You'll just have to take my word for it, because I didn't take a single picture! Anyone care to send me any? Cara (my sister) and Dustin (her husband) spent the night at our house since their lives are empty and child-less. We share ours. Aren't we nice?

Here are some of the pictures that I did manage to take:

The Christmas tree.

Jade's gifts from Santa. Damn Santa. We don't want a cat!! Although if we did decide to want a cat, a really mild mannered and adorable persian named Isabelle would be a good one.

Noelle's gifts from Santa.

Mya's gifts from Santa.

The aftermath.

Other stuff happened that day. I just didn't document any of it. We got TONS of snow and spent the entire day on Christmas at my mom and dad's house. We got sickening amounts of gifts and ate sickening amounts of really good food. It was awesome.

Noelle's 9th Birthday/Barraclough Family Christmas Party

Noelle turned 9 on the 20th (have I ever told you how crazy this week is at my house?!?). The Barraclough family had their party on her birthday this year, so she got to share her birthday. She got tons of presents! She may have been a little excited as you can see!

Jana, knowing of her ballet obession, made her a tutu.

Zoey and Lucy gave her Hannah Montana undies and bras. How embarrassing!

Grandma Shirley and Grandpa Don know exactly what they want! Cash!

Mya got a medical kit and a tool kit (and apparently some chocolate cake). I told you Grandma Shirley and Grandpa Don know exactly what they want! Does she look happy or what!

My mom might not be as proud of my picture taking at this party. I'm still getting the hang of it. Be patient. I was a little shaken. On our way there we barely (and by barely I mean miraculously) missed being involved in the 31 car pile-up in Willard that afternoon. Ryan has been preparing for that moment his whole life! It was like a scene from Mario Kart. We were sliding on and off the road, dodging cars left and right, never once stopping. If I hadn't been there myself I wouldn't have believed it. I think my mom prayed for us before we left. It's the only explaination I can come up with.

Huggins Family Christmas Party

The annual Huggins Family Christmas Party was held on December 19th. We ate too much, laughed too much and then ate some more. Santa made his appearance and the kids all sat on his lap.

No, Jade isn't too big to sit on Santa's lap. Especially if he brought her a gift!

"What do I want for Christmas? I could go on and on and......"

This is a close as Mya would get.

She did like what he brought, though!

I took tons of pictures with my new camera. My mom would be proud if she knew how many! Just for fun I threw these two in.

I was trying to take a picture of Mya opening her present, but Jana got jealous and wanted to show us her new jeans.

Chandler and Uncle Ryan sharing a sucker. Aren't they cute!?!

Mya's Preschool Program

Mya's preschool performed some Christmas songs they had learned at a local assisted living center. It was nearly impossible to get her to let go of my leg and stand next to the rest of the kids. Most of my pictures look just like this:

Ok, maybe not the nose one. I just liked that one. If you can't tell, I have my leg stuck out and she is leaning against it. She had to stand at the very end of the line so she could be touching me. I've never had a shy child, so this is weird to me. She did eventually get into the performance and did some of the actions and yelled out random words as she could remember them. It was awesome! She loves her teachers Miss Ginger and Miss Marci and would do just about anything they asked. They are celebrities at our house! I'm pretty sure that's the only reason she didn't stand behind my legs the whole time. The outfit she is wearing is her FAVORITE!! The only acceptable reason for not wearing it every single day is if I haven't washed and ironed it. I made the mistake of buying her the white shirt and khaki pants to wear on Halloween when she was Indiana Jones. Now she wants to be Indiana Jones every stinking day!! The braids are another favorite. Not too feminine. My guess is that is the only reason she likes it. She's not my girliest girl. Her dad has lured her to the dark side. She loves anything that involve super heroes, pirates, swords, light sabers or cars. I'm slightly concerned.

Jade's Recitals

Jade has been taking piano and voice lessons for just over a year now. This year they put on a Christmas recital. Her piano recital was just a small group of students. Only Mya and I were able to attend because it was in the middle of the day. She has made a lot of progress in the last year. She is now playing out of the Hymn book (only because I made her move on from the simplified book....they were too easy!). She practices constantly! It's quite aggravating actually. I'm trying to be patient. It's hard. I'm taking donations for a Clavinova. Then she can do all of her practicing with headphones!!

Her voice recital was in the evening so the whole family was able to attend. Her teacher has several private students and a singing group so it was a longer program. Jade performed several times. She was in a quartet, a group, and my favorite, a solo. She's pretty brave! I would guess that there were 100 people in attendance and she stood up and performed like a pro! We were so proud of her! Her dad was so proud that he treated the family to dinner at Maddox afterwards!

My New Camera!

Ryan got me exactly what I wanted for Christmas. A Canon EOS Rebel. He's awesome, isn't he!?! I practiced on Chandler and she agreed to demonstrate some of my feelings on my new toy. Here they are:

Super Excited!!

A little retarded.

Frustrated! I thought I was smarter than a camera. Nope.

Hopefully I can get a little better with some practice. The instruction manual, though it appears to be in english, is written in a language I do not understand. I may have to take a class or something. Until then, just know that I am trying.

If school doesn't start soon....

.....someone may get hurt!!!!