A Rather Long End of the Year Post

I do realize that today is the beginning of a new year, but I have being trying to get my house in order before it auditioned for an episode of Closet Hoarders. 

The presents have been unwrapped and put away, thank you notes have been written and are in the mail, and we have been spending some much needed R&R with each other as well as catching up on Scandal and other TV shows that we have missed. 

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Christmas seemed to have been fast and furious this year. 

It started out celebrating a first birthday ...

with this handsome man. 

I also broke a Pyrex dish that was full of hot potatoes and was an accomplice to knocking off the smoke detector from the ceiling. Apparently, if you pull a hot Pyrex dish from the oven and set it on the stove, it shatters. If you sweep really hard, the broom may just some how hit the ceiling. It happens. Especially as the house fills with birthday guests. Thankfully, I found refuge in a corner with the smoke detector hitter. 

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We then went on a five-Christmas-party ride, where we brought a plate on the way in, grazed with family members, and left with a plate. There was so much food in the two fridges, at my parents, that it was hard to put a dent in the food. 

I also pulled a pottery dish out the fridge, and it broke. 

I was one lucky girl this holiday season. I am already working on next year's gift list. :)

Like most Christmas parties, ours was filled with family, food, and a lot of laughter. There was also presents or a filthy, filthy game of Dirty Santa. 

I must say that Ken and I put the dirty in Dirty Santa. We came with Lowe's gift cards, and after much strategy, left with the same gift cards. Bless that poor family that witnessed such filth. 

I may have smiled a little. 

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As requested, our Christmas was a little smaller this year. I really appreciate that when putting things up when I got home, and honestly, there was no more room in the car. If we had children, I don't know where they would sit after Christmas. Tootsie barely had a breathing hole. 

We received a lot of nice things. My mother was all about what could fit in a stocking, and she set a new record. Most of it involved bling - new shirt, scarf, rings, candy, Burt's, and my always favorite - nail clippers. Ha! I also got a few serving pieces that where not in the stocking as well as some new pottery and household items from friends and family.

Some of my favorite things that I got where books from Ken and from the sisters. 

(Ken loves Legos and received this fun little jet from yours truly)

Did you notice the bottom book? I will have to post more on that later, but I was over the moon about this one. Middle and Baby Sister know exactly how to make my heart smile! 

I love this towel that Middle really snuck in. She totally went with me to get a few things from a local business. We discussed the tea towel for our mother, and I was upset that it was the last one. Little did I know ...

My favorite part, The "W." 

Christmas was great as well as New Year's. 

Ken and I have been together all week and have enjoyed every minute. We conquered the house, spent many days with junk all over, but now it is back to this ...

We also went to the movies, ate our share of take out, jammed out in the PJ's, checked off our lists, and stayed up later than normal. 

We still need to crack these babies and put them up. 

(Thanks Lea Ann! I really appreciate your father-in-law shaking your tree for us!)

One last thing. As we were taking down Christmas, I noticed that this went from saying this ...

to saying ...

Wonder what elf did that?

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May your 2013 be full of courage, challenges, laughter, tears, and more blessings than deserved. 

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I may be taking a little hiatus from blogging for a few weeks. No worries. Every little thing will be alright. I just need to quiet down my life, focus on what really matters, and find new things to do besides so much social media. 

Praying for big blessings!!!