There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays...

We had a FAB Christmas!!! Chris was off the week prior, Max was out of school, it snowed just enough. It was great!

Christmas Eve we spent with family at my grandma's. It's a very very rare occasion that we all get together so it always feels special, and this time was no different. We were sure to get a group picture this year... er... two of them. Gotta keep the "crazy picture" tradition alive, right? We all over indulged in appetizers and exchanged gifts. I got some COOL socks from Erin! (see below) Too bad I can only wear them in December cause man, they are cozy!

socks from Erin... LOVE!

When we got home, Max wrote Santa a note (and had Chris and I do the same) and left a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa. He is too smart for his own good though; this year he asked MULTIPLE times if Santa were real! WHAT!?!? He JUST turned 5!!!! He questioned how Santa could go to EVERYONE'S house and how he could REALLY fit down a chimney. Don't worry though, we were sure to remind him that Santa is magical! All was well. :)

Once Max fell asleep I set his clock in his room back an hour. Without fail he wakes up at 7am each day and I reaaaaallly wanted him to sleep till 8. I figured if he woke up and it said "6:00" he'd go back to sleep till 7:00. I woke up at 7:50 and since we hadn't heard from Max I said to Chris, "IT WORKED! He didn't get up yet".... until I opened our door and went to the great room and found him in the dark, on the couch, playing his DS and patiently waiting for us! Seriously? What a sweet boy! He just sat there waiting with alllll those tempting presents under the tree? Wow. When I saw him he said "Oh Mommy, look at all those presents, Santa MUST have come!"

We spent the next hour opening, playing, taking pictures, etc. and then, Max found one more gift... a note on the tree from Santa telling him to look in the garage... Chris and I were all teary eyed knowing the joy he was about to show! He opened the door to find... A TRAMPOLINE that Santa (aka Chris and Papaw) spent late late hours putting together the night before. He LOVED it!!! Max was thrilled that Santa also remembered to bring Gary a few gifts, too.

I made a french toast casserole for breakfast, we had dinner with the Hollis' that night, and then celebrated Christmas with my immediate family on the 26th. It was a wonderful 3-day holiday for us, most of which included many, MANY RockBand tournaments! Max named our band, the "METALfamily".

This week Chris is back to work... Max and I are busy busy playing all the board games he got for Christmas... isn't vacation the best? We are looking forward to NYE at the Bruce's in a few days.

Hope you all had a wonderfully blessed Christmas! Here's to a happy, healthy and FUN 2010!

Christmas Time is Near!

And that means it was time for Max's last Christmas program of his preschool years... Where did the three years go? :( I was so nervous that he would get anxious like he did for the Easter program last year and not perform; when we pulled into the parking lot of the school he said "I don't wanna be here" but that quickly changed when we raced to the doors and he met some friends. He did FANTASTIC! It was soooo cute. He even wore his Santa hat the entire time! Chris got it all on video, maybe we'll post that someday... ;)

Caitlyn Rathweg, Max and Carley Breehne

Nora and Caitlyn Rathweg and Max

We also had our first snowfall of the season. After Max had Kenleigh sleep over, he went to his basketball game and then came home to play outside and build a snowman he aptly named "Welcome" ("Mom, see his arms are stretched out like he's saying 'welcome', right?").

Max is VERY excited about Christmas this year!!! He is at such a fun age! He is currently on "vacation" from school and is so thrilled he can have friends over every day and play with his dad, who is also on vacation this week, and stay up late watching Christmas movies. A few weeks ago Max visited Santa at the mall... he asked for a trampoline, 2 DS games, and "any other toys you wanna bring me". Only 4 more days till we can all celebrate our first Christmas in our new home!!! :)

YELLOW BELT!

Mr. Mershad giving Max his yellow belt

Max and Cade.... proud!

DUCK!

The class

Cade and Max

Max had belt testing today at Tae Kwon Do. He has been participating and learning all the required moves for 4 months and was ready to test to the next belt level this afternoon. Parents were invited to watch, which was super fun for us; we never get to see what he does during class because it's right after school, not in a studio. He had earned 5 stripes on his white belt and had to demonstrate that he could perform all 5 skills today for Mr. Mershad. SO FUNNY! Max was very proud to have us there watching, you could tell... and we were proud of him! The yellow belt looks gooooood! Next session... Orange belt! GO MAX!

He's got skillz...

For Mom and Grandma, since you were unable to make Max's game this morning... here is a video shot of him making his second basket of the day...

ps- Happy Anniversary, Chris and me! ;)

All I want for Christmas is...

"...a trampoline, 2 DS games, and any other toys you want to give me" said Max to Santa.