Hanging with Uncle Daniel

Daniel and Leann are visiting from New York over the holidays...we've had a blast just hanging out with them. One day this week, Daniel came out and played some major Wii with Aidan (who was in heaven by the way...Wii with his Uncle Daniel, does it get any better?). As you can see from this photo, Aidan has a mean backhand.

The weather was beautiful...so we put down our wiimotes and headed out to our neighborhood park.

I love how Aidan is looking at Daniel in this photo.

Chef Mia

Mia LOVES to cook. Mommy has to make a special effort most days to let Mia "help" in the kitchen (even when I really, really just want to "do it myself"). Whenever she sees me cooking, she runs upstairs and drags over a chair. So when we spotted this Disney Princess Enchanted Tales Magic Cool Bake Oven, my Mom decided to get it for Mia for Christmas. She was sooo excited when she opened it up. So on Christmas Day, Mia and I baked up some "magical" cupcakes.

Step 1: Must be a real princess for the "magic cool air technology" to work.

Step 2: Open the pre-packaged magic muffin mix and pour into sparkly princess cup. Add warm water, and mix fast.

Step 3: Add ice cubes made in magical princess ice cube tray to baking tray. Let the magical cool air technology (developed by NASA's Disney Princess Division) work its magic!

Voila! Enchanted Princess muffins!

The results were amazing! We frosted the cupcakes with the frosting mix, and added magic sprinkles. Andrew and Ashley were the first in the door when these babies came out of the oven. They politely declined a taste test. Guess they aren't sold on cool air technology. They were actually pretty tasty!

Even More Christmas!

A couple days after Christmas, we celebrated with Grandpa Littlewood and Laurel. The kids were so excited to show them their new presents and to open the ones they had brought. The flashlights were a major hit...Jack will play with them all day! For dinner, we enjoyed some homemade macaroni and cheese and rolls...major comfort food! It was a fun night!

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other."

Merry Christmas! The kids woke us up around 8am (wow, did we luck out on that!) and told us that Santa had come! The excitement! We told them to go check things out and to look at their stockings...it was just a tactic to catch a few more precious minutes of shut eye.

Once we got up, we surveyed the Christmas loot. We had to buy some time before my mom, and the aunts and uncles showed up at 9am. This year, we were so excited to have Daniel, Leann and May share our Christmas morning!

The kids dug into their stockings while we waited.

Santa Jack

Jack delicately inspected this present. We were so impressed with the restraint from this 20 month old!

YES!

The kids were happy with what they got this year. Spotted under the Wallace tree: little ponies, Bakugan, Ben 10 and Little People. A couple of movies. Some cute Hello Kitty rain boots. A purple sweatsuit (Mia has informed us that she no longer likes pink...we passed that info on to Santa).


Mom got a new camera after our 5 year old Canon died a slow and agonizing death. Santa found a most excellent deal on Woot! This is the first year we did an exchange among the adults. Note Daniel and the book I got him, The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead. Bob got Andrew some cooling thing for his xBox.

The pièce de résistance: queue background choir. Yes, we got a Wii. An unexpected Christmas bonus made this purchase possible, and a late night call from a friend who was looking out for me. I dragged myself out to a ToysRUs at 11:30 pm to get this. We've had a blast playing tennis, bowling, and setting up our Miis.

Looks like Santa should've gotten Jack a pair.

Grandma and baby May

May, Leann and Daniel

After we opened presents, we had a yummy brunch, complete with a french toast casserole, potato and egg casserole and homemade cinnamon rolls.

Next, we moved on to my mom's house for round two.

Two of the prettiest girl cousins in town! May & Mia

Andrew got Jack this funny penguin that stands up when you knock it over...who knew Jack had so much pent up aggression inside. He went to town on that poor little penguin. It was like a scene out of Goodfellas. Yikes!

How cute is this photo?

"Aunt" Ashley and Uncle Andrew

The Fam.

The Wallace Clan

We spent the rest of the day playing with our new toys and eating all the goodies we accumulated over the days leading up to Christmas. Christmas dinner was probably one of the simplest we've had in a long time, which was nice for me and my Mom...I just wanted to relax! Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Past

While looking at old photos, I came across these classic Santa shots. I'm keeping them out to frame for next year. There's just something about old photos with Santa that I love.

Olivia & Santa

Bob and his little brother Mike with Santa

Happy Birthday Christmas Baby!

On Christmas Eve, Bob turned 35! His mom has told me in that past that he was a sweet baby who grew into a loving little boy, and a wonderful man. I'd like to think that Aidan is a lot like Bob as a little boy (doesn't he look like him, too?). His mom was told that she wouldn't be able to have children, but after several months of bedrest, "Bobby," as we call him, was born in Bakersfield, CA.

It's hard to celebrate a Christmas Eve birthday, and you'd think that Bob would wish for another date, but he loves having his birthday during Christmas. It's probably because his family always made it special for him. This year, we had lunch at Crackerbarrel (Oklahoma Joe's, Bob's first choice, was PACKED with Christmas shoppers), and my family joined us. It was a fun day! Happy Birthday Bobby!

These photos were loose in Bob's baby book, and they were just too cute not to post...

Bob at 1 year

Christmas 1974, with "Big Bob"

Christmas Eve!!

On Christmas Eve, Daddy and the kids made some Reindeer Food to make sure that Santa's crew was well fed on their trip around the world. After making the food, they spread it on our front lawn, so they'd be sure to find it.

Reindeer Food:
1 cup (per child) Oatmeal
sprinkle of sugar
glitter (so the reindeer can spot the food on the grass)

Aidan thoughtfully pondered the reindeer food and asked why there's glitter in it. He wasn't quite happy with the explanation that they needed to be able to find the food. He finally accepted my explanation that reindeer are magical creatures, and glitter is just a normal part of their diets. Phew!

After feeding the Reindeer, we read The Night Before Christmas...I love that book! No Christmas Eve is complete without it. We put out some special cookies for Santa, and tucked in our little ones. Bob didn't even complain when I put It's a Wonderful Life on while we wrapped. These are the things I love, love, love about Christmas (well, at 3am, I wasn't feeling so jolly)!

If I look tired, I WAS!!

More Christmas Fun!

In our family, the Sunday following one's birthday is always designated as the "family" birthday party. Even though we already had a pool party, and a T-Rex dinner, we had a party for my brothers and sister to celebrate with Aidan. I made a cake (and it's obvious I don't do cakes) and Aidan opened more presents.

The next day, Grandma brought over all the makings for gingerbread houses. We like to use graham crackers because they're easy and the kids can go crazy with them and make their own individual creations. Grandma, Aunt Annie and the kids had a blast!

Jack ate most of his house...

A Kansas City Christmas

Last weekend we headed into Kansas City for annual visit to Union Station for the train display. First, we braved the frigid cold to get onto the Santa Express, a train decked out in holiday cheer, manned by elves and Santa and Mrs. Claus themselves! It was freezing, but we were so excited about getting on the train, it didn't matter.

Good thing Santa has that warm suit.

The "train" car.

Note the conductor...he's waving!

This had something to do with an upcoming Abraham Lincoln exhibit...
we just thought it was a fun photo op.

Aidan took this photo.

One of our favorite things to do in Kansas City is take a ride on the Holiday Spirit...it's been a part of downtown KC's holiday tradition since the 1940s.



Next, we moved on to one of many miniature train displays. On this one, the kids got to make the bell whistle as the train came by.


The main holiday train display is huge! It takes up nearly a third of the grand hall's floorspace in Union Station. There is a Thomas the Tank Engine track, which is always a favorite and a Polar Express model. This was Jack's first time (well, technically his second) and he was so excited! He kept running around the display, trying to get a better view. We love Christmas in Kansas City!