and it's over...

did y'all know it was christmas yesterday??  the tree is back in the attic.  the mantle is clear.  and except for a dancing, solar christmas penguin that i overlooked and the cd still in my car, you can't even tell that it was christmas yesterday in my house.  (and if you were wondering....that makes me very, very happy!)  however....along with the goodies that we all received, we have plenty of pictures to document that a good time was had by all!

we started out last weekend in jackson with the henson clan.  all of these cousins have a great time together even though honey and g were in need of some xanax and wine by the time we left.

on christmas eve back at our place, we made santa some marshmallow pops.  he gets tired of cookies, right??  we also made some for all of our neighbors.  unfortunately, only two of the neighbors were home, so we had more than our share of marshmallow pops!!

later that night after church and supper, the little people got to open one present from us.  they were all so not thrilled because "uhhhhhhhhh....we know it's just pajamas.  it's always pajamas."  next year i'm wrapping up underwear.  or a piece of bread.  something to throw them off!!

they were a tad bit more excited the next morning as they waited to come down the stairs!

we proceeded to fill up on a gigantic breakfast before heading back to open gifts from each other!

this was the first year that each kid was responsible for shopping for every other family member.  i took each one shopping alone so they could pick out what they thought each person would like.  it was fun to see them think about their brothers and what they thought each one would like.  and it was more fun to watch them give their gifts.  reed was very confident in his gift shopping skills.  "you're gonna love it!!!" was what he said as he handed his presents out!  but apparently everybody has good shopping skills because everybody loved it all!

"you're gonna love it, daddy!"

we spent the afternoon making glow in the dark slime...

playing outside...

and william had to fight his daddy for control of his remote control helicopter! next year, i'm getting chase a helicopter.

and of course, several hours were spent playing legos.  i don't know what i'm going to do the day that legos go out of style over here!

note:  if you can't find grandma, go upstairs and check the bunk bed.

it was a fun christmas...

but, i'd be lying if i said i wasn't happy to hear maroon 5 and luke bryan back on the radio when i start my car rather than jingle bells and let it snow.  don't even get me started on "santa, baby."  hello to the new year!!