Santa Clause came to town...

This jolly guy came to our house Thursday night...



We heard his sleigh bells outside our house around 9:30 Thursday night.  I have never seen 2 children {Owen already had visions of sugarplums dancing in his head} jump in their beds so fast!  When Banks woke up around 2:00 am he discovered this scene...



He quickly woke up his sister and brother in hopes of getting to open his presents then.  We made them all go back to bed!  Owen was the first to awake on Christmas morning.  He got to take in all the presents all by himself for a good hour {and I got to enjoy a much needed cup of coffee}...



Finally the other 2 woke up and wrapping paper was soon flying...



Both Banks and Mary Reese were hoping for Nintendo DSi.  Santa came through with them and so much more!

Owen was wondering what happened to all his presents...



Finally someone opened one for him...



He was thrilled with the box and could have cared less what was inside!  Santa has also brought back some Fisher Price toys from my day...



It came in some great retro packaging!

The unwrapping took a whopping 18 minutes!  The aftermath look like this...

Owen decided to run crawl for safer ground...

Banks has been hoping for one of the bells from Santa's sleigh to fall off into our yard.  After all the presents were open, we headed out front to investigate.  Mary Reese quickly spotted one in the side yard...

We also found one of theses...

Was the Easter Bunny riding round in Santa's sleigh?

Luckily we found 3 bells from Santa's sleigh in our yard...

I have to admit...I think they were the favorite gift of the holiday!  Banks has toted his around tied to his DS case.  Our bells were from Comet, Cupid and Blitzen {all very hard to find according to Banks}!

It wasn't a White Christmas but it did VERY briefly spit some snow...

We spent lots of time with family between Thursday and Friday.  I spent about 80% of Christmas Day dressed like this...

Owen enjoyed the head scratcher {the hot gift from about 10 years back}...

Mary Reese jammed out to tunes like Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), Big Girls Don't Cry, Dixieland Delight, She (Aunt Stacey) Don't Know She's Beautiful, Something Like That, and Rise and Shine...

We were so crazy on Christmas Day that Baby Jesus and the rest of his family didn't get hung on top of the calendar until this morning...

Yesterday we had a quiet day at home taking down the Christmas decorations and playing with all the new toys.  We did require a house call from our favorite electrician {Thanks Wesley}!  Jody got us a new TV and DVD player for our bedroom.  When I went to plug it in...sparks went flying and the breaker flipped!  Needless to say...we called in for a professional!

Today these Princess Barbies have been schuned from the rest of their friends for loosing one of their slippers...

I don't think they are allowed to rejoin the group until their shoes are found!  And Christmas wouldn't be complete without one of these...

Christmas {a recap in food}

We set the table for 2 days of stuffing our faces!  The "adult" table...



The "kids" table complete with Mary Reese's version of a Charlie Brown Christmas tree...



Banks was dying that I made him sit at the "kids" table.  He begged to be moved to the adult table..."he is 7 years old after all!"  Maybe next year!

Here is just some of the food we pigged out on between Christmas Eve and Day.  Christmas Eve started out with Rib Roast prepared 2 ways...



One was rubbed with roasted garlic and fresh herbs and smoked on the green egg.  The other was encrusted in a dough made from salt, pepper, garlic, herbs and flour then baked in the oven.  Both turned out delicious!  We also had potatoes 3 ways...



...a stuffed sweet potato, stuffed purple potatoes and twice baked potatoes.  They were as delicious & delightful as the display!  We had an old standard...



...Mac & Cheese!  And for our green veggie...



...Green Beans.  We also had Melt in Your Mouth Rolls...



When I went to bake the rolls, I forgot I had stashed some of Santa's cookies in the oven for safe keeping...



Oopps...luckily I already had Santa's out!  We wouldn't want him to skip over our house because we didn't have any cookies for him!

A chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling, chocolate buttercream frosting and topped with homemade marshmallows...



I can't remember a Christmas morning without eating Sausage Stuffed French Bread...



We also had an egg casserole with veggies and bacon...



...and gingerbread waffles...



Christmas night was low key!  We had some snacks...



...Bread Pot Fondue and marinated goat cheese...



...made right down the road in Elkmont, Alabama!  Delicious!  Uncle Christopher also made a huge pot of his Beef Shank Vegetable Soup.  I haven't even mentioned the Pepper Jelly/Cream Cheese, Zippy Cranberry Spread, Strawberry Pretzel Salad, Sticky Buns, Biscuits, Caramel Cake and Fruit Cake Cookies.

I was so tired of all the holiday food that tonight all I wanted was...

Merry Christmas!

Cookies for Claus

This has been a 2 dishwasher load day.  Thankfully all I have left for tomorrow is a double recipe of mac & cheese {which I can probably do in my sleep}!  We did manage to get our cookies made for Santa Claus...



Word on the street is that Santa only eats cookies on Christmas...that is how he manages to eat all of them left for him.  We always leave him homemade sugar cookies with a big glass of milk {and a carrot for Rudie}.  I mixed the dough up and got them rolled out when this huge help walked through the kitchen...



She had the best time helping me cut them out and getting them ready to bake...



I mixed up some icing and got out the sprinkles.  After dinner and baths, I let them go to town...



I think they turned out precious...



We hope Santa thinks they are delicious & delightful!

Scrabble {aka Chex Mix}

We have made 4 double recipes of Scrabble {aka Chex Mix} around here this holiday season already!  In our defense, 2 batches were for a friend and we have given away the majority of the other 2 batches.  This is how we make ours {the directions below are for a huge double batch}...



Mix 1 bag Corn Chex, 1 bag Rice Chex, 1 bag Wheat Chex, 1 bag Crispex, 1 bag of pretzel sticks, 2.5 pound nuts, 1 box Cheese Its and 2 bags goldfish {I used 1 original and 1 mixed-up}.  Then mix up 4 c. canola oil, 4 T. Worcestershire, 4 T. Lawry's and 2 t. garlic powder...



We mix ours up like this...



I put all the cereal in a garbage bag and "shake it up"!  I then pour the oil mixture in and "shake it all about" again!  I pour the mixture into 2 huge pans...



Then bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes {I also switch the pans round after stirring}...



I leave mine in the oven to cool down over night.  {Please excuse my oven, I am going to set it on self-clean in the am.}  Then you can bag it up for all your friends and neighbors...



Trust me...they will love you for it!  We also included it in our holiday goodie basket for our teachers...

Breakfast with Santa

Saturday morning, we attened a brunch with this guy...



We finally talked Mary Reese into joining her brothers.  But she would only do it if she was glued to me.



I am not really sure what was happening with her...she did fine last year!  After a delicious brunch and visit with Santa, we got to decorate cookies!  We had a fabulous time with Santa and all our friends!