What a Wonderful Christmas!

The Christmas Eve Miracle-- Lily actually CHOSE this dress to wear (???). She only wore it for about 30 minutes, but I'm not complaining.

They were so excited to open their pillow pets from Nana, which was their one Christmas Eve gift they got to open.

Me and my brothers, and the only pictoral evidence that I was there.                               

Danny "locking in the flavor" on his famous shrimp" which I accidentally suggested he skip this year. Hence the apron I made him as a peace offering.

Pretty table, courtesy of Phyllis Harrell, table designer extraordinaire.                                    

Christmas Morning

Lily woke up at about 7:00 and before her eyes were even opened, said, "Is it Christmas? Right now? Did Santa come? Can I open my presents?" And just like on her birthday, she couldn't believe that my answer was finally yes!

She loved her doll house and played with it while the rest of us opened our presents.

Then (after a costume change into her new Dora jammies) she saw the box for the Hotwheels racetrack and yelled, "WOW!!!" It is so fun to see Pokerface Magoo react like that, because usually she gives the cool-girl-totally-bored-and-unimpressed-by-everything look (you know, like a teenager). As you can see, the racetrack was also a big hit with Kyle.

This is a glimpse of the Pokerface Magoo look. She was SOOOOOOO excited to get a motorcycle just like Blake got, but was trying equally hard to act like it was no big deal.

As Tahra was putting this adorable hat on her head, she politely whispered, "I don't want that." Thankfully she didn't let the temporary nature of this gift stop her from posing in it with Marlow.

Marlow and the Beau Ideal headband I got her and Rhys with his new book.

Uncle Kevin with his LJH original.

Lily telling Nanu the names of all of the people in the picture (in case he forgot the names of his other grandchildren).

Christmas Dinner

Phyllis and Cara were on Team Beet Salad, which was super delicious. We like to serve plated salads on Christmas and I look forward to picking it all year. This year was arugula tossed with an orange vinaigrette served with roasted beets cut into the shape of Christmas ornaments and crumbled goat cheese. Two beet-dyed thumbs up!

Another Phyllis Harrell table. I don't know what I'd do without that lady.

Hope was in our hearts and on our mantle this Christmas (and in frames all over the house). Can't wait till she's at our table instead next Christmas! (hopefully by Father's Day!)

It was a super chilly night, but the boys took the opportunity to enjoy the new covered patio with a little fire. And marshmallows of course, because dads + kids + fire = marshmallows.

This picture of my mom and Danny sums up what a wonderful Christmas we had. Happy Birthday Jesus! Thank you for giving us a reason to celebrate our eternal and abundant life with (most of) the people we love the most. 

Four At Last!

Lily woke up before dawn yesterday and with a scratchy, sleepy voice asked, "Mom, I am 4? Right now? Not 3 1/2?" And as if she didn't believe that I was telling the truth, she asked over and over again until the sun rose. (So much for getting more sleep as she gets older.) As my mom so aptly put it: four at last, four at last, thank God Almighty, she is four at last! As my dad said, we can enjoy 6 months of "age peace" until Blake turns 5 and Lily starts asking if she is almost 5....

Uncle Davey volunteered to be the birthday party photog which is awesome because I think I have all of 4 pictures on my camera, none of them blogworthy. So enjoy the party through David's (much better) eyes!

I love this pic of Lily and one of her classmates. Notice the party hat, which we couldn't not believe she INSISTED on wearing the whole day. This is the child who will barely keep socks or shoes on, let alone accessories. The wonders never cease.

To my very great surprise she didn't seem to mind that we didn't light the candles (too windy). As soon as the singing stopped I realized why: she cares far more about licking the frosting off the bottom of candles than she cares about blowing them out.

 Don't ask me why we had a unicorn at a monkey party. Ok I'll tell you anyway: because I let Lily pick it out. I'd rather let her have fun parties then be all matchy matchy. So there. And it doesn't bother me. I promise. It doesn't. It doesn't.

                                                               Libby, aka Babe Ruth

                           If you've ever wondered what a sugar/Cheeto coma looks like, here it is: