Happy Birthday To Me!

Working on one's birthday is not the best thing in the world, but coming home to a sweet family IS! I got to have a yummy Thai dinner with my sister; then open presents (including gifts from thoughtful parents-in-law!) with my parents, hubby & kids; then eat cake; and then play board games with the grown-ups. A great way to start my 34th year!

Downtown Adventures

Actually, Aunt Meredith took Molly & Rebecca to enjoy the Christmas decorations downtown BEFORE Christmas, but the blog post was delayed. Here are a few pictures from their adventures at the Peabody Hotel with the lobby ducks and on the carriage ride through our lovely city, right past Beale Street, where Molly fed candy canes (!) to the horse.

The Treehouse

We liked the trees. That's part of what drew us to this house. I wanted the girls to have a treehouse. Peter planned it out, budgeted for the materials, and over the course of a couple of months, erected a most lovely clubhouse-in-the-trees for our darlings. Here are some pictures of the progress and, finally, the finished product. Talk about some happy kids! Once again, my husband astounds me with his many talents.

The Magic

Santa was here! Santa was here!

After waaaaaay too many gifts were opened and enjoyed, Meredith and I made brunch.

Daddy Claus takes one (of many) load of trash, after all the packaging & giftwrap is removed. Hooray for recycling!

After brunch, The Walshes headed home (presumably for naps) and we loaded up to visit Bom-Bom. My grandmother celebrated her 101st Christmas! She loves movies with animals, so we gave her a family favorite, Happy Feet, in addition to some holiday flowers. Some days, Bom-Bom isn't "with it" enough to say much that is coherent, but she recognized the animals on the case as penguins and read the notes on the back, declaring "this will be a good one!"

We helped her eat dinner, and Amelia gave her a big hug, which brought a big smile to both Bom-Bom and the other diners.

On Christmas Day evening, The Other Marshes (as we affectionately call them) came over for our gift exchange. We played games (Twister!) and enjoyed leftover yummies.

The end of the day brought the best kind of tired!

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

In keeping with tradition, my mom's side of the family gathered on Christmas Eve, this year at our house. We had ham and all the fixin's, each family contributing one or two dishes for the spread. After dinner, we opened gifts, the kids played like crazy while the grown-ups chatted the night away. Here are a few pictures of our house all decked out for the holiday and the family hanging out.

The girls sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn with Aunt Meredith, baked cookies for Santa with Granna, and bid our Elf on the Shelf (Morris) goodbye 'til next year.

See Morris? His final viewing spot for 2009 was by the Nativity.

It was a chilly, rainy night, but the reindeer food was skillfully scattered!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care (ours, Granna's, Papa's & Aunt Mer's)

Oh, the anticipation! Thought they'd NEVER get to sleep (me either, truth be told)!

Nerdifying The Children

One of our Christmas presents from Pete's parents--who were here until Tuesday--was the family version of Trivial Pursuit. We love board games, we love trivia, so TP is a double winner, and we own several versions already. This edition comes with questions for both children and adults!

We christened the game tonight. Rebecca and I were a team, and Peter and Molly challenged us. We alternated kid/adult questions. It's geared towards those over age 8, and Molly just turned 8, while Rebecca is only 5, so the questions were a challenge for them, but they did quite well. They loved reading the questions out loud and Peter and I--in typical Geek Parent fashion--used the questions as jumping off points to teach them a little something they might not have already known. Example: Q for kids: What race is also called the Run for the Roses? A: The Kentucky Derby. Daddy: Do you girls know why? Because the winning horse/jockey is given a blanket of roses as part of the award ceremony. Peter and Molly were the victors tonight, but we were only behind by one pie piece.

Nana's note on the gift indicated we should begin to pass the torch to the next generation. Mission accomplished!

So True, So True

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk

The Santa Capers

Nana and Pa have been visiting from Oregon for a few days. Today, while Peter and I worked, they hung out with 4 of the 6 granddaughters. Because they are adventurous (or crazy), they decided to take these 4 little ladies to see not one but two Santas. We needed a picture of our 3 with The Big Guy--one that didn't include Mommy in it, too. And little Annsley hadn't visited SC just yet. They went to Bass Pro first--I know it sounds a little country, but pictures with Santa are free, and if you can look past the mounted dead animals all around, the Winter Wonderland they set up in there is kind of lovely. Apparently, it was super crowded in there today, which I guess would be expected since school is out. Pictures with Molly and Rebecca individually and Annsley and Amelia together.

Then they met Aunt Meredith at the Pink Palace for the Enchanted Forest/Festival of Trees. Molly loves to do the scavenger hunt there, and they all love the themed tree displays. The little critters that make up the forest are the same one from my childhood--I have posted on this bit of nostalgia before (last year). Anyway, they waited in line again for Santa, and got the Money Shot with our three girls. Meredith confessed that this picture belies the talent of the photographer, as it was the one moment when Amelia did not look completely terrified. Also, all three adults commented on how great this particular Santa was with the girls, especially Amelia. (You may recall her earlier encounter at Alpine Village, in which she repeatedly answered the question "do you want to go sit on Santa's lap?" with a very polite but firm, "um, no fanks" and employed the Grip of Death on my arm.) So now we have a picture of all three Marshlets looking less-than-terrified, with the best Santa in Memphis.

Silly Girly Squirrels

The Gingerbread Anniversary

The first anniversary is the paper anniversary, then comes the wood anniversary. Today is our 11th wedding anniversary, which I'm pretty sure is the gingerbread anniversary, isn't it? In any case, we spent the evening with Marsh family members, helping the girls (all 6 of 'em) decorate gingerbread houses. After a few strategic structural supports, Pa finally got all the roofs and walls to stay put. The littlest girls decorated a little and ate a lot. That candy was just too tempting. The oldest girls meticulously plotted licorice tile roofs and stained glass windows. Each creation was lovely, a perfect reflection of the artist who created it. Good enough to eat!

After the houses were finished, we watched the University of Memphis basketball game, which we lost to UMass in a nail-biter; ate pizza; watched a performance by Hallie, Molly & Rebecca; and watched a little National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Earlier in the day, Peter and I had lunch with our girls and met Aunt Meredith at the movie theater for the matinee of The Princess and The Frog--one of Disney's better movies actually. So even though we didn't have a candlelight romantic dinner, our anniversary was a perfect one, full of sweet family memories.