Because I can only remember what I have pictures of

So I can barely remember what day it is, much less any fun stories, so you get a blog in pictures. Being "googley" for the 4th time has really cramped my style. I've been sicker, achier, and sleepier than ever before so hopefully you'll all forgive my lack of blog love lately. Oh, also fatter faster than ever before.

I saw these cute ornaments made with kids thumbprints and thought it would be fun to make. Please note that Ellie drew her own snowman face and added a hat. The lips make me laugh. I think I need some sparkly fake snow inside. If only I still had some leftover from my birthday surprise 2 years ago.

We had an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party. I seriously love my friends that they were willing to wear such hideous things. I have pictures of everyone that came, but they are on the Bryner's camera, so for now you just get the two that we took on our camera. Wait until you see the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place outfits. I don't think Janel looks quite ugly enough. Just hot ;D And Amy's cute little shirt actually lit up. Sean is a party pooper obviously. First we played a Christmas movie trivia game. I had audio clips and you had to name the movie Family Feud style. Now tell me, if I played something to the tune of
"You hope while I hurry
You pray while I plan
We’ll do what’s necessary cause
Even a miracle needs a hand"
Would you know what movie that was from? Because NONE of our friend have ever seen it before. You would have thought we made the whole movie up. If only I could write lyrics that awesome. We also did a White Elephant exchange where we came home with a lovely AVON clock which Ellie then stole and took to school because it was so beautiful. The bummer -- it got broken and I had to throw it out. Darn. And by broken, I mean the gold ring around the face came off.

We picked our kids up about midnight from the babysitter's house and NONE of them had fallen asleep, plus they still woke up around 7 am, so church was SUPER fun the next day.

Santa sent us one of those Elves that all our neighbors have -- can you find him? We were so happy to get him because that night the kids cleaned their rooms WITHOUT crying. Emphasis on THAT night. That ONE night.

We named ours Buddy after the movie Elf. Nate named him Nate. So if you call him Buddy, Nate looks at you like he has no idea who you are talking about. Even Sadie has fun trying to find him every morning. One morning he joined our already full nativity. That picture is kind of like a hidden picture. How many things can you find that aren't from the original nativity?? Ellie's Primary teacher gave them each some pieces of her nativity that she added to ours. I love our midget wisemen.

Today has been the 1st day of Winter vacation. Now normally I love vacation, but the sheer number of fights I have broken up today is enough to make me pull my hair out. How does that song go? "And mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again." I know we'll eventually settle into a routine of having Ellie home again and the balance shifting. . . probably right before she goes back to school.

On their last day of school -- free dress day WOO HOO -- I helped throw her class party. It included feeding 125 1st Graders breakfast a book exchange, reading The Polar Express -- where they got these lovely, hand-made-by-me, jingle bell necklaces Christmas Bingo and this uber cute craft I found on the internet. E-mail me if you want a template. I thought they were a pretty cute and easy kiddie craft. They're snowman candy bars.

How do I even end this post? Can I just end it? OK, I will.