6 am

D and I went to my parents Christmas night. She has these two cats that are like no other cats I have ever met. She will call and tell me stories and I really don't know if I should believe half of what she says. But now I have experienced first hand and I believe every darn word she says. She will call and say that the cats are swinging from the curtains, and they do. Then she said she opened the frig one day and the little girl was laying on the bottom shelf, I believe her now. I kept thinking to myself, is she on drugs or the question, should she be. No, no drugs, just cats. D went to bed in the livingroom on a blow up mattress and it was a joke to whether the cats would destroy the thing by morning. Around 6 am we both woke up to the cats attacking the mattress. I yelled at D to whop them but he had never heard the term whop or at least at 6 am he didn't know what it meant so I started hitting them with pillows yelling at them to stop. Too late... another attack and then psssssisssssssisssssss. Yes, they destroyed the mattress. D then back to sleep on the deflated mattress on the floor as the cats then climed the Christmas tree and hung out like little monkeys. Wow... I am so glad that Baxter is not like that he wouldn't be alive very long. ~Cathy

Our Christmas

Well the stockings were hung and stuffed by Santa himself with all kind of toys, lotions, potions, candy canes filled with Hershey Kisses, reindeer that pooped jelly beans and posters of their favorites. Then he ate a whole plate of cookies. I later heard screaming from upstairs that the poster of Edward from "Twilight" was going to protect them from the bad guys in their closets. Ooookay- whatever?

The kids all got new sleds and snow pants for that 1 big snow fall. We always try and scramble together pants and sleds at the last minute. I saw these this year and said we are buying them now. After we got home we decided that we should have bought 3 of the same color. But in the end they didn't seem to mind the one they got. D is setting on the steps trying to wake up while G got the video camera fired up. They always hate this whole 3 minute wait. Oh look, another Gray Hollister sweatshirt to add to his collection. I think he made to 4 new ones this year. He keeps a very limited wardrobe. Jeans or shorts- T-shrit- Hollister Hoodie. Same shoes til they wear out and then they go to the play pile and he gets new. Simple but a pain to buy for cause he doesn't need air bands, nail polish, belts, makeup..girls are so much easier- but require more in the end.

Oh my it's a new helmet to protect his noggin from another trip to the ER.

Then he headed out the door and I yelled: "Wait, it's cold, it's dark, only 1 bird is chirping and don't ya think you need a coat." This new pogo stick is for crazy, self destructing kids 14 years and up. His old one was a bit on the small side and couldn't handle is roughness of his almost 6ft body. Now he as a grownup one and let me tell you it flies..I tried to suggest putting on his new helmet..he thinks I'm crazy.

I got a pediegg, two new additions to my Willow Tree Nativity Scene and a Storm Jacket for my camera baby. I also got some things for cold weather SWAT call outs. And I got a fancy snowflake necklace. I'm not even sure what it looks like cause I opened it and put it all right away. G and I also got a Garmin Nuvi 260 GPS unit. Now we can go geocaching, find motocross tracks and dance competitions with no trouble.

Other things that made it into the house were a very cool Cashmere sweater, Electric Scooter, more Victoria Secret bath and body, the boys got new pj pants, Xbox and of course AC/DC for G. We are now the owners of another Xbox game and lots and lots of clothes and a new stereo to rock a bedroom. I also saw Hannah Montana books and the whole hardback collection of the "Twilight" series floating around and then rushed up the steps never to be seen again. And lots and lots of wrapping paper for the trash. If it weren't so cold out I would have a bon fire but NOT. I did save ribbons and boxes for next year. I love the ribbon I used and will never go back to that plastic crap. I used fabric/sheer ribbon from Walmart. It was like 2.88 a roll and did well, even the kids made great bows with it. We used all of the name cards that my mom made for us and I had to buy sticker ones cause I haven't been in the crafty spirit lately. Anyways, thanks mom. Next year when I say I have enough- just send more. Screams coming from under the paper pile -"All of us here at As the World Flops wish you a Very Merry Christmas.

What? They want to go to bed?

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night....

It's not even midnight and the Norad Santa Tracker says that he has already been here. The kids kept giving me the countdown time but it was 1 hour off. I guess he is early this year. I better get to bed. Here are a few of tonights events. For starters the kids wanted to go to bed at 6:30..huh? If it were a school night they would think they could stay up forever. I wish ever night was Christmas Eve. Would it be terrible to promise them a gift in the morning if they went to bed on time? .. I know, that would be terrible, but it's a thought.

D was trying buckeyes on for size. He ended up having a chocolate ring around one eye but I didn't get a pictures before he discovered it.

I tried approx. 13.5 times to get a picture of this kids and he wasn't going for it.My little Evil Kenevil was trying to ride his regular bike on the ice last night and fell. He says his butt bone hurts. One butt bone to mark off the list of injuries.

He eventually got tired of the pictures and went to take a shower. He said he was killing time cause the girls were begging to go to bed...it was like 8:15Our tree..G finally fixed the angel tonight, she has been hanging by a leg.

I watched the a bit more of the annual movie "Christmas Story" and then I realized I had already taken about 150 pics so I started saving them to the mass file of pictures. I think it's time for a bigger hard drive. Poor little thing, I think I say that ever time I see this scene.

One down 2 to go

We had G's side of the family Christmas Saturday night and her is look into our 1st of a few rounds of the holiday.

Daisy Duke was our Labradoodle. She was just too wild for the kids so G's brother took her to live with them in West Virginia. They love her to death. This little one ended up falling asleep, he didn't feel real good.

But before sleep he had to try on one of the girls socks and dance a bit like his cousin.

Yes, we played the family favorite..Pictionary. All adults have decided that the Jr. Pictionary is a good challenge even drawing a dog collar...without the dog.

This is what ya get when you mix a 10 year old and a camera. I told them to go around and take pictures and well. Here is the underside of the diningroom table. Nice huh?

This is the super whiner.. She has this squeal like someone is stepping on her.. let me say ALL THE TIME.. yikes..!!!

This is all of the adults eating our big feast.

This is G's brother. He said everytime he gets his pictures taken he looks like this. And she got the shot.

The End of round 1

~Cathy

Ice, Rocks and Lights

Last Saturday we went to Sports Plus over in Evandale for my work's kids Christmas Party. We started out in a large dinner hall with pizza and balloons. The balloons were hit with the all the kids. Then they headed for the ice rink. D and a friend were sizing up the ice. I think this is the first time that D had ever been on ice skates. He wasn't sure about it but eventually made it out. But if I look back now I think he was sizing up an ice skater named Grace. They got all laced up after a few pit stops and made their way for the ice. Here they are trying to get a feel of it. Then he took off and made it around a few times.

This is a group of them sticking together for support. You always want someone you know close incase you take the plunge.

They are cooking now.

Then they found the visitor section and hung out for the rest of their ice skating career.

I tried to zoom in and after looking at this picture I can tell what they are doing. These two wouldn't leave. I hear that "Grace" with all her grace caught their eye.

They got to rock climb and play laser tag.

This game of "Deal or No Deal" became the popular hang out point for everyone. G loves to watch this game on TV I wish he could have been there.

They all had a good time. I think D wants to go back so he can set in the freezing rink and watch "Grace" He kind of fell head over heels with her. This is not like him. My baby boy is growing up. Another year of memories captured for their graduation slide shows. That's what I always tell them, especially when I get an aweful picture of them.

~Cathy

59, 60, 61, 62/365

D made his tree topper and then received this pin in the mail for ordering of course, dirt bike parts. I couldn't talk him into letting me put my country grapevine star on top..oh, he hates that thing. Our Christmas tree..this is kind of what my head felt like after all of the decorating.

While putting the tree up I saw these 3 little girls running around our yard. At first I thought it was a very big dog and then I saw the others.

One of the monsters creative view of Christmas lights. I like it.

~Cathy

Setting the mood

D puts his tree in the dining room. This year he picked white lights with 9 different settings. The one setting is like strobe lights, very disturbing. I think I had a seizure. D set up the Christmas village. He used to put his little army men on top of the buildings to protect the city. That's the little officer in him.

More to come..standby

~Cathy