Santa Clause even came.

After dinner Santa Clause brought the kids each a couple of gifts. The boys were super excited. Later when it was time to leave I said to Ashton that we need to go so we can get to sleep because Santa was coming the next day. And he replied, "Why? Santa already came." Man, I could saved a lot of money if Iwould have known that was all he expected!

T'was the night before christmas.

Here are some pics from Christmas eve.

Pooped out.

How peaceful. I love pictures of sleeping children. Especially mine! After a very active day the kids finally passed out about 10:30. But don't be fooled they still woke up at the crack of dawn.

Splish Splash...

The boys had a blast at the pool. Even though the water was freezing and their lips were blue they kept on trucking. A. and M. loved the water slides, the kiddie pool, and the hot tub. A. and I hit the slide on a double tube a couple times which was awesome. He went on it many more times than I did. Ryan wimped out and didn't go on any slides. O. loved splashing in the shallow area and the warm tub. This is actually the hot tub but since O. is hates anything hot so we dubbed it the warm tub. I wish I had a picture but I was the mom with the kid swimming in his undies. We went back for a late night swim and I didn't intend on O. swimming. First he started playing in a shower that was on so my mom took his shirt off. Then he was jumping in the puddle it made so we took his pants off and once he was in his undies he was ready for the warm tub. They also had a blast in the lazy river. Also if you didn't already do a double take, take another look at Mason's euro suit. Hee. Hee.

Jordan's, shoping, movies.

Early Saturday morning we went to the Engels (Jordan's) for a get together. Ryan's cousin was in town with his 19 month old triplets. Adorable. So as usual there was more children than adults which always makes for an interesting time. Next, it was on to last minute shopping with Crystal and Carly. Lastly we took Ashton and Mason to see the movie Mr. Magorium's wonder Emporium. Non-stop fun.

Hotel Fun.

                                                                         On Sunday we went to The Holiday Inn Water park. Here we are arriving in our room, all smiles. We're gonna change into our suits and we'll meet you in the water.

Busy Bee's.

Here is a look back at our adventurous holiday. Between making all our family get together's -and missing some due to illness, baking treats, and wrapping presents for three kids (while my dear hubby slept on the couch) time flies. It makes me realize why we hang out at home so much...getting five people ready to go somewhere is pretty time consuming.

Just hangng out.

Just a normal day, hanging out, reading books, having fun. I love these guys.

Polka dot princess.

Dressing a girl sure is fun!

Vrooooom.

Carly chillin' in her pink hot rod.

Super kid

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Yesterday we attended an awards ceremony at Ashton's school where he received his Student of the Month award. He was chosen out of 21 students in his class to get the award. My little teachers pet.

Coloring.

Yesterday Owen was in the dining room coloring while I was doing the dishes. I called to him to see what he was coloring and he didn't answer. A tell tail sign that a 2 year old is doing something wrong. So I go to check on him and when he sees me he proudly says "I color my hands black."

I was just glad it wasn't the wall.

Thank goodness for washable markers!

Christmas, Christmas time is here...

I'm sure everyone has a memory of making sugar cookie cutouts and frosting them. The boys had all the fun and we did all the work. It took almost a whole day to make the dough, cutout the cookies, and bake them. The next whole evening was spent frosting. I have to give Mason the "Cookie kid" award. He enjoyed both cutting and frosting. He was frosting cookies for everybody. Ashton quickly got bored with cutting and moved on to playing video games. When it came time for frosting he really only wanted to frost one if he could eat it. Although he did find time to make me and Ryan one. Owen did a few cutouts but it was all over when Owen discovered he could eat the dough. Then when it came time for frosting he would put a swipe on his Cookie and the next knife full (plastic knife)would go right onto his mouth. He did more eating than making, as did I. Here's to holiday traditions.

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

After the snowstorm Ashton and Mason went for a dip in the hot tub. They made icesickle castles and did snow angels in their bathing suits. Brings back childhood memories!

I meant what I said.

So last night Owen woke up crying at about 3a.m. Half asleep I jump put of bed walk into his room and realize that he has leaked through his diaper and his P.J's are wet. I get him out of bed to change him, lay him (still half asleep himself) on the floor and he says, "Mom?." I say "What sweet boy?." And he asks "Can I go Jordan's?." I smile and reply "Not right now." I meant what I said about all the time anytime!

Mom can I go Jordan's?

                                                                                                                                                                    I hear this question everyday, several times a day. My dear sweet Owen loves to play at his cousins Jordan, Dawson and Avery's house. In turn, I am asked this very question about 5 times before I get Ashton off to school, then again whenever Owen is tried, hungry, playing or just plain bored. I then have to answer him every time or he will keep asking, over and over. So fun.

I got my new camera!

After a long search and a hard decision I decided on, ordered and received my new camera. It is a Canon A720, it has 6x zoom and 8.3 mega pixals. But best of all it has a 2.5 inch LCD screen. Which is a step up from my old 1 inch screen. Yeah.

And the bloggin begins.....

He we go my friends and family. I have had my page set up for a month and I am finally able to announce the grand opening of my blog. The Carter Nitty Gritty will be a compilation our everyday events, and the occational rant and rave on my part. Enjoy.