Ridiculous

Uncle Scotty and Gavin being silly.

And this is before Uncle Scotty brought over his presents.

Stinky diaper face

Sir Hammy the McHamster! I have no idea where he gets it from.

Stupified. This is merely revenge for all the terrible pictures Ben has put up of me on his blog.

Christmas was ridiculous. My parents bought a bunch of presents for the kids and Uncle Scotty bought a bunch of presents for the kids and Uncle Dawson brought some too! There were so many presents, Tiny got tired of unwrapping.

Also, here's some good news for my field of study. And, if you get bored and have hours of spare time on your hands, watch this.

End of the Semester Celebration

Boys get to sit in Daddy's chair and watch a movie on Daddy's computer when Mommy must write papers and finish up all her last minute work for the semester. If you are wondering why Tiny is all sweaty (notice the wet hair), it is because instead of lying down and going to sleep at bedtime, he decided to scream at the top of his lungs and stomp his feet for 20+ minutes. Some might be disheartened by the fact that their kid is exhausted, but refuses to sleep. I see it more as a beneficial personality characteristic: incredible stamina. Let's hope he channels some of this energy into his school work and career when he gets older. We'll see. Ben seems to be able to channel most of his unbridled raging energy into school work, so there is hope.

He doesn't look like me at all. Not a bit.

THANKSgiving

Here in the North we put an emphasis on the first "i" in "giving" but my husband (from Mississippi) puts the emphasis on the "a" in "thanks." This subtle little accent alteration actually changes the way I view Thanksgiving. In my extended family, there is probably a lot more "giving" of food, hugs, and good will. Perhaps because Ben's family was religious when he was growing up, he remembers to accent the thankfulness involved in the holiday. I like this. I tease him, unmercifully, for his inability to correctly accent this word in the English language. But I like that he does not cave to my peer pressure.
Anyway, I think this holiday brings my entire blog full circle. I started it for my Positive Psychology class (still one of the best classes I've taken to date) as a gratitude journal. Surely, I ought to mention some of the things that I am thankful for on THANKSgiving.

I am thankful for:

My Family

Silly kids

Cute little sweaters

Posing-for-the-camera type of personality

The family Christmas photo that is always so difficult to get with everyone looking. Pretty soon Gavin and Kiernan will be old enough to look at the camera and we won't have such silly, natural-ish pictures.

Sledding outside on a hill made from Ben and I shoveling the snow into a pile.

Thanksgiving was good. We had a delicious turkey dinner at my Grandma Jacque's house with my cousins and brothers. My little brother Dawson bought me a late birthday present of an "expensive" bottle of wine along with a couple regularly priced bottles of wine (Red Knot and Barefoot).
Thanksgiving night my brother Scotty and his friend came over and I convinced them to play Cranium with us.

Friday Gavin and I went to the movie Bolt with Hailee, Jessi, Dominic and Chad. That was fun. Ben and I then went over to Hailee's house and proceeded to play Cranium with Chad and Hailee while Gavin, Jessi, and Dominic ran around the house giggling and playing. This was all after going sledding during the day at my parents house. Fun times all around. Now it is time to get busy with all the end of the semester work. Two weeks to go!