Snyder Stories: Our Christmas Weekend

This weekend may go down as one of my all time favorite weekends EVER. We had a jam-packed, family filled weekend that could not have been any better. REALLY.

Friday I cooked my VERY FIRST Holiday meal. I was a little nervous and a lot excited. I might have called my mom and dad about 15 times during the meal preparation for consultations and reassurance. I made Cranberry Pork Chops, Green Bean Bundles, Corn Casserole, Mashed Potatoes and rolls. This may not seem like much to most of you but to me it was quite an undertaking. I am THE WORST at timing things while I cook and getting everything done at the same time so this was major but I DID IT. My mother and father in law, and brother in-law joined us for our Christmas Eve meal and it turned out quite well if I do say so myself. Either they were all being nice or they really liked it. I was AMAZED.

After dinner we headed to church where we attempted to keep C in the service with us instead of sending him to the nursery. This was challenging and took 3 packages of fruit snacks, crayons, books, a NutraGrain Bar, my iPhone (puzzle games on silent....I KNOW that is terrible, but it worked.), and lots of lap changes. He did pretty well for being 2 1/2. He did let out one yell that reminded me why we send him to the nursery on Sunday mornings, but it was nice to have him with us on such a special night.

Once we all got home from church we had dessert, laid out cookies for Santa and then the little guy went to bed. Bed yes- sleep NO. I am pretty sure he was awake until nearly 11:30. He might have been excited, or he just knew that there were lots of people in our house and he was missing something! Missing something he was. Santa worked hard to put together his wooden train set and all of his other goodies.

We enjoyed Christmas morning with The Snyders, but not until 9:30. YES- 9:30. We were all awake and had to wake Clark up because I could not stand it anymore. I was so excited, and he was still asleep. So at 9:15 we opened his door and sent Barney in to wake him up! Once awake he loved all his gifts, he did not get overly excited like I thought he would, but he did enjoy it. Everything he opened he had to play with right then. It was super cute, but took FOREVER.

We had a great morning. I was very excited to find that The Snyders got me the watch I wanted, and Stuart got me a NOOK among other great things like a new jean jacket, a watch, and some shoes. I think he really liked the Abraham Lincoln Chia Pet I got him too! ha! (No- really I got him one!)

After we opened, soaked it all in, cleaned it all up, napped and packed up the car, we headed to my mom and dad's for Christmas dinner and Christmas #2 with my sister and her boys, and my brother who lives on Martha's Vineyard and we do not get to see as much as we would like. So it was wonderful to be at home with them all. Of course my mom (and dad) cooked a delicious meal (that put mine to shame) and we had mountains of gifts to open afterwards. We really must have been good this year because my brother showered us with all things Vineyard Vines. He had such a good time shopping for Clark and got him the most adorable little VV things (like a whole wardrobe-THANKS LANCE!) and we loved it all. My mom and dad might have gotten me a CRICUT EXPRESSION! I am so excited to put it to use. I might have to make a trip to school this week to redo all of my bulletin boards and spruce up my classroom!

The next day, 2 of my mom's sisters came down from Ohio and we had a great visit with them. My Aunt Jennie LOVES her some Clark and Aunt Jeannie had never met him, so it was great to spend the day with them. Being it was Sunday Stuart stayed true to himself and watched football ALL DAY LONG while we visited. We had another huge meal (I am not thinking the dress I bought for NYE will fit now...THANKS MOM.), visited with hometown friends, and played some games. I really loved just being around everyone that we don't get to see nearly enough. It really does just remind me how truly blessed and loved we really are. I am so thankful for the entire weekend. Yes- I LOVE all of my gifts- but what I love even more is the fact that we were able to celebrate with so many people that we care about.

I took hundreds of pictures because I know Clark will most likely not remember his third Christmas and I want him to be able to see the pictures and know how wonderful it really was. So warning- lots of pictures below! ha! Now it is Tuesday- we are home surrounded by all of our new gifts and just each other. Neither Stuart or I have to work this week so we will get to just enjoy it all. We all slept in until 10:00. YES you read that correctly. 10:00 am. Now Clark and his daddo are putting together a giant dinosaur puzzle, while Barney has his face in the can of Christmas popcorn-ugh! Most likely you will find us wearing jammies today and doing a whole lot of train track building, puzzle doing, and Mickey Mouse watching. Tonight the Mr. and I are headed to Rupp Arena to watch our beloved Wildcats play basketball (a gift from my mom and dad) and I might even convince him to take me to Barnes and Noble to buy a case for my new Nook! We shall see. But for now I am needed on the floor to finish the dinosaur puzzle and I guess I should think about feeding my child something other than popcorn and candy canes! ha!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and please don't fell obligated to look at ALL the pictures!