Yes, I'm behind again. I have no excuse except that I've had other priorities. Blogging is definitely on my priority list (which is why I'm doing it now instead of cuddling up downstairs with a cup of hot cocoa and watching a sappy Christmas movie on my DVR!), but it also doesn't rank higher than a certain 5 year old boy who wants mama to play his Angry birds game, or a little 17 month old sweetheart who constantly reaches her arms up for me to pick her up and gives slobbery kisses and giant bear hugs that make me want to melt into a puddle.
But, this blog is a way for me to continue to record memories for our family. So let's rewind and play catch up. We celebrated Christmas with Craig's family the weekend of Thanksgiving (but we'll just pretend it wasn't that long ago so the update won't seem so late... play along!)
The kids got some great gifts. Andrew had a "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" Christmas! He got so many things he'd been wanting, like Captain Hook's rock, Jake's sword and the new Who Shook Hook game.
Kerigan did pretty well too- for her it was a Minnie and Disney princess Christmas. She got princesses to go with her Little People Disney castle, which she'll be getting in a few short weeks.
She just dug in and ripped the paper off everything! She had a great time and knew exactly what to do! I didn't get many pictures of the gift opening because it went so fast! The kids were all so excited and I feel like it was over in a flash! But they sure had fun... my camera just couldn't keep up!
Cousins playing his new Jake game with Andrew
One of the most fun things for the kids is Grandma's basement. It is super big, and the kids love going down there. This weekend they all brought their Nerf guns and we had a full on war!
They love getting Grandma's flashlights and turning off the lights and finding "monsters." Sometimes the daddies are the monsters, other times, they just pretend. This time they were armed with their guns...
And their Batman armor- Ha!
Look out, monsters!
This picture of Andrew makes me laugh out loud, literally.
We decided the kids were old enough this year and would enjoy a slumber party in front of the TV in their sleeping bags. Andrew could not have been happier about this arrangement!
All the grandkids with Grandpa and Grandma
The whole Huegel family! I always wanted a big family- I got one!
All the Huegel cousins- rare for us all to be together (and not rare that my daughter is bawling- this will be the trend of her Christmas photos I'm afraid. She's at that age. At least she's cute and that makes up for it a little- ha! And yes, I still torture her and make her sit there, squeezed by her brother who won't let her move!)
In the morning we all headed out to celebrate Christmas again with Craig's grandma and mom's side of the family. His mom has 10 brothers and sisters and he has over 30 cousins! So everyone gets together at a large hall and we eat, play games and it is so fun seeing everyone and getting to visit!
This is sweet Ellie- Craig's cousin's daughter. She and Andrew love each other so much- they always dance at all the family weddings, and there have been a lot lately! We were obviously too busy because I didn't take any more pictures that day- unheard of for me! Ha! We were having too much fun!
Back at Grandma's... Jayden and Andrew engrossed on the iPads!
And the weekend wouldn't have been complete without another Nerf gun war- this time with the daddies! And Craig in his famous pizza pants- Ha!
The kids were so funny, chasing Craig all shooting at him! Then he opened the door and blasted them all! Kerigan was even getting into it!
Beware daddy! Andrew's armed!
This cracks me up- Jayden pauses to reload his gun while Craig wastes no time getting them back... and Brooke has great aim and shoots right at him! They were having so much fun. Although my personal favorite part was when Craig and his brothers got into a full on war, but it was a little too wild for my camera and they started shooting at ME so I had to get the heck outta there! Ha! Oh, gotta love the family togetherness! I know Craig secretly loves that his siblings all have kids now so they can all act like kids again- Ha!
And upon arriving home, we discovered that Buddy had flown in from the North Pole! Apparently he missed it, because he camped out in the freezer one night, dipping into our leftover Thanksgiving cool whip!
He's been getting into lots of mischief like swinging on the ceiling fan with his friends...
and TP-ing the bathroom!
One night daddy and Andrew played Angry Birds and Andrew didn't put it away so Buddy had himself some fun that night!
Another night he roasted marshmallows over a candle campfire! That Buddy thinks of everything!
We are well into December now and have been enjoying the season leading up to Christmas.
We always love to bring out the Christmas movies after Thanksgiving so we watched Arthur Christmas and had popcorn while sitting in the dark with the Christmas lights twinkling- my favorite thing ever! I think it's Andrew's, too, because now every night he wants to watch TV in the dark with only the Christmas lights on! Love that boy!
Lots more to blog about, but it will have to wait until later... I'm off to have that cup of hot cocoa!
