Meet the Browns

Happy New Year!

Because we seem to catch every cootie known to man I was of course sick on New Years but we still were able to bring in the new year right. Max is adorable, of course! But I taught him how to say "Happy New Year" and he ran around the house chanting his version of it all day. Yet again I worked but since most things happen in the evening we were still good to go. Max helped me make a cake when I got home and we got the house ready to party. After dinner we had our ball drop at home and rang in the new year with cake and sparkling cider. No one can tell me the Brown's don't know how to bring in a New Year! It might not be as glamorous as it used to be but it sure the heck is more fun.

Jeff rig'd up our balloon drop. And since I sprung it on him it turned out pretty good.

Christmas 2012

I have been home sick with a stomach virus for a few days so bear with me. But I wanted to get Christmas blogged before Spring! Since we did so much I'll just post some pictures with descriptions becasue this post is already going to be really long as it is.

I worked on Christmas Eve but as soon as I got off we headed straight for my dad's house for Christmas with my side of the family.

Then we headed home and made sure to put out the reindeer food we made at the Christmas Bash.

And made cookies. I cheated a little and made the dough the night before since I knew we wouldn't have enough time to make them on Christmas Eve.

And since we don't have a chimney we left Santa a key just in case it had been a long night and his magic was a little hit or miss. (Keep in mind with the key I'm crafty not stupid.)

Time for presents!

The Toy Story Toy was for sure the most loved gift from mommy and daddy.

The last gift was to the whole family it was Christmas jammies for everyone, candy, popcorn and a new Christmas movie to watch.

Movie time before bed!

Then Max left cookies and milk for Santa and headed for bed to read "The Night Before Christmas."

Then Santa came to visit!

He left new beds and a treat for Herman and Maddie.

Max made out pretty big this year too.

The first look. He woke up at 6:30 and we weren't expecting that so we had to put him in our room until my dad could get there. My dad likes to make the rounds to all the local grand kids and we didn't expect Max to get up so early. I think my dad just likes to compare breakfast at each house, ha ha. Of course, we had monkey bread as usual, yum!

We even had a little snow.

We laid around watching Christmas movies all day and playing with our new toys Some of us may have even squeezed in a nap. It was the best day!

We even made time to decorate a gingerbread house too when Granny came over. Max almost ate more than he put on.

And we finished the night off with one of my boys favorite dinners and hot cocoa. This was Max's first time to have hot cocoa and the kid is addicted! My parents came over for dinner too and made it really special. It was nice to have people you care about around you for the holidays. I wish my whole family could have been there but we all have our own kids and traditions. It helps me cherish the time I do get to spend with them. I'm so sad that it is over but I'm already thinking of next year.

Time to Cook

To get ready for the Christmas Bash Max and I made all of the stuff in advance to make sure that we would actually be able to do it, and to give everyone an idea of how it worked up. Also just in case I was busy with party stuff and didn't have time to do it with Max he will have gotten to do it too. It worked out pretty good. Especially because his bulb ornament broke so we still had the original we made. Max has really shown an interest in cooking lately and he has been using words really well when we do. So I have been letting him whenever we can. He even knows to get out his stool to stand on and is a big helper. He loved making the play dough. I figured he would loose interest but it never happened. Who knows maybe I have a little Bobby Flay on my hands!

The Brown's Christmas Bash

On a whim I decided to have a Christmas party for Max and his friends on the 15th. And for some reason I thought that a week was plenty of time to plan the bash. Luckily I kept it small so there was time and it went really great. I got jealous when my sister told me about an ornament party she was doing for her kids at the church. So I thought in true little sister fashion I want one too! Everyone came dressed in their favorite jammies and we had a ton of fun activities. We decorated Christmas tree magnets, ornaments including salt dough, made reindeer food for Christmas Eve and decorated plates for cookies for Santa, . We ended the night with a movie and treats. I got a few pictures but thanks to Christie who got several pictures to share I can now share them with you too. I think I have decided to make this an annual party so next year I will have plenty of time to plan it and people will have more than a weeks notice too.

The Snacks